Truth & Inspiration Visual Art Exhibition – Featuring Works by Nine Local Artists

Running through August 14, the Truth & Inspiration Visual Art Exhibition – held at Cincinnati Art Museum, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Cincinnati Museum Center – features impactful visual art by recipients of ArtsWave’s Black and Brown Artist Program.

If you look closely at the work in the exhibition, you’ll see that there is pain and heartache. Skepticism. Futility. But also Hope. Imagination. Commitment. These are emotional drivers we can all connect to. If we care about a future where we value all people and all contributions, it starts right here.

Included in this exhibition are the following Artwork and Artists:

• “NEW MOON” by Asha Ama – With “NEW MOON,” fashion designer Asha Ama imagines the future through the power of divine Black female energy and asks if we could replace war, greed and destruction with love, empathy, creativity and humanity.
• “Mood Altering” by Asha the Artist – “Mood Altering” is a painting series and discussion which allows space to acknowledge the deep-rooted effects of racism while breaking down the stigma of mental health in the Black community.
• “REST” by Darnell Pierre Benjamin – “REST” draws inspiration from the Jewish tradition of “sitting shiva”, and invites us to collectively mourn and find serenity through music, meditation and rest.
• “It is Art” by Means Cameron – “It is Art” is a short film about fashion, art and the inevitable ripple effect by entrepreneur and designer Means Cameron.
• “12 Commandments” by Michael Coppage – “12 Commandments,” is a series of life-size bronze sculptures that magnify the impact of police commands on Black people.
• “Amid Exhibition” by Iman Jabrah – “Amid” highlights the voices of Palestinian artists from different places, experiences, nationalities and perspectives to reunite Palestinians in the diaspora through art.
• “Tepozzanilli: Live Stream Transmission” by Rebecca Nava Soto – With “Tepozzanilli”, Rebecca Nava Soto explores her roots after growing up in a world that exoticized, marginalized, suppressed or vilified Mexican Indigeneity.
• “Sanctuaries” by Michael Thompson – Painter Michael Thompson takes on the role of artist as archivist. He portrays sanctuaries morphed by symbolism and surrealism, reflecting interviews conducted at the sites.
• “Story Share” by Kailah Ware – Mixed media artist Kailah Ware’s “Story Share” features local organizations, historians and residents telling stories of resilience and resistance that are a part of the region’s history.

Funding and curation comes through ArtsWave’s Black and Brown artist program. ArtsWave, the region’s engine for the arts, created the program to provide financial support to artists of color in the Cincinnati region to continue to interpret the themes of our times. Each featured artist has created artwork that captures the themes of “truth” and/or “reconciliation.” They were also asked to involve an aspect of collaboration with community members and other partners. This allowed the public to participate in reconciling the moment and imagining a more just and equitable future for the Cincinnati region through the arts.

As you encounter each piece, we invite you to place yourself in the narrative. Inside each piece is a fellow human’s experience. Someone’s “truth.” How is your experience like theirs? How is it different? Each person will see something different, but it’s in that reflection and understanding that we begin to bridge what divides us.