Arts & Culture
Best of Cincinnati
Voting results from CityBeat’s 2021 readers’ poll
Art Gallery
1. Contemporary Arts Center 2. 21c Museum Hotel 3. Pendleton Art Center
Art Museum
1. Cincinnati Art Museum 2. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 3. Contemporary Arts Center
Artworks Mural
The Swing House. Hailey Bollinger
Unique Attractions
From ventriloquism and lucky cat museums to old-school amusement parks and oddities shops, the Queen City is full of strange and obscure attractions. You won’t find many of these destinations in most Cincinnati guide books, and that’s why we love them.
Vent Haven Museum
The world has just one museum dedicated to the art and history of ventriloquism, and it’s right here in the Greater Cincinnati area. Fort Mitchell’s Vent Haven Museum is home to 900 (and counting) unique sidekicks, some dating back to the 19th century. They’re joined by an exhaustive collection of ephemera and historical archives, documenting what many consider the world’s greatest art form. The museum also hosts the international ConVENTion every year for hundreds of ventriloquists. To make more space for their large collection, they are currently in the process of adding more buildings to their campus — housed on the property of the now-deceased founder. 33 W. Maple Ave., Fort Mitchell, venthaven.org.
Lucky Cat Museum
Located inside Essex Studios, the museum boasts a one-of-a-kind collection of Japanese maneki neko “lucky cat” figures. The glass displays stretch across the walls, containing thousands of styles, colors and sizes of cats. Some are golden,
Annual Manual 2021/2022
others white with red ears and a green bib. Some don black fur or are chipped. Some are stuffed, others ceramic and plastic. There are some wacky ones, too. All of them, however, carry an undeniable charm. There’s even a gift shop. 2511 Essex Place, Walnut Hills, luckycatmewseum.com.
The Swing House
The Swing House is a whole-building art project — a freestanding 1880s three-story brick home in Camp Washington where owner and artist Mark de Jong has removed the interior walls and upper floors and built a swing right in the middle of the opened-up interior. Made from pine that he salvaged from third-floor joists, the swing is attached by 30 feet of natural-fiber rope to a metal beam on the ceiling. The artist hosts open houses from time to time, but the space is also available for rent on Airbnb. 1373 Avon Place, Camp Washington, swing-house.com.
Loveland Castle
Former World War I army medic and Boy Scout troop leader Harry Delos Andrews
1. “Fiona and Bibi at the Cincinnati Zoo” 2. “Cincinnati Toy Heritage” 3. “Charley Harper’s Beguiled by the Wild” 4. “Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon” 5. “Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra” 6. “Democracy!” 7. “Mr. Dynamite” 8. “Dream Big and Fly High” 9. “Homecoming (Blue Birds)” 10. “Swing Around Rosie”
Charity Festival/Event 1. Cincinnati Pride 2. Flying Pig Marathon 3. My Furry Valentine
Church Festival
1. Panegyri Greek Festival 2. CincItalia 3. St. Cecilia Parish Festival
Fountain Square Event 1. Ice Rink on Fountain Square 2. Reds Opening Day Rally on the Square 3. Light Up the Square
Free Attraction
1. Findlay Market 2. Smale Riverfront Park 3. Cincinnati Art Museum 4. Jungle Jim’s International Market 5. Cincinnati Public Library 6. Washington Park 7. Tunes & Blooms at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden 8. Contemporary Arts Center 9. Fountain Square 10. 21c Museum Hotel
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