CINCINNATI — The nation’s largest public light and art event is lighting up the Cincinnati sky this weekend.

Artists from Ohio and across the world are showing their best and brightest works for "BLINK."

What You Need To Know

  • Artists from Ohio and across the world are showcasing their brightest works for BLINK

  • The public art event spans 30 city blocks through Cincinnati and stretches across the Ohio River

  • The free event brings in more than $126M in economic investments for the region

Cincinnati artist Javarri Lewis spent time with William Rankins Jr. to help inspire his work.

Rankins was one of the first muralists in the city.

“A few years ago, about seven years ago, he started losing his eyesight. I always saw his murals, but I never knew who he was. I never knew his story, never knew anything about him,” said Lewis.

As a kid, Lewis used his murals as landmarks and was inspired without even knowing him.

For BLINK, Lewis created a large mural called “Walk By Faith Not By Sight” as a tribute.  

“I was trying to learn and stuff like that so that was interesting for me to hear his war stories from back in the late 80s, early 90s and just painting outside the dynamic of the neighborhood then,” Lewis said.

The mural is just one of the pieces to help make ‘BLINK!’ possible.  

“This weekend, along more than 30 city blocks and throughout three cities, the work of more than 80 artists will shine bright,” said Cincinnati Regional Chamber President and CEO Brenden Cull said.

BLINK Is a free public art event with hundreds of people working together to make it happen. 

“It’s about art, but it’s about more than that. It’s about community, it’s about togetherness,” said BLINK Executive Director Justin Brookhart.

 Each year, local artists and artists from around the globe submit their work and ideas, hoping for a chance to shine in Southwest Ohio.

“In 2022 we had about 250 apply for that open call. This year, we had over 950 submissions to that open call. It’s just an incredible amount of people that applied and said they want to bring their artwork to Cincinnati and they want to experience it on a grand scale together,” Brookhart said.

 BLINK helps boost businesses, restaurant sales and hotel bookings.

According to the last economic study in 2022, the event had a $126M impact.

For Lewis, he has a new appreciation for public art and he hopes people will be inspired when they see his mural.

“You kind of take the good with the bad and everything with it. Obviously, being outside and interacting with the community is really what I take a lot of it from as well as far as creating. And then for BLINK, just having a platform is even more special, just talking to people and seeing people from all over be able to see your work. So it’s been really cool from that aspect,” he said.

The event is free and runs through Sunday with locations on both sides of the Ohio River.