31 minute read
ARTS & CULTURE
ARTS & CULTURE ARTS & CULTURE
Cincinnati author Holly Brians Ragusa recounts her personal connection to true-crime history.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY HOLLY BRIANS RAGUSA
Cincinnati Author’s emoir Reclaims the Narrative of Her Father, Serial Killer Victim John Powell Cincinnati Author’s emoir Reclaims the Narrative of Her Father, Serial Killer Victim John Powell In Met the End, Holly Brians Ragusa weaves In Met the End, Holly Brians Ragusa weaves together true-crime history and personal healing. together true-crime history and personal healing. BY MACKENZIE MANLEY
BY MACKENZIE MANLEY
Holly Brians Ragusa heads to a bakery on an overcast, chilly afternoon to discuss her recently-released debut novel, Met the End, which she describes as a true crime survival memoir. Before taking a seat, she sees a few people she knows and pauses to embrace a friend. An Over-the-Rhine local who grew up on the West Side, Brians Ragusa’s Cincinnati roots run deep.
Published in November 2022, Met the End is a vulnerable text that threads together personal, local and national history through the story of Brians Ragusa’s father, John Powell, who was murdered on March 7, 1987 by serial killer Donald Harvey.
“ is is an emotional story,” Brians Ragusa tells CityBeat. “I went to comfortable topics rst. en, I reached out and got bolder in what I would acquire and what I would digest. But I didn’t outline this book, I wrote it. And I gave an enormous structural change, probably two and a half years into the process. And stayed there and built on it.”
Powell’s death led to the end of Harvey’s 17-year killing spree and his eventual prosecution when a coroner smelled cyanide during Powell’s autopsy. e revelation set a larger investigation in motion, aided by journalists, hospital whistleblowers and detectives. Harvey, a former nurse’s aide, ultimately pleaded guilty to murdering 37 people and was sentenced to multiple life terms for killings in Ohio and Kentucky in 1987.
According to Brians Ragusa, there were other deaths that attorneys didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute; it’s estimated that Harvey killed upward of 87 people. Most of Harvey’s victims were patients at regional hospitals and medical centers, including Powell.
In July 1986, Powell was found unresponsive on Exit 13 near I-75 following a motorcycle accident. He spent months in critical condition at the University Hospital’s ICU and was later taken to Drake Memorial Hospital to recover. e latter is where Harvey worked.
“He was referred to as the miracle patient at Drake, and the hope that had blossomed in us was crushed under the foot of this killer,” Brians Ragusa tells CityBeat. “ at we can nd some ray of light from it is very important to me. at we can see some good come from all of this is how I move through life: searching for the good. I needed to tell that piece. He su ered, he endured and he lost a battle with a killer we didn’t even know existed.”
Met the End portrays Powell as a loving father to three children, and the memoir touches on Brians Ragusa’s blended family. Her mother, Patricia, married John. Both brought children from past relationships: along with Brians Ragusa, there’s Heather and “Little” John, the youngest. On page 89, Brians Ragusa points to another piece often missing in the telling of the tragedy: Powell was recovering from the injuries he sustained from the motorcycle accident. Still, Harvey has been the subject of several documentaries, true crime podcast episodes, news stories, books and other media. “I’m hoping that this story shines the light on survivors and asks people to ask more of themselves when they enter into the greater world and true crime,” Brians Ragusa says. “I’m hoping that it asks more of our systems of truth and justice and that it reminds people that there’s a human on the other side of entertainment.” e Hamilton County coroner’s o ce and Cincinnati Police Department may have traced Powell’s murder to Harvey after detecting poison during his autopsy, but it was investigative reporting by WCPO-TV’s Pat Minarcin – aided by several Drake Hospital whistleblowers – that led to Harvey being found as a serial killer. On March 28, 2017, Harvey was beaten in his prison cell. He died two days later. e minute Brians Ragusa heard the H olly Brians Ragusa heads to a bakery on an overcast, chilly afternoon to discuss her recently-released debut novel, Met the End, which she describes as a true news, she started writing, she says. In the ve years she spent with the manuscript, Brians Ragusa took several mental health breaks. Di erent things named Harvey made headlines that brought back her focus. From Hurricane crime survival memoir. Before taking a Harvey to Harvey Weinstein, the name seat, she sees a few people she knows kept reappearing. and pauses to embrace a friend. An “Call it coincidence, if you will. You know, the minute someone points out a
Over-the-Rhine local who grew up on the West Side, Brians Ragusa’s Cincinnati roots run deep.
Published in November 2022, Met the End is a vulnerable text that threads together personal, local and national history through the story of Brians Ragusa’s father, John Powell, who was murdered on March 7, 1987 by serial killer Donald Harvey.
“ is is an emotional story,” Brians Ragusa tells CityBeat. “I went to comfortable topics rst. en, I reached out and got bolder in what I would acquire and what I would digest. But I didn’t outline this book, I wrote it. And I gave an enormous structural change, probably two and a half years into the process. And stayed there and built on it.”
Powell’s death led to the end of Harvey’s 17-year killing spree and his eventual prosecution when a coroner smelled cyanide during Powell’s autopsy. e revelation set a larger investigation in motion, aided by journalists, hospital whistleblowers and detectives. Harvey, a former nurse’s aide, ultimately pleaded guilty to murdering 37 people and was sentenced to multiple life terms for killings in Ohio and Kentucky in 1987.
According to Brians Ragusa, there were other deaths that attorneys didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute; it’s estimated that Harvey killed upward of 87 people. Most of Harvey’s victims were patients at regional hospitals and medical centers, including Powell.
In July 1986, Powell was found unresponsive on Exit 13 near I-75 following a motorcycle accident. He spent months in critical condition at the University Hospital’s ICU and was later taken to Drake Memorial Hospital to recover. e latter is where Harvey worked.
“He was referred to as the miracle patient at Drake, and the hope that had blossomed in us was crushed under the foot of this killer,” Brians Ragusa tells CityBeat. “ at we can nd some ray of light from it is very important to me. at we can see some good come from all of this is how I move through life: searching for the good. I needed to tell that piece. He su ered, he endured and he lost a battle with a killer we didn’t even know existed.”
Met the End portrays Powell as a loving father to three children, and the memoir touches on Brians Ragusa’s blended family. Her mother, Patricia, married John. Both brought children from past relationships: along with Brians Ragusa, there’s Heather and “Little” John, the youngest.
On page 89, Brians Ragusa points to another piece often missing in the telling of the tragedy: Powell was recovering from the injuries he sustained from the motorcycle accident. Still, Harvey has been the subject of several documentaries, true crime podcast episodes, news stories, books and other media.
“I’m hoping that this story shines the light on survivors and asks people to ask more of themselves when they enter into the greater world and true crime,” Brians Ragusa says. “I’m hoping that it asks more of our systems of truth and justice and that it reminds people that there’s a human on the other side of entertainment.” e Hamilton County coroner’s o ce and Cincinnati Police Department may have traced Powell’s murder to Harvey after detecting poison during his autopsy, but it was investigative reporting by WCPO-TV’s Pat Minarcin – aided by several Drake Hospital whistleblowers – that led to Harvey being found as a serial killer.
On March 28, 2017, Harvey was beaten in his prison cell. He died two days later. e minute Brians Ragusa heard the news, she started writing, she says.
In the ve years she spent with the manuscript, Brians Ragusa took several mental health breaks. Di erent things named Harvey made headlines that brought back her focus. From Hurricane Harvey to Harvey Weinstein, the name kept reappearing.
“Call it coincidence, if you will. You know, the minute someone points out a
Met the End follows the death of Brians Ragusa’s father, John Powell, by serial killer Met the End follows the death of Brians Ragusa’s father, John Powell, by serial killer Donald Harvey. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY REV4 Donald Harvey.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY REV4
new car, that’s the only car you see then for a while,” Brians Ragusa says. “You can call it that, but certainly, for me, there were many reminders to call me back to the path of writing this. It didn’t start o that I went in like, ‘Oh, I’ll be healed by the writing process.’ But that is certainly what transpired and I have really taken that piece to heart.”
In the process of writing Met the End, Brians Ragusa interviewed Minarcin along with other key gures in the case like Joe Deters, who led the investigation as prosecutor, and Powell’s close friends, Joe and Fran Suesz. e memoir interweaves personal letters, news clippings, photos, Brians Ragusa’s teenage diary entries, police statements and Powell’s bedside journals, where friends and family wrote to him in recovery.
“Being a packrat has its advantages,” Brians Ragusa says. “I would say that I’ve always been a documentarian. Whether it was keeping calendars, diaries or journals, I have always documented things. at’s how I process. I enjoy remembering just in general.”
Brians Ragusa’s interest in historical research is clear in Met the End, which is just as much about her investigating her father’s death and how it a ected her family as it is about Cincinnati. e text is entrenched in historical context, with Brians Ragusa often unpacking the story behind any given place or neighborhood mentioned. rough her mother, Brians Ragusa gained access to their home archives and sorted through countless journals, photos and documents. Patricia now lives with Brians Ragusa and her husband, Damon. Brians Ragusa refers to her mom as a heroine.
“It held a place that I always knew would come to,” Brians Ragusa says. “I had talked to my mom about writing this book for years, so every time we would come across a new artifact, if you will, it would just generate more interest in me. And I think it just all came to a head in late March of 2017 when Harvey was beaten.”
In the aftermath of Powell’s murder, Brians Ragusa’s mother sent her to a psychiatric care facility for adolescents. In Met the End, she writes a disclaimer about that time on page 173: “I’m sharing this process, this part of my healing, not as a professional, but as always, in the hope that any part of my story could help others.” e biggest thing Brians Ragusa says she gives her younger self is empathy, looking at her past self through the lens of compassion. In sorting through old journals, she says she certainly doesn’t think, or write, the same way.
“Mental wellness, above all, is one that I’m very closely tied to and I strongly believe that in talking and writing, there is healing,” Brians Ragusa says. “And obviously, I wrote when I needed it, and it helped me through. And that was my journey.”
Brians Ragusa is aware of the myriad paths people take in coping, but she says she encourages people to dig a little deeper because in doing so, they might nd healing outside of shame and guilt. In the memoir, Brians Ragusa nods to Parents of Murdered Children, a local organization that helped her family heal from the tragedy.
“To all the Harvey survivors out there, I hope you are well and have found your peace,” writes Brians Ragusa in the memoir’s acknowledgments. “POMC— keep up the hard and important work.”
A poet and opinion contributor to e Cincinnati Enquirer, Brians Ragusa also teaches workshops. Her other published works include last year’s Dying to Know Myself in Time and poetry books Inverse and Tilt a World, both of which will be released in 2023. Having other projects to pour into helped Brians Ragusa through penning Met the End.
“Having something else to look to occasionally, and even during the process of publishing this, because as one might imagine, when you’re waiting that anticipation is wonderful, but it’s also staggering. And it was helpful to have other things to pour myself into,” Brians Ragusa says.
Met the End is available at local booksellers, Barnes & Noble, JosephBeth Booksellers and Amazon. e Mercantile Library will host a free event at 6 p.m. Jan. 19 featuring Brians Ragusa in conversation with Ensemble eatre of Cincinnati’s D. Lynn Meyers. At 6 p.m. Feb. 18, OTR Stillhouse will host an author reading and book signing.
Met the End was self-published because going through traditional publishing felt limiting, Brians Ragusa says. It’s a story she wrote on her own terms.
“I needed to own this story from start to nish,” Brians Ragusa says. “It’s something I lived. It could not be made less complicated. It could not be squeezed into a form and a formula. And I needed to own all of it in order to tell the story I needed to tell.”
Serial killer victim and Brians Ragusa’s father, John Powell, with Brians Ragusa as a child.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY HOLLY BRIANS RAGUSA
Brians Ragusa’s family (L-R): her brother “Little” John; her sister Heather; her mother, Patricia; and Brians Ragusa
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY HOLLY BRIANS RAGUSA
Learn more about Holly Brians Ragusa’s Met the End as well as author events at hbragusa.com.
CULTURE CULTURE Know Theatre, Cincy Shakes to Open Distinctly Different Know Theatre, Cincy Shakes to Open Distinctly Different Shows This Month
Shows This Month PREVIEW BY RICK PENDER PREVIEW BY RICK PENDER
Tess Talbot performs as Saff in Dickless at Know Theatre.
PHOTO: DAN R. WINTERS PHOTOGRAPHY Tess Talbot performs as Saff in Dickless at Know Theatre.
PHOTO: DAN R. WINTERS PHOTOGRAPHY
The beginning of the year is typically slow for Cincinnati theater, but things will explode on Jan. 27 when both Know eatre and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company open productions that adhere to their ongoing missions while also suggesting fascinating new directions. ese shows will be staged by directors with perspectives that underscore the broadening impact of Cincinnati theater.
Brant Russell, chair of the acting program at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, will stage Aisha Josiah’s Dickless, while Stephen Burdman, founder and artistic director of New York Classical eatre, will steer Alice Scovell’s e Rewards of Being Frank for Cincy Shakes in its world premiere. Burdman then will move it to New York City for an o Broadway run in March.
Both productions are local premieres of wildly di erent tales, and both are set in England. Josiah is a young British writer, producer and dramaturg, while Scovell is based in New York City but channels Oscar Wilde. Her play is a sequel to Wilde’s 1895 comedy, e Importance of Being Earnest.
During a phone conversation with CityBeat, Russell reveals that he was tempted and then recruited to direct Josiah’s recent script by Andrew Hungerford, Know’s artistic director. According to Russell, the two exchange plays they like – works Russell might use to train young actors at CCM or Hungerford could stage at Know’s adventurous venue in Over-the-Rhine.
Dickless is a dive into the seedy underbelly of a ctional small Northern England town, Dunningham. With interrelated monologues, several tales are told. Sa ’s best friend is being slandered online by her ex. Oli is being blackmailed by a mysterious stalker who knows his most hidden secret. Smith Henry is broke and scrambling to pay o a debt. ey’re all out for revenge, but they soon discover that vengeance is wilder, bloodier and more unpredictable than they imagined.
Local actor Tess Talbot plays Sa , the best friend of a woman whose reputation is threatened by an internet rumor. Shifting between two roles and their respective genders, Talbot also brings Oli to life, the boyfriend of someone else who’s now gunning for her own revenge. Jared Earland plays Smith Henry, a dim fellow caught up in a smear campaign. CCM acting student Sydni Charity Solomon is Titch, a little sister out for revenge of her own.
Russell says he was drawn to this show because it’s about how libidos and sexuality play into gender roles.
The beginning of the year is typically slow for Cincinnati theater, but things will explode on Jan. 27 when both Know eatre and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company open productions that adhere to their ongoing missions while also suggesting fascinating new directions. ese shows will be staged by directors with perspectives that underscore the broadening impact of Cincinnati theater. Brant Russell, chair of the acting program at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, will stage Aisha Josiah’s Dickless, while Stephen Burdman, founder and artistic director of New York Classical eatre, “ is kind of material is not only suited to Know, but Know’s audiences are adventurous enough to want to hear about it,” he tells CityBeat, adding that it’s a vehicle “for three really good actors to do what they do best.” Russell previously has staged productions for both Know and Cincy Shakes and says he’s will steer Alice Scovell’s e Rewards of Being Frank for Cincy Shakes in its world premiere. Burdman then will move it to New York City for an o Broadway run in March.
Both productions are local premieres of wildly di erent tales, and both are set in England. Josiah is a young British writer, producer and dramaturg, while Scovell is based in New York City but channels Oscar Wilde. Her play is a sequel to Wilde’s 1895 comedy, e Importance of Being Earnest.
During a phone conversation with CityBeat, Russell reveals that he was tempted and then recruited to direct Josiah’s recent script by Andrew Hungerford, Know’s artistic director. According to Russell, the two exchange plays they like – works Russell might use to train young actors at CCM or Hungerford could stage at Know’s adventurous venue in Over-the-Rhine. Dickless is a dive into the seedy underbelly of a ctional small Northern England town, Dunningham. With interrelated monologues, several tales are told. Sa ’s best friend is being slandered online by her ex. Oli is being blackmailed by a mysterious stalker who knows his most hidden secret. Smith Henry is broke and scrambling to pay o a debt. ey’re all out for revenge, but they soon discover that vengeance is wilder, bloodier and more unpredictable than they imagined. Local actor Tess Talbot plays Sa , the best friend of a woman whose reputation is threatened by an internet rumor. Shifting between two roles and their respective genders, Talbot also brings Oli to life, the boyfriend of someone else who’s now gunning for her own revenge. Jared Earland plays Smith Henry, a dim fellow caught up in a smear campaign. CCM acting student Sydni Charity Solomon is Titch, a little sister out for revenge of her own. Russell says he was drawn to this show because it’s about how libidos and sexuality play into gender roles. “ is kind of material is not only suited to Know, but Know’s audiences are adventurous enough to want to hear about it,” he tells CityBeat, adding that it’s a vehicle “for three really good actors to do what they do best.” Russell previously has staged productions for both Know and Cincy Shakes and says he’s
, Russell reveals that he was tempted and then recruited to direct Josiah’s recent script by Andrew Hungerford, Know’s artistic director. According to Russell, the two exchange plays they like – works Russell might use to train young actors at CCM or Hungerford could stage at Know’s adventurous venue in Over-the-Rhine. is a dive into the seedy underbelly of a ctional small Northern England town, Dunningham. With interrelated monologues, several tales are told. Sa ’s best friend is being slandered online by her ex. Oli is being blackmailed by a mysterious stalker who knows his most hidden secret. Smith Henry is broke and scrambling to pay o a debt. ey’re all out for revenge, but they soon discover that vengeance is wilder, bloodier and more unpredictable than they
Local actor Tess Talbot plays Sa , the best friend of a woman whose reputation is threatened by an internet rumor. Shifting between two roles and their respective genders, Talbot also brings Oli to life, the boyfriend of someone else plays Smith Henry, a dim fellow caught up in a smear campaign. CCM acting student Sydni Charity Solomon is Titch, a little sister out for revenge of her own.
Russell says he was drawn to this show because it’s about how libidos and sexuality play into gender roles.
“ is kind of material is not only suited to Know, but Know’s audiences are adventurous enough to want to hear about it,” he tells CityBeat, adding that it’s a vehicle “for three really good actors to do what they do best.” Russell previously has staged productions for both Know and Cincy Shakes and says he’s Kelly Mengelkoch is Gwendolyn in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s The Rewards Of Being Frank. PHOTO: MIKKI SCHAFFNER PHOTOGRAPHY Kelly Mengelkoch is Gwendolyn in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s The Rewards Of Being Frank. PHOTO: MIKKI SCHAFFNER PHOTOGRAPHY
eager for his students to interact with Cincinnati’s local theater companies (his post-apocalyptic tragicomedy Bankers will be presented by Know later this season).
“We have an incredible depth of acting talent in Cincinnati,” Russell observes. “My students are seeing opportunities and likeminded artists here. More and more are choosing to stay and make a life here.”
At Cincy Shakes, artistic director Brian Phillips is excited to produce the world premiere of the world premiere of e Rewards e Rewards of Being Frank of Being Frank, an uproarious sequel , an uproarious sequel to Wilde’s comic masterpiece. Set to Wilde’s comic masterpiece. Set seven years after the happy ending of seven years after the happy ending of e Importance of Being Earnest e Importance of Being Earnest, that story’s two couples — Algernon and story’s two couples — Algernon and Gwendolyn, Ernest and Cecily — are Gwendolyn, Ernest and Cecily — are married with children and are seeking married with children and are seeking a schoolmaster. Challenged by the a schoolmaster. Challenged by the pitfalls of mistaken identity, monetary pitfalls of mistaken identity, monetary mischief and a never-ending struggle mischief and a never-ending struggle over cucumber sandwiches, they need over cucumber sandwiches, they need a tutor to sort out the confusion. at a tutor to sort out the confusion. at tutor is “Frank.” tutor is “Frank.”
In In Earnest Earnest, Wilde portrayed Ernest’s , Wilde portrayed Ernest’s questionable behavior as “bunbury questionable behavior as “bunburying.” In Scovell’s sequel for Cincy ing.” In Scovell’s sequel for Cincy Shakes, Frank’s honesty and straight-Shakes, Frank’s honesty and straight forward nature helps everyone be forward nature helps everyone be more “frank” about what they want. more “frank” about what they want. e imperious and fear-inspiring Lady e imperious and fear-inspiring Lady Bracknell, one of Wilde’s most memo Bracknell, one of Wilde’s most memorable characters, returns as well. rable characters, returns as well.
“ is play works without being “ is play works without being familiar with familiar with e Importance of e Importance of Being Earnest Being Earnest, although know , although knowing ing Earnest Earnest makes it even makes it even more enjoyable,” Phillips more enjoyable,” Phillips says. says. Scovell’s script was Scovell’s script was inspired by a production inspired by a production of of Earnest Earnest by New York by New York Classical Stage, accord Classical Stage, according to Phillips. Burdman brought it to Phillips’s attention after Cincy Shakes hosted a 2019 meeting of the Shakespeare eatre Association, bringing together classical theater companies from across North America.
Burdman will guest direct the show at Cincy Shakes and oversee its transfer to New York City for its o Broadway debut in March at A.R.T./ New York eatre’s Mezzanine eatre in Hell’s Kitchen. Cincy Shakes’ scenic designer Samantha Reno is creating the physical production for the stage at the Otto M. Budig eatre as well as for its transfer to New York City. In essence, this is a rolling world premiere.
Four of the production’s six actors are from New York, including SiriusXM On Broadway host Christine Pedi as Lady Bracknell. Two Cincy Shakes veterans, Jeremy Dubin as Ernest and Kelly Mengelkoch as Gwendolyn, will join New York actors James Evans as Algernon and Tora Nogami Alexander as Cecily. NYCT veteran Moboluwaji Ademide Akintilo plays Frank.
Phillips says this deliberate collaboration is a rst for his company – “the start of a three-year plan working with them. We’re going to learn a lot from this.”
“ is is an opportunity for us to be part of the national conversation here in Cincinnati when it comes to getting our work out there and produced for other theater professionals to see and share it with their audiences,” Phillips adds.
Several classic theater companies are invited to see the show in Cincinnati or New York to consider using it in a season that includes Wilde’s classic comedy.
Scovell will spend time in Cincinnati as rehearsals begin and then will return as the production is readied for its late January opening. Phillips says he is excited to work with a live playwright. In an interesting turn of events, once Russell nishes staging Dickless at Know, he’ll move a few blocks west to Cincy Shakes to direct a musicalized version of As You Like It in April.
Dickless, produced by Know eatre, runs Jan. 27-Feb. 12 at Know eatre, 1120 Jackson St., Over-the-Rhine. Info: knowtheatre.com.
The Rewards of Being Frank, produced by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, runs Jan. 27-Feb. 18 at Otto M. Budig eater, 1195 Elm St. on Elm Street, Over-the-Rhine. Info: cincyshakes.com.
CULTURE CULTURE
Wave Pool Exhibit Provides the Ultimate Gift of Art and Human Connection Wave Pool Exhibit Provides the Ultimate Gift of Art and Human Connection BY KELSEY GRAHAM
BY KELSEY GRAHAM
Lunaz (2018-2022), Girls of the Revolution Street, printed fabric with embroidery
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WAVE POOL Lunaz (2018-2022), Girls of the Revolution Street, printed fabric with embroidery
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WAVE POOL
Art is the gift that keeps on giving. It gives us a way to connect, remember and re ect, and Wave Pool’s current exhibit, e Gift, o ers viewers a beautifully wrapped present lled with care and re ection in the works on display.
Wave Pool is a quaint yet lively contemporary art gallery in Camp Washington. e gallery gives artists a platform for their art to be a part of the community’s social structure and change to make a di erence and provide connection.
“We’re really interested in trying to make art accessible because we believe it’s such a powerful tool for changing the world,” says Maria SedaReeder, director of exhibitions/artist support initiatives and curator of e Gift exhibit. “What we do is try to make space for our neighbors. at’s the arts community, that’s Camp Washington, but that’s also Cincinnati in general.”
Seda-Reeder says she rst thought
Art is the gift that keeps on giving. It gives us a way to con nect, remember and re ect, of the idea of “the gift” as a theme for an exhibit in 2021 when the gallery and Wave Pool’s current exhibit, was lled with bright lights and colors, e Gift, o ers viewers a beautifully which reminded her of a gift to the wrapped present lled with care and community. re ection in the works on display. “Part of me is always thinking
Wave Pool is a quaint yet lively about what I can pull o in this space contemporary art gallery in Camp because it’s not a typical white box as Washington. e gallery gives artists most gallery spaces are,” Seda-Reeder a platform for their art to be a part of tells CityBeat. “I had an 18-month the community’s social structure and calendar, and I found it the other day, change to make a di erence and proand I had scribbled down notes and vide connection. put ‘ e gift - A holiday show for the
“We’re really interested in trying neighborhood?’” to make art accessible because we After coming up with the theme, she believe it’s such a powerful tool for needed to determine which artists had changing the world,” says Maria Seda- a vision that aligned with the show’s Reeder, director of exhibitions/artist purpose. support initiatives and curator of e “I think my job as a curator is to Gift exhibit. “What we do is try to make ultimately nd artists who I can trust space for our neighbors. at’s the arts their vision, and when it comes time to community, that’s Camp Washington, surrendering because ultimately I get but that’s also Cincinnati in general.” to say I’d like it to be in this space, but I
Seda-Reeder says she rst thought want it to be your vision,” she says. One of the rst artists Seda-Reeder
of the idea of “the gift” as a theme for an exhibit in 2021 when the gallery was lled with bright lights and colors, which reminded her of a gift to the community.
“Part of me is always thinking about what I can pull o in this space because it’s not a typical white box as most gallery spaces are,” Seda-Reeder tells CityBeat. “I had an 18-month calendar, and I found it the other day, and I had scribbled down notes and put ‘ e gift - A holiday show for the neighborhood?’”
After coming up with the theme, she needed to determine which artists had a vision that aligned with the show’s purpose.
“I think my job as a curator is to ultimately nd artists who I can trust their vision, and when it comes time to surrendering because ultimately I get to say I’d like it to be in this space, but I want it to be your vision,” she says.
One of the rst artists Seda-Reeder
Peter Schumann for Bread+Puppet (1973), Washer Woman, celastic mask, wood, fabric armature
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WAVE POOL
says she reached out to was Lunaz, a Cincinnati-based artist from Iran who she had worked with previously. When plans for the exhibit started, Lunaz had a di erent idea for what she would display, but those quickly changed in September as tensions and outrage grew in her homeland of Iran after Mahsa Amini died while in police custody.
Lunaz’s multimedia installation is a progression of an exhibit she did in 2017 and is broken into two pieces. e rst part includes an audio recording featuring poetry from Táhirih Qurrat al-Ain, a 19th-century Baha’i poet and women’s rights activist in Iran, and a white cloth on a table that viewers can add their own stitching while listening to the recording. e second part is a textile panel piece featuring an iconic image of the resistance of a girl with her face covered by a scarf, but her arm is raised in a st of de ance. e two-part performance piece is set up in the corner of the gallery to provide a private and contemplative space for the viewer to experience both pieces of the installation individually and as a whole.
“When this whole movement started again in September, I thought, well, the movement has been evolving since 2017,” Lunaz tells CityBeat. “ ey’ve gone so far — women. Mostly women are at the forefront of these protests, so I thought maybe the pieces were still relevant because they were speaking to each other. And I thought as the movement has evolved drastically, it’s time for the piece — whatever is left from the former performance piece — to kind of evolve.”
One of the new additions to the installation is the poppies on the textile panel hanging on the wall. Lunaz says she chose the poppy as they symbolize hope, remembrance, and new beginnings.
“All these owers are the souls of those who lost their lives and the good energy,” she explains. “ e message is poignant in that it’s heavy, but at the same time, I feel like there is hope because it brings change and positive change, even though it is very heartbreaking and heavy.”
Lunaz stitched the poppies on the panel over time with the help of two close friends, both women from different generations and backgrounds, which was essential to Lunaz in creating the piece.
“We started stitching these owers to kind of put our intentions, as a simple way of putting our good intentions back home and to what they’re ghting for and evolve the piece to what it is right now,” Lunaz says.
For Lunaz, using and transforming past works in the current exhibit has a deep meaning.
“I feel like connecting the future to the past kind of gives hope,” she says. “We learn from history that this is not the end.”
Seda-Reeder says she is happy she can include Lunaz’s experiences as an Iranian woman in the exhibit.
“ e show is about reciprocity, and those waves of feminism to me were showing how we can create sort of movements of love and generosity and peace in the world when we come together,” Seda-Reeder says. “When we’re not willing to say this is just my ght, or this is just your ght. And you know, we’re all on the same team. We all want freedom, creativity, and expression for the whole world.”
Lunaz says she hopes viewers will get a deeper look into life in Iran and the movement happening there now, acknowledge the struggles in her homeland and carry what they’ve learned out into the world.
“What Iranians are asking for right now is just to keep the story in the spotlight for everyone, so I thought it was relevant to the theme of the exhibition,” Lunaz says. e exhibit includes three installation pieces from three other artists, including the archival puppet, Washerwoman, from Bread + Puppet’s show in 1979. Bread + Puppet is a globetraveling artist group started by Peter & Elka Schumann in 1963 that believes art is as essential as bread to the world, which is why they pass out free bread at their shows. Seda-Reeder explains that the group gives out free tickets and only passes around a hat for donations to help fund shows, which allows open access to art.
“ ose kinds of gestures just felt very consistent with what I was hoping to have the show be about,” Seda-Reeder says.
A compelling piece by multidisciplinary Latinx artist and educator Rebecca Nava Soto is also on display. Her multimedia piece, Speech Scroll, explores the link between indigenous people and the natural world and includes a QR code along with the work for viewers to learn more about Xinanchkalko, a collective indigenous space in Cuentepec, Morelos, Mexico, for indigenous scholars and residents. e last of the four pieces is by multimedia artist, designer and poet Michael ompson. His installationbased painting focuses on the challenges artists face in the world and the relationship between consumers and an artist’s ultimate gift, their work.
The Gift is on view through Feb. 25 at Wave Pool, 2940 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington. Info: wavepoolgallery.org.
Rebecca Nava Soto, Speech Scroll (2022), pigmented wood shavings on panel
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WAVE POOL
