Tag: young professionals

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Arts & Entertainment News

Ensemble Theatre offering new discounts for area students

The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (ETC) kicks off single ticket sales to its 2012-2013 season today at 10am, and they are introducing a variety of special offers to make attending professional theatre more affordable for young people.

A new feature for area students will allow access to all six productions this season for $120. Also new this season, the ETC will offer a $90 subscription for students between ages 13-19. The Teen Scene Subscription will also include a meal following each performance, and a post-show discussion with the cast and/or artistic staff.


Theatre patrons gather outside of Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati in May 2012. Photograph by 5chw4r7z.

“This is a great opportunity for students seeking to deepen their appreciation and understanding of live performance in a peer environment,” explained ETC’s director of communications, Jocelyn Meyer. “Additionally, students will be able to continue the conversation by interacting and blogging following the performance via a private Facebook group.”

A popular ticket discount program returning from last season will be the $15 Student Rush which allows students to purchase remaining tickets to shows starting two hours prior to the performance. Tickets will cost $27 per show for area students who purchase tickets in advance.

Due to limited availability, Meyer says that space will be limited and that discounted subscriptions will be filled on a first-come, first-serve bases for second Saturday matinee performances only.

The discounts being offered are geared to attract young people to the theatre that has long been an institution in historic Over-the-Rhine, and is now experiencing some of its best success. According to ETC officials, the theatre has attracted more than 1,800 subscribers for the new season – a record – and is continuing with its capital campaign to expand the the theatre and its support spaces.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office at 1127 Vine Street from 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday, or by calling (513) 421-3555.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Second URBANexchange takes place tomorrow at Moerlein Lager House

Last month the UrbanCincy team launched URBANexchange, a series of informal gatherings designed to engage urban professionals and others interested in cities throughout the Cincinnati region. The second edition of the monthly event will take place tomorrow evening at the Moerlein Lager House from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

“The first URBANexchange was informal in nature and generated some exciting discussion from a diverse collection of people from throughout Cincinnati,” explained John Yung, UrbanCincy’s public policy analyst and the event  coordinator.

The crowd engages with one another at the first URBANexchange held on July 3. Photograph by Travis Estell for UrbanCincy.

The first URBANexchange drew roughly 40 people, a number the team hopes to be repeated tomorrow. Like the first event, the UrbanCincy team will give out a prize to one of the people that sign in or leave their business card. This month’s giveaway will be $25 worth of Christian Moerlein Beer Tokens, which would be well used at the next URBANexchange on Thursday, September 6.

“I hope we continue to see an increasingly diverse group of people show up to URBANexchange as it matures,” Yung continued. “This is critical in ensuring a vibrant platform where different ideas for our city are shared.”

After UrbanCincy‘s start in 2007, the growing number of engaged urbanists in Cincinnati is particularly gratifying for the team.

“The ongoing progress and excitement in Cincinnati right now is truly inspiring,” stated UrbanCincy owner Randy Simes. “Everyday there seems to be new people and new energy that is emanating from the urban core, and it is that kind of environment that will lead to more gains in the future.”

URBANexchange is produced in coordination with The Urbanists, and takes place monthly inside the biergarten at the Moerlein Lager House (map).

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Business News

Walnut Hills tries new approach to keep its neighborhood grocery store afloat

One-by-one, Cincinnati’s urban neighborhoods are revitalizing themselves with new residents and businesses. Some of these neighborhoods, however, continue to struggle with sustaining or attracting urban grocery stores that can bring much-needed healthy food choices to their community. Walnut Hills is no different.

Walnut Hills is one of just seven, out of 52, neighborhoods in the City of Cincinnati that boast a full-scale grocery store. The Walnut Hills Kroger, located at 954 E. McMillan Street, has been in discussions with city leaders over recent years about whether it will continue operating that location. But with revitalization work sweeping through the Walnut Hills, neighborhood leaders think this serves as an opportunity.

“We understand that as a business they need to make money, and once we have done our part, and they are a profitable store, then we hope they will begin to make some of the improvements that the neighborhood would like to see,” said Kevin Wright, director of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation (WHRF) and graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s Masters of Community Planning program.


Organizers say the first Buy 25 Tuesdays event generated $2,700 in new revenue and communicated over 100 food suggestions to store management. Walnut Hills Kroger photograph provided.

Wright says that after speaking with neighborhood residents and stakeholders he found that most had a negative perception of the store. He said that the perceptions are that store has a bad food selection, and that it is unsafe to visit. The goal, he says, is to solve both of those issues through a new bi-weekly event called Buy 25.

The first Buy 25 took place on June 26, and the second was scheduled to take place on July 10, but due to the power outage organizers have postponed the next event until July 24. Those who join the Buy 25 group are encouraged to spend $25 at the store at least the two times a month that the event takes place.

Wright says that through discussions with Kroger, a neighborhood committee found out that $10,000 in additional revenue per month can put the urban grocer into the black. That breaks down to approximately 200 new customers spending $50 a month at the Walnut Hills store.

Neighborhood leaders are hoping to create a social atmosphere outside of the Kroger on Buy 25 Tuesdays by providing music, food samples, coupons, and a chance to give feedback to store management.

“This is about improving the Kroger, but it’s also about coming together as a community for a common cause,” explained Wright. “Walnut Hills is on the verge of some major redevelopment and if our residents feel like they have an ownership in that, the overall redevelopment efforts will be more sustainable.”

According to the WHRF, the first Buy 25 event brought in an additional $2,700 in revenue for the Walnut Hills Kroger. Neighborhood leaders feel like the new event is off to a good start, but are aware of the potential risks should they not be able to meet the $10,000 target over the course of each month.

“Becoming a food desert would have a profound effect on our senior and low-income population,” Wright answered in response to the possibility of the store closing. “It would also have a negative effect on our redevelopment momentum as the Kroger sits almost directly in the center of the neighborhood and its business district.”

Wright says that he fears that while the neighborhood can support grocery store, that if the Kroger were to close it would take at least three to five years to attract a new urban grocer. And having a large vacant structure at the heart of the Walnut Hills neighborhood business district for several years would create additional hurdles to ongoing redevelopment efforts taking place there.

Neighborhood leaders have not yet been told, or warned, that the Kroger may shut down, but Wright emphasized that they are trying to support the store and give it every reason to stay in the community.

Buy 25 Tuesdays take place on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 4pm to 8pm. Those who come are encouraged to bring a shopping list so that they can inform store management of items they were not able to purchase there.

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Arts & Entertainment News

OTR Flags installation aims to unite inner-city neighborhood through art

Hundreds of brightly colored squares of silk ripple in the breeze amid the trees of the newly renovated Washington Park. Each square tells a story of a person or organization somehow intertwined in the past, present, or future of the Over-the-Rhine community. Furthermore, the OTR Flags project is the first public event celebrating the re-opening of the 157-year-old park.

Though the grand reopening of the park is heralded as a triumph, it brings with it lingering memories of crime, homelessness, and drug dealing that plagued the area over recent decades. Some organizations and people had trepidation surrounding the renovation – that not everyone would get to share in the joy of the new space.


OTR Flags installation in Washington Park. Photograph by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy.

In an effort to help bridge the proverbial divide between old and new residents, local artist and resident Angela Morrow teamed with Joan Kaup in 2009 to create the public art project with the goal of uniting the diverse neighbors of Over-the-Rhine and encouraging communal ownership of Washington Park.

“There’s still some tension, with old residents, new residents, black and white, rich and poor,” said Morrow. “Art is a safe, positive way to create dialogue. We wanted to bring everyone together and start the healing process.”

Inspired by The Gates installation in New York City’s Central Park, the team developed a plan to unite organizations, artists, and neighbors by creating personalized silk flags to hang in Washington Park. Some 57 organizations contributed in some way – by being a media sponsor, contributing financially, or sponsoring a flag.

Morrow served as the lead artistic director, Kaup worked with development and community outreach, and Nicole Ware, CEO of Emanuel Community Center, oversaw the financials. A committee with representatives from ArtsWave, ArtWorks, Cincinnati Arts Association, 3CDC, Drop Inn Center, OTR Community Council, OTR Community Housing, Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, and YMCA met together to match 17 local artists with 30 neighborhood organizations that combined to create 26 flags.

The artists, ranging from 15-year-old Zoe Kolstaza, a student at the School for Creative & Performing Arts, to Matt Dayler of public art company Higher Level Art, were paid a stipend for their work. Each artist met with eight to ten members of their respective organization and participated in a facilitated discussion about their involvement in Over-the-Rhine.

“This isn’t a marketing ploy for companies,” Kaup explained. “The point of the flags is to tell the story of each participant.”

The final piece of the project came from public workshops where area residents could paint smaller, individual flags illustrating their involvement with the neighborhood. Workshops were held at the Drop Inn Center, Second Sunday on Main, Art Academy of Cincinnati, and Emanuel Community Center.

“At the Drop Inn Center charrette, people were so excited to be able to give something and be a part. Fifteen flags were painted that day,” Morrow told UrbanCincy. “People from the Drop Inn, from the neighborhood, even from an outside group that does ministry in Over-the-Rhine stopped by. The Drop Inn members got to show them how to paint for the first time, they got to give something back, and there was no power play. Everybody was there painting and learning together.”

More than $64,000 was raised with sponsorship money, and after expenses, an estimated $10,000 will be left over. Organizers say they plan to use the extra money to sponsor programming for Washington Park.

OTR Flags will remain on display in Washington Park through September 2012, and a reception will be held to commemorate the exhibit on July 19 at 5pm.

Jenny Kessler is a former UrbanCincy writer and now works for ArtsWave as a Communications Assistant.

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Up To Speed

Bloomberg Philanthropies to award $9M for urban innovation

Bloomberg Philanthropies to award $9M for urban innovation.

Cities are where innovation happens, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg knows exactly that. As a result, he has announced a new competition that will award $9 million in prize money to cities with bold, innovative ideas that could remake America’s urban centers. More from Next American City:

Twenty finalist teams will be chosen based on their proposal’s novelty and creativity, potential for impact, replicability and implementation plan. The finalists will participate in Bloomberg Ideas Camp, an experience that James Anderson, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ government innovation director, says will give mayors the opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate with their peers in other cities. The finalists will be whittled down to one grand prize winning team, which will receive $5 million; four runners-up will be given $1 million each.