Art Academy of Cincinnati

This review is for the performance spaces only.
I’ve seen a few performances here and all in the same space/​classroom. Are there not any legitimate performance spaces in this building? You would think there would be at an art academy. Despite this, we get shoved into some half open classroom/​exhibit space. It’s just not getting the job done. The room doesn’t close up on the one side. Instead there is a curtain separating the space from the hall. There is no stage. Half the room is curtained off and seats are piled up on a platform.
In an otherwise nice building, one would think they could splurge for a decent stage or theater.

I’m a firm believer in exploration and continual learning– the Art Academy offers so many different opportunities for the community. I took a screen printing course with Aaron Kent and highly recommended. Great value, most classes include supplies and top notch instruction. Courses are 8ish wks and allows you to develop your skill and build community with other students with way less pressure than an actual college course (way cheaper too haha).

The Art Academy of Cincinnati one of the oldest art schools in the country founded in 1869 and originally up on the hill in Mt. Adams as part of the Cincinnati Art Museum until they moved to Over The Rhine in 2005.
Now being in the heart of OTR the campus, students and community fill the academy and OTR neighborhood with art. Try your hand at a variety of art, graphic design and photography classes through their community art classes all very affordable. Check out a student exhibition, one of the coolest annual exhibitions is the the minumental show where each piece is no larger than 2×2×2. The opening of this annual show is packed & each piece sells very quickly — come check out in late February and come home with a great little piece of art from a rising artist.
Plus during MidPoint the Art Academy is right in the middle of the action and usually has a corresponding art show around music.
Come check out one of the oldest & best institutions in town on Jackson street.

I’ve taken two community art classes through the Art Academy in the past year and thought they were excellent. The first class was an Introduction to Watercolors with Ken Buck which met at Essex Studios and the second was called Drawing From the Very Beginning, taught by Liz Neal, which took place at the downtown Art Academy building.
The watercolor class was extremely enjoyable – Ken has a great passion for the art as well as teaching and I thought he was a very effective instructor. There was a good balance between direct instruction and technique demonstration and time for students to paint on their own. Ken is very patient and encouraging and luckily the class size was small so I felt like I got a lot of one-​on-​one help and instruction.
The drawing class had a bit of a rough start because the original instructor was not very professional, but he was replaced after a few classes with a full-​time Art Academy teacher (Liz) and she was great. There was a bit of a leap about halfway through from super-​basic to quite advanced subjects and the class culminated in 2 live model drawing sessions. Given that this is the most basic drawing class offered, I believe we would have benefited by continued instruction in the true fundamentals (e.g. shading, composition, materials & technique) vs. jumping to complex still life and figure drawing, but it was definitely challenging!
Really the only big critique I have of the Art Academy classes (more for drawing, but somewhat true for both) has to do with the art supplies lists provided. It didn’t seem like the actual course instructors put those lists together so when I spent a lot of money on supplies in advance only to find out I didn’t get certain things they wanted or got other things that weren’t really needed, which was pretty frustrating. When I take another class, which I definitely plan to do, I will try to get in contact with the instructor in advance to get a very specific materials list directly.

Community Education — great classes you can’t find anywhere else without enrolling.
They used to have Glassblowing, but funding was cut and the glassblowing studio shut down. Too bad because it was a wonderful and challenging class. I am proud of the bowls and vases I made there.
I have also taken graphic design. The teachers have a lot of passion for what they teach and everyone is very friendly. I’m not sure if I was supposed to do this, but I would often browse the halls of the building to see what enrolled students were working on.
Always a great experience.

I’m not an artist, not by any stretch of the imagination (I’m a photographer, but come on, there’s no creation in that, just composition). Therefore, I’m incredibly envious of the stuff I’ve seen come from products of the Art Academy, and the Cincinnati art scene in general.
I’ve been taking a Graphic Design course to balance out the calculating engineer side in me, and couldn’t be happier in the month that I’ve been at the academy. The building is beautiful, the staff is awesome, and the course itself is great. The instructor (Thommy, for those of you wondering) is an experienced Graphic Designer and a great guy to learn from. The courses are affordable and provide equipment considered decent enough by any art school.
Finally, I’m ridiculously glad the Art Academy is in OTR, the new hotbed for arts in Cincinnati. The location (just a block away from Vine & 12^th, and other notables such as Senate, Lavomatic, Venice on Vine, and A Tavola) is great for students and residents alike, and I couldn’t be happier.
If you’ve ever been inclined to explore your inner artist (no matter the medium), I highly suggest taking a look at the courses the Art Academy has to offer!

After several years at the new location I was finally able to visit the Art Academy while I modeled for a senior level oil painting class. If I could go back and do it all again I might consider attending if only because junior and senior level students are able to use large, individual or shared studio spaces to work in. The gallery spaces were nice and numerous but I have to confess the only non-​permanent display that really blew me away was a section of wall that had been gouged out to reveal tiny caverns with minuscule mushroom and mining equipment. Who know what really lurks in the walls.
The class I modeled for was well attended and the student instructor was wonderful. I was required to check in and out each night and to wear a model badge. Despite being located in Over-​the-​Rhine, I never felt threatened walking to my car in the dark after the class ended. the entire area seems to be under renovation with frequent gallery and theatre openings.

The Art Academy has come a really long way in the past few years. They used to be located in Mt. Adams but recently purchased a larger building in Over-​the-​Rhine and have moved everything downtown.
It’s a beautiful building on Jackson Street that was re-​done to fit the style of the Art Academy. Inside there is a sprawling atrium that looks up all the floors around the staircases. There is gallery space all over the building and chances are there is some show up. Right now the SOS Political art show is hung up as well as the Visual Fringe Gallery for the Fringe Festival. The Art Academy generously donates a classroom to the Fringe Festival as well for it’s use for a few plays and it’s a great space for them!
The Art Academy unfortunately had a rapid decrease in enrollment since their move downtown, which was to be expected. However, with the revitalization of the gateway quarter (as it’s now being called) things should be looking up for them. If you are looking for a great art school for all aspects of visual art and design, this is the place to go!