"Happy Cincinnati" work in progress

A few months ago, local Cincinnati artist Shannon Godby posted some photographs of Cincinnati on Facebook that really caught my attention and inspired me. Graciously, he gave me permission to use those photos for reference, so this is a small 8 x 10 sketch I started working on for a larger "Happy Cincinnati" painting.

There are 2-3 more I'll play around with in acrylics at this size before composing what I want to paint on a larger 24 x 30" canvas.

My Work in City Hall -- Vice Mayor David Mann's Office

Although my original 3 x 4 ft. acrylic painting was purchased by a private collector, visitors to Vice Mayor David Mann's offices on the third floor of Cincinnati's City Hall will see a reproduction of this and some of my other paintings, plus more Cincinnati-themed work by local artists. What a thrill!

City Hall, at 801 Plum St. (corner of 8th and Plum) is a work of art itself and well worth a visit. In addition to the beautiful stained glass windows lighting the main stairwell (Tiffany?), look at this display of which floor the elevator is on; unique!

Walking up to the front door of City Hall, I noticed this historic marker under a tree for the first time. It's probably been there all along and I just never looked. Considering my typographic background as a graphic arts student, Compugraphic, and Linotype employee, imagine my delight when I read what it says about how the International Typographical Union was founded here in the nineteenth century, considering how I saw it transformed by desktop publishing.

How often do we fail to appreciate our hometowns the way tourists would? How many other things in Cincinnati will delight me if I just take the time to look?

As I write this today, I'm thinking about former Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan with gratitude. She was the catalyst for getting groups of local artists together to hold a Candidates Night for City Council last fall, where we talked about Cincinnati's Arts Ambassador fellowships and other ways council members could support local artists. Even though Laure's no longer on council, I believe her actions directly contributed to having local artwork like mine displayed in City Hall today, as well as in the restoration of those fellowships.