- This event has passed.
Art & Engage: Finding Kenyon-Barr
February 26 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Join Councilwoman Meeka Owens for the Black History Month installment of Art & Engage: Finding Kenyon Barr on Wednesday, February 26th, from 3-5pm at City Hall Room 352!
Art & Engage is a social event and display of artwork to highlight black and minority communities in Cincinnati. This gathering will provide an opportunity for socializing and connecting amongst professionals and community members in Cincinnati.
RSVP HERE – Refreshments Provided!
For this installment of Art & Engage, the office of Councilwoman Meeka Owens is collabing with historian Dr. Anne Steinert to bring the Finding Kenyon Barr exhibit to our office!
The Finding Kenyon Barr exhibit toured seven locations in the Greater Cincinnati area between 2017 and 2020 to drew attention to the demolition of Cincinnati’s Lower West End which began in 1959. Councilmember Meeka Owens is proud to offer a portion of the exhibit in her Art and Engage series for Black History Month 2025.
The exhibit, curated by historian Anne Delano Steinert, features photographs help by Cincinnati Museum Center documenting the West End neighborhood prior to it’s demolition for urban renewal.
The neighborhood was a vibrant and vital home to a tight-knit African American community including homes, schools, churches, and businesses. The demolition of the Lower West End caused the displacement of 25,000 citizens, 97% of whom were African American, as well as hundreds of businesses and other institutions. It also dismantled important networks of community support for Cincinnati’s African American community which then had to be rebuilt in neighborhoods like Avondale, Evanston, and Walnut Hills.
The award-winning Finding Kenyon Barr exhibit has been instrumental in drawing attention to this often-forgotten event in Cincinnati’s history and has led to continued scholarship on the history of the West End and the impacts of urban renewal in Cincinnati.
We hope to see you there!
