The Set - Cincinnati Murals

This month’s “The Set” spans multiple locations with a common theme: wall murals. Cincinnati is well on its way to becoming a city known for its murals. Thanks to ArtWorks, the Contemporary Arts Center, community leadership, business owners, and guerilla artists, Cincinnati has a wealth of wall art. Many of these local murals have appeared on What I Wore 2Day (clicking on any photo will bring you to the original blog post, which often contains alternative views of the mural).

Longworth Hall

Longworth Hall, once a warehouse, has since been repurposed into office and event space. Adjacent to the hall’s parking lot, underneath I-75, you’ll find four murals. The themes: beachside, abstract, floral, and ancient Rome.



Madisonville

We performed Piece of My Heart at the Madisonville Arts Center. The center’s entryway sports a beautiful mural of bits of glass, ceramic, and tile. A wall across the street hosted a Shepard Fairey mural for a few days, before vandals painted over it.


Brighton

Brighton refers to the area bordered by Central Parkway, I-75, the Western Hills Viaduct, and Liberty Street. It’s a depressed area, but has lately become popular with artistic types. It was the home of The Brush Factory and currently houses at least one art gallery. The Mockbee, an event space just on the other side of Central Parkway, anchors the developing, artistic strip. This mural is on the corner of Kindel and Central Avenues:


Over-the-Rhine

There are tons of murals in Over-the-Rhine and along Central Parkway (the southern border of OTR). So far, I’ve only posed with this mural, at the corner of Jackson and 12th street.


...bill often reminds me of other potential blog backgrounds in OTR, but limited light and parking often defeat our attempts to pose in front of area's murals.

Columbia-Tusculum

This eye-catching mural is in the parking lot of Fuel, a local coffee shop, on Riverside Drive. The parking lot also hosts Saturday car shows.



Northside

Like Over-the-Rhine, Northside is rich in murals and graffiti-art. We’ve only begun to explore the possibilities.


The first mural is an old advertisement for Liberty Tire. The second is modeled after Raymond Thunder-Sky's art and is painted on the side of a gallery dedicated to the artist.

Cheviot

This bizarre mural, on the side of Comic Book World on Harrison Avenue, is a new favorite because it’s so colorful and convenient.


North College Hill

I've searched for meaning in this mural every time I've run by the pharmacy on Galbraith Road. I'm stumped, but intrigued.


Covington (Kentucky)

Covington, KY is considered a part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. This mural advertises the Anchor Grill, housed in this building.


I wish more businesses advertised in this way!

I would estimate that we've only used about 15% of the area's murals on What I Wore 2Day. When choosing a mural, we have to consider parking, obstructions (especially parked cars!), and the field of view. Some urban locations are unusable because we simply can't get me and the mural in the shot. Now that we've added a fish-eye and wide-angle lens to our arsenal, we'll be able to experiment with some of these tight locations. We also have to consider height. Beefy is so much taller than I that we either have to find an elevated surface for me to stand upon or a seat for him.

If keep a list of future murals to use as background, but I'd love to hear your suggestions. Leave a comment if you have a mural to recommend or even just more insight about the murals used so far!