Press releases and announcements from Ohio's arts organizations
Guest composer Jerry Ascione debuted a new work dedicated to Dr. Stephen L. Gage at the LoveMusic Legacy Concert at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
Read moreCleveland Ballet presents Impressions of Picasso May 31 in the courtyard of the Akron Art Museum, with ballets inspired by Guernica and Harlequin.
Read moreAn outdoor courtyard performance at the Akron Art Museum explored Picasso’s lifelong connection to dance through ballet adaptations of his paintings.
Read moreOpera Columbus has announced the five finalists for its 41st annual Cooper-Bing Competition. The prestigious event, a launchpad for emerging opera talent, will take place on Sunday, May 18th, at the Southern Theatre. Finalists will vie for a $10,000 grand prize among other awards. This year’s competition attracted 284 applicants from around the world, showcasing a wide range of talent and repertoire. The event aims to support and promote the next generation of opera stars and foster operatic arts in the community.
Read moreSummit Artspace named Michael Gill, founding executive director of Collective Arts Network and editor of CAN Journal, as its 2025 Outstanding Literary Artist. Gill has covered Ohio arts since the early 1990s and led CAN Journal to a Best Magazine in Ohio award in 2019.
Read moreSummit Artspace named John Sokol as its 2025 Outstanding Visual Artist. Sokol is an Akron-based painter, printmaker, sculptor, and poet whose work is held by the Akron Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and other institutions.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Art Museum presents “Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism,” an exhibition exploring the intersection of art, food, and identity in late 19th-century France. Featuring over 60 works by artists like Monet and Van Gogh, the exhibition examines how artists depicted societal shifts related to agriculture and dining.
Read moreThe National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened “Faith & (in)Justice” in Cincinnati, an exhibition examining how Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have intersected with social justice movements over two centuries.
Read moreFotoFocus announced the eighth edition of its Biennial, themed ‘The Long View,’ for October 2026. The month-long photography event will span venues across Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.
Read moreThe Canton Museum of Art (CMA) announced its upcoming spring exhibition season, opening on April 29 and running through July 27, 2025. The featured exhibitions include “APEIRON: The Eco-Art of John Sabraw,” which explores environmental themes through the artist’s unique collaborations with scientists. Also on display will be “Art & Activism: Perspectives from the CMA Collection,” highlighting works addressing social issues, and “This Riverbed is a Cradle,” showcasing Michelle Wentling’s fiber art. The museum will host a free opening celebration on May 1 from 5-7 pm, inviting the public to meet the artists and curators. These exhibitions promise to engage visitors with critical conversations about the environment and social justice.
Read moreThe Foundation for Italian Art & Culture (FIAC) has awarded the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) and its Director, Cameron Kitchin, the 2024 Excellency Award for their significant contributions to promoting Italian culture. This honor recognizes CAM’s collaborations with FIAC, including recent projects like the research, conservation, and exhibition of Tintoretto’s ‘Genesis’.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Museum Center will unveil its new exhibition, ‘Barbie™: A Cultural Icon,’ on Friday, April 4, 2025. The exhibition traces the 66-year history of the iconic doll, showcasing her impact on fashion and culture. Visitors can expect to see over 300 artifacts, highlighting Barbie’s evolution and her role as a global phenomenon and a source of inspiration. The display aims to connect with visitors by evoking childhood memories and celebrating Barbie’s cultural significance.
Read moreThe Akron Art Museum marks the city’s 200th anniversary with exhibitions highlighting works by local artists including DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh and rock photographer Janet Macoska.
Read moreOpera Western Reserve will stage Dominick Argento’s monodrama “Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night” at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, featuring Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory senior Kate Tiemens.
Read morePoet and cultural advocate Michelle R. Smith begins a two-year term as the 12th Heights Poet Laureate, leading public readings, workshops and the Ekphrastacy poetry-and-art series.
Read moreThe Toledo Symphony named Matthew Shirey, band director at Northwood Local Schools, as its 2025 Outstanding Music Educator Award recipient. Now in its sixth consecutive year, the award honors K-12 music educators in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
Read moreSPACES gallery in Cleveland and SHED Projects hosted a Semana Santa film screening on April 12, 2025, featuring a 1975 documentary on the Familia Linares and the Mexican paper sculpture tradition of Cartonneria.
Read moreCincinnati Opera held three free Opera Goes to Church! performances in June 2025 at Cincinnati-area churches, blending opera, gospel, jazz, and classical music in partnership with local congregations.
Read moreBalletMet’s 48th season, the first programmed by Artistic Director Remi Wörtmeyer, features North American premieres of his choreography and a world premiere collaboration with a Columbus street artist.
Read moreThe Ohio History Connection announced its 2025 Ohio History Fund grant recipients, distributing $189,660 to 12 organizations statewide. This 13th annual program supports projects focused on preserving and sharing Ohio’s history. Grants will fund initiatives like app development, building restoration, artifact preservation, and enhanced public access to historical resources. Projects range from restoring stained-glass windows at Mt. Tabor Church to rehousing archival materials for the Women Religious Archives Collaborative. Check presentations are scheduled throughout March and April.
Read moreArtsWave has awarded $316,916 through 56 Catalyzing Impact grants to support a wide array of arts and cultural projects throughout the Greater Cincinnati region. The grants aim to foster a vibrant and inclusive arts community and drive economic growth. The program is a key part of ArtsWave’s annual funding initiatives and is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the ArtsWave Community Campaign. This initiative seeks to empower creative endeavors, from youth education to community art installations, underscoring the vital role of the arts in regional vitality.
Read moreThe Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum at Miami University received a $12,500 Buckeye grant from the America 250-Ohio Commission to fund Culture Crops, a photographic portrait project documenting Ohio food growing communities.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Art Museum announced details for its upcoming Art in Bloom event, scheduled for April 24-27, 2025. This four-day celebration will feature 65 floral artists from around the world, inspired by the museum’s collection. The event will also include appearances by social media star Alexis Nikole Nelson, also known as Black Forager, and acclaimed floral artist Natasja Sadi.
Read moreCulture Works awarded $68,284 to 15 Montgomery County artists for projects in visual art, music, floral design, and murals through its 2025 Artist Opportunity Grant program.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) is hosting “MAX Madness,” a tournament where 16 OMNIMAX films compete for the title of champion. Public voting opens on March 3, with updated brackets released weekly until a winner is crowned on March 31. Participants can fill out digital or printed brackets for a chance to win OMNIMAX tickets. The competition includes a variety of film genres, from nature documentaries to historical features. The winning film and the Final Four will be screened again at the OMNIMAX Theater.
Read moreDayton Opera will perform Verdi’s Aida on April 4 and 6, 2025 at the Schuster Center. The production involves more than 100 Dayton-area artists and features choreography by Crystal Michelle of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.
Read moreCleveland Ballet presents Romeo and Juliet May 16-17 at Playhouse Square, closing its 2024-2025 season with Prokofiev’s score and choreography by Robert Weiss.
Read moreCleveland Ballet closed its 2024-2025 season with Romeo and Juliet at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre, featuring choreography by Carolina Ballet’s founding Artistic Director Robert Weiss.
Read moreThe Akron Art Museum opens She Said, She Said: Contemporary Women Artists on March 22, 2025 in the Karl and Bertl Arnstein Galleries. The show draws from the Rubell Museum Collection and runs through August 10, with more than 30 artists in painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation.
Read moreThe Academy of Cleveland Ballet opened registration for its 2025 summer camps, offering four weeks of training led by company professionals.
Read moreArtsWave and meetNKY launched a new grant program offering up to $10,000 per project for creative placemaking in Northern Kentucky.
Read moreThe 2025-26 season themed ‘From Page to Stage’ features Rappaccini’s Daughter, The Old Man and the Sea, and The Anonymous Lover among five productions.
Read moreCincinnati Museum Center and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center are set to host “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” starting October 18, 2025. This exhibition will bring over 500 artifacts and 400 photographs, representing the largest collection of Auschwitz artifacts outside of Europe to be shown in North America. The display aims to educate visitors about the Holocaust and honor the victims. The opening aligns with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp.
Read moreThe 2025 Columbus Arts Festival, produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, ran June 6-8 on the downtown riverfront with more than 250 exhibiting and emerging artists from around the country.
Read moreFotoFocus hosted photographer An-My Le in its 2025 Spring Lecture at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Fath Auditorium on March 6, following her major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
Read moreArtsWave kicked off its 2025 Community Campaign with Triversity Construction’s Mel Gravely as chair, rallying support for the nation’s largest community arts campaign.
Read moreCleveland Ballet’s dancers choreograph and perform their own works at the second annual ChoreoLab, March 8 at the Heights Theater in Cleveland Heights.
Read moreThe Ohio Arts Council approved 75 Individual Excellence Awards totaling $375,000 on January 29, 2025, with $5,000 going to each artist selected from nearly 600 applicants across Ohio.
Read moreCleveland Ballet announced the return of ChoreoLab, featuring original works choreographed by the company’s dancers alongside classical variations.
Read moreThe Dayton Performing Arts Alliance appointed Elaine Gounaris, formerly of the Dayton Art Institute, as vice president for philanthropy.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) has announced that registration for its 2025 Summer Museum Camps will open soon. Camps are available for students entering grades K-6 and will offer themed programs such as Harry Potter, LEGO Movie Magic, and Paleontology. CMC Members can register starting January 29, while the general public can register beginning February 5. These camps aim to provide an engaging and educational summer experience for children.
Read moreArtsWave has awarded $222,000 to 26 BIPOC artists through its 2025 Black and Brown Artist Program, marking the fifth year of this initiative. The grants support artists working in film, dance, literature, music, and visual arts, encouraging them to explore themes of equity and innovation. The program aims to foster a more inclusive arts ecosystem and provides professional development opportunities for the artists. This initiative is a collaboration involving the City of Cincinnati, Duke Energy, and ArtsWave’s donor community. ArtsWave plans to host a showcase event for the funded projects in the coming months.
Read moreJurying for the 2025 Columbus Arts Festival took place January 18-19, with more than 1,000 applicants for 250 spots, the largest pool since 2016, reviewed by a three-person panel.
Read moreTwo Akron museums distribute 500 art supply boxes to families in the North Hill neighborhood through a new community project funded by the Orr Foundation.
Read moreCincinnati has been recognized for the fourth consecutive year as one of the top 20 most arts-vibrant large communities in the U.S. according to the 2024 Arts Vibrancy Index by SMU DataArts. The report, which measures arts supply, demand, and government support, highlights Cincinnati’s significant economic impact and its strength in areas like earned revenue and arts worker compensation. ArtsWave leadership emphasized this ranking as proof of the arts’ role as a key driver of regional vibrancy and its success in attracting creative talent.
Read moreCuyahoga Arts and Culture approved $10.75 million in grants to 300 nonprofits for 2025 arts programming. Grants ranged from $1,505 for small project support to $872,000 for Playhouse Square’s operations.
Read moreThe Cincinnati Museum Center is releasing “Four Cincinnatis and Other Essays,” a compilation of 88 essays by historian Dan Hurley, reflecting on his 45-year career studying the city. The book, a collaboration with Mount St. Joseph University Press, will be available at the museum starting November 25. Proceeds from the sales are designated to support the museum’s History Library and Archives.
Read moreThe Canton Museum of Art (CMA) will unveil four new exhibitions starting November 26, 2024, marking the beginning of its winter season. The centerpiece exhibition, “Bohemian Chrysalis: Unveiling Cleveland’s Infamous Kokoon Klub,” will revisit the influential and avant-garde arts scene in Cleveland during the early to mid-20th century. The museum will also present “Night Visions: Nocturnes in American Art,” exploring artistic interpretations of nighttime. Contemporary artist Kit Palencar’s work will be showcased in “Arriving Somewhere, But Not Here,” focusing on profound mysteries of existence. Lastly, J. Leigh Garcia’s “El Albañil” will feature her work in printmaking, papermaking, and sculpture, delving into themes of identity and heritage. These exhibitions aim to provide a diverse and engaging experience for visitors, celebrating both regional artistic history and contemporary voices. The shows will run until March 2, 2025.
Read moreCleveland Ballet hosts a Nutcracker-themed tea party and fashion show December 8 in partnership with Kent State University’s School of Fashion and designer Lilly Pulitzer.
Read moreThe Cincinnati May Festival appointed five-time Grammy winner Renée Fleming as its 2025 Festival Director, with programming including works drawn from Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and Verdi’s Requiem.
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