Back in the fall of 2022 I received an invitation from a photography organization I’d never heard of called FotoFocus. It was surprising to me that I didn’t know anything about since I’ve been following photography magazines and blogs closely for the past 37 years. FotoFocus hosts a biennial which they describes as follows “the FotoFocus Biennial is a month-long celebration of photography and lens-based art that unites artists, curators, and educators from around the world. Now in its seventh iteration, the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial encompasses 107 projects at 86 Participating Venues across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky — the largest of its kind in America.” I was impressed and curious. I was invited to Cincinnati in the fall of 2023 to participate in a lens-based forum they host every other year between biennials and this fall I got to take part in the biennial. My show is running (September 2024 – January 2025) at the Contemporary Arts Center designed and built in 2002 by Zaha Hadid.
As part of my participation in the biennial I told the curator, Kevin Moore, that I’d like to meet someone from the African American community to hear stories and to create a mural. Kevin agreed. While in Cincinnati in the fall of 2023 I made an initial connection with someone from the West End, the historic African American community, who offered a wall for a mural but by early 2024 I’d not made any collaborative connections in the African American community and my lead petered out.
NPR to the rescue. Then, on Valentine’s Day 2024 my local NPR affiliate in Flagstaff, AZ ran a human interest story about how the gentrification of historic neighborhoods not only results in the dissolution of those communities but also the art on buildings that are being demolished in those communities. (That story is linked below.)
NPR told the story of how an African American, self-taught painter and muralist’s work was synonymous with the Over the Rhine and West End communities in Cincinnati, OH but how little of his art from the past 30 years exists now due to gentrification. The painter’s name is William Rankins, Jr.,or “Rankie” to his close friends. The NPR story noted that due to a stroke in 2014 Mr. Rankins lost his ability to see. Upon hearing this story I forwarded NPR broadcast to Kevin and asked if Fotofocus can find Mr. Rankins to see if he’d be open to meeting to discuss the possibility of a mural featuring him.
Once Mr. Rankins expressed his interest in the project I returned to Cincinnati in mid-July 2024 to meet and photograph him at his home. Once photos were taken the next task was to identify a potential wall for the mural. Kevin and one of the Fotofocus assistants, Taylor Howard, took me to see Mr. Rankins’s remaining murals which are all on a 4 story building immediately behind Ollie’s Trolley. In 2008 Mr. Rankins painted a mural of President Obama on this building but as the exterior bricks began to deteriorate, the building owner, Mr. Smith, had the mural of Obama painted over (with black paint).
While asking if a mural was a possibility, Mr. Smith agreed before we could finish the ask. What I learned was that Mr. Rankins and Mr. Smith have a 30 plus year friendship and many of Mr. Rankins painting are stored in this building. Not only did Mr. Rankins paint the outside walls of the building, he painted the inside walls and floor as well.
In sharing my mockup with Mr. Smith I told him that it occurred to me that his building, with so much of Mr. Rankins’ work, is in essence, Mr. Rankins’ heart and soul and that by placing the windows where Mr. Rankins eyes would be, the windows serve as the windows to Mr. Rankins’ soul.
What’s next for this building? Ollie’s Trolley is the last African American owned business on Liberty Street in the West End (which used to be an all black neighborhood). As the last black business in the West End located directly across from the newly built soccer stadium (for FC Cincinnati), its future is uncertain. Mr. Smith has been receiving offers for the property and is debating whether he’ll move Ollie’s Trolley to another location (after 30 years), versus selling the property and letting business go. In the meantime, I asked Mr. Smith what he thought of the proposal to turn the building where Mr. Rankins’ art is housed into a gallery open to the public. He’s open to the possibility.
Meanwhile, the next time you’re in Cincinnati go visit Mr. Smith and Mr. Rankins’ work. Ollie’s Trolley is a Cincinnati institution. And Mr. Smith is a well known and respected chef who also caters events and he does a community food give away every other Sunday in front of Ollie’s Trolley.
Ollie’s Trolley has “World Greatest Hamburger” on the side of the building. Mr. Smith can throw down on a rack of ribs, deep-fried turkeys, fried chicken and any other soul food. He went to cooking school locally and although he’s been cooking this food for over 30 years, he’s never tasted any of the meats because he’s a vegetarian.
Thank you to Kevin Moore, Katie Siegwarth, Carissa Barnard and Taylor Howard of fotofocus.org. Thank you also to Deborah Clinkscale, Mr. William Rankins, Jr. and Mr. Marvin Smith for your help making this project possible. Lastly, shout out to the artist who assisted getting this work up Mark Albain.