Kennedy Heights Arts Center

In case you missed seeing the banner at the corner of Ridge and Section Roads, or missed the event listing on the Amberley Village website, yesterday was an "Amberley Afternoon" at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center.  Located at 6546 Montgomery Road in Kennedy Heights, the Center is less than a five minute drive from most of Amberley. It's close enough to walk or run to as well, as I've run past it many times myself. Which is probably what you do too -- walk, run, or drive past without stopping to see what's inside.

FotoFocus Exhibit "Let's Face It"

Yesterday, a gorgeous fall day in Cincinnati, I stopped by to see what the Kennedy Heights Arts Center was all about. From the moment I stepped inside the historic gothic mansion, I was both surprised and impressed. To my immediate left, in what was once most likely the parlor, is a bright and airy gift shop. The rest of the first floor is also filled with sunlight -- which is not something you often see in a house such as this one, which was built in 1875 and was once the home of Lewis Kennedy, developer of Kennedy Heights.

Conway & Stern/McIntosh families with Executive Dir. Ellen Muse-Lindeman

The Arts Center is currently exhibiting the works of photographers Melvin Grier, Michael Kearns, and Michael Wilson, as part of the city-wide FotoFocus exhibition. It is also a participant in the Taft Museum's Art for All program and is hosting a reproduction of Robert S. Duncanson's "Landscape Mural." Last summer it participated in the "Play Me I'm Yours" piano project by ArtWorks.

Community art created with Cedric Michael Cox

The Center sponsors programs for children and adults and also hosts an Artist in Residence. I don't know what took me so long to go inside this neighborhood gem, but I hope that Amberley residents don't wait for another invitation other than this one to stop by for a visit.