PRINTS NY GREATER CINCINNATI ARTIST FOR SOS ART

Prints by Greater Cincinnati Artists for SOS ART presents twenty-six prints donated by thirteen Cincinnati-based artists in support of SOS ART, an organization devoted to promoting peace and justice through creative practice. This collective exhibition transforms artistic gesture into civic action, emphasizing the role of printmaking as both visual language and social statement. Installed as part of the May 18 opening at The Annex Gallery, the project stands as a model of community-driven collaboration within the region’s art ecology.

SOS ART operates under a non-commercial model: artists participate voluntarily, and the resulting publications are distributed free of charge to contributors and public institutions. The initiative situates art within a framework of cultural responsibility, positioning the creative act as an agent for dialogue, empathy, and transformation.

COMMON GROUND

Portraits of Cincinnati Area Artists

Common Ground features fifty-nine black-and-white portraits by Michael Wilson, portraying visual, literary, and musical artists from the Greater Cincinnati area. Forty-nine of these images were originally included in Greater Cincinnati Artists as Activists (2015), establishing a visual continuum between documentation and reflection on creative identity. The exhibition runs from May 8 through July 26 2024 at The Annex Gallery.

Wilson’s portraiture is known for its quiet precision and human depth—works that register presence without spectacle. Installed rhythmically across the gallery’s walls, the series constructs a collective portrait of a city’s artistic conscience, where each face becomes a statement of continuity and shared creative ground.

For a Better World 2024 presents original drawings and poems from the annual SOS ART anthology dedicated to themes of peace and social justice. Exhibited concurrently with Common Ground and Prints by Greater Cincinnati Artists, the show foregrounds the intersection of visual and literary expression within a shared ethical framework.

Since its founding in 2003, SOS ART has cultivated an inclusive platform where artists respond to the social conditions of their communities. The For a Better World publication, distributed freely to artists and libraries, extends this mission beyond exhibition walls—affirming that art’s true currency lies in its capacity to build awareness, solidarity, and peace.