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In photography, the phrase “long view” serves two primary functions: long-distance vision and long-duration viewing. 

But it also implies a broader perspective, one that places emphasis on distance, duration and how we should consider both past and present. It’s a type of thinking that can be brought into different facets of life, whether you’re simply viewing a work of art, or even creating a community space that allows for forward-thinking while paying homage to the artists and craftspeople who came before us.

For FotoFocus, a lens-based art nonprofit in Cincinnati, “The Long View” is the theme of its upcoming Biennial, a month-long series of exhibitions that take place across dozens of venues throughout the region every other October. But the theme could also apply to the organization’s latest and biggest project: the FotoFocus Center, a community-based gallery, exhibition hall and artistic hub that will open on Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine this spring.

“As we’ve gotten larger, as the Biennial has occurred, I think something that we realized was lacking was a place to call home and a place for people to visit us outside of that programming, to know that we’re truly a year-round staple in this community,” FotoFocus Executive Director Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth told CityBeat. “And I think that was really what started the idea of how do we cement that?” 

The opening of the FotoFocus Center marks the first time the nonprofit will have its own space for the Biennial, now in its eighth iteration. But the center will also allow the nonprofit to offer year-round programming, like exhibits, educational events, artist talks and film screenings — all for free — and a chance to expand its reach into the community and center photography in Cincinnati’s arts landscape.

“I think the Biennial and being able to have our own space, it just helps us really ground the organization while still being able to provide more to the community,” said Emily Akil, FotoFocus’ communications and outreach manager. “We’re hoping that having this space will allow us to connect with more people and allow more people to understand what FotoFocus is and what we do.”  

Past and future through a viewfinder

Good art takes time, and the FotoFocus Center is a work of art in its own right. 

The project will be over four years in the making from the time it was announced to the public in 2022 to its opening, projected for May 29 this year. But now that it’s nearing completion, you can see the vision that has taken place: both an homage to photography (as well as the people who built Over-the-Rhine nearly 200 years ago) and a place where everyone is welcome to explore art through a lens. 

The building, located at 228 E. Liberty St., is two stories and around 14,700 square feet, with an enormous lobby and two spacious galleries, as well as an office space and conference room for the FotoFocus team. The exterior mimics photography’s gray scale: an ebonized black brick on the lower level that moves to a steel terrace and then white Travertine stone, which sits on a custom gridded steel frame that resembles a viewfinder of a camera when you look at it head-on from Sycamore Street. 

“These are little details that people may or may not pick up on, but photo enthusiasts will likely see some of it and think, ‘That’s super cool,’” Akil said. 

Initially, more of the building was going to be made of steel, but prices for the material skyrocketed as the project began. Project architect Jose Garcia of local firm Jose Garcia Design decided to replace that steel with Cross-Laminated Timber, a light and sustainable engineered wood that is both fire-resistant and strong enough to use as an alternative to concrete and steel.

And while the FotoFocus Center was the first construction project in the area to utilize Cross-Laminated Timber, it wasn’t the first project completed that used it. That honor belongs to Cincinnati Public Radio’s new building in Evanston, which finished construction last spring. 

But the pivot from steel to Cross-Laminate Timber only added to the FotoFocus Center’s photography-inspired exterior aesthetic.

“The warmth of the wood, along with the white of the stone, is really supposed to reflect the warmth of photography and the different scales and colors within images,” Akil said. 

The large windows on the front of the building, while offering tons of natural light, also play into the history of photography, as early studios had to have a bank of windows for exposures, Siegwarth said. 

The windows, as well as some of the building’s other architectural elements, also represent the industrial architecture of historic places in Over-the-Rhine, like Findlay Market — buildings that made the community what it is today. While the FotoFocus Center is a new and shiny building, Garcia wanted to ensure it also fit cohesively into the community’s mix of Italianate and industrial architecture. 

The black brick of the lower level is also a nod to the German and Italian masons who built the neighborhood in the 19th century, as is the corbeling (a shifting layout for the bricks) design of those bricks. If you stand at the corner of the building opposite of Sycamore, you’ll see how prominent that corbeling design is. Siegwarth anticipates a lot of Instagram selfies to be taken at that corner.

“They didn’t have luxurious material, so they used just humble brick,” Garcia said. “And with the few means that they had, they managed to create this beautiful neighborhood. If you look at all the details on the brick, you see the care that they put in, making the brick something extraordinary … So all the corbeling is a reference to that. It’s a reference to cornices — [the builders’] understanding [of] decoration and elevating the building just by using a very simple thing. I always loved the neighborhood, and this is basically a tribute to that.”

Ensuring the building merges cohesively with the neighborhood isn’t just a fun design choice; it also signals that it’s a place meant for the community. Not a place of pretension or exclusion, but somewhere everyone can come and appreciate lens-based art. 

“We want the community to know that [the FotoFocus Center] is a space for them,” Akil said. “We truly want everyone to feel welcome and like the FotoFocus Center is accessible to the entire community.”

“And I hope — to anybody and everybody who drives by or walks by — I hope it feels exactly like a friendly and open, welcoming [space],” Garcia added. 

As you move into the lobby of the building, you’re greeted by soaring ceilings and spacious galleries — a 3,000 square-foot one on the first floor and another 1,500 square-foot one on the second — but the airiness and the white walls ideal for exhibiting artwork don’t detract from its warmth; instead, the knotty pine ceilings and red oak trim complement the space and turn it into an invitation — an artsy retreat in the middle of the city. 

“It feels tall, but warm, with the wood up and down,” Garcia said, gesturing to the pine ceiling in the lobby. “That was something that we love, how wood is [implemented] throughout the building and makes you feel at home.”

While the aesthetics themselves are impressive, so is how they were maintained from concept to reality. Garcia said that when they had to pivot from using mainly steel, they opted for this alternative structure, which was designed here in Cincinnati in conjunction with a Canadian company. The building came to Cincinnati in pre-cut and pre-finished pieces and had to be assembled on-site, with very little room for error — 4 millimeters, said Siegwarth. 

With so little wiggle room, Garcia had to figure out how to conceal the components of the building that make it function — the HVAC system, electric, plumbing, the duct work — without compromising on the aesthetic of the FotoFocus Center. Normally, those parts would be hidden in the floor or ceiling, but that wouldn’t work in this space if they wanted to keep the pine ceiling, Garcia said.

“Normally, you hide all the guts of the building above the ceiling, below the floor. There’s no space in here for that. That wood up there,” he said, pointing to the pine ceiling, “that’s the floor, and we don’t want to cover it because it’s beautiful … So we didn’t want to cover all this beauty with drywall or floating ceiling or anything like that. So we had to plan very carefully: How [do] we [install] all the guts that make the building work without exposing them?”

The answer: behind a very thick wall. A wall at the back of the first-floor gallery hides all those components, with just some round, metal HVAC vents at the top of the wall hinting at the heavy lifting happening out of sight, allowing the space to focus solely on the design and art, as intended. 

As you move throughout the galleries, you’ll notice the exhibit walls jut up from the floor and out into the space, like they’re their own canvases waiting to be decorated. The galleries are flexible too, offering the ability to switch from one kind of exhibit to another, or to add more components like wall builds, Siegwarth said. And while the galleries are spacious, the lighting system offers the potential for more intimate exhibits, and the building has been wired so FotoFocus can lean into other forms of lens-based art, not solely photography.

“We have the ability to wire projections to multi-video, multi-channel installations. We want to play with what photography can be,” Siegwarth said.

What’s coming to the FotoFocus Center

Walking through the galleries, Siegwarth pointed out how each has its own personality. The first-floor gallery is double the size of the one on the second-floor, with slightly higher ceilings, offering for more flexibility in programming. But the second-floor gallery feels cozier and more intimate and can serve as either an addendum to an exhibit on the first floor or host its own.

“It’ll make it easier for us to kind of consider how programming fits in each one,” Siegwarth said.  “Our first exhibition will be on both floors, but this allows us also the ability to have two exhibitions simultaneously, to stagger our schedule. Those are things we’ll figure out in the first couple of years — what makes the most sense for us.” 

The FotoFocus Center is projected to open May 29, kicking off programming with its inaugural exhibit, the details of which FotoFocus will announce in the coming months. Siegwarth sees this first year and the inaugural exhibit as a chance to experiment, with programming becoming more robust in 2027. Akil said they foresee having between three to six exhibits a year, depending on how they decide to use the two gallery spaces and what the curatorial process will end up looking like.

Programming itself will focus on community and accessibility, as well as being able to appeal to a broader audience. But Siegwarth said FotoFocus has also always considered its programming to be interdisciplinary and at the forefront of conversations about the world through photography as well. They also won’t try to reinvent wheel when it comes to arts programming in the city.

“We’re a nice equidistance between the Contemporary Arts Center and Cincinnati Art Museum, and our programming has always complemented, not competed, with them,” Siegwarth says. “So I really see this as an exciting moment for Cincinnati at large.” 

“We want it to be a place to collaborate,” Akil added. “We still anticipate working with other venues and having guest lectures and bringing students into the space. So really, we want to make it a place for everybody, where people feel comfortable and can learn about photography, whether they are brand new to it or seasoned patrons of ours.”

The Long View

Following FotoFocus’ inaugural exhibit, which will run through August, the team will begin prepping the new center for its 2026 Biennial. While the center will offer a home for the nonprofit’s own Biennial exhibit this year, the FotoFocus team said the event’s overall structure will not change, with other exhibits on display at around 70 different venues, like museums, galleries, universities and public spaces, throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Northern Kentucky.

FotoFocus artistic director Kevin Moore is curating the works that will make up this year’s event. All works will fit into the theme of “The Long View,” with selected art focusing on the aspects of time and perspective in photography and film and how these media shape our understanding of the world. While the theme fits with the opening of the center, it also coincides with the United States’ 250th anniversary, offering attendees the opportunity to reflect on the country’s history, as well as its future.

“Our country is undergoing a lot of turbulence as it approaches its 250th anniversary, and a lot of us are anxiously caught up in the moment, worried about what the future holds,” Moore said in a previous press release. “The Long View suggests we might benefit from gaining a broader perspective by looking to the past to better imagine a future.”

FotoFocus will announce more Biennial details, including programming, in June, but Siegwarth said, like previous years, it will balance both emerging artists and established voices.

“Our Biennial system, in and of itself, is a way of balancing that,” Siegwarth told CityBeat. “It’s been very democratic. We do bring in international artists, nationally recognized artists, but we also have our own call for entry. We’re working with artists directly here, regionally, to produce exhibitions and support their work. And through the Biennial at large, we’re providing grants to local institutions to create programming that fits their mission, and much of that then goes toward local artist support. This building will continue that too.”

Since its inception in 2012, FotoFocus’ Biennial has attracted over 1 million visitors. The Opening Weekend will be held on Oct. 1-3 and include programming like talks, tours, panel discussions, and receptions, with the rest of the Biennial running through October.

To stay updated on the FotoFocus Center and Biennial, visit fotofocus.org.

The post FotoFocus’ new center turns the lens on community appeared first on Cincinnati CityBeat.

A University of Cincinnati aerospace organization is making history as it partners with NASA to launch its first fully student-led satellite mission, per the university.

The organization, CubeCats, recently completed and handed off the university’s first satellite, LEOPARDSat-1. The satellite has been transferred to NASA and Voyager and is set to launch from the International Space Station this spring.

Once in orbit, the satellite will test lightweight material designed to shield people from space radiation as an alternative to other materials like water or lead.

UC says this milestone marks its expanding role in space exploration. 

“This moment represents years of engineering, persistence, redesigns, testing cycles and unwavering belief from generations of students, faculty and partners,” Nathan Nguyen, president of CubeCats, told UC. “The mission also highlights UC’s growing aerospace and innovation ecosystem. What began as a student-driven vision has become a flight-ready spacecraft.”

LEOPARDSat-1 is short for “Low Earth Orbit Platform for Aerospace Research and Development Satellite-1.” The satellite includes an antenna made in UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub’s makerspace, and it was designed, built and tested by generations of UC undergraduates. CubeCat leaders Nguyen, program manager Samuel Kohls and chief engineer Matthew Verbryke led the final phase under the guidance of faculty advisor Donghoon Kim, says the school.

“We’re honored to carry the spirit of Ohio’s deep legacy of aerospace innovation forward and prove what’s possible when students are trusted and empowered to build something meaningful,” Kohls said.

To celebrate the milestone, the UC 1819 Innovation Hub held an appreciation event where guests could see an exact replica of the satellite and participate in a digital time capsule, which had them leave messages that could be transmitted once LEOPARDSat-1 goes into orbit. Members of CubeCats were also recognized during the event.

CubeCats says it’s already working on its next satellite, HABSat-1, which is expected to be twice the size of LEOPARDSat-1. UC students interested in joining CubeCats can email uccubecats@gmail.com. 

More info: uccubecats.github.io.

The post University of Cincinnati students build satellite for NASA mission appeared first on Cincinnati CityBeat.

Kelsey Stryffe knows her way around old stones and bricks. Few jobs call for this skill, but Stryffe is perfectly suited for her role as Cincinnati Observatory’s historic facilities manager and as a heritage masonry restoration contractor. Now, she’s using her skills and knowledge to help rebuild historical structures around Greater Cincinnati, one brick and stone at a time.

“My goal is to really just educate people on historic architecture, but also to show them traditional materials and traditional fixes are extremely important, especially when we want these buildings to last for years and years and years,” Stryffe told CityBeat.

Stryffe started working in heritage masonry in 2023, but her love of history and old homes and structures started long before. 

As a teenager, she was fascinated by places like Savannah and Charleston and the architectural styles that dominate these historic Southern cities, from the grand Greek Revival mansions to charming and romantic Gothic Revival homes and gingerbread-decorated Victorians. She initially wanted to study art and architectural history at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) after high school, but opted for an art program closer to home, first at Bowling Green State University and then Miami University. 

“Growing up, I was like, I can’t wait to get the heck out of Cincinnati,” Stryffe said. “I was like, Oh, my God — Savannah has this beautiful bubble of historic homes, and I just want to be there. But I wasn’t looking at what was right in front of me the whole time. … I don’t even know what other cities out there have as vast of a collection of historic structures still intact [as Cincinnati].”

After college, Stryffe took a job at the Observatory, leading tours and teaching history to visitors, but in 2023, a new local program caught her eye and made her consider a shift in her career. At the time, the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades (CAHT) was a newly launched school promising to teach the skills and knowledge one would need to work in the heritage trades and restore old homes and buildings, offering intro weeks on subjects like restoring wood windows and masonry. Stryffe, already interested in brick and stone work, jumped into the masonry course and found it was something she could see herself doing as a job. 

“I took the course just to see if I could do it, and then I was passionate enough to do it,” said Stryffe. “I was like, I want to learn how to do this as a career. … I always wanted to just get in and get my hands dirty, and I ran with that.”

Stryffe took more intro week courses at CAHT, learning skills like plastering and fixing wood windows and getting hands-on experience and practical knowledge in the school’s “living lab” on Madison Avenue in Covington. 

“You’re actually working on a historic home and learning … And, we’d be in there fixing plaster or taking window sashes out and just kind of deconstructing this house, but also putting it back together,” she said. “And it was just so fascinating. And I’m like, I want to be able to do this, but I’ve always kind of been one-foot-in, one-foot-out, because I love my job at the Observatory and it offers me the stability and support I needed while I also explored these additional passions.”

Stryffe continued her full-time job at the Observatory and started apprenticing part-time to gain more experience. She stopped apprenticing after a couple of years to focus more on her projects at the Observatory, but a big restoration project at her workplace this past summer called her back to masonry. 

Needing the stonework on the building’s façade to be repaired and cleaned, the Observatory contacted contractors for quotes. After hearing there were contractors who wanted to powerwash the sandstone — a soft and porous type of rock that can erode under that kind of pressure — Stryffe had the chance to put her knowledge and skills to the test.

“I was like, ‘You realize you can’t powerwash sandstone, right?’ At least to the extent they were offering. They’re like, ‘Well, how would you do this? Can you do it?’” she said. 

Stryffe spent much of the summer with a spray bottle filled with a Dawn dish detergent-water solution and a fine-toothed, non-metallic bristle brush as she scrubbed away at years’ worth of algae and lichen that had accumulated on the stones — tough and dirty work, but it was also the start of something new. 

“It was almost kind of healing in a way, because I was missing the jobs that I was on, and taking on such a large project on my own, on a National Historic Landmark, really made me feel confident in the skills I already knew I had but felt I couldn’t utilize.” 

Brick & Bone

The summer Observatory project influenced her promotion to historic facilities manager and jump-started an idea that would eventually become Stryffe’s business, Brick & Bone Masonry Restoration, which she officially launched at the beginning of the year. It was something she hadn’t imagined doing before.

“I never really had the confidence to be, like, ‘I’m going to start my own business,’ and do this. But I loved the work and wanted to see what it was like to take on my own side projects, on my own schedule,” she said. 

When Stryffe began easing into the idea of having her own business last year, she knew it would have to start off slow, but later in the summer, she was approached by her first client: a former manager who was looking to make repairs to his 1812 barn. Working on the barn reaffirmed that Stryffe could do her trade on the side.

“It’s just repairing his foundation, working with a lot of old stone, rebuilding a lot of the walls that are collapsing, using the correct mortar materials and just understanding the barn was built in 1812  — what materials did they use in 1812? Can we replicate it doing things like for like?”

With the launch of Brick & Bone, Stryffe says she’s not a house-flipper and has no interest in becoming one. Instead, she wants to use her business to help those who own historical homes and buildings better understand how to properly care for these structures.

Part of that mission is also happening online. Since the Observatory project, Stryffe’s been using her social media to share what she’s learned and help educate others on the importance of preserving these stones and bricks that are hundreds of years old. On her Instagram, you’ll see videos of her using a spray bottle to help cure lime mortar, repointing stones and showing the effects of time, elements and improper material use on these often-overlooked, but wholly essential building blocks that need a specific touch. 

“Especially in [the Tri-State] area, a lot of people, they’re in historic homes … They don’t know what materials are appropriate. We have contractors all over the place that are just like, ‘Yeah, I can fix that for you,’ and it’s not the right type of stuff,” she said. 

A dying trade, a dying art

Understanding how to repair and restore the different facets of a historical building requires different skill sets than making similar fixes in a modern building. And while the number of people with that knowledge is dwindling, the demand for historical building repairs and renovations is growing. 

A 2022 report from The Campaign for Historic Trades shows that by 2030, as many as 462,000 buildings across the country will be added to the National Register of Historic Places, and the total number of buildings that could be considered “historic” could grow to between 5.7 and 8.3 million. In that same report, experts in heritage construction agree that there’s a shortage of laborers with those kinds of skills and knowledge, and there’s a need to support traditional trades training, like the programs offered by Covington Academy of Heritage Trades.

A 2023 study of trades professionals and preservation specialists by the University of New Hampshire shows there are “severe workforce shortages in plastering, masonry, carpentry, materials conservation, decorative finishes, windows, and iron work.” Seventy-five percent of the study’s survey respondents said they believe the demand for preservation trades is growing, but 93% felt young people lacked knowledge about career opportunities in these trades.

Stryffe’s seen the gap in knowledge between caring for a historical structure versus modern ones firsthand, like layers of cement over a stone foundation, which will trap in moisture and eat away at the stone’s structural integrity, or the use of a foam insulation in a basement that isn’t vapor-permeable but is billed as the “latest and greatest” product.

“There’s not too many people out there that know the proper materials to use when fixing 1800s brick structures, or plaster repairs”, said Stryffe.“They don’t know all it takes to go into the different layers of it and how they used to use animal hair as a binding agent. And there aren’t people out there that are willing to replicate that.”

Building a foundation and preserving history, brick by brick

Stryffe isn’t shy about her love of history and historic preservation, especially when it comes to the stones and bricks she works with. 

“There’s something about bricks and stone that’s just so timeless to me. … There’s so many different kinds of bricks, and there’s a whole history to how bricks were made,” she explained. “A lot of these bricks were made by hand, either on site or from brick plants not far away.”

But her love of bricks and stones makes sense — they’re key to any good foundation. The long hours learning about various bricks and stones, how to clean them, what kind of mortar they need to be pieced back together again and then putting that to practice has been Stryffe’s foundation. And like any good mason, she’s continuing to build a foundation that will stand the test of time, brick by brick.

“I do research every day. I’m always learning about different stone types, correct mortar materials. What’s appropriate to go on brick versus stone? Is this brick harder than this brick? What is this interior brick telling me versus the exterior? There’s so many aspects to it,” she said. “I want to be able to look at [a problem] and be like, ‘Okay, this is happening the way it’s happening because of this reasoning.’ And then going in and being like, ‘This is how I can fix it for you.’”

Stryffe’s foundation is built on learning, but also on the philosophy that things should be built to endure for centuries with the proper stewardship. She shares a quote from English polymath John Ruskin that informs her approach to historic preservation:

“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our fathers did for us.”

“Like, look at what these people built, and look how long it’s stood the test of time. We have buildings that are pre-Civil War that are still around,” she said. “[Preservation] is an important reminder of where we came from and that it’s not just us. … It’s almost poetic in a way to be able to rebuild something that somebody else had built hundreds of years ago.”

You can learn more about Brick & Bone Masonry Restoration and watch Stryffe’s journey in the heritage trade on her Instagram page, @kelsey_j_stryffe. She’s open to stone, brick and plaster work in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. You can also visit the Observatory, where Stryffe leads tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to see her work firsthand.

The post This woman is helping preserve Greater Cincinnati’s historic structures one stone at a time appeared first on Cincinnati CityBeat.

An Over-the-Rhine Italian restaurant is in the national spotlight after it landed on a highly anticipated annual list from Yelp.

Yelp recently released its 13th-annual Top U.S. Restaurants roundup, featuring the highest-reviewed restaurants, diners, fast-casual spots and food halls of the year. This year, Pepp & Dolores, owned by brothers Joe and John Lanni’s Thunderdome Restaurant Group, took the No. 10 spot on the list, which was defined by trends like Japanese dining, Gen Z-approved dress-up destinations and “grandma-core” dining,” which includes Pepp & Dolores. 

“‘Often called ‘nonna-stalgia,’ this cozy trend encourages diners to step out of their fast-paced lives for old-fashioned, slow-cooked family recipes made with simple ingredients — often served on charmingly mismatched dinnerware in warm settings that remind them of simpler times. You’ll find this trend at Cincinnati’s Pepp & Dolores,” writes Yelp.

The Lanni brothers opened Pepp & Dolores, named after their Italian-Canadian grandparents, on Vine Street in 2019, with an Italian menu inspired by the brothers’ nonna’s recipes. Dishes feature components like a traditional, slow-simmered, tomato-based “Sunday sauce,” served over spaghetti with a veal and pork meatball and braised pork shoulder, and handmade pastas for popular dishes like the Spicy Vodka Pasta and the Limone Pasta. 

Yelp also praises Pepp & Dolores’ warm hospitality, also inspired by the Lanni brothers’ grandmother. 

“That comfort and homey feeling is a top priority for the brothers, who pay attention to diners’ favorites, take their requests seriously (dessert was recently added to the menu after several customer asks), and make everyone feel welcome,” said Yelp. 

That dessert, by the way, features two flavors of soft-serve gelato, hazelnut-chocolate and vanilla mascarpone, which can be dressed up with toppings like olive oil, sea salt, crushed pistachios or crushed Amaretti cookies. 

So, what do Yelpers have to say about Pepp & Dolores? Here’s a review Yelp highlighted:

 “Stunning, gorgeous, delicious! My first time in the great state of Ohio, and the food here really sealed the deal for me. So many vegetarian options, lovely ambiance, incredibly friendly staff, and obviously amazing food! I got the Dunk (bread app) and the Pomodoro Pasta. No notes — I need to come back and eat both again, and then inhale everything else on the menu!” – Paayal J.

Coincidentally, CityBeat selected the same review when we compiled a roundup of the current 25 best restaurants in Cincinnati (according to Yelpers) a few weeks ago. Paayal’s review just sums up the whole Pepp & Dolores experience so well.

If you’re planning on visiting Pepp & Dolores, it’s recommended that you make a reservation ahead of time, which you can do here.

You can see the full Yelp Top 100 U.S. Restaurants list here. Columbus’ Kitchen Social, which has a location in Montgomery (9340 Montgomery Road), also made the list. 

Pepp & Dolores, 1501 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. More info peppanddolores.com.

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A GoFundMe has been set up to support a local restaurant owner facing a major health crisis.

Yvonne Chew, who owns Tea n Bowl, a Malaysian and Thai restaurant near the University of Cincinnati, says she was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease in October.

“I was admitted to Mercy Hospital after experiencing severe weakness in my feet, difficulty breathing and persistent vomiting,” Chew shares in the GoFundMe. “I was admitted to the ICU, where I spent 12 days fighting for my life. Doctors performed a kidney biopsy and delivered devastating news: my kidney function had dropped to just 5%.”

Chew says the kidney disease was brought on by an attack from her autoimmune system. After being admitted to the hospital, she was placed on outpatient dialysis and said the bills from the hospitalization, ICU care, medications, appointments and treatments are adding up and have become overwhelming. She’s also not covered by any medical aid or insurance.

“With your support, I can continue my outpatient dialysis and focus on sustaining and caring for my two children during this incredibly difficult time,” Chew writes. “Any contribution—no matter how small—will go directly toward essential medical expenses and life-sustaining care.”

The local restaurant community is also rallying around Chew. Asianati, a nonprofit that provides a guide to Asian food in Cincinnati and puts on the annual Asian Food Fest, has been sharing and donating to Chew’s GoFundMe.

“As we approach Lunar New Year, we are reminded that the foundation of this holiday is community and family,” Asianati’s Lam Dang said in a press release. “Yvonne has shown up for our community for years, and now it is our turn to show up for her. When someone in our family needs help, we should be at the forefront of supporting them.”

At the time of this writing, over $8,300 has been donated to Chew’s GoFundMe. Asianati says, in addition to donating to the GoFundMe, you can also help Chew by visiting Tea n Bowl.

Tea n Bowl, 211 W. McMillan St., CUF. More info: teanbowl.com.

The post GoFundMe set up for Cincinnati restaurant owner battling kidney failure appeared first on Cincinnati CityBeat.

A local nonprofit dedicated to independent filmmaking is taking over operations of the historic Mariemont Theatre.

In a press release Thursday, Cindependent, which is best known for hosting the annual Cindependent Film Festival, announced that it has been working with Mariemont leaders, community partners and stakeholders to assume operations at the cinema. The Esquire Theatre Group is currently operating the building, but will be transitioning out of the space soon, according to Mariemont Theatre’s website. 

The shift in operational management will make the Mariemont Theatre the first independent, nonprofit movie theater in Greater Cincinnati.

“This is about more than movies — it’s about preserving a community treasure,” Cindependent Founder and Executive Director Allyson West said in the release. “The Mariemont Theatre has always been a place where people come together, and we’re thrilled to honor its legacy while creating a new home for independent film, local voices, and shared experiences.”

Cindependent says, under them, Mariemont Theatre will expand the community’s access to independent, international and locally produced films along with mainstream, family-friendly fare. It also plans on retaining all of the theater’s employees. 

The Save the Mariemont Theatre Committee volunteer group says it has been coordinating with arts organizations and foundations to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for transition funding. The transition is expected to take around 16 weeks, depending on fundraising goals.

“This theater is the heartbeat of Mariemont. It is woven into the memories of families in our region and it is upon us to ensure it thrives,” says Save the Mariemont Theatre Committee Chair Cheryl Chapman. “We are confident in Allyson’s leadership with Cindependent and the plan that’s been developed.”

Cindependent will also launch a grassroots campaign in the community called Friends of the Mariemont Theatre, which will give Mariemont residents and film enthusiasts the chance to become founding members of the new nonprofit cinema. Membership ranges in tiers, starting at $60 a year, up to $5,000 a year. Membership dues will support daily theater operations, and members will receive early access to tickets, special screenings and exclusive events.

“Cindependent is excited to bring a flood of people to this cinema to share in our love of storytelling together, to provide a new home for filmmakers and filmlovers we’ve been developing for nearly 10 years now, and to stimulate the economic community through stories and shared experiences,” said West.

Mariemont Theatre, 6906 Wooster Pike, Mariemont. More info: mariemonttheatre.org.

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Findlay Market has announced the death of one of their longtime merchants.

Mark Whitworth died on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the age of 64. Whitworth had been a member of Findlay Market since 2011 and was the owner of Mexican-style food stand Mama Lo Hizo, American food stand The Grill and kettle corn shop Mama Made It.

“We would bet that nearly every person that has visited the Market over the last decade plus knows Mark. And that is because he was the kindest, friendliest, and most welcoming presence inside of the Market House. His bellowing, “Gooooood Morning!”, “Well, hello there!”, “Have a great day!”, greeted Market goers and staff every single day. His big laughter could usually be heard 4 stands away,” Findlay Market shared in a Facebook post. “We will forever miss Mark. Findlay Market mornings and Saturday afternoons will be a bit quieter with him gone.”

According to his obituary, Whitworth is survived by his husband, two sisters and two nieces. A visitation and funeral will be held for him at Neidhard-Minges Funeral Home (3155 Harrison Ave.) in Westwood on Friday, Jan. 30. Donations can be made in his name to SPCA Cincinnati.

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Rhinegeist is celebrating Black creativity and community impact this February with a special event that will feature food, vendors, dancing and raising money for a good cause.

Celebrate Black Voices will return to the taproom on Saturday, Feb. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. The event will feature a Black-owned business vendor market, plus food from Maw Maw’s Creole Kitchen, music from DJ Queen Celine and a dance performance from Q-Kidz, a local organization that provides dance and educational programs to Cincinnati kids.

In honor of Celebrate Black Voices, Rhinegeist will also release the Mack’s Island Ale, a tropical beer with ginger that’s named after Theodore Mack Sr. Mack was the owner and operator of Peoples Brewing Co., one of the United States’ first Black-owned breweries. A $1 for each pint of Mack’s Island Ale sold will go toward supporting Q-Kidz.

Celebrate Black Voices was organized by Rhinegeist’s BIPOC and Allies Employee Resource Group.

“Celebrate Black Voices is proof that when organizations support their employees and their unique qualities, great things arise! I love being able to celebrate Black history alongside my peers and members of the community in such a fun and energetic way! To see something our BIPOC & Allies Employee Resource Group pitched 3 years ago continue to be a pathway for fun, education and community engagement is truly amazing. I am so excited for this event!” BIPOC+ Allies Chair and HR Project Manager Daria Moore told CityBeat.

The event is free and open to the public. You can see the full schedule and more information here.

Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. More info: rhinegeist.com.

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Dos Hermanos, a beloved Columbus Mexican restaurant chain, is opening its first location in Cincinnati this week. And not only will this be Dos Hermanos’ first Cincinnati spot, it’s also its first full-service restaurant.

The restaurant will open at 1819 Elm St. in Over-the-Rhine, just across the street from Findlay Market. The space was formerly home to barbecue joint Mighty Good. 

Dos Hermanos is joining the Findlay Market District as a long-term resident of the Findlay Launch Program, which is helping it pilot this first full-service restaurant. The concept began as a single food truck 14 years ago, and has now grown into a fleet of food trucks, as well as several quick-service locations in Columbus and Athens and a catering program. The restaurant serves authentic Oaxacan food and is best known for its Mexican street tacos and traditional banana leaf tamales. 

“We started with a food truck and a lot of love for what we do. Fourteen years later, that hasn’t changed — we just have more locations now,” Dos Hermanos Director of Operations Robert Packer said in a press release.  “Dos Hermanos has always been about more than tacos. It’s about showing up for people—with good food, real hospitality and a place where everyone’s welcome. Every new location is a chance to meet new neighbors, feed more families and keep doing what we love. That’s the soul we bring to every community we join.”

A grand opening celebration is planned for 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 30, and all are welcome to attend. Guests will hear remarks from Packer and Jordon Kuhn, the Findlay Launch Program’s manager, which will be followed by a ribbon-cutting and a mariachi band performance. Guests will also receive a free taco when they sign up for Rewards by Dos.

Dos Hermanos, 1819 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. More info: eatatdos.com.

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The inches of snow Greater Cincinnati received over the weekend may be sticking around for a while as temperatures stay below freezing. To help you warm up, local chili parlor chain Gold Star is offering a special buy-one-get-one deal.

From now through Thursday, Jan. 29, if you buy a regular or super 3-, 4- or 5-Way, you can get a second Way of equal or lesser value for free. You can redeem the offer in the restaurant’s rewards app at locations throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. 

The offer is limited to one per Gold Star Rewards member and is not valid with any other offers or discounts. You can use the offer for dine-in, drive-thru or carryout orders, but not third-party delivery services like DoorDash or Uber Eats.

Visit goldstarchili.com to find a location near you and check store hours, which may be impacted by the recent snowfall, says Gold Star.

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