CINCINNATI — One day after BLINK Cincinnati announced plans to return to Northern Kentucky in 2022, one of its founding partners announced it ended its involvement with the art and light festival while planning this year's event.
Brave Berlin said in a Facebook post the agency decided to sever its relationship with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, noting the team's ideas and creative direction for 2022 were "falling on deaf ears or, in some cases, met with open hostility."
"Our presence at the leadership table was feeling to us more and more like an honorary courtesy than an active and collaborative partnership," the agency said. "By the end of March, we had reached the end of our rope and decided it was time for us to move on."
While Brave Berlin conceived and founded the event with its partners, the agency said the chamber leases the BLINK trademark from the Haile Foundation and has final say over "every aspect" of the show.
BLINK executive director Justin Brookhart discussed Brave Berlin's exit and their impact on the project.
"They're not involved as collaborators on this year's project, but we still always want to thank and acknowledge them ... we're so thankful for the legacy that they're leaving behind that we get to build on this year," Brookhart said.
VIDEO: Here's Brookhart's full response when I asked if Brave Berlin was still involved with BLINK. pic.twitter.com/PeHPD6De2A
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) July 14, 2022
In its post, Brave Berlin said its team is continuing to work on different projects and new opportunities to continue bringing the Tri-State together.
BLINK will run Oct. 13-16, with displays spanning from Findlay Market, downtown, the Banks and Covington.
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