This year's event boasted its biggest footprint yet, covering more than 30 city blocks plus the Ohio River and Northern Kentucky.Photo: Courtesy of BLINK
It’s a citywide block party of sorts that showcases street art, murals, projection mapping, and light-based installations by more than 80 local, national, and international artists.
“We like to think of it as one of our ‘nowhere else’ experiences because there really is nowhere else in the U.S. that has an event of this quality and scale,” said Justin Brookhart, executive director of BLINK.
Now in three cities—Cincinnati and Covington and Newport, Ky.—the regional event boasted its biggest footprint yet, covering more than 30 city blocks plus the Ohio River. Brookhart credited an investment by the Northern Kentucky CVB (known as meetNKY) for the increased expansion into the neighboring state.
The festival’s fourth iteration featured six zones that helped break up the experience into more manageable pieces. BLINK organizers also created walking trails within each zone to guide attendees.
Artists' interest in the event has also grown exponentially. About 250 artists applied in 2022; this year, organizers reviewed 950 submissions, Brookhart said. For the first time, organizers formed a curatorial advisory committee, which was made up of local artists and curators who reviewed the submissions, short-listed people, and offered recommendations before the BLINK team made the final selections.
The 2024 event had a mix of about 40% local artists, including new and returning participants, and about 60% national or international.
Beyond the economic impact—the 2022 event generated $126 million for the region—Brookhart called the festival “a reputation builder for the city." He continued, "This is a place that's becoming known on a global scale as a great place to showcase public art. And I think the response to our call for artists validates that.” (The 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards named Cincinnati as the best city for street art.)
The event also expanded in programming with the addition of the inaugural BLINK Creativity & Innovation Summit, which was held Oct. 15 at the American Sign Museum. It featured keynote speakers, panel discussions, and workshops exploring the intersection of creativity and technology.
Brookhart explained that the summit was an opportunity to do more daytime programming outside the usual 7 to 11 p.m. evening action. This year, organizers were also focused on the audio experience and amplifying the roaming street performers. Over 40 groups of musicians played across six stages within the footprint, with some light-based installations including a musical component.
In terms of production, the festival is planned over a 20-month cycle, with mural artists arriving 10 to 12 days in advance and projection artists usually about three weeks ahead of the event.
While planning an event that spans three cities across two states involves many logistical hurdles, Brookhart said the biggest challenge is finances.
“We're a free public art event, so the financial realities of producing something at this quality and scale when there's no natural revenue model is definitely a challenge,” he said. But he cited major corporate sponsors based in Cincinnati including Kroger, Procter & Gamble, and Fifth Third Bank for helping to fund the project.
As for the future, Brookhart said organizers are weighing some options like bringing a smaller version of the event to other cities. But nothing's definite.
“When we think about evolution, what does that BLINK offseason look like? Do we always go dark after the event, or are there ways that we can still remain relevant, both in our local community [and] also in the global arts community?”
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