One of the Queen City’s coolest art-focused events returns when the Cincinnati Art Book Fair sets up shop at The Carnegie this weekend on Aug. 29 and 30.
“It’s a community of vendors, and bookmakers, and rare book dealers, and galleryists, and independent publishers, and artists, and printmakers,” said Matt Distel, the executive director of The Carnegie. “Just general weirdos that come together to create. It’s my favorite thing we do all year, to be honest.”
Inside the fair, which is free and open to the public, over 60 different vendors and artists will be present across all of the galleries inside The Carnegie. Several special exhibitions are on display, including work from Lindsey Cummins and a film series from vendor John Weese. The outdoor space will be in use, too, with live DJ sets sponsored by Shake It Records and food booths from local brands like Modern Water.
The fair has come a long way since its humble beginnings, when Rebecca Steele and Lydia Rosenberg created it in 2017 as part of their work with the artist-run collaborative Anytime Dept. inside Northside’s Hoffner Lodge.
“I attended the first book fair … and was just like, ‘This is great. Let me know if I can help or get involved or do anything to help out, and if you ever need a larger space, let me know. I’m sure we can figure out a way to make it work,'” Distel told event organizers. “They took us up in 2019, and then COVID happened, so we had a bit of a lull until it moved back here on a permanent basis in 2023.”
Now in its seventh year and ran by Steele and Kyle Mace — who retain full creative control of the event, as Distel likens the Carnegie’s role to “an administrative arm, as we essentially fund the book fair … we provide the back of house components, if that makes any sense, because we want it to still have its organic authenticity” — the event has grown larger than ever before. Last year’s event saw over 2,000 attendees, and this year’s iteration had nearly 130 vendor/artist applicants, with 11 different states being represented in the final list.
“The quality is through the roof, and the reach seems to get wider every year. It has grown into one of the larger art book fairs outside of the coasts, and it certainly feels like it has a reputation among the vendors as one of the more enjoyable fairs to attend,” Distel said. “But despite that, the bulk of the vendors are coming from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, because we want to highlight what makes this region so special.”
While there are a few “big-ticket items” from rare collectors, the large majority of items at the fair can be had for under $50, with plenty of items even priced at just $1. The irony of a book fair at the Carnegie, which was formerly a historic Carnegie library, wasn’t lost on Distel.
“It feels really historically relevant to have this event here. And this is maybe a bit capitalistic, but I find it really encouraging that people are excited about taking these objects home with them. It’s very physical, right? And you’re talking to the artist directly, not some big publishing house,” he said. “It is one of the few places where local artists can actually sell work in a really active and accessible way … this is a strong, tight-knit community of artists and makers and thinkers, and I’ve been banging that drum for 30 plus years. Anything that pulls more people from outside in to witness it, I think it helps this region become an even stronger space for the art.”
The Carnegie is located at 1028 Scott Blvd in Covington, KY. For more details on the Cincinnati Art Book Fair, visit The Carnegie’s official website.
