The Nation’s Largest Immersive Art Event Highlights the City’s Historic Architecture at Night With Projection Mapping, Murals, and Interactive Light Sculptures

BLINK™, one of the nation’s largest public art events, returns October 2024 with a thrilling roster of some of the brightest and most innovative regional, national, and global artists. In 2022, BLINK saw 2.1 million attendees and $126 million direct economic impact for the Cincinnati region. Following that impressive post-pandemic return in 2022, BLINK, illuminated by ArtsWave, takes on new challenges this year, expanding its physical reach and artist representation for a truly immersive experience.

The culmination of two years of research and outreach, BLINK 2024 welcomes artists and attendees from all over the world to experience never-before-seen works from over 80 featured artists across disciplines. Seamlessly blending technology and art, the event exposes visitors and locals to innovations in projection mapping, murals, and light technology, creating the ultimate celebration of public art in all of its forms. During BLINK, the city glows with vibrant artistic expression, from the historic building facades to the streets themselves.

BLINK, using the city’s urban core—as well as communities in Northern Kentucky right across the river—as their canvas, takes special care to curate works that not only complement Cincinnati, but enhance it, blending the local arts scene with global cultural influence. The #1 city in the US for street art as named by USA Today, Cincinnati presents an impressively balanced blend of renowned arts contributions and new media to offer an all-encompassing view of arts and culture.

Returning Executive Director Justin Brookhart looks forward to demonstrating the nearly unimaginable possibilities, as Cincinnati continues to grow as a cultural hub. “Cincinnati is a place for people to gather and meet and discuss new ideas. The city comes to life at night, and I’m really energized by the idea that more people will get to experience and participate. BLINK is an invitation for people across the country and the world to experience Cincinnati as a wholly immersive and innovative destination.”

As a unique chance to experience the city and the art as never seen before, BLINK is rapidly becoming a pillar of art and technology, drawing participation from other national organizations in tandem. This year, in collaboration with BLINK, the CODAsummit has chosen Cincinnati as their 2024 home. As the only conference focused on the exciting ways creative professionals are using art and technology to change the way we experience our environments, BLINK presents a case study of how public arts and technology can come together to create something awe-inspiring. The vibrant energy of this city on the river, filled with art, music and artful innovations, provides the ideal backdrop for conversations about the future of the creative field.

The line-up is comprehensive with muralists, projection artists, and light-based artists. Muralists  ASTRO, Hoxxoh, Gee Horton, Birdseedanthony, Leon Keer, Chroma Projects, Miss Birdy, Matt Gondeck, Jeks, Wolfdog, Mando Marie, Bunnie Reiss, Pipsqueak was here!!!, Javarri Lewis, and Lauren YS bring large-scale works.

Projection Artists Wendy Yu, Kyle Eli Ebersole, NorthHouse Creative, Spotted Yeti Media, SnellBeast, Miami University Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design, AV EXTENDED, Makoto Inoue, mammasONica studio, Lightborne, DecideKit, Philipp Frank, Studio Betty Mü, GraffMapping, MasonThompson, Brandon Kraemer, Hyojung Seo, Hotaru Visual Guerrilla, Susan Kosti, George Berlin, Mural ReMix, Maxin10sity, Hambone Collective, Anastasia Isachsen, Sean Van Praag, Filip Roca, Tansy Xiao, X Enterprises International, Vince Fraser, Chaske Haverkos, and Scott Budd add complex layers.

Incorporating light-based mediums, artists Christine Langford, JP Leong and Yemi Oyediran, Katie Stewart, Daniel Shields, Robert Blum, Tom Tsuchiya, Bill Thomas, Kevin Kunz, Mallory Feltz, Artur Grycuk, Kyle Eli Ebersole & Ian Molitors, JP Jackson + Brian Havener, Taylor Pilote, Nathan Whitford, WOLFDOG, Claire Bryson, JonBob + Drive Media House, Caitlin McCall, Evan Verrilli, Chalk River Labs, Britni Bicknaver with Brianna Kelly, RADAR ART, Carola Migliore, Juanjo Fernández Rivero, Alan P Marrero, Janez Grošelj, Calidos, This Is Loop, Asianati Night Market, Ksawery Komputery, Building 180, Dennis Nolda, AlexP, and a collaboration with local/regional artists including artists from Art Academy of Cincinnati, Columbus College of Art, and Design and University of Cincinnati (DAAP), light up the Cincinnati skyline.

About BLINK
Last experienced by over 2.1M people in 2022, BLINK, illuminated by ArtsWave, welcomes all to Cincinnati, Ohio October 17-20, 2024. The four-day, 30+ city block, outdoor art experience is sure to be unforgettable, uniting street art, projection mapping, and light-based installations.

Not only does the event speak to the dynamic evolution of the Cincinnati art community, it calls upon the city’s deep roots in supporting the arts. BLINK is illuminated by ArtsWave, the first and largest community campaign in the nation and the primary way that Cincinnati funds its arts. When tens of thousands of people and hundreds of companies give to ArtsWave, they support 150 cultural organizations and projects each year like BLINK that make our region vibrant. Donations to BLINK and other arts projects and organizations can be made at artswave.org/give.

BLINK’s Executive Partners include the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, AGAR, and the Haile Foundation, and the event is curated and produced in conjunction with partners Cincy Nice and ish to provide opportunities for regional artists and bring in global creators all in the pursuit of a stronger community.

About ArtsWave
ArtsWave, the local nonprofit arts agency 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 established 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. Each year, ArtsWave raises millions of dollars from tens of thousands of donors —corporations, employees, foundations, residents and others — to support more than 150 arts organizations, projects and artists. 2024’s goal is to return to pre-pandemic fundraising levels by surpassing $12.5 million. Donations can be made at artswave.org/give.