Hamilton, Ohio – Everything old is new again.
When Creativa comes to the Fitton Center for Creative Arts from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 23 - in all its eclectic, open-mic splendor - it will be something of a full-circle moment.
Creativa evolved from the Riverbank Poetry Project that began at the Fitton Center in 2003. In the more than two decades since, there have been name changes, member changes and venue changes, but the commitment to offering the community a genuinely open performance experience never changed.
According to its Facebook page, Creativa welcomes “all poets, musicians, those delirious rebels vibrating with wanderlust and imagination; devotees and voyeurs; performance and visual artists, actors, comedians and all iconoclasts and artists of every sort.”
This free – and free-form – performance event takes place amidst the photography on display in the We > Me FotoFocus exhibition in the first-floor Monument Gallery at the Fitton Center. Doors and registration open at 6 p.m., with performances from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
What can guests expect?
“It’s mostly musicians and poets, but we encourage variety,” said Creativa member John Kraimer. “Over the years we’ve had poets, musicians, comedians, locally produced short films, escape artists, visual artists and - occasionally - belly dancers.”
Kraimer served as Riverbank Poetry Project’s poet laureate in the mid-2000s, performing poetry at elementary, middle and high schools all over Butler County. The group hosted poetry slams with cash prizes and conducted an annual countywide poetry contest for children.
Creativa is less structured than its predecessors – and no longer has a prize budget - but still puts together a monthly show on the second Saturday of each month at Miami Hamilton Downtown. Changing nights and locations is an effort to expand both the audience and the roster of performers.
“We’re just trying to mix it up and get some new people,” Kraimer said. “A weeknight versus a weekend, you’re probably going to see a little different crowd. We don’t have a director, we’re just a group. But if you want to perform, we’ll get you up there.”
Kraimer said there will be a loose theme for the evening reflecting the We > Me artwork in the gallery. He has some “we”-themed poetry to perform, as well as some poems about community. But he also said some of the fun of an open mic night is never knowing exactly what somebody might bring to the stage.
“We’re happy to have Creativa in our gallery space performing original work,” said Ian MacKenzie-Thurley, Fitton Center executive director. “This is a community arts center. We’re here for our community and love having people using this space to create, to share, to express themselves. Arts bring people together. Events like this are exactly why we’re here.”
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture
