An organization intimately involved in the creation of the wildly popular BLINK light and art show is no longer involved in the production of this year’s return of the regional program.
“After careful consideration, we decided to sever our relationship with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, effectively ending our involvement with Blink, the show we conceived of and founded with our partners in 2015,” said a social media statement from Brave Berlin, a Cincinnati-based creative firm.
The news comes just days after BLINK organizers announced that the 2022 version of the show would again stretch from downtown Cincinnati into downtown Covington as it did in 2019, after being a Cincinnati-only show when it debuted in 2017.
According to Brave Berlin’s statement, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce leases the BLINK trademark from the Haile Foundation, a charitable family foundation that supports initiatives in southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and southeast Indiana. Brave Berlin partnered with the Cincinnati Chamber in producing BLINK in 2017 and 2019.
In 2019, Brave Berlin curated BLINK and worked specifically on the lighting of the Roebling Suspension Bridge between Cincinnati and Covington that year.
“Our partnership with the Chamber yielded two very successful events in 2017 and 2019 and together we worked hard to make Blink such a beloved part of our city’s cultural landscape,” the Brave Berlin statement read. “As we began working on Blink 2022, it became clear to us that our ideas, influence and the creative direction we had to offer was falling on deaf ears or, in some cases, met with open hostility. Our presence at the leadership table was feeling to us more and more like an honorary courtesy than an active and collaborative partnership. By the end of March, we had reached the end of our rope and decided it was time for us to move on.”
In a statement, BLINK Executive Director Justin Brookhart thanked Brave Berlin.
“We thank Brave Berlin for their collaboration with all of the community partners who conceived BLINK Cincinnati in 2017. Brave Berlin decided not to continue as producers of BLINK in March of this year,” Brookhart said. “The legacy of BLINK led by The AGAR, the Haile Foundation, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Artworks, Cincy Nice and ish, will continue with an exciting and world-class art experience. The artists working on BLINK installations this year both locally and all over the world are sure to thrill and delight the region this October 13-16.”
As for Brave Berlin, the firm stated that it would be looking for what’s next.
“Fortunately, the unknown is where we do our best work,” Brave Berlin’s statement read. “The unknown is where Blink first came from and we are already dreaming and working on projects we can’t wait to share with the world.”
In 2019, organizers said that BLINK was the region’s largest-ever event, attracting more than a million people. A report released in 2021 claimed that the event generated $867 million in local economic impact.