Touching Strangers: A Public Art Project Promotes Emotional Connectivity

November 4, 2014; News Record (Cincinnati, OH)

ArtWorks Cincinnati employs and trains local youth and talent to create art and community impact through three strategic programming areas: public art, including an extensive mural program; an art therapy division, ArtRx; and an entrepreneurial arm, Creative Enterprise. They have employed over 3,000 youth and artists and with 1,000 plus partners in the community. Recently, ArtWorks partnered with Cincinnati Metro to integrate public art projects throughout the community in various ways.

New York–based photographer Richard Renaldi was brought in to extend his internationally acclaimed project “Touching Strangers” to the Cincinnati area. “Touching Strangers” is a photography project, begun in 2006, in which Renaldi joins strangers together in photographic poses to send the idea that we are all one community. It’s an interactive project that highlights the diversity and range of a community or region and how we, as people, interact with strangers.

For two weeks, Renaldi worked in Cincinnati with two local professional artists, four high school ArtWorks apprentices, and over 300 interviewed students to bring a new light to “Touching Strangers.” The final project captured strangers in 20 different photos from Renaldi and eight photos from the local professional and student team. The photos were put on display as part of a biannual lens-based exhibition and then were transferred to transit cards, a vinyl bus wrap, and bus shelters around the city.

For Cincinnati Metro, this project immediately spoke to their mission because the public transit system brings together people in a community in a unique and otherwise uninhibited way. These photographic artworks speak to the core of public transit and shed light on the interactions people have on public transit through art. Public art is a catalyst for branding an identity, personality, or feel of a city or region. It harnesses the idea that art can be accessible to anyone, the way that the public transit is accessible to all. Again, the transit rail provided a natural place to have public art for the community. As for Cincinnati, David Heyburn, public art manager at ArtWorks, says, “Infusing art into public spaces in meaningful ways can create emotional connectivity to that place.”

Public art matters, and it gives an area identity and social and economic value. Public planners should care about art because it gives residents a reason to stay and tourists a reason to visit. The dialogue on public art continues to evolve and we should anticipate more planning efforts integrating public art into the infrastructure of our lives. Art is now place.—Jennifer Swan

About the author

Jennifer Swan

Jennifer Swan is currently the Associate Director for Arts Services Initiative of WNY (ASI). In this role Ms. Swan assists in positioning ASI as the link between the arts and cultural community and other sectors of the region. She provides outreach and administrative support to ASI’s partner networks including the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance (GBCA), Cultural Alliance of Niagara (CAN), and serves on the Arts Partners for Learning (APL) Leadership Team. Ms. Swan is the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization (DEC) Grant Program Coordinator for Erie and Niagara Counties. Previously Ms. Swan was the Business Manager for the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus where she was responsible for the day–to-day operations, working alongside the Board of Directors and committees. Major projects included the involvement of the Chorus in the Music Culture 716 collaborative and extending the Chorus’ regular season to include special performances at community events such as the National Historic Preservation Conference held in Buffalo in October 2011. Ms. Swan currently serves on the Chorus’ Concert, Marketing, and Nominating Committees. From 2009-2011 she managed and maintained the box office and front of house at the Lancaster Opera House, and orchestrated and organized an annual fundraiser for two years. Here she solicited donations and managed all aspects of the event from preparation to day-of activities. Her other arts and cultural work includes judging Congressman Higgins’ Congressional Student Art Competition in 2012, 2013, and 2014; past work includes Music is Art’s The Big Easy in Buffalo Committee, Volunteer Coordinator for Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center’s Artists and Models: Nocturminal fundraiser, Marketing/Concert Crew for Slee Hall at Lippes Concert Hall at the University at Buffalo, and Music Librarian and Marketing for the Amherst Chamber Ensembles. Additional work in the for-profit sector includes Promotions for Citadel Broadcasting and Righteous Babe Records, and management and marketing for several individual music projects. Ms. Swan has presented at a variety of community-wide engagements including to Leadership Buffalo’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Day (June 2014), Daemen College’s Art and Community Class (April 2014), University at Buffalo’s Management Career Development Class (November 2013), and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Evening with the Professionals at Buffalo State College (October 2012). Ms. Swan has a MA in Arts Management from the University at Buffalo and a BA in Communications/Broadcasting with a minor in music from Buffalo State College. While at the University at Buffalo she traveled abroad with NUROPE (Nomadic University for Art, Philosophy, and Enterprise in Europe) to Sweden and Finland, completing an intensive scholarly program entitled Beyond Bergman and Nobel: Scandinavian Cultural Policy and Performing Arts. As a result of that academic excursion, Ms. Swan co-wrote an article forUB International titled “Summer School in Arts Management Held in Finland and Sweden.”

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