Who is Genevieve Lavalle?
Genevieve Lavalle is a fiber artist, muralist, and jewelry maker living in Cincinnati Ohio. Her love for design and mural making took off when she was hired as a youth apprentice by ArtWorks in 2015. Genevieve has worked with ArtWorks for the past 5 years with this being her first time designing her own mural. The colors and patterns are inspired by her weavings and bright tapestries.
Describe your project.
The process of weaving requires a lot of time and patience but also serves as a very meditative craft. The color palette and organic shapes of the design are modern though this style of weaving has been used for many generations across countless cultures. The original tapestry is meant to be hung on wall but was rendered digitally in procreate for its mural adaptation.
Previous ArtWorks Projects: Apprentice on The Queen Shares (2015), Me and You. You and Me. (2016), & was a Teaching Artist on Buzz Around Town (2017), the Endangered Species: Indiana Bat (2018), Ripple of Ralph (2019).
Greet her at blackoliveart.com
In honor of Scripps National Spelling Bee’s 90th anniversary, ArtWorks produced a mural to honor and reflect the Cincinnati-based program’s mission and spirit, celebrating what has made this international event so meaningful. The mural connects viewers with a part of Cincinnati’s rich heritage that continues to support an incredible mission: “Inspire (Experience a journey filled with excitement and emotion), Discover (Celebrate the power of the human spirit), Champion (Advocate for a lesson deeper than language)”. That mission was brought to life through the thoughtfully designed mural created by Paul Loehle, a local artist and art educator who has dedicated much of his life to guiding the youth of Cincinnati toward their greatest potential in the art room, at the mural site, and in the world. Loehle’s design features the portraits of three Scripps Spelling Bee contestants whose ebullient expressions illustrate the essence and nature of the Bee. What words would you use to describe the feeling of achieving your dreams?
Designer: Paul Loehle
Teaching Artist: Genevieve Lavalle
1010 Elm St. Photo by J. Miles Wolf
As part of the 2015 ArtWorks CincyInk project, this mural is a permanent love letter to the Queen City and all who call her home. Sourced from the beautiful voices of over 1,000 participants, the poem Seven Hills and a Queen to Name Them was crafted by the writers at Chase Public as a commission for the Cincinnati Tattoo Project. In this mural, white scripted words of love from the poem contrast perfectly with the rich dark background and with the shimmering gold of the Queen City’s crown. A cardinal and bluebird, the state birds of Cincinnati and Kentucky, perch atop the crown and are surrounded by two Lazarus lizards slithering among local flora and fauna. The Queen Shares serves as a beautiful welcome sign to the Pendleton, Over-the-Rhine, and Downtown neighborhoods.
Designer: John Lanzador
Project Manager: Atalie Gagnet 1100
Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Teaching Assistants: Christian Dallas Senior
Youth Apprentice: Genevieve Lavalle
The Ripple of Ralph features a modern portrait of the late great Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Haile was a banker in Cincinnati for over 20 years who always felt the strong desire to give back to the community he loved, Covington. He was paramount in the creation of the Covington Urban Redevelopment Effort (CURE), which helped lay the groundwork for Old Town Plaza, Mainstrasse and the revitalization of the Licking Riverside neighborhood. Haile, along with his wife Carol Ann, had a great love for the arts and bold and beautiful things. Christian Dallas, the designer of the mural, wanted to make sure to incorporate the Hailes’ love and joy for the region they adored. You can find a simplified map of the Cincinnati region in the background. Modern radiating lines surround Haile’s silhouette, helps separate him from the background and aid in the goal of making him pop off the wall. A more detailed map was overlaid onto Ralph’s jacket, creating a pattern, representing him wearing his heart on his sleeve. Haile’s signature bow tie was a must. The entire composition is framed inside the shape of the wall to help the painting interact and blend with its surroundings. The title, “The Ripple of Ralph” is meant to reference the “ripple effect”. What Haile did for this community 40 years ago, created a positive ripple that can still be seen and felt today. This project was created for BLINK, illuminated by ArtsWave in 2019. The light projection showing during BLINK was by Brave Berlin.
Designer:Christian Dallas
39 W Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011
Teaching Assistant: Genevieve Lavalle
ArtWorks and the Kennedy Heights Arts Center (KHAC) partnered to create a mixed-media mural on the façade of Kennedy Heights’ new Lindner Annex. This whimsical mural draws on the work of resident KHAC artist, Casey Millard, and aims to inspire and unite the racially and economically diverse community of Kennedy Heights.
Designer: Casey Riordan Millard Project
Manager: Nate Weikart
6620 Montgomery Road
Teaching Assistants: Derek Collord, Hannah Hersko & Traci Listo
Senior Youth Apprentice: Genevieve Lavalle
“Just as nature inspires art, art inspires actions to defend wild places and the wild creatures that live in them.” With this in mind, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species Mural Project works with artists, scientists, and organizers to bring endangered wildlife onto the streets of cities and towns around the country. These murals are imagined as tools to help celebrate local endangered species within communities, and to encourage people to make connections between conservation and community strength. Spearheaded by Portland artist Roger Peet, the mural project promotes an affinity for the natural world and the diverse species that help define it.”(www.biologicaldiversity.org) For the 17th installment of the Endangered Species Mural Project, Roger Peet partnered with ArtWorks to create two murals along Cincinnati’s Little Miami Scenic Trail to feature the Indiana Bat on the walls of a 1,000 square-foot underpass. Roger worked with a team of two Junior Teaching Artists and one Youth Apprentice to paint the murals over a one-week period.
Designer: Roger Peet
7669 Wooster Pike; Little Miami Scenic Trail
Teaching Assistant: Geneveive Lavalle
Fiber Window of Wonder display featuring hand tufted wreaths, pom poms, tassels, and light display.
FOUND is a collaborative project between ArtWorks, AGAR, 3CDC, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation to celebrate the holiday season. The month-long festivities will include spirited window displays in shops across OTR and Downtown Cincinnati, scavenger hunts, and holiday events
1 W. 4th St. (Window 2) (Gronauer Furs)
Genevieve Lavalle