Exhibitions

Since its founding in 2004, Kennedy Heights Arts Center has partnered with talented artist educators to offer art classes, camps, and workshops for kids and adults in a wide variety of mediums. The Teachers’ Lounge: Works by KHAC Art Instructors Past & Present is a group exhibition of a variety of artwork, celebrating all the accomplished art instructors who have shared their knowledge and skills with us over the years, and who continue to inspire us not only with their teaching abilities, but through their own creative artworks.

Exhibiting Artists: Charlie Berger, Brent Billingsley, Mindy Burger, April Cooper, Cedric Michael Cox, Latausha Cox, Whitney Dixon, Mallory Feltz, Ke’Monte’ Figgs, Cherie Garces, Carole Gary Staples, Lynne Gibb, Beth Goldstein, Terence Hammonds, Robin Hartmann, Glenn Hartong, Malinda Hartong, Elliott Jordan, Andy Knolle, Radha Lakshmi, Christine Langford, Karen Linser, William Linthicum, Mary Sue Markey, Adoria Maxberry, Frances Newberry, Terry Oestreicher, Karen Overmyer, Bethany Pelle, June Pfaff Daley, Karen Saunders, Linda Schneider-Houghton, Jeanne Speier, Kate Tepe, Ryan Tinney, Nicole Trimble, Kailah Ware

Artwork image by: Radha Lakshmi, Vibrational Mandala Series 8, Monoprint, 20″ x 20″ unframed, 2021

Each year, Kennedy Heights Arts Center celebrates our talented students with an exhibition featuring original artwork in all media created by the youth and adult students enrolled in KHAC classes. This show presents a wide range of works in fiber art, painting, collage, ceramics, and more, and is sure to inspire artists of all ages! 

Opening Reception is Saturday, April 9 from 6-8pm. Free, open to the public, light refreshments. 

Image credit: Mike by Tepu Juula-Potticary, Charcoal Drawing  

Tellus Zine is a digital publication, led by an all-youth editorial board, showcasing visual art and creative writing by young adults from across
Greater Cincinnati. Tellus’s mission is to provide a platform for young people to express themselves bravely and creatively as a part of our diverse
community. As part of the launch of Issue 003: Life is Change, a selection of works will be displayed in the Outdoor Gallery during the month of April.

Image credit: All of Me: Past, Present, and Future by Cate Hummel, Painting

Kennedy Heights Arts Center is excited to present an exhibition of photographs by Cincinnati photographer Tina Gutierrez titled Covid-19, Coronavirus Wearable Art Response Project, running from May 7 to July 2, 2022.

Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, May 7 from 5-8pm. Free, open to the public, free refreshments. 

This exhibition will be the first time that images of all of the participants will be on view. Selected from over 120 portraits taken over the last two years, Tina Gutierrez has amassed a visual collection of our local community during this historic moment of navigating a pandemic that affects us all. Tina met each participant mainly in parks and wooded areas around the city, photographing them in the elements as a way to measure time visually as the seasons changed.

Participants were asked to respond with clothing, costume, or other wearable art to express how they felt about the coronavirus, quarantine, and social distancing. The garments are mostly comprised of pieces sourced from the participants’ homes during lockdown, since most stores were closed. Many displayed personal empowerment, and in many cases, gathered strength through objects, and adornments. For others, objects and garments of beauty helped them feel reconnected to the world.

A selection of the participants’ original garments and objects will also be on display, alongside the photographs.

“For many, Covid-19 led to isolation and loneliness. For me, this work is about embracing rather than resisting sadness, loss, and discomfort using the creative process. Wearable art allows these emotions to be expressed in a non-verbal, yet extremely powerful visual language. This time of Covid-19 challenges us all, and the act of creating art as a response can be a healing act,” remarked Tina Gutierrez.

Thank you to our Exhibition Sponsors:

FotoFocus Cincinnati 

The Clyde N. Day Foundation

Image credit: “Revealing the Monster” costume by Calcagno Cullen, photograph by Tina Gutierrez

Curated by Saad Ghosn of SOS ART, Printed Voices from Czechia: Social and Cultural Reflections features prints by 31 contemporary printmakers from the Czech Republic. These artists use artwork as their voice and communication tool to reflect on the cultural and social issues they face. 

A printed book of all the works from the exhibition will be given free to visitors (while supplies last).

Join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, July 16 from 6 to 8 pm.

A one day, free Czechia Festival will be held at KHAC on Saturday, July 23 from 11am to 3pm, to share Czechian culture with the Cincinnati community.

Image credit: Patrik Braun, DIALOGUE (ROZHOVOR), etching and aquatint; 19.75×13.75”, image 12.75×9.75”; 2021

Local Eyes, a group of five Cincinnati photographers (Helen Adams, Jymi Bolden, Melvin Grier, Samantha Grier and Amanda Cawdrey) who have curated exhibits of local photography for FotoFocus since 2012, curates a juried group exhibition of images that explores the theme of “What’s Left Behind” – how what we consume, what we collect, and what we discard affects the environment we live in and our lives in the greater context. What record are we leaving behind for future generations?

When you walk into a person’s home, you get a sense of who they are from their belongings. This can also be the case by seeing what we discard. Archaeologists uncover the nature of ancient societies by studying things left behind. What record are we leaving behind today? Trash speaks to a disposable and materialistic society. The popularity of organizing and “tidying” has exploded. We are being encouraged to keep only what “sparks joy.” What we discard exposes our attitudes towards consumption, class, mobility, sustainability, and the environment. The things we regard as trash were at one point something we valued and used, a relationship that is fleeting. Are we becoming a disposable society? Are other areas of our life affected? Are humans themselves disposable?

Scientists sanctioned by the United Nations have gone on record saying humans are fueling a greenhouse effect. Our consumer habits are driving climate change. The production and use of household goods and services contribute greatly to global greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that the average product results in carbon emissions of 6.3 times its own weight. It is estimated that one-third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste. When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. If food goes to the landfill, it produces methane- a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Trash travels through the world’s rivers and oceans where it is often eaten by birds and fish, concentrating toxic chemicals in their tissues, and filling their stomachs, causing them to starve.

Henri Cartier-Bresson wrote “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”

“What’s Left Behind” Curator & Artist Talk
Saturday, October 8 from 12-2pm
Join Curators from Local Eyes as they share more about the exhibition theme, and a selection of exhibiting artists as they speak about their work.

Panel Discussion: Making a Difference – Reducing, Reusing & Recycling
Saturday, October 22 from 12-3pm
Representatives from local organizations that specialize in the fields of reuse, recycling, and food waste will talk about ways people can work toward environmental sustainability.

Image credit: Brad Smith, Junk Collector Louisville Kentucky, Widelux panorama camera – tri x film – black and white fiber print, 1998, 7.5 x 18 inches

This juried group exhibition is a featured exhibition of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial.

The Kennedy Heights Art Center is pleased to announce the exhibition Breathe, the annual group show featuring new works by Kennedy Collective members, on view November 19 – December 31, 2021 in the Kennedy Gallery, located at 6546 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH 45213.

The show includes new and previously unseen works in all media by local artists, including paintings, photography, collages, sculptures, fiber, and more. The exhibition also features Off the Wall: a collection of smaller works for $50 each with half the proceeds going to support Kennedy Heights Arts Center.

Exhibiting Artists: 

Get your holiday shopping done early by browsing our Art Shop & Holiday Art Market with handmade goods made by over 40 different local artists.

The public is invited to join us at the Opening Reception on Saturday, November 19 from 6-8pm. 

Image credit: Cherie Garces, Distractions, acrylic and mixed media (from 2021 Kennedy Collective Exhibition)

Juneteenth Cincinnati presents an exhibition of commissioned new works by 10 artists and 10 poets exploring the promise and reality of “freedom” as experienced by those whose lives and destinies were touched by emancipation. Curated by Michael Coppage (visual art) and MoPoetry Phillips (poetry), the exhibit runs from Feb. 26 – March 26, 2022.

Artists include: Desmond Beach, Mark Anthony Brown Jr., Kierston Ghaznavi, Jeni Jenkins, Fatima Laster, Dave McClinton, Komikka Patton, Blake Pierre, Vitus Shell, Michael Thompson. Poets include: MoPoetry Phillips, Jacqueline “Gifted” Johnson-Wilkinson, Kimberly “Duwaup” Bolden, SoL, Dawn “The Psalmist” Crooks, Victoria Cipriani, Queens Jurnee, Manual Iris, ASlate, Golden Goddess.

This project is made possible by American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Cincinnati, administered through ArtsWave.

Gallery hours: Tuesday and Thursday 12-6pm, and by appointment

Image: DNA Restoration and Repair II 64 codes embedded (detail) by Komikka Patton, 2021.

Aging Beyond Modernism ​is a solo exhibition by local artist Kim Rae Taylor, of portraits documenting many of the women who were an integral part of the art and literary avant-garde in Europe and the U.S. during the early decades of the twentieth century. Through the lens of gender and aging, Taylor looks at the longevity of many of these women, capturing them as they looked as the elderly women they became.

While the numerous “-isms” of twentieth-century Modernism are primarily identified with men, women were a vital, often overlooked force as artists, writers, performers, and art collectors. Often when their lives are examined, it’s specifically within the framework of Modernism, overlooking the work created in the latter part of their lives. The ongoing project serves as a visual extension of Taylor’s research of women artists in the modernist era, their creative development as they grew older, and their personal attitudes about aging itself. To date there are 40 portraits in the series and the project’s main purpose is educational. Paintings will be presented along with biographical information about each woman.

Closing Reception and Artist Talk will be held on Saturday, August 20 from 6-8pm. Talk begins at 6:30. Free, open to the public, light refreshments.

Gallery hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-5pm.

Kim Rae Taylor is a visual artist and educator. She serves as Associate Professor of Fine Art for the University of Cincinnati Clermont College. She received her MFA from the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati, and her BFA from The College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas at Austin. Additional studies include the University of Georgia in Cortona, Italy, and the Metáfora Center for Art Therapy Studies in Barcelona, Spain. She spent more than two decades working as a graphic artist, including work in cartoon animation. She has been an artist in residence at Taipei Artist Village in Taiwan, Red Gate in Beijing, and Cill Rialaig in County Kerry, Ireland. She was the 2021—2022 artist in residence for 2D media at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Taylor works with a variety of themes that draw from nature, language, and gender.

For information: www.womenofmodernism.weebly.com
Artist’s bio: http://www.kimraetaylor.net/about/

Image credit: Portraits of Elizabeth Catlett, Lotte Jacobi, and Pan Yuliang, by Kim Rae Taylor, acrylic paint

This exhibition is in partnership with ArtsWave’s POWER OF HER Initiative.

Talented artists are all around us in our local community! View a variety of diverse artworks created by residents of Kennedy Heights, Pleasant Ridge, Silverton, and Amberley Village. Celebrate the immense creativity that we have right here in our neighborhoods – our local talent!

Masks required inside the gallery. 

Gallery Hours are Tuesdays & Thursdays 12-6pm, and by appointment.

Image: Brenda Maxie (Silverton) with her acrylic painting The Eyes