Recording Cincinnati: The Queen City In The Eyes Of Alice Cusson

The seventy-year-old slides of Cincinnati amateur photographer Alice Cusson are a deeply moving document of Cincinnati’s past. Large-scale reproductions of Cusson’s grainy slides, recently discovered by UC student and curator Jack Hall, make up the core of this exhibition. Matched with modern-day photos and compelling sound clips (that you can explore with your phone), these images tell a moving story about change over time in the Queen City.

The exhibition focuses specifically on Cincinnati—Alice Cusson’s world. Most of Cusson’s photos document Cincinnati landmarks, including The Terrace Plaza, The Hotel Alms, St. Francis DeSales Church, Memorial Hall, Ivorydale, and The United States Playing Card Company. The exhibition uses Cusson’s slides to explore the formal and informal ways history and memory are recorded. Buildings are records of those who have lived in and used them. Cusson’s images of these buildings record the buildings themselves, and the accompanying sound recordings record memories of these places in compelling human terms.

The exhibition is mounted outside at one of Cincinnati’s hottest night spots—Somerset. In keeping with the bar’s discovery-based vibe, exhibition panels are located throughout Somerset’s outdoor courtyards, forcing visitors to go hunting to find them all. Other panels are mounted to Somerset’s exterior wall making them accessible to all passersby, bringing these historic images to a broad and diverse audience.

Curators: Jack Hall and Anne Delano Steinert