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Arts & Entertainment News

Will Over-the-Rhine Be Able to Hold On to Its Neighborhood Leaders and Organizers?

Each year the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce recognizes outstanding individuals and businesses within the neighborhood at their annual Star Awards event. This year’s event will take place at The Transept on Wednesday, March 16 at 4pm, and will feature Harvey Lewis as the keynote speaker.

Last year, Jai Washington was honored with the Individual Contribution of the Year award for her years of involvement in the neighborhood.

Washington told UrbanCincy that she was pleasantly surprised to receive the award last year, but says she has long been in love with Over-the-Rhine for a variety of reasons.

“I was nominated by good friend and coworker at the Peasley Neighborhood Center,” she said. “I believe it stems from two things – I have been involved with community most of my career, but I have also become more involved and present at the chamber as their community outreach liaison. They were able to see in real-time what I’m involved with in the community.”

Her engagement, however, extends far beyond her current roles at the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and the Peasley Neighborhood Center. Over the years Washington has worked or volunteered at Inktank, Elementz, Future Leaders OTR, ArtsWave, Black Family Reunion Festival, Cincy Cinco, and even at Fox19 for some time as a citizen reporter.

While being firmly connected with Over-the-Rhine, Washington says that she actually first became connected with the neighborhood while living in Wyoming and commuting to OTR for work at Iris Book Café on Main Street. After that, in 2009, she started Cincinnati Conscience – a radio show on Media Bridges – which is what many people still know her for today.

“This provided me a fertile ground to meet people,” Washington explained. “I would interview people in the neighborhood who were trying to make a difference.”

Of course, such a rooted history in Over-the-Rhine means that Washington has seen the neighborhood change over time. That change, she says, has brought both good and bad particulars with it; and it is her hope, in her next endeavor, to help raise the level of conversation and discourse about what is happening in the neighborhood.

“I think the changes are beautiful and bittersweet. OTR, in its rawness in the 80s and late 70s, had this bad rap of being an island of misfit toys, but it was also a place of refuge for me early on in life. I found it difficult to find my place in the city, but OTR was this place where I was welcome, and it didn’t matter my race, gender, or sexual orientation. History, necessity, and location brought us all together.”

This shared story, as Washington explains it, is defined by the city and neighborhoods in which we work and live. These physical and cultural experiences, regardless of who you are or where you come from, are things that can tie people together.

“I want to be a facilitator of our shared story,” Washington explained. “Political correctness has done us a disservice in that we’ve lost shared stories; and I want to provide the opportunity to people to share these stories in a very professional way.”

One such way she might go about doing this is through guided walks. By engaging people in such activities, Washington believes people can connect in a very raw manner while also connecting with the city’s past.

“I want the world to know that the misfits matter. They are still here holding the place for those coming here now,” Washington concluded. “We have gone from a place for the misfit toys, to Disneyland; and I’m not sure I will be able to afford to live here much longer.”

“The middle is being whittled away; and I’m saddened by that because I’ve invested so much in this community.”

Many efforts are being made to maintain Over-the-Rhine as a diverse and inclusive place, but as the pace of development gains more speed, it will become more important than ever for city leaders to determine priorities and craft policies in a way to make sure OTR doesn’t lose one of its stars.

We will find out who will be this year’s individual stand-out next month.

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Up To Speed

Media Bridges to close by the end of 2013

Media Bridges to close by the end of 2013

Media Bridges, “Cincinnati’s Community Media Center,” will be shutting down this year due to a lack of funding. The organization currently operates Cincinnati’s public access television stations, a radio station, and provides training and equipment to allow members of the community to create video and audio productions for these outlets.

Up until 2011, the organization was funded by Time Warner Cable, as required by the state of Ohio. After TWC lobbied the state to end this requirement, the City of Cincinnati stepped in to provide temporary funding for one year. However, funding was eliminated in the most recent budget. Officials cited feedback from the city’s “priority-driven” budgeting process, where residents ranked the organization as a low priority. More from CityBeat:

The city’s budget cuts were originally considered in December, but City Council managed to restore some funding to keep the organization afloat. Prior to the partial restoration, Bishop told CityBeat the cuts would be a “meteor” to his organization’s budget.

City officials back then defended the cuts to Media Bridges, citing city surveys that ranked the program poorly in terms of budgetary importance. For the surveys, the city used meetings and mailed questionnaires to gauge public opinion.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Whomageddon rocks Northside Tavern, benefits WVQC

Halloween, local music, and legendary rock and roll bands will come together tonight for a unique event. Whomageddon will feature local bands dressed up and performing as The Who, The Ramones, and Devo. The performers include John Curley (The Staggering Statistics, The Afghan Whigs), Andrew Higley (Pearlene, Chocolate Horse), Scotty Wood, Jason Knarr, Dave Cupp, and more. This week, John Curley talked to the Enquirer about the event and his love of The Who.
The show takes place at Northside Tavern tonight, starting at 9 pm. Admission is free (you must be 21+ to enter), but proceeds from the bar will benefit WVQC, the new public access radio station being launched by Media Bridges.
WVQC has been in the works for several months, and Media Bridges is trying to raise the last bit of money needed to launch the station. Do your part in helping to get local voices on the air–and just have a good time–by coming out to tonight’s fundraiser.
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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Free Wave Riot celebrates 20 years for Media Bridges

Cincinnati is fortunate to have a community media center, Media Bridges, which makes it easy for our citizens to have their voices heard. The organization operates our city’s public access television channels and will soon launch an FM radio station, Radio Free Queen City.

You can support independent media in Cincinnati, and help raise the money needed to launch the new station, by attending the Free Wave Riot this Saturday, September 5 at the Know Theater. The event, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Media Bridges, will help feature live music from local bands IsWhat?, the Tigerlilies, Fourth Letter Gang, Culture Queer, J. Dorsey Blues Revival, Losanti, and the Frankl Project. Spoken word performances, dancing, and video installations will also be part of the art presented at the event.

A raffle will be held with lots of great prizes, including an Enjoy the Arts membership, Media Bridges merchandise, and gift certificates to Coffee Emporium, Total Juice, Enzo’s, Chez Nora, and more.

Tickets are available at the door and at WVQC.org. The suggested ticket price is $9.57 (since the new station will be at 95.7 FM), but donations of any amount will be accepted at the door.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Media Bridges to launch FM station, Radio Free Queen City

One of Cincinnati’s great unique assets is Media Bridges, our community media center. The non-profit organization operates four of the city’s public access television channels and broadcasts an Internet radio station, The Bridge.

Beginning August 1, Media Bridges will be adding yet another outlet as they launch Radio Free Queen City. This new low-power station, officially known as WVQC-LP, will broadcast on 95.7 FM. It will feature content produced by volunteers, focusing on issues, arts, and culture relevant to the community. The station will air city council meetings, some alternative national programming, and Spanish-language news. Media Bridges says WVQC will not duplicate the programming of other Cincinnati-area stations.

Media Bridges first applied for a license to operate an FM station in 2001, and the FCC granted the license last year. A campaign has been launched to raise the $127,000 needed to purchase the transmitter, build a new radio studio at Media Bridges’ Over-the-Rhine location, and fund the station’s first year of operation. Once operational, the FM signal will cover a 3-5 mile radius, and will presumably be streamed online for those outside the core of the city.

Cincinnati is currently served by another non-profit volunteer radio station, the East Walnut Hills-based WAIF, which has been surrounded by controversy in recent years.

Additional reading:
Radio tower photo courtesy of Flickr user maliciousmonkey.