Exhibits
Cincinnati’s Foodshed: Art, Ecology, and Community
(case outside library entrance)
The DAAP Library is pleased to present a selection of works from Cincinnati’s Foodshed: AN ART ATLAS, a visually compelling publication by Professor Alan Wight that explores the region’s food systems across the past, present, and future. Featuring over 50 local artists, the collection brings together artistic storymaps, historical narratives, and community-driven research to highlight the people, innovations, and landscapes that shape Cincinnati’s foodshed.
Among the exhibited works is Ecogarden Plot Plan (2019) by Luke Ebner, a detailed mixed-media drawing documenting the Permaganic Ecogarden in Over-the-Rhine. Originally established in the 1980s by Impact Over-the-Rhine and later stewarded by Ebner and Angela Stanberry, the garden reflects the possibilities and challenges of urban agriculture. The work captures the site as both a living ecosystem and a cultural installation, emphasizing its role in community engagement and environmental education.
Also featured is The Magical Mayapples of Mt. Airy Forest (2022) by LD Nels, an oil painting that celebrates one of Cincinnati’s most expansive urban green spaces. Mt. Airy Forest, established in 1911 as an early urban reforestation effort, is home to a wide range of edible plant species, including the mayapple. Through vivid representation, the artwork pays homage to this unique fruit and the layered ecological history of the forest, connecting foraging practices with local environmental heritage. This exhibition highlights the intersection of art, ecology, and urban life, offering a lens through which to understand food systems as both cultural and spatial phenomena.
This exhibition was organized from materials collected by Dr. R. Alan Wight, with exhibition coordination and preparation by Sam Yeganeh, Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture.
Student Work Showcase by Professor Emil Robinson
(circulation desk case)
This display highlights the creative achievements of students in a first-year 2D studio and an introductory painting course, under the guidance of Professor Emil Robinson. Robinson, a contemporary painter and educator, brings expertise in traditional drawing, color interaction, formalist abstraction, and the expanded field of painting. In this showcase, 2D studio students explored acrylic painting, while introductory painters worked with oil paint. Both groups constructed wooden panels at the start of the semester and later created photography-based paintings on these surfaces.
Professor Robinson encouraged students to select photographs where they could imagine a sensory reality; priority was paid to color relationships and what Robinson describes as the "personality" of light. This shifted the focus away from image replication, emphasizing the construction and arrangement of visual relationships. Success was measured by the coherence and commitment to formal language rather than strict fidelity to the photographic source. The resulting paintings resist easy interpretation and invite reflection. As he emphasizes, these works express both the technical skill and curiosity fostered in his classrooms.
“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” - Paul Klee
The Wooden Dolls by Alexander Girard
(freestanding cases on first floor of library)
The Wooden Dolls by Alexander Girard are a large family of wooden figures representing human and animal characters. Girard designed them in 1952 for his own use as decorative objects for his home.
Furniture Miniatures Collection
(freestanding cases on first floor of library)
For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design from its collection. The Furniture Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design – moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus and New Objectivity, from Radical Design and Postmodernism all the way up to the present day.