Dialogues with Artists In the Mary R. Schiff Library 

At this event you will have an opportunity to hear two artists to articulate an answer to the question “Why do you make art and how does this determine your connection to your audience?”, as well as see up close their work. This popular event, now in its seventh year, moved to Thursday’s evenings, as the museum stays open till 8 p.m.

Informal conversation with artists is encouraged. Wine and cheese served. Free. Reservations not required.

Thursday, September 19, 2019 | 6:30–7:30 p.m.

About the artists: 

Image: Still Life with Lady and Violin by Cedric Michael Cox

Photo by Michael Wilson

Cedric Michael Cox is best known for his paintings and drawings which fall between surrealism and representational abstraction. His work expresses themes ranging from mythical literature to the relationships between the physical body, musical allegories, natural, and man-made landscapes. As a student at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, Cox was awarded a fellowship to study at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. After receiving his BFA in Painting in 1999, he began to exhibit locally and nationally.

His numerous exhibitions include the Contemporary Arts Center, Weston Gallery, Dayton Art Institute, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas Moore College and the Taft Museum, as well as galleries and art institutions in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Sacramento among others. Cox currently has work showing at 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati. In support of his efforts in the visual arts and art education communities, the City of Cincinnati awarded Cox the Individual Artist Grant in 2009.  He received a Congressional Award in 2010.

His art has been featured in magazines, on television, and in the college textbook Drawing: Space, Form, and Expression.  In addition to his work being in corporate collections, Cox executed two large-scale public murals for the city of Cincinnati and murals in various Public Schools in the Cincinnati region.

Photo by Grace DuVal

Lindsey M Whittle is a fashion/performance artist who makes colorful, transformable objects as a starting point to collaborate with others. A single piece of her work often has many applications: it can function as an installation, on the wall, as a sculpture, on a body, etc. She works with brightly colored versions of: fabric, wood, foam, paper, make-up, hook and loop tape, acrylic Plexiglas and more. When possible she likes to use materials that are available to avoid waste. Making her work accessible to as many people as possible is also key to her process.

She received a BFA in painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and Master of Design in Fashion, Body, and Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her time in Chicago, she studied under “Soundsuit Artist” Nick Cave, while also maintaining the position of “Master Crafter” at Kiki Magazine.  In 2014 two of Whittle’s exhibitions were sponsored by Velcro Brand. She worked as the creative/wardrobe director for the “Lighting Fires” music video by Olivia Sebastianelli and co-designed light-up costumes for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Lumenocity Light Festival.

Whittle is an Adjunct Professor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where she teaches sewing and performance art. Additionally, she teaches sewing to underserved middle and high school students through the Live it Like You Mean It Foundation. Currently she co-instigate and co-coordinates unique art experiences at PIQUE Art Gallery and Bed & Breakfast.

Thursday, January 9, 2020 | 6:30–7:30 p.m.

About the artists: 

Kim Flora

A graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ms. Flora received honors in both Fine Art and Art History and currently serves as Head of Installation, at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, the industrial coastline continues to inform her work.  Ms. Flora has exhibited at Wright State University, the University of Wisconsin, the Carnegie Arts Center, Manifest Gallery, Wave Pool, as well as the Cincinnati Art Museum.  She was awarded a summer studio in Munich, Germany, through the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and received a City of Cincinnati Individual Artist Grant in 2008.  Flora's work can be found in numerous private and public collections including Baltimore County Public Schools, Tente International, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Jack Casino.

She makes paintings that capture the atmosphere and vibration of her surroundings, with a particular interest in the intersection of nature and architecture. Works are constructed through multiple layers of collage, pigmented wax, and paint that is brushed, scraped, gouged, poured, cut and otherwise manipulated to both revealing and concealing ends. This active, multimedia approach to image making serves to realign fragments of personal narratives while providing space for the viewer to reflect on their own memories and experiences.

Image: Halena Cline, Gemini, mixed media on paper, 12" by 161/2".

Photo by Michael Wilson

Halena Cline

Halena Cline has worked as a studio artist for most of her adult life. She has a studio at Pendelton Art Center in Cincinnati since 1990. Since her first solo show at The Carnegie Arts Center in Covington KY in 1982, her work has shown in many Cincinnati venues and elsewhere in the States: Montana, California, Alabama, among others.  She’s had international exhibits in both Cyprus and Germany. Her work is held in many national and international collections.

She produces work by using mediums that are experimental as well as those that are more traditional, used in a creative way. There is an underlying spiritual quality and philosophy at work in her paintings and ceramic sculptures. Things she likes to focus on are innocence, spirituality, and the influence of things that are often undetectable. There is an illusory slant to her work. Her penchant to put incongruent things into paintings, creating a paradox, is intended to persuade the viewer to analyze how the foreground and background might be related; sort of a mental puzzle.

She maintains a dedication in her work to children’s and women’s issues and those that are vulnerable in today’s society.