Saturday, January 12, 2008

America Starts Here - Cincinnati Highlights

Image from "America Starts Here" exhibit at the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati.

We visited family in Cincinnati over the holidays. Here are two of the notable places we visited. First is the Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati. The building, designed by Zaha Hadid, is extraordinary, and the exhibits were excellent, especially America Starts Here (see image above) featuring collaborative work of artists Mel Ziegler and Kate Ericson.


the fifth floor of the art center is the "Unmuseum," with very cool, interactive displays designed for kids. This is the "sensory elephant" made for children with visual impairments. Each drawer has a different sound or item inside.
next up is Jungle Jim's International Market, a wacky grocery store - sort of a mix of Trader Joe's, 17th Street Market (in Tucson), and Disneyland. they have pretty much everything you can image, and more, complete with giant sculptures of things like an Amish buggy and singing Campbell's soup can. In one little nook you can even watch a video about the history of the market.