Flow Turns Five: Why the Celebration of Cultural Curiosity Matters More Than Ever
ArtsWave, a long-time advocate for Black art, announces the 2025-2026 season of Flow, an African American arts experience. The series features unique, Black-centered events, including “American Voices,” August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” and “Lalovavi.”
ArtsWave also introduced the region’s first cross-venue subscription series, the Flow Pass. For just $200, Flow Pass subscribers can enjoy four all-inclusive nights of theater, dance, and art.
Benefits of the ArtsWave Flow Pass:
- Support skilled, professionally trained, emerging, and acclaimed Black artists
- Confirm premier tickets for the most popular Black arts events in Cincinnati
- Secure subsidized ticket prices thanks to the generosity of Fifth Third Bank
- Experience arts with fellow Black art lovers
- Enjoy the popular Flow social parties before or after events
Flow Series Shows
“American Voices”
January 17
Music Hall (OTR)
Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through influential African American composers with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson”
April 24
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Mt Adams)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning exploration of family, legacy, and identity.
“Lalovavi”
July 9
Music Hall (OTR)
An Afrofuturist adventure set 400 years in the future with the Cincinnati Opera.
About Flow
Flow, An African American Arts Experience, began in 2020 as a quarterly performance series featuring renowned Black artists and ensembles working in various disciplines from around the country and close to home. The series is presented by ArtsWave, the region’s engine for the arts, with support from area businesses, foundations, and individuals, and guidance from a steering committee comprised of representatives from the region’s top corporations.
Flow supports and promotes professional, evocative African American artists. The series aims to attract a highly diverse, culturally adventurous audience and create a shared and elevated appreciation for artists of color. Flow complements and expands the region’s existing inventory of multicultural experiences offered by local arts organizations.
More information is available at artswave.org/flow.
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 evolved to become the first United Arts fund in the nation and, in the mid-1970s, the first organization to initiate workplace giving for the arts.
ArtsWave raises $11+ million yearly from thousands of donors — corporations, employees, foundations, residents, and others — to support more than 150 arts organizations, projects, and artists. Donations can be made at artswave.org/give.
The Voice of Black Cincinnati is a media company designed to educate, recognize, and create opportunities for African Americans. Want to find local news, events, job postings, scholarships, and a database of local Black-owned businesses? Visit our homepage, explore other articles, subscribe to our newsletter, like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group, and text VOBC to 513-966-3328.
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