New Flow season announced, with low advance priced Flow Pass on sale now, featuring five Black-centered arts experiences at premier venues.
ArtsWave, a long-time advocate for Black art, announces the 2023-2024 season of Flow, an African American arts experience. The series features five unique, Black-centered events, including the play, Clyde’s, the African Modernism in America art exhibit, August Wilson’s “How I Learned What I Learned”, Mercurial Landscapes Evening of Dance, and the American Manifest by Charles Gaines.
ArtsWave also introduced the region’s first cross-venue subscription series, the Flow Pass. For just $185, Flow Pass subscribers can enjoy five 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
- Bring a friend and get $50 off a second Pass
- Experience arts with fellow Black art lovers
- Enjoy the popular Flow social parties before or after events
Flow Series Shows
Clyde’s
Playhouse in the Park (Mt Adams)
October 20
“Clyde’s” is a truck stop operated by a group of people recently released from prison. Under the no-nonsense authority of Clyde — an ex-con herself whose searing remarks can burn — the kitchen crew finds redemption and purpose through the art of sandwich-making.
African Modernism in America
Taft Museum of Art (Downtown)
February 8 or February 10
Features more than 60 dynamic and vivid works of art created in Africa during the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition explores the relationships between African artists and American patrons amid the interlocking histories of civil rights, decolonization, and the Cold War. Through May 19.
How I Learned What I Learned
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (OTR)
February 16, 17 or 22
This autobiographical tour-de-force chronicles August Wilson’s days as a struggling young writer. Following his rise to the literary giant we honor today, this heartfelt memoir charts his journey of self-discovery and what it means to be a Black artist in America.
Mercurial Landscapes
Cincinnati Ballet at Aronoff Center (Downtown)
April 5
This mixed-repertory evening of dance features four dynamic contemporary works, including a premiere by African American choreographer Rena Butler. Costumes for this piece are being created by Asha Ama Bias-Daniels, Cincinnati-based fashion designer and artist.
The American Manifest
Harry T. Wilks Studio, Music Hall
Spring 2024, TBD Date
Charles Gaines has spent eight years creating “Moving Chains,” a massive outdoor art installation; a second installation, “Roots,” coming to the Cincinnati Art Museum; and an original musical composition, “Manifestos Four,” to be performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
About Flow
Flow, An African American Arts Experience began in 2020 as a quarterly performance series featuring renowned Black artists and ensembles from around the country and close to home, working in various disciplines. 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 513-270-3880.
Image provided by AdobeStock
