CAC Brings Global Art Project to Cincinnati

Famous Street Artist's TED Prize Wish, Inside Out, Comes to Cincinnati
Communities Across Region Excited to Participate in Large-Scale Global Art Project

CINCINNATI, OH – The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC)—one of the nation's oldest and most celebrated contemporary art institutions—has spearheaded an effort to bring the global art project, Inside Out, to communities across the Greater Cincinnati area.

What is the Inside Out Project?
The Inside Out Project was created by French street artist, JR, who won the 2011 TED Prize that grants a wish to change the world. JR’s TED Prize wish was to create a movement in which people stand up for what they care about by contributing to a large-scale, participatory art project. The Cincinnati group action that the Contemporary Arts Center has organized, is part of that world-wide project focused on the power of art and ideas to change perceptions, attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.

What is happening in Cincinnati? How did community groups throughout the region get the opportunity to be involved?
Instead of executing just one project at one location, the CAC decided to provide the opportunity for the entire community to get involved through an innovative process allowing groups to maintain their own voice while still being part of a united regional effort.

“The Contemporary Arts Center is providing an overall umbrella and support system, helping people from all over Greater Cincinnati take part and have a voice. By taking this approach and shaping the CAC initiative as we have, our whole region is able to participate in an important way,” explains Raphaela Platow, the Contemporary Arts Center’s Alice & Harris Weston Director & Chief Curator, “and we are excited to be involved with Inside Out in such an unprecedented way.”

To date, the CAC’s Cincinnati group action is the only organized regional initiative in the project made up of multiple, independent community groups. “The CAC is proud of our place in the community and we take that role seriously. Immediately after JR announced his wish, we started hearing from people all across the region. We knew we had the opportunity to make this happen, and so we did it. We didn’t think twice about it.”

Why is this happening in Cincinnati, and how did it come about?
This all started at the end of February with the opening of the ground-breaking exhibition Keith Haring: 1978-1982. “JR came to the Contemporary Arts Center to celebrate the opening of our Keith Haring show, just days before accepting the TED Prize in March. He spoke before a filled-to-capacity crowd at the CAC, and his message really resonated with the community here,” says Platow. “We always had plans to do public art projects during the run of the Keith Haring show, highlighting artists from around the world who are continuing Haring’s legacy. The mural on 5th Street by Portuguese street artist, Vhils, was the first in that series to go up. But after JR’s TED wish was announced, we started thinking about how we could incorporate an Inside Out project into the mix. Then, requests from the community started rolling in. People were turning to us for information on how to bring this to Cincinnati. That’s when we shifted gears a bit and decided to facilitate a bigger initiative, to help different groups from around the area who wanted to contribute to this incredible project in their own way.”

Will there be a pasting at the Contemporary Arts Center?
The week of August 15, the Contemporary Arts Center will paste portraits from each of the groups on the external portion of the ‘urban carpet” (the curved wall) on the Walnut Street façade of its building at 44 E 6th Street (the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art), in downtown Cincinnati. This display will be updated periodically to include groups as they execute their respective projects.

Who are the groups? How does the media contact them?
Each community group is self-organized, has created their own statement and has their own unique story to tell. Further, they have all devised extremely creative ways to display the portraits they have taken. Groups participating in the CAC’s Cincinnati group action include:

ArtWorks Marian Kelly, Marian@artworkscincinnati.org
Fitton Center for Creative Arts Jodi Fritsch, Jodi@fittoncenter.org
The Center for the Arts, Wyoming Milan Dukic, director@musicartdance.org
Choices Café Mike Moroski, Moroski@choicescafe.org
OTR Matters Seth Schott, otrmatters@gmail.com
Evanston Sean Rhiney, rhineys@xavier.edu
BowTie (Dhani Jones’ Organization) Chad Williamson, chad@bowtiecause.org

The Contemporary Arts Center gratefully acknowledges The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation for the funding that makes these public artworks possible.

Press inquiries: Molly O’Toole motoole@contemporaryartscenter.org 513.345.8404
Press images: http://flickr.com/gp/cacpress/Vib85K/

To request interviews with TED staff or JR; or for comments about the TED Prize, TED, JR, or the Inside Out Project, contact Erin Allweiss at insideoutproject.net@gmail.com.
For information on JR’s TED Prize wish visit http://www.insideoutproject.net/

ABOUT THE INSIDE OUT PROJECT
Inside Out is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images are made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators, for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or as part of a group. Posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window, to a wall of an abandoned building, or in a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and be made available online at http://www.insideoutproject.net/. The INSIDE OUT project is a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED Prize (watch JR's TED talk here).

ABOUT THE TED PRIZE
The first TED Prize was awarded in 2005, born out of the TED Conference and a vision by the world's leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and entertainers to change the world – one wish at a time. The reward: $100,000, the TED Community's array of talent and expertise, and the leadership of a TED Prize team led by Amy Novogratz. What began as an unparalleled experiment to leverage the resources of the TED Community to spur global change has evolved into one of the most prestigious prizes. From Bono's the ONE Campaign ('05 recipient) to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution ('10 recipient), the TED Prize is helping to combat poverty, take on religious intolerance, improve global health, tackle child obesity, advance education, and now inspire art around the world. For more information on the TED Prize, visit www.tedprize.org.

ABOUT THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER
Founded in November 1939 as the Modern Art Society by three visionary women in Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center was one of the first institutions in the U.S. dedicated to exhibiting the art of our time. In May 2003, the CAC relocated to its first free-standing home, the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, designed by Zaha Hadid. Throughout its distinguished history, the CAC has earned a reputation for stimulating thought and introducing new ideas by presenting the work of diverse artists from around the world, including hundreds of now-famous artists such as Laurie Anderson, Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, Nam June Paik, I.M. Pei, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol. The CAC focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media, presenting six to 12 exhibitions and over 20 performances annually. The CAC receives ongoing support from: Fine Arts Fund; Ohio Arts Council; The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, City of Cincinnati Arts Grant Recipient; The National Endowment for the Arts; the generous contributions and grants of individuals, corporations and other foundations; CAC memberships, facility rentals, special events and sales from the CAC Store. The Contemporary Arts Center is located in the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art / 44 East 6th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio / 513.345.8400 www.contemporaryartscenter.org

Gallery hours:
Monday: 10am–9pm (FREE after 5pm thanks to Macy’s)
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday-Friday: 10am–6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am–6pm
CAC Store hours:
Store is open during normal museum hours and Tuesday: 11am-6pm
The museum is closed on Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
CAC Admission:
Adults: $7.50; Seniors (65+): $6.50; Students w/ID: $5.50; Children (3-13): $4.50; Members and Children under 3: FREE