An art exhibition attracted 1.3 million visitors across four nights in 2019, and there is a movement to bring it back to Covington this year.
BLINK illuminated the buildings of downtown Covington three years ago, turning the city into an animated landscape of art and live music. For four nights, people walked the streets to see ordinary buildings and streets transformed into disco ball-lit dance floors and canvases of moving color.
Brent Cooper, owner of C-Forward and the CEO of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, said he heard “more than a dozen people say, ‘I had no idea this was here.’”
“There were 200 to 400 people standing outside, looking at our building, at any particular moment,” he said, referring to the massive disco ball stationed in the parking lot of the C-Forward building on Fifth Street. “People were seeing their community in a new light.”
BLINK is a Cincinnati Chamber regional event, so it first made an appearance in Cincinnati in 2017 and expanded to Covington in 2019. The 30-block art show is planned for a four-night appearance in Cincinnati again in October this year, but leaders want to bring people across the river, too.
Julie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of MeetNKY, is leading an effort to raise $2 million to fund a show in 2022 right here in Northern Kentucky.
She said when BLINK was here in 2019, businesses saw a flood of customers.
“(Business owners) will tell you that every night of BLINK was a record-breaking revenue night for them. It was from the time the doors opened until finally, they had to call last call, because they were exhausted, and it’s time to turn the lights out,” Kirkpatrick said. “When you look at what BLINK did by crossing the river, first of all, the attendance was estimated at 1.3 million people that took advantage of that for nights. And you think of something like Lumiere London, which was a very similar event that happens in London that brings in over a million people as well, that leaves a big impact that puts a lot of eyes on areas that people may not know about.”
Cooper and Kirkpatrick said a lot has changed in the community since 2019, particularly with businesses. While some have closed due to pandemic-induced struggles, others have seen new investment.
Cooper said he knows of seven buildings downtown seeing renovations, including the building that houses C-Forward. Bringing BLINK back to Covington is seen as an opportunity to boost businesses and put the area in a positive light.
“We’re hoping and working towards making it bigger and bolder, and that takes a lot of funds,” Kirkpatrick said.
She added that MeetNKY is working with the Northern Kentucky Chamber to raise funds and bring in businesses to sponsor the endeavor.
Cooper said his coworkers at C-Forward “thought I was crazy” for sponsoring BLINK in 2019, but he said it gave the community some much-needed exposure. With another trip to the Kentucky side, Kirkpatrick said the route may be expanded to stretch into Newport, too.
Aside from raising $2 million, the project is a massive undertaking of recruiting artists, acquiring light equipment and planning to bring it all together for the four-night show. The Cincinnati show planned for October is hosting an artist callout this month, five months ahead of the debut date. That’s why Kirkpatrick and others are working quickly to raise the funds to put Covington and Newport in the BLINK spotlight once more.