CINCINNATI — BLINK — the nation's largest art and projection mapping experience — has announced the artist lineup for this year's event.
Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, said BLINK had a record amount of artist applicants for the 2024 festival, with nearly 1,000 applications.
"We have artists from all over the world that want to be part of this spectacle," Cull said.
The 2024 festival will have over 80 global artists with more than 30 being from the Cincinnati region. Artists will create "15 one-of-a-kind murals and more than 70 stunning light-based art and projection mapping installations," according to a press release from BLINK.
The list of local artists includes the following:
- Muralists:
- Chroma Projects
- Gee Horton
- Javarri Lewis
- Will Rankins Jr.
- Lighted Artists:
- AfroChine
- Asian Night Market
- Asha Ama
- Bill Thomas
- Britni Bicknaver
- Caitlin McCall
- Daniel Shields
- Drive Media House
- Evan Verrilli
- Jessica Wolf
- Kyle Eli Ebersole and Ian Molitors (Resonate Wave)
- Keep Cincinnati Beautifu
- Kemper Sauce Studios
- Kevin Kunz
- Tom Tsuchiya
- Warmth Culture
- Projection artists:
- Asa Featherstone IV
- Black Art Speaks
- Brandon Kraemer
- Chaske Haverkos
- Jason Snell
- Kyle Elu Ebersole
- Lightborne
- Moonbuggy
- Scott Budd
- Spotted Yeti Media
"BLINK provides a moment in time where people of all backgrounds, interests, and hopes can come together. It allows artists to dream big and for us all to see one another in a new light. It's about connecting people to art -- and using art to connect." Co-Founder of Cincy Nice, Destinee Thomas said. “The shared experience of BLINK is one that lasts in the hearts and minds long beyond the four nights of the event.”
The festival is expanding even further throughout the Greater Cincinnati area in 2024.
For the first time, BLINK will be taking place in Newport.
The 2024 festival is set to take place Thursday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 20.
The added festival experience is funded by an investment from meetNKY, Northern Kentucky's official tourism and convention services bureau.
Attendees will experience new projection mapping displays at Newport on the Levee, and other locations in Newport, including an installation near MegaCorp Pavilion and the Fourth Street Bridge.
Covington's BLINK experience will see the return of installation spots like Hotel Covington and will also move further east to better connect to Newport.
Cincinnati Music Hall, home to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Opera and the most famous building in OTR, will also be illuminated during the festival for the first time since LumenoCity, according to a press release from BLINK.
Justin Brookhart, executive director of BLINK, teased that the 2024 festival will have a laser display installation parallel to the Roebling Suspension Bridge, signifying how the festival is bringing Cincinnati together with Northern Kentucky.
"It's going to span the full length of the Ohio River from Covington Landing all the way to Smale Riverfront Park in Cincinnati. It's code name is 'Supernova,'" Brookhart said.
Brookhart couldn't specify where exactly in Newport there will be art installations, but he said the levee will be a focus.
The drone show will also be making a return, hovering over the Ohio River multiple times a night throughout the event.
The art festival, sponsored by ArtsWave, last took place in 2022 when it spanned more than 30 city blocks throughout Covington, The Banks, downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine. The 2022 festival featured over 100 art installations, a parade, live music, food and more.
Watch the full 2022 parade below:
After the festival ended in 2022, Brookhart called the four-day event synonymous with Cincinnati.
"BLINK is a part of the brand of Cincinnati. Now, this is something that Cincinnati is known for," Brookhart told WCPO 9. "We've seen that a lot with some of the folks that have traveled in this weekend, I spoke to people from LA, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, so many places and they were telling me that like they love that Cincinnati is a place that not only celebrates public art but does it in such a positive way."
The 2022 festival also created a large economic impact in the region.
Organizers said attendees traveled to Cincinnati from 29 different states; through the execution of the event, BLINK also "directly created or supported 1,638 jobs," Brookhart said.
In all, the region raked in around $126 million in the four days BLINK brought people to downtown Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine, Covington and other nearby neighborhoods. According to a press release from BLINK, there was a record-breaking 2.1 million people at the festival in 2022.
For more information on this year's festival, click here. For a full list of artists, click here.
If you would like to participate in the BLINK parade, apple here.
