2026 Juneteenth Eve Celebration at PAR-Projects / Studeō PAR- – Cincinnati, OH

Help us kick off celebrations of Juneteenth with a party on Hoffner Street on the Eve of the holiday.

We will be kicking off celebrations for Juneteenth in Cincinnati with a Juneteenth Eve party on Hoffner Street! Join us to celebrate with a cookout and take one last look at our spring exhibition, “Materials Reclaimed” featuring the works of SLiNK Love and Sarah Rodriguez.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

About the exhibition:

Sometimes the dig is deep and the drive is a desire to preserve and/or relive history in order to bring light to subjects or feelings from the past. Other times it’s an outcry to help the world better understand our system’s tendency to create unsustainable environments where one’s trash truly becomes another’s treasure.

The most apparent throughline within this exhibition is that both Sarah Rodriguez and SLiNK Love place a high value on storytelling, fueled by the repurposing of objects. Still, and quietly, the often poetic pairing of this work represents a natural acceptance of concepts surrounding “other.”

The work of Rodriguez leads with emotional ties. Memories and processes of family are reborn, glorified, and accentuated. With the adornment of each jewel, bead, or button, new levels of care and importance are placed upon & within everyday objects. As subject matter teeters from rolling pins to ironing boards, objects often associated with womanhood are pulled into new levels of consciousness. Simultaneously, handwoven tapestries placed in a gallery setting speak to our need to embrace craft within the everyday accomplishments of a motherly soul.

In contrast, SLiNK is fueled by a need to resist policies and institutions easily identifiable as unjust. A motherly aura remains central and essential in the approach, but chaos is given lanes to both strive and survive. Often working to preserve and upcycle found plastics, the work becomes a representational narrative of our built and polluted environments. Still, beauty shines through, as mother nature would only have it. Viewers are asked to reflect on their personal narratives and consider new routes of movement that may improve both our natural environment and society as a whole.

As with most of the exhibitions held at The Gallery at Studeō PAR, we sincerely hope that viewers will spend time with the work to contemplate the juxtaposition in stylistic choices of each artist while, still coming to a profound realization regarding the power & potential of using found object as material.

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About PAR-Projects:

PAR-Projects is an artist-led organization with a mission to empower diverse communities of people who believe in the arts. As educators, we provide workshops & eight-week classes, related to career development & skills training. As working artists, we enjoy hosting thought provoking exhibits & large scale collaborations throughout Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

PAR-Projects is currently in the midst of a major community development project in Northside, Cincinnati, that is transforming 3/4 of an acre of blighted land into a contemporary arts & education center. Within their campus they currently host a fine art gallery and a number of creativity-focused artist studios. As development continues, they will open an outdoor performance stage and outdoor movie theater, truly designed as a place to gather.