Gallery

Altered States: (A) Critical Response

March 26 – 28, 2026 REGISTER

Date: March 28, 2026
Time: noon-6 PM

Great Meadows Foundation and The Carnegie are pleased to present a new symposium series dedicated to advancing critical discourse around contemporary art. The inaugural symposium takes place at The Carnegie on Saturday, March 28, 2026. This year’s symposium theme is Altered States.

Altered States: (A) Critical Response is an examination of the current state of the arts at local, regional, and national levels from the perspectives of artists, institutions, galleries, and funders. What are the realities of working in cultural organizations at this time in America? In this region? What strategies are needed to be an artist and be visible? What is the long-term viability of our current art “systems”?

All events are free and open to the public. Pre-registration is encouraged.

Altered States: (A) Critical Response

Location: The Carnegie, 1028 Scott St., Covington, KY 41011
Date: March 28, 2026
Time: noon-6 PM

Location: The Carnegie, 1028 Scott St., Covington, KY 41011

Location: The Carnegie, 1028 Scott St., Covington, KY 41011
Date: March 28, 2026
Time: noon-6pm

Program Schedule
Noon – Welcome

12:10pm – Introductory Essay: Emily Mello – Independent Educator, Curator, and Consultant, Providence, RI [link]

1pm – Panel Discussion: Supporting Art in Uncertain Times:
Christina Vassallo- Executive Director, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia [link] (moderator)
Khadija Nia Adell – Program Officer for Regional Regranting Program, The Andy Warhol Foundation, NYC [link]; Jordan Tate – Society and Culture Fellow, Office of Research, University of Cincinnati [link] ; Lucinda Barnes – former Chief Curator and Director of Programs and Collections, Berkeley Art Museum + Pacific Film Archive [link]

2pm –Alt(ar)ed States: Krista Franklin – writer + visual artist, Dayton, OH [link]

2:40pm – In Conversation: Dianna Settles – painter, Lexington, KY [link] + Phillip March Jones – Founder/Owner of March Gallery, NYC [link]

3:30pm – Break

3:50pm – Artist Presentation: Beth Campbell -conceptual artist + sculptor, NYC [link]

4:30pm – Keynote Panel: Tunde Wey + Theo Schear [link] with Anissa Lewis – community + teaching artist, Covington, KY [link]; moderated by Kareem Simpson, Duncanson Program Manager at the Taft Museum of Art Sponsored by: The Devou Good Foundation

Location: Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library, University of Cincinnati 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221
Date: Thursday, March 26, 2026
Time: 4 PM

Krista Franklin is a writer and visual artist. She earned an MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Columbia College Chicago. She is the author of Solo(s) (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Too Much Midnight (Haymarket Books, 2020), Under the Knife (Candor Arts, 2018), and the chapbook Study of Love & Black Body (Willow Books, 2012). Her work has been published in Poetry magazine, The Offing, Black Camera, Copper Nickel, Callaloo, BOMB Magazine, Encyclopedia, Vol. F-K and L-Z, and the anthologies The End of Chiraq: A Literary Mixtape (2018), The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (2015), and Gathering Ground (2006).

Tunde Wey + Theo Schear: Screening | Q+A
in collaboration with Taft Research Center and Niehoff Center for Film & Media Studies
Sponsored by: The Devou Good Foundation

Location: Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220
Date: Friday March 27, 2026
Time: 7 PM

Hard to Swallow (2025) is Directed by Tunde Wey & Theo Schear. Essayistic + reflexive, the docuseries recounts Wey’s explosive career while building a critique of the social structures that disenfranchise Black peoples globally. Traveling across the United States, Tunde investigates the ways food culture is shaped by race and class. Through unsparing interviews, poetic narration, and reflections on the filmmaking process, Tunde calls out individuals, systems and himself, prompting viewers to rethink their own position in system inequality.

Official Selection at the 2024 SeriesFest and 2024 Cannes Series: Docuseries Competition