Steam Whistle Letterpress and Design is open during every Final Friday and always has something going on. While you’re there, consider signing up for one of the letterpress workshops. Connect with Steam Whistle on facebook at facebook.com/steamwhistlepress

You appreciate Over-the-Rhine. When did you first learn about and/or experience OTR? How has your perception of it changed since your first impression? Was it love at first sight?

I really do appreciate Over-The-Rhine, though I’m not sure that it was love at first sight. I had gone to high school here in Cincinnati and left to study photography in Toronto. During the summers I would come back here to the suburb where we lived and it was deadly boring! I decided one day to walk from UC to the river and back (with my camera on my hip). I remember thinking how beautiful OTR it was, but also how abandoned. I guess I found it equal parts beautiful and ugly.  I didn’t take any pictures though. This was the summer of 2001. That was a decade ago and my perception has changed, and the neighbourhood has also changed.. I have felt very welcome since I opened my doors a few weeks ago. 

Brian Stuparyk of Steam Whistle Letterpress and Design, credit: The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Could you tell readers a little bit about yourself and how Steam Whistle Letterpress and Design came into being?

I bought a letterpress 12 years ago while I was living in Toronto. I was studying darkroom photography (this was before the digital age) and as the process began to take place more and more on computers, I became less and less interested in it. I began investigating how images were reproduced before computers and became fascinated. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time learning about letterpress and printmaking and after getting my MFA in 2007, I started teaching. Up until 3 months ago I was teaching printmaking full-time at NKU.  Then in November, I decided to take the leap and go into business for myself.

Steam Whistle’s website says, “With carefully-restored vintage presses and over 100 cases of wood and lead type, we’re a contemporary printshop steeped in historic tradition.” When did you start collecting type and where do you find so much of it?

I’ve been collecting this stuff for years, following leads, word-of-mouth, cold calls etc., and generally chasing it all over the midwest. Some of it came from as far away as Canada.  Other cases I bought just a few minutes north of here.  You just never know. I actually have closer to 200 hundred cases. I like to stay away from sites like eBay where the prices get inflated, but sometimes it’s the only way to find a particular item. And this stuff is dirty and it’s heavy! It’s not so simple to buy a press and start making prints.  There are hundreds of thousands of little tiny bits involved with traditional letterpress printmaking. Each particular bit lives in a particular compartment, in a particular drawer. Also, I had some of my wooden type made new for me, from the original AWT (American Wood Type Mfg. Co) patterns by a gentleman in upstate NY, he cuts type by hand on a pantograph.

Why did you decide to open Steam Whistle Letterpress and Design in OTR?

Since moving back to the area a few years ago, I watched all the creative- types (designers, printmakers, gallery owners etc.)come down here and set up shop.  The store fronts and facades are old and beautiful and its really exciting what’s happening down here, especially along Main Street.  I decided that I wanted to be a part of this and to actively contribute to the dialogue and restoration.  I looked at a few other places, in Newport and Covington etc, but I wanted to be in OTR. There’s an excitement about the OTR neighbourhood right now.  The Emery, the streetcar, ( dare I say), the casino.  Things are happening both big and small.

What services will you offer? What are your workshops and how does someone register for one?

The services we offer short-run, full custom letterpress and design. That includes custom designed invitations and cards, stationery, posters and anything else that needs to be unique and beautifully printed on fine paper in under 500 copies. We can turn any piece of art into a letterpress print, big or small. We are also working on developing new services such as foil stamping, something that is poplular with Kindle users who want their leather covers to resemble fine volumes! The workshops we offer are 5 hours each on either Saturday or Sunday and cover a variety of topics including posters, business cards and greeting cards. Participants get a good introduction to typesetting, press operation and printing history. The cost of the workshop includes all necessary materials and all experience levels are welcome! Everyone interested in taking a workshop should check out our website for information and to register: www.steamwhistlepress.com.

Could you tell us about your location, building, neighbors…

My landlord, Ron Schweitzer is very supportive of the direction that OTR is going and as a result has been very helpful to me as we secured and set up Steam Whistle Letterpress. The building is a turquoise Italianate number. It used to house the DesignSmith gallery, which I believe was a furniture showroom. It’s a beautiful space with high ceilings, big windows and some very beautiful but unfortunately-painted-orange french doors. Someday I’ll re-paint them. We are across the street from the Iris Book Cafe and one storefront down from Shadeau breads.  At 8:30 every night the shop starts to smell like fresh bread.  It’s right in the middle of everything!

Steam Whistle Letterpress at 1342 Main Street

You opened during January, 2012′s Final Friday gallery walk. How has the neighborhood greeted you and your business?

The neighbourhood has been great! I really like everyone I’ve had the chance to meet along Main and Vine Streets. There is so much going on down here during Final Friday, and a lot of people come out to our opening thanks in large part to a fantastic article in the business section of the Cincinnati Enquirer. We’ll be open every Final Friday with something going on, whether it’s printing posters, hosting another open house sometime, or just giving away coffee and talking shop! I invite everyone to stop in and say hi!

What would you say to someone interested in opening a business in OTR?

There are a lot of great reasons to open your business in OTR, for instance the rent is downright reasonable and there are some really great restaurants nearby. It’s a neighbourhood on the up and it’s a great feeling to be a part of that! But I’ll caution everyone by saying this: everything about starting a small business is big and complicated. I was able to get this off the ground with a lot of help from those around me, my father in particular has given a lot of his time. It’s a lot of work and a lot of hours, but I’m doing it for myself and that makes all the difference.

Photo from one of Steam Whistle's workshops, credit: Keith Tatum

What a fantastic addition to our city and neighborhood

Welcome to Over-the-Rhine!

I really enjoy this photo. Thanks for sharing, Cat!

Parvis Alley, photo credit: Cat Doan

The following works showcase Over-the-Rhine. Wavra’s work is also available for purchase at Joseph Williams Home and Taste of Belgium:

The Lackman Bar

12th and Vine

Elm Street

View from Pendleton Art Center

The Queen City Project is genius. It is a collaboration between Bluestone Creative and Alias Imaging that has “found a way to shine the light on local independent businesses sans the glossy packaging.” Connect with The Queen City Project on facebook here and on twitter @theQCP. Read more about it here; find out how it works here; and recommend a place here.

The Queen City Project is featured in a Soapbox Cincinnati article by Evan Wallis that begins like this:

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then thousands of pictures strung together in two-minute videos must be worth at least a million. Focus those two minutes of visual storytelling on local businesses and you have the mission, and the creative drive, behind the Queen City Project.

The two owners and photographers of Alias Imaging, along with a team from Bluestone Creative, decided to test an idea—to put their collective creativity behind a cool local business—and see where it would take them. With no real planning beyond that blue-sky thinking, The Queen City Project was set in motion.

Radio station 91.7 WVXU interviewed Evan Wallis of Soapbox Cincinnati and Adam Henry of Alias Imaging to discuss the Queen City Project here.

A couple excerpts from the 11-minute interview from 91.7 WVXU:

Mark Perzel, WVXU: Where was this brainchild hatched?

Adam Henry, partner at Alias Imaging: It was born of pure passion. It had nothing to do with anything commercial. Alias Imaging is a commercial advertising studio, and Bluestone is a full-service advertising agency – web, design, all sorts of creative things.

Adam Henry and John Carrico of Alias at their studio, photo by Scott Beseler for Soapbox

Later in the interview, Adam describes how Alias and Bluestone joined forces:

All this was born of just pure, genuine interest. We wanted to go and step into their world and just take a bunch of pictures. So, we told Adam Browning at Bluestone that we were doing this and they said, “Well, let’s see what we can do with these images. What are you going to do with them?” Well, we had no idea so we handed them all of our images. They came up with a really nice montage – a mosaic I guess – a grid of images. Like Evan does with Soapbox, we wanted to do with pictures.

He then explained how the photographs taken by Alias were used by Bluestone to create the QCP’s signature videos:

One of the guys there [at Bluestone], Walt Keys, has been playing a lot with time-lapse and some long video stuff made from stills. He said, “You know, these images flow really well,” and that’s always the way we shoot. We shoot from beginning of process to end of process and try to find that perfect image in the middle. Well, it’s not always the one perfect image. So he said, “What if you put these in a video presentation?” …so, he came up with this great treatment for it. We started calling it the “flurry flip.” It’s not time-lapse, it’s not video.

Walt Keys and Adam Browning of Bluestone Creative, photo by Scott Beseler for Soapbox

This was an unsurprising realization. In my opinion, The Queen City Project has a very Walt Keys feel. I say this because I’ve shared his work on the OTR blog in the past. Walt is an OTR resident, and he photographed and made great videos at the first City Flea and 2011′s Go OTR 5K run and Summer Celebration. Walt maintains a blog at grandman.net and an online portfolio at m-walton.com. But the QCP involves the labor and genius of many people, both at Bluestone and Alias. Here’s a Christmas video from the team:

Of course, the QCP could not exist without the unique businesses and organizations it features. So far, the QCP has showcased four local institutions. Visit the following links for a behind the scenes look at each shoot:

• Arnold’s
• Shadeau Breads
• Coffee Emporium
• Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Connect with The Queen City Project on facebook here and on twitter @theQCP. Read more about it here; find out how it works here; and recommend a place here.

Lovely day in Cincinnati, via @MattKursmark

King Cakes at Taste of Belgium bistro

via Findlay Market blog:

This Sunday, February 19th,  we again celebrate Mardi Gras at the Market on the south side of the market house along Essen Strasse. Plan to spend the day at this FREE family-friendly event, enjoying four of the best bands in town and sampling a traditional lowland seafood boil.  The OTR Biergarten will be open selling Christian Moerlein beers and Market Wines will host a winetasting.

Merchants will decorate their stands for Mardi Gras and compete for prizes in the annual Merchant Spirit contest!

The Friends of Findlay Market will hand out lots of colorful beads to wear during the festivities.  The Mardi Gras King and Queen, Rob Williams and Sheila Gray, FOX 19 Morning News Anchors, will be crowned and then lead a parade around the Market to the music of Lagniappe.

Nick Cave’s Soundsuits will visit from the Cincinnati Art Museum to take part in the Mardi Gras Celebrations!  Click here for more information on the exhibition.

The schedule of Mardi Gras Activities on Essen Strasse include:

10:30am – 11: am  Lagnaippe

11:15am                  Announce winner of Merchant Spirit Contest

11:30am                 Crown King and Queen of Mardi Gras

11:45am                  Mardi Gras Parade through Findlay Market

12:30  – 1:30pm    Robin Lacy & DeZydeco

1:45  – 2:45pm       Ricky Nye Inc.

3:00 – 4:00pm       The Medicine Men

2:00 – 4:00pm        Author Joanie Lacy, lead singer of Robin Lacy & DeZydeco, will be in the center tower to sign and sell her new  book,  Hollister House, the Banyan Tree Awakens.

Essen Strasse will also host the OTR Biergarten where you can purchase a great Christian Moerlien beer and Market grillers will be set up with plenty of sandwiches and specialites available.

10:00am  Celebrate Mardi Gras with Skirtz & Johnston!  Enjoy a fresh brewed cup of chicory coffee, fresh fried beignets and a steaming cup of gumbo.  Looking for a King Cake?  Skirtz & Johnston will sell two sizes!

12:30 til it’s gone!   Free Lowland Seafood Boil Sampling, prepared by Chef /Owners Josh Campbell of Mayberrys and Matt Bueschle of Virgil’s Cafe!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Shrimp and Grits from Taste of Belgium, via eggplanttogo.blogspot.com

Schnecken from @QueenCityCookie

The Cincy Brass Band will perform at MOTR pub:

Bring your beads, masks, and be prepared to dance to bring in Mardi Gras 2012! Its not a Mardi Gras celebration without The Cincy Brass! The brass will be performing a mix of N’awlins tunes along with hot covers and heart-pounding originals off of the new album, “Ain’t Nuttin Louder. “Come get your eat and drink on at MOTR Pub, OTR’s hottest music venue!

This is The Cincy Brass’ first time back to MOTR since their CAPACITY crowd CD Release party…if you missed that, you don’t want to miss this one too!

10 PM Show – 2 sets – FREE SHOW – 21+

The first annual “Mardi Crawl” to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation takes place at several downtown and Over-the-Rhine bars including The Lackman, Japp’s, Neon’s, and Mr. Pitiful’s.

Do you have photos of the Cincinnati Streetcar?

Join the Cincinnati Streetcar Flickr group here!

Thanks to all whose photos are used in this post.

Names preceded by an “@” indicate twitter usernames

Crowd assembled for Cincinnati Streetcar Groundbreaking, pic via @5chw4r7z

Mayor Mallory via @RoxanneQualls

Mayor Mallory speaking via @ChrisSeelbach

City Manager Dohoney, via @CincyStreetcar

Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood, via @CincyStreetcar

Cincinnati Streetcar groundbreaking, via @kate_the_great

Cincinnati Streetcar groundbreaking, via the OTR Brewery District

View of Washington Park, via @Rob_Jaques

The overflowing crowd outside Memorial Hall, via Eric Vosmeier

Actual streetcar construction work via @Rob_Jaques

Eager anticipation for the groundbreaking, via @fuseamania

A view of the crowd, via @FUSEAMANIA

The golden shovels, via @micahpbj

A large turnout for the streetcar groundbreaking, via @UrbanCincy

Cincinnati Streetcar Groundbreaking, via Rob_Jaques

Cincinnati Streetcar Groundbreaking, @700BillRinehart

22,209 days after last streetcar pulled into station, via @DannyBerchenko

A Cincinnati Streetcar keepsake, via @jenlkessler

Jim Tarbell (Mr. Cincinnati) and John Schneider (Mr. Streetcar) at Taste of Belgium Post Streetcar Groundbreaking

via whatisradius.com:

Ripple FX Films and Possible Worldwide, along with The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission, present a very special evening featuring the world premiere of Radius: A Short Film, a game and crowd-sourced film made in and around Cincinnati during the MidPoint Music Festival and other events.

The evening begins with a red-carpet experience and champagne reception before the film is presented at 8:15, with short remarks from the producers and filmmakers.

After the film, stay for an after-party that includes drinks, food, and dancing, plus unique interactive and experiential activities created by Greater Cincinnati arts organizations.

Tickets are available online until 12 noon on Thursday, February 23rd or at the door the night of the premiere.

Please keep Over-the-Rhine on your mind when you vote in CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati 2012 Readers Poll. OTR is very well represented in the survey so please show your favorite destinations support!

Recall Over-the-Rhine was voted Best Neighborhood 2011 in the Urban Life category.

Vote here: CityBeat Best of Cincinnati 2012

CityBeat Best of Cincinnati

In chatting with Becca, she shared with me what she’d like to accomplish with her project:

So far, a number of OTR supporters have agreed to participate. Some of those who are already on board are:

• Dan McCabe of MOTR Pub
• Michael Redmond and Molly Wellman of Japp’s Since 1879 and Neon’s Unplugged
• Jean-Francois Flechet of Taste of Belgium, the Authentic Waffle
• Tony Tausch of Coffee Emporium
• Danny Korman of Park + Vine
• Nick and Lindsay Dewald of The City Flea
• Tabb Harrison of The Lackman Bar
• The guys at Losantiville Ltd.
• Joan Kaup – resident and landlord, OTR Chamber of Commerce, Second Sunday on Main, OTR Flags, etc.
• Brian Firth of Lavomatic Cafe
• Katie Garber of Atomic Number Ten
• Lindsey Lusignolo of Lindsey Lusignolo Couture Bridal and Evening Wear
• David Allen of GreenBird and Jaap-Orr Co.
• Danny Klingler of OTR ADOPT
• Alisha Budkie of Smartfish Studio and Sustainable Supply

If you are interested in participating in this fun project, please leave a comment on this post, visit the Contact page or email otrmatters@gmail, or contact Becca via her website.

This should be a fun project!