Oct

Sunny Blu at 1212 Jackson

“A great cup of coffee, good music, and love are key ingredients to being a cornerstone in the family.”

Walter Lee (Sonny) Chancellor, Sr.

Sunny Blu Coffee gets its name from the grandfather and father of two of its founders. The original Camp Washington location opened its doors in April of 2019. Now they’re partnering with the Art Academy of Cincinnati at 1212 Jackson Street.

The Art Academy is happy to announce its brand new coffee bar!

Now open in the AAC Student Commons—Monday-Thursday, 8am-4pm—Sunny Blu is serving to-go coffee & espresso drinks, loose leaf teas, fruit smoothies, and food items for breakfast and lunch.

The menu will be ever-evolving based on feedback and seasonal specialties. Offerings include caffeinated and non-caffeinated, as well as dairy and non-dairy options.

“We are always open to suggestions, so whatever wants or needs or thoughts [anyone] may have about what we should carry […] we will do our best to offer it,” says co-owner Janalyn Turner.

Sunny Blu sources high-quality ingredients from local and regional suppliers, such as La Terza Coffee in Lockland and the Bagelry in OTR. Currently there’s a caramel apple cider drink on the menu, made with local apple cider. Flavoring syrups are made in-house. Even the half-and-half is hand-mixed using fresh ingredients from a regional dairy.

This is all part of the art, and the science, of figuring out how to provide quality ingredients at a reasonable price. “We are really big on value,” says Turner. “We want to provide things that you would feel like you couldn’t make at home.”

So stop by the Commons for a delicious beverage or snack. And meet the rotating staff of baristas behind the counter—Daniel, Tiffani, Jada, and Tameka—who also help design the drinks and the menu. They are happy to answer any questions and to take feedback.

For the full “Sunny” experience, check out their main location over in Camp Washington.

Welcome, Sunny Blu!

Oct

Remembering John Ruthven

I was kind of a born naturalist and could draw, and my family realized both of those situations and they geared me towards that,” said wildlife artist John Ruthven, often called “the 20th-century Audubon.”

John Ruthven 1924 – 2020

It is with great sadness to share that the Art Academy of Cincinnati alumnus John Ruthven has passed. John has remained a big part of the Art Academy family since he was a student in 1946. He will be remembered for his art, philanthropy, kindness, and as a person who cared deeply for his community and the conservation of nature. Below we have shared a few examples of the work John contributed to the world and his beginnings at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

“When I was 10 years old, my family signed me up for Saturday morning drawing classes at the Art Academy,” he said. “My teacher’s name was Mr.Goddard, and he was a stickler for capturing the moment. I never forgot it. He would give us a subject… and he’d give us 15 minutes to capture the moment. That was a major thing in my artistic career.”

Ruthven served in the navy during World War II, then spent a year and a half at the Art Academy on the G.I. Bill, receiving a certificate in 1947, and another year at the Central Academy of Commercial Art run by Jackson Gray Storey.

“I rented one room on Gilbert Avenue, right near downtown, and called it ‘Ruthven Studio,'” he said. “I put a sign in the window, ‘I paint anything and everything.’ That really did it. I wasn’t too self-conscious about it because I really could draw. Someone walked into my studio one day and said, ‘I saw your sign in the window. Do you do cartoons?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ He said, ‘Well, I’m starting a new business. It’s going to be called Play-Doh. I need a Play-Doh boy.’ And I said, ‘I’d love to do that.’ Talk about an opportunity. And so, for 15 years I did most of the Play-Doh company’s artwork.”

In 1960, Ruthven painted the Federal Duck Stamp, and his career took off. He specialized in wildlife paintings, especially birds. “I knew birds very well,” Ruthven said. “From my early association with Audubon and studying wildlife in general, I was never without my binoculars, studying birds.”

Ruthven’s formal relationship with the Great Parks began in 1973 when he dontated an original painting of a chipmunk to the park district for use promoting the successful 1973 park levy campaign. Though Ruthven says he crafted the painting at Woodland Mound, it, fittingly, is displayed at the Sharon Centre in Sharon Woods. Sharon Woods was a favorite park of Ruthven as a child and it remained his favorite county park throughout his life.

Cincinnatians may be most familiar with Ruthven’s mural “Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon” at the corner of Seventh and Vine streets. The original painting was created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Marth’s death, and the extinction of the species

Ruthven Talks About Martha

In 1972, Ruthven earned the distinction of being named the first Artist of the Year by Ducks Unlimited. Ruthven contributed paintings for prints that have raised nearly $2 million to protect and preserve wetlands in North America. His painting of a cardinal for Ohio’s most popular license plate raised more than $5 million for the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

He will be greatly missed. We love you John.

Sep

Enriching Art Education in Public Schools

Amanda Hudson is a Cincinnati-based abstract painter who serves as a Community Education Instructor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In this role, she teaches after-school art to kids in Norwood City Schools through a program called Avenues for Success.

Enriching Art Education in Public Schools

Hudson still remembers the look on students’ faces when she showed up for a class with thirty boxes of pantyhose from the Dollar Store, along with wire cutters, wire, needles, and thread. Everyone was skeptical.

“They were looking at me like ‘this isn’t an art supply,’” recalls Hudson. But once she introduced them to artist Lee Bontecou, it began to make more sense.

“I try to base [projects] on an artist in history and what they were influenced by and why they used these materials.”

So by the end of their Bontecou-inspired project, everyone had taken their canvas, poked holes in it with wire, stretched pantyhose over the wire, and painted the pantyhose. Because “anything is an art supply!”

With Avenues for Success, Hudson is consciously carving out space beyond the pressures of the school day. If kids have been using a pencil all day, she wants to bring in other materials. If they’ve been following instructions non-stop, she wants to support them in exploring and expressing their own opinions.

Growing up in small-town Indiana came with its own pressures and challenges, says Hudson, but working with “at-risk” kids in Indianapolis during art school opened her eyes to another level of pressure. The stakes can be really high to get good grades.

“I just feel like they’re so scared of saying the wrong thing—[like] they’re gonna get docked for it somehow.”

So when Hudson moved to Cincinnati and began teaching through the AAC, she had some specific ideas for enriching art education.

“I did not want the class to be arts and crafts. And I didn’t want it to feel like an extended time at school… I didn’t want there to be any kind of pressure. I just wanted them to be comfortable with the materials and to be versed in art […] I’ve tried to bring in art history and put it on a level of primary school, to where [kids] could understand… We [also] look at things around the city.”

Whether it’s Charlie Harper at the Cincinnati Zoo or the murals at Union Terminal, if a student can recognize an artist that’s familiar to them, it helps reinforce art as something relevant and accessible.

Hudson is quick to identify the ways that teaching in urban neighborhoods has shaped her work in the studio.

“I couldn’t turn it off when I went home. And if I couldn’t turn it off, of course, it was going to come out in my work,” says Hudson. “The places—that’s kind of what spoke to me. Those places where I knew what went on, I knew who lived over there […] I would take pictures of architecture and then abstract them into my paintings.”

As a practicing artist, Hudson pulls lessons from her own work and brings them back into the classroom.

“Yes, I am a painter—that’s what most of my shows are,” she tells students, “but you don’t have to stay within the square of the painting. You can go outside of that.”

Sep

Brown Bodies Bending

The Black Lives Matter Mural, located on the 12th street side of our building, was vandalized last week. Art Academy Professor and Chair of Illustration, David Michael Butler, created the mural this past June in support of the Black Live Matter movement. David knows this will not be the last time he’ll have to make a statement surrounding these types of acts, but he also knows there are many things we can do to make sure people learn from actions like these.

“The symbolic act of looking at a Black and Brown womyn state her experience, then approaching her to impose your views, and touch her body without consent is an unfortunate reality Black and Brown womyn/people deal with all the time.

The person who felt empowered to do this is not original. They feel comfortable violating Black/Brown bodies, and they do not care about the Black/Brown experience, which is the point!

Black/Brown bodies (especially womyn ) coddle your guilt. We bend to protect your feelings, your opinions, and your egos. Instead of observing, listening, holding your tongue, stilling your hand, reflecting on your role, your response to our voice is this.

It may seem minor to you, but actions like these perpetuate the same misogynistic, racist, aggressive, and harmful things Black/Brown people deal with on a micro and macro level. So doing this, especially when no one can see you, doesn’t make you a bigger person, it only makes you smaller than you already are. Do better. Unlearn….. and for once, bend. “

David Michael Butler, AAC Illustration Chair

Aug

All Li es Matter

Ask Hank

A Virtual Event with Artist and Activist Hank Willis Thomas

The Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) in partnership with the Cincinnati Art Museum is pleased to host Ask Hank, a virtual Q&A with internationally acclaimed artist, Hank Willis Thomas. The event is open to the public and will take place Thursday, September 3, from 6:30-7:30 pm on the Art Academy’s Facebook page.

As an action of open social engagement and equality, the public may pre-submit questions to the artist about his artistic practice, community organizing, and activism. The questions will be gathered by Nathaniel Stein, Associate Curator of Photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Emily Hanako Momohara, Associate Professor of Studio Art at the Art Academy.

Coinciding with the virtual event, Thomas’ billboard “All Li es Matter” will be on display on the Art Academy’s Over-the-Rhine campus, September 2-November 9. The billboard was originally on view in 2018 as part of For Freedoms 50 State Initiative. For Freedoms was founded in 2016 as the first-ever artist-run Super PAC for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action.

Thomas’ billboard was inspired by the hashtag #AllLivesMatter, created in opposition to #BlackLivesMatter.“His response directly addresses the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Momohara. “There is a need for equitable social structures and for black Americans to be enfranchised.”

Momohara and Thomas have worked together before. In 2008, he was an artist in resident at the Art Academy through the former Lightborne Lecture Series. 2018 Momohara curated the Ohio Artists For Freedoms exhibition at Art Academy in response to the For Freedoms 50 State Initiative.

“Bringing artists like Hank Willis Thomas to the Art Academy is essential to our student experience not just for students of color but for all students to understand the fabric of our country and how each of us plays a role in a better future.”

Hank Willis Thomas

HANK WILLIS THOMAS (b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture.

His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad including the International Center of Photography, New York; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain; Musée du quai Branly, Paris; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, and the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Netherlands.

Thomas holds a B.F.A. from New York University, New York, NY (1998), and an M.A./M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2004). He received honorary doctorates from the Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, MD and the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, Portland, ME in 2017.

In 2019, Thomas unveiled his permanent work “Unity” in Brooklyn, NY. In 2017, “Love Over Rules” permanent neon was unveiled in San Francisco, CA, and “All Power to All People” in Opa Locka, FL.

Submit your questions for Hank Willis Thomas HERE.

Aug

AAC Welcomes The Red Door Project!

“I started The Red Door Project because everyone sees art differently – and everyone deserves to have their work valued and appreciated,”

Barbara Hauser

Red Door Gallery Founder

“The mission of the Red Door Project completely aligns with the history of the Art Academy of Cincinnati. I can think of no better partnership than the Red Door Project being powered by the Art Academy of Cincinnati!”

Joe Girandola

Art Academy of Cincinnati President

Art Academy of Cincinnati Welcomes The Red Door Project!

Artists all over Cincinnati have been coming together for over six years to participate in The Red Door Project. Founded in 2014 by Barbara Hauser, The Red Door Project is a popular pop-up gallery featuring work from hundreds of local artists. In March, The Red Door Project transitioned over to the Art Academy of Cincinnati under the new name, The Red Door Project, powered by the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

This uniquely themed monthly auction has popped-up in vacant buildings, cultural institutions, and prominent galleries, and has put thousands of dollars into the local art economy. The Art Academy plans on using any funds raised through these auctions to create a scholarship fund for non-traditional Art Academy students.

Lost & Found

The theme for the August show is “Lost and Found” and will be popping-up at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s, Art Climb. Masks and social distancing required.

The artwork is due August 22nd, from 9 AM – 6 PM, at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street.

Artist Registration

Red door facebook

Exhibition Details and Contact Information:

WHO: Red Door Project and the Art Academy of Cincinnati, with support of the Cincinnati Art Museum
WHAT: Lost and Found
WHEN: Final Friday, August 28, 6-10 pm
WHERE: Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art Climb, Corner of Gilbert and Eden Park
COST: Admission and reception are free and open to the public, masks are required.

Aug

CMF Outdoor Museum

“So most of us Black creatives love it when we get the chance to celebrate ourselves living our lives, enjoying our communities, connecting with one another, building with one another. Celebrating Black joy and showing the world that we are here, now!” – David Michael Butler

CMF Outdoor Museum

Washington Park, located in downtown Cincinnati, has transformed into a gallery for a public art exhibition focusing on community, unity, music, and celebration. The CMF Outdoor Museum features work from 15 local artists of color, including AAC students, faculty, and alum.The art will be on display from July 25-September 7, 2020.

The artists were chosen by three project leads, Gee Horton, self-trained hyperrealism visual artist and a key player in artist recruitment for the recently completed Black Lives Matter mural, David Michael Butler, SoRealist artist, and Assistant Professor/Illustration Chair, Art Academy of Cincinnati, and Pam Kravetz, artist, educator, and AAC board member. Individuals were selected with the goal of increasing opportunities for local artists of color to exhibit their art throughout the community.

“Much of CMF is steeped in celebrating diversity and this year, with a special focus on celebration, community, and local impact, we wanted to shine a light on local artists of color,” said Barbara Hauser, P&G Community Relations Manager. “As we celebrate this weekend, our hope is that we continue to stay focused in our fight for racial equality but also highlight the need for joy and positivity during these challenging times.” “P&G and our brands have stepped up our efforts to advance equality for all and especially for Black Americans with our Take on Race Fund, and we look forward to doing more in the weeks, months and years ahead. At P&G, we know that an equal world is a better world, for everyone, and we have the opportunity and the responsibility to use our voice for good.”

ArtsWave President & CEO Alecia Kintner added that “This art exhibition is another way that the arts connect us and an opportunity to help artists, who have been challenged by the ongoing pandemic and social justice issues of today.” Artist lead Horton noted, “I think this is a great example of the role visual artists can play in carrying on the Cincinnati Music Festival’s legacy during the unprecedented hiatus.” Artist lead Butler added, “So most of us Black creatives love it when we get the chance to celebrate ourselves living our lives, enjoying our communities, connecting with one another, building with one another. Celebrating Black joy and showing the world that we are here, now!”

LaDe Richardson, AAC Student

Kyros Barton, AAC Alum 2020

Colorful abstract painting by Cedric Michael Cox

Cedric Michael Cox, AAC Community Education Instructor

Two young people of color plauing a hand game. A third figure is in the background watching them.

David Michael Butler, AAC Chair of Illustration

About the Cincinnati Music Festival

The Cincinnati Music Festival began in 1962 and is one of the largest music festivals in the United States attracting over 90,000+ people from around the country with its roster of leading R&B, jazz, soul and hip-hop artists creating an economic impact of $107 million for Cincinnati. CMF is held at Paul Brown Stadium in partnership with the Cincinnati Bengals. 2020 marks the sixth consecutive year in which P&G has supported the Cincinnati Music Festival as a presenting sponsor.

About ArtsWave

ArtsWave, a nonprofit serving the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Region, is the engine for the arts. Its roots stem back to the late 1920s when the Cincinnati Taft family provided initial investment matched by community support. In the late 1940s, it evolved to become the first united arts fund in the nation and in the mid-1970s, the first organization to initiate workplace giving for the arts. ArtsWave continues to innovate while leading, as illustrated by its No. 1 rank nationally in community arts fundraising; coordination of a sector-wide Blueprint for Collective Action; piloting of new technologies to maximize arts engagement; and development of resources for the arts.

ArtsWave is focused on helping the Cincinnati Region’s arts sector weather the coronavirus crisis. The region’s arts sector has an economic impact of more than $300 million annually and includes more than 225 organizations throughout Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana that employ 10,000+ individuals as artists, performers and staff. The sector was hit at the onset of the coronavirus crisis, when venue and performance closures were announced in early March. ArtsWave has accelerated $2.4 million in grant payments for 44 organizations which receive operating revenues, expanded its $10,000 Working Capital Bridge Loans for eligible arts organizations, and has provided Emergency Arts & Culture Organization grants to 47 organizations. The public can help fund these and additional, evolving efforts at artswave.org/give.

Jul

Meet Our New Head of Design

Meet our new Head of Design, Jennifer Tausch. Tausch is a highly accomplished Branding Visionary and Creative Director with an extensive track record of success delivering the leadership, strategies, and creative insights to propel brands to new levels of performance.

Portfolio

A Journey into Design with Jennifer Tausch

Long before becoming Head of Design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Jennifer Tausch was a high school kid showing up at the AAC for an afterschool drawing class. She’d been singled out to participate in the high school honors program.

“I’m sixteen and I’m all excited to be there, thinking we’re going to draw apples,” she recalls. “I got there, and it was nude drawing.”

The experience was memorable, but more importantly, it put art school on the radar.

Tausch ended up at the University of Cincinnati DAAP where she discovered the field of Design. That changed everything.

She shifted focus to graphic design, and her hometown opened up in a new way.

“Cincinnati is such a great hub for graphic design, but also for strategic design,” says Tausch.

While working for local product-focused companies such as P&G and LPK, strategy became central to her thinking. She directed creative teams that managed feminine care brands across multiple countries and markets.

“I learned a lot of strategic thinking from industrial designers.”

Around that time, Tausch began teaching strategy classes at the AAC. Then her career took her to New York City and, most recently, Lafayette, Louisiana.

While in Lafayette, Tausch directed the brand and creative team for the largest jewelry manufacturer in North America.

She found herself conducting creative sessions involving gemstones and security guards. And she sent team members to conferences in New York and Chicago, eager to connect them to the broader Design community that she’d benefited from.

Tausch gets excited to see designers connect the dots in new ways. This is one reason she loves working with students.

Now as the AAC Head of Design, Tausch looks forward to helping students discover their paths and learn the tools of the trade through realistic projects and client interactions.

She views the Art Academy of Cincinnati—and its surrounding design community—as fertile ground for learning to think critically and visually communicate your ideas.

“There’s a balance we can strike with the Design program—to be creative problem solvers and conceptualizers, but also having killer technique and hand skills.”

She says it’s also fertile ground for taste-testing different applications and modes of Design. This allows students to learn more about themselves, while building a portfolio that opens doors.

“It’s really about your process, and it’s about your creative thinking,” says Tausch, reflecting on her own Design journey.

Looking back on where that journey began, Tausch can’t help but think of the high school art teacher who saw her potential and got her into the AAC drawing class.

“She said, ‘I think you should be a teacher, and I think you should consider the Art Academy,’” Tausch recalls. “It’s wild.”

Jewelry promo design example from Tausch.

Jun

Anti-Racism + BLM Support Resources

This list of resources has been provided by our students, faculty, staff and alumni. This list is ongoing and will continually be updated. If you have additional resources you would like to see on this list, please submit HERE.

Cincinnati Black-Owned

Donate

Cincinnati Bail Out Fund Bail for detained Cincinnati BLM protesters.

Cincinnati Relief Fund Financial assistance for the recently incarcerated during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The Bail Project National Revolving Bail Fund is on a mission to combat mass incarceration and reshape the pretrial system in the United States.

National Bail Fund Made up of over sixty community bail and bond funds across the country.

National Lawyers Guild Law for the people. Uniting lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers to function as an effective force in the service of the people by valuing human rights and the rights of ecosystems over property interests.

Reclaim the Block Organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety.

Minnesota Freedom Fund Bail for protesters who have been arrested. Fights to end cash bail.

Columbus Freedom Fund Bail for protesters who have been arrested.

Louisville Community Bail Fund Bail for protesters who have been arrested. Fights to end cash bail.

Split Donation Between Bail Funds

George Floyd Memorial Fund

Communities Against Police Brutality A Minneapolis–Saint Paul based organization that was created to deal with police brutality on an ongoing basis.

Campaign Zero Supports the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.

Boycott

Businesses that use Prison Labor

Books For a list of black-owned book stores, click here.

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

Podcasts

1619

Code Switch

Intersectionality Matters

Educate

White Homework When you’re asking yourself, “What can I DO about racism?”

The White Pages White people and racism- how we do and don’t talk about it, why we haven’t made much progress on it and what breaking that pattern might look like.

Watch

The First Time I Realized I was Black

Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives

4 Black Lives Matter Myths Debunked

Below is a list of films that can be rented or streamed online. List compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein

13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent
Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent for free in June in the U.S.
King In The Wilderness — HBO
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix

Additional Resources

75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

Anti-Racism Project

Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)

Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism

Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac

Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits

The [White] Shift on Instagram

“Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie

Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials

When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels

Jun

Outrage Over Recent Tragic Events

Dear Art Academy of Cincinnati students,

The last few months and most recently the last few days we have witnessed the full scope of racial tensions that have gripped the United States for centuries. The Art Academy of Cincinnati is making a statement to condemn the acts of the police officers in Minneapolis in the death of George Floyd, the shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, GA.

Humanity should be outraged with these acts of terror.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati stands for justice, truth, empathy, and the belief that life should be honored and respected. This miscarriage of justice and the handling of events that have evolved to represent a systemic problem that needs to be addressed locally, nationally, and globally. Our black students uniquely confront challenges that others do not face. We want our students to understand that the Art Academy of Cincinnati acknowledges that structural, systemic, historical, and intersecting forms of oppression require our ongoing attention, action, innovation, and leadership for positive change. The AAC is committed to protecting the rights of the diverse population of students of color understanding that their situation is uniquely theirs in the context of humanity and in the scope of higher education. More information can be found here as we continue to learn how to be successful moving forward in supporting all of our students: https://www.aicad.org/principles-on-dei/

In November of 2019, The Art Academy of Cincinnati established the Corrina Mehiel Center for Urban Impact in collaboration with Mel Chin’s S.O.U.R.C.E. STUDIO. This initiative will bring diverse woman artists to Cincinnati to work within the community of Cincinnati. The first two Corrina Mehiel Fellows, Monique Muse Dodd and jackie sumell were scheduled to engage with the AAC and the city this Summer and Fall but have been delayed due to the events surrounding COVID 19. Updates will be forthcoming regarding their visits to Cincinnati.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati also is committing to establishing a committee that includes students, faculty, staff, alumni, board members, and OTR community members to begin to address pathways forward looking at many of the following:

*Implementing diversity and inclusion/sensitivity training for faculty/staff to help ensure that we all have adequate foundation to work from: This process is ongoing and is required every year.

*Surveying students, faculty, staff, board, and alumni for perspective and experiences. This survey will be sent in September of 2020 and will be completed at the start of every semester.

*Reaffirming or creating a mechanism for response/input to personal experiences on campus/class. This will be in place by the start of the Fall 2020 Semester.

*Reviewing/updating our vision, mission, operating principles, and codes of conduct to be sure they are comprehensive. This process will begin in September.

*Establish strategic partnerships with organizations in OTR/City. This process is ongoing.

*Partnering with organizations to host conversations and discussions on the issues, opportunities, and necessary changes that underlie the systemic issues we see. This process is ongoing.

*Adapting curriculum to include more inclusive thinking, or explicitly tackle these issues. This process will be addressed by the Academic Management Team.

*Investing in resources that enable peer mentorship and stress/anxiety services that address the unique challenges that confront our black students. This process will begin in September.

This is just the start of a conversation and we welcome your input as we move forward attempting to understand the tragic past and present systemic racism, and to navigate towards a better and more just future.

Our thoughts are with the Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery families and of all persons of color that have been jeopardized through centuries of systemic racism. As the city of Cincinnati also engages in the conversation, we ask each of you to be safe, care for one another in this difficult time, and stay connected with us if you are in need of assistance.

Much love,

Joe Girandola, President

Paige Williams, Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Tysonn Betts, Chair, Board of Trustees

Art Academy of Cincinnati