Mural Helps Celebrate Amberley Village 75th Anniversary
To celebrate Amberley Village’s 75th anniversary, a committee of Amberley residents collaborated with the nonprofit Kennedy Heights Arts Center to create a very 
special piece of art that would serve as a permanent welcome to visitors and residents.
The very talented artist, Cedric Michael Cox (one of our CINspirational People), was selected to work with a committee to design the outdoor mural that will be displayed on a wall adjacent to Amberley’s Municipal Building.
“When I met with the committee members and toured the historic parks and pastures of the neighborhood, it was clear to me that the people of Amberley enjoyed its natural untouched beauty. The homes and public buildings in Amberley don’t live on top of nature they live within nature. The natural rural environment is the core to its everlasting charm,” Cedric wrote in his blog.
In July, he and Amberley residents brought the concepts to life. Many hours were spent collaborating, painting and getting to know others in their community. To see more photos of them working on it, please click here to visit Cedric’s blog.
“I wanted this mural to celebrate the community’s respect for wildlife and nature. Whoever looks upon this wall should feel invited to be a part of this 
place where man and wildlife live in harmonious respect,” wrote Cedric.
You are invited!
The dedication for the mural will be
Sunday, August 16, from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
at 7149 Ridge Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45237
CINspirational People: Pam Kravetz
CINspirational People is a feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. You can read more profiles by clicking on the link at the top of the blog. Do you know someone to suggest? Please reach out. Thanks!
Today we are featuring Pam Kravetz.
As a visual artist, Pam is known, respected and admired regionally and nationally with more than 50 art exhibitions and installations. Pam’s work has a magical way of bringing out your smile. She is also a national board certified teacher with a career spanning twenty years and has twice been awarded Teacher of the Year. Pam teaches an after school program at Uptown Arts, a free arts program for inner city elementary children.
We asked Pam a few questions.
GTGA: What is something about yourself that people may not know about you?
Pam: There are a few things that I think people would be surprised to know about me, sometimes I even surprise myself!. One is that I am a rule follower! Yep, I know, I know hard to believe. I drive the speed limit, I don’t cut in line, I like order! Even though I am driven by chaos and thrive on crazy! Something else many people don’t know about me is that I am a high school art teacher. I have been teaching at Harrison High School for 23 years and love it! One more thing – I love scary movies and I am addicted to the SyFy channel, anything from Sharknado to Blade to Shawn of the Dead. My artwork is time consuming and labor intensive to create, so I sit down and turn on Syfy and work away!
GTGA: Can you describe your art?
Pam: I’m a mural makin’, street paintin’ quilt sewin’, yarnbombin’, curatin’, flashmobin’, tutu wearin’ rootin’ tootin’ art monster.
photo credit Margy Waller
My artwork is somewhere between Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and Sex in the City. Whimsical, colorful, full of pattern and lust for life! It is sometimes snarky, funny, heart on my sleeve self portraits that tell a simple story that on the surface seems light hearted, but with a closer look it is touching, honest and sometimes a little heart breaking. My art is what it is – it is in your face, up close and personal, no reading between the lines view into my own microcosm of the universe. I make larger than life sized marionette puppets that the viewer activates, I make narrative quilts, I work collaboratively with a group of fantastic artists to create live interactive installations. From working with the yarn bombing performance art group The BombShells of Cincinnati, to body painters, dancers, visual artist and designers to create an installation. I love to work together to create art and experiences that I can’t do alone!
Viewing my art is not a spectator sport, the viewer is encouraged to interact, become part of the art, to be engaged. The viewer activates the art and makes the pieces come to life.
GTGA: Where does your creative inspiration come from?
Pam: My creativity and art is inspired by the beauty and the chaos of the everyday. From a conversation with a friend, to a cupcake I received on the way to a road trip, to watching my husband Craig’s beautiful daughter’s Erin and Jill making pickles, to an insecurity, to a shade of MAC lipstick. Nothing is too big or too small for me to explore using my art. My mom says, “Pam’s artwork is cheaper than therapy!” My work is about me and my journey through life’s crazy obstacles and surprises from
GTGA: Tell us about one of your projects, what it has meant to you and its impact on others.
Pam: I have been so fortunate through out my art career to have created art that have been life enriching experiences for me. My first show at a museum, The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center UnMusuem, “The Beatuy Queen, The Super Hero and The Peanut” was one of the first monumental, life changing times for me. I loved creating it, working with my husband Craig to work out the engineering and having my mom and sister and friends help me make my vision a reality. Then, watching children and grown-ups alike interacting with the puppets, reading the tex and stories, laughing, learning, engaging was phenomenal. I used my experience as an art teacher to create an installation that engaged children, taught them about self esteem in a playful non threatening way and showed me that I can make a dream a reality. Showing at the CAC was a HUGE dream of mine since I was a docent there in the 80’s. Flash forward to last year… Being commissioned by the CAC to be part of their 75th Anniversary celebration. Creating CAC-tv and having a ‘starring role” in the show! Then creating two 50’ feet memory quilts was a pretty mind blowing experience. Working with artists, history, dancers, body painters, the CAC staff and the community to create both the performance art and the narrative quilts was amazing. At the Memory Quilt unveiling I met one of the three founding women of the Modern Art Society in 1923 (now the CAC) and she was so kind, and so gracious and so excited that the history of the CAC was being created in a quilt by a group of women artists. We laughed and cried together! It was a pretty special interaction.
GTGA: What is your greatest reward from what you do?
Pam: And when my parents and family are at my shows (they never miss one) and seeing how happy they are by the art I create. That is my greatest reward. My son Max, has been by my side, inspiring me. We actually had a show togheter when he was 11! He sold more art than I did. I am so happy that he thinks that the friends that I make art with are amazing, and loves to come home to us working on ideas and art in our kitchen.
GTGA: What is one of the greatest pieces of advice you have received?
Pam: From my kindergarten teacher that saw I was struggling with my “ABCs,” she let me use the painting easel everyday. She encouraged me to do what I loved and was good at doing, creating. Then again in high school, my art teacher encouraged me to create, make art, and honor the person I am.
GTGA: What advice do you have for others about life?
Pam: Find your passion, something that belongs only to you! No matter what your life, and career choice is. Working in the garden, painting a picture, working on cars, taking dance classes. Feed your soul, do what you love and do it the best you can.
CINspirational People: Deanna Lewis
CINspirational People is a feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. You can read more profiles by clicking on the link at the top of the blog. Do you know someone to suggest? Please reach out. Thanks!
Today we are featuring Deanna Lewis, who won first price for her poem in the #ADA 25 Writing Contest held in Cincinnati. You can read her poem below.
Deanna is an advocate for people with disabilities and animals, and enjoys using her talents to advocate for others. As president of the Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users, she is a voice for both. Deanna and her guide dog, Mambo, are well known to everyone who works at and visits Clovernook Center For The Blind And Visually Impaired where she is a receptionist.
One of her long term goals is to pursue a career having to do with helping animals in a veterinary hospital setting, and she is well on her way. Deanna has volunteered at the SPCA Cincinnati and will be volunteering at a vet clinic soon.
Not surprisingly, Deanna’s favorite places to visit around Greater Cincinnati are our region’s beautiful parks, the Cincinnati Zoo and the Newport Aquarium.
We asked her a few questions:
GTGA: Tell us about something people may not know about you.
Deanna: I enjoy writing and have written songs about guide dogs in the tune of Christmas carols.
GTGA: Tell us about one of your life changing experiences.
Deanna: It was when I accepted my blindness. I have always been legally blind and when I was in high school I needed to have the print really close to me. When I almost stepped off a three foot wall because I couldn’t tell what it was, I realized I needed to do something. I began losing my vision in my 20s and got my first guide dog when I was 23.
GTGA: What do you want people to know about others who have disabilities?
Deanna: I want people to see those who have disabilities as being just like everybody else, just doing things differently.
GTGA: What advice would you give others about life?
Deanna: I would tell people that you have to work hard for your goals, no matter whether you have a disability or not. You can achieve them if you just put forth the effort.
#CINspiration
Deanna’s ADA Poem
Being blind can be a drag
But, I just have to brag
Thanks to the ADA
I am able to go on my way
If I head to the museum
My Guide Dog is free to come
On a college campus
While riding in a city bus
Whether out to eat
Or on a spa retreat
Riding in a taxi cab
Or in a hospital lab
At any place of retail
To walking on a nature trail
While in a shopping mall
Or at a stadium watching football
Inside my local pharmacy
Or at the nearby library
While out to see a movie
I’m free to have my Guide Dog with me
In a swanky resort
And waiting in an airport
Daily trips to the gym
And at the city pool for a swim
Anywhere the public can be
So can my Guide Dog and me
At work, I can get the software I need
To do my job well indeed
The ADA gives me these rights
So that I can avoid many fights
So, the most important thing I can say is
Yay for the ADA!
Loveland’s Hannah Laman Wins National Award
Way to go Hannah Laman! The Loveland 12 year old was selected from more than 32,000 nominees across the country as one of 10 national Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program winners! For the award, Hannah receives a $10,000 scholarship for higher education; and Kohl’s is donating $1,000 to the nonprofit 
of her choice. (I bet that nonprofit is Adopt A Book!)
Hannah and her twin brother, Alex, (with help from their parents) founded Adopt a Book that collects and distributes new and gently used children’s book to those who can’t afford them. To date, Adopt a Book has donated 60,000 books to more than 50 organizations, schools and hospitals that serve children in need.
“The most rewarding part of sharing books with others is that other kids have the opportunity to read and own a book of their own,” Hannah told Amazing Kids! Magazine.
Link to a past post about Adopt A Book. #CINspiration
My Thoughts On The 25th Anniversary Of The ADA
Twenty five years ago, July 26, the historic Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law. It was the first federal legislation that broke down the barriers, at least from a physical standpoint, that had served to exclude people because they did things differently from the norm. The law brought to the forefront a consciousness of creating spaces where everyone can access. Wider doorways and wheelchair ramps are some of the mandated changes seen in buildings and curb cuts throughout the country.
The law was a magnificent first step toward change. According to the ADA, no individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal participation of goods, services, facilities, privileges, and accommodations.
The thing that I want to remind everyone is that, while laws and these physical changes are important, true inclusion begins and ends with each one of us. Disabilities affect people of all race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, and age. Disabilities may be visible or they may be invisible. And disabilities may impact any one of us in any given moment of our lives.
But disabilities do not define people.
Still, people who experience disability are among the most socially and physically isolated. They are more vulnerable as targets of bullying. They are often misunderstood, and their intelligence and feelings very much underestimated.
I have always been someone fully aware of the importance of including and valuing others; however, my work with disability related organizations has heightened my awareness of this impact on individuals and on communities.
I have heard about stories and know people personally who have felt the pain of being excluded, and of not being given the opportunity to realize their full potential. Students who have been admonished by their peers. Parents who have feared adopting from the United States because of policies that could take their child away, for no other reason than their mother and father do things differently. People of working age who want to contribute and are very capable of contributing (not to mention have valuable skills) but are working in a job not up to their abilities because of limitations put on them by others.
But I have also seen the beauty in watching how kids…and adults grow…when they lose sight of each other’s differences and see each other as human beings. All of us, no matter our religion, culture, ethnicity, color or mode of doing, communicating and experiencing things grow when we include each other. We learn to see situations from new perspectives, we appreciate the gifts of our diversity, and together we are capable of accomplishing great things.
In a wonderfully spoken guest editorial to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Kat Lyons, advocacy coordinator for The Center for Independent Living Options Inc., shared, “We (people with disabilities) see ourselves as fully human, with strengths and weaknesses like any human. We know that any human may, in an instant, join our ranks.
We are not unable, just because we are disabled. We are just people, and we’d like to get to know you. We’d like for you to know and include us.”
Instead of simply applauding the ADA on its merits, let us see the ADA as a stepping stone toward a world of togetherness for all of us, a world that is better because we are a part of it.
