By Ryan Kramer, Newswire Intern 

This year, BLINK illuminated downtown Cincinnati once again, with the Xavier University Art Department contributing to one of the many presentations.  

Many Xavier students and alumni worked to create a design called “Welcome In,” which was displayed alongside the rest of the city’s exhibitions. Included in these presentations was “Sanctuary,” a show performed inside St. Xavier Church on Sycamore Street.  

BLINK is a Cincinnati festival first created in 2017, which uses light to showcase the city’s architecture, murals and other art. The biennial celebration of public artwork occurred from Oct. 8 – 11, with Xavier’s Office of Student Involvement (OSI) offering Metro transportation to the event on Saturday night. Over four days, BLINK drew millions of visitors.  

This year, the crowds increased despite the rain, even though some shows temporarily shut down. Nevertheless, the atmosphere was still vibrant as the streets filled with pedestrians who hoped to explore the creative side of Cincinnati. 

The Musketeer artists displayed their art to millions of people in attendance. They applied and were accepted based on the same grading scale as every professional artist who wants to be featured in BLINK.  

Production on “Welcome In” began in May, with students continuing to work over the summer. After all their hard work and long hours, the Art Department was satisfied with the final product. 

“It is two wooden structures, so we have a little bit of sculpture involved, and then there are canvas-like panels with the transparency of a digital illustration,” Art Gallery Director and Operations Coordinator at the College of Arts and Sciences Caressa Layne Miles said. “So, there’s graphic design and digital art, and then it’s all constructed and lit with LED lighting from within. ‘Welcome In’ incorporates every aspect of what we do with Xavier.” 

“Welcome In” was designed to be interactive and immersive, distinguishing itself from other BLINK presentations.   

“One is an archway that the viewer can walk through. There are illuminated panels on the sides that have a house, so it looks like you’re physically walking through a neighborhood, and then the next structure is a table-inspired piece with a place setting on top and then scenes of celebration on the sides,” Miles said.  

“Welcome In” is not the only piece that has a Xavier connection. Xavier’s campus used to be located downtown when it was founded in 1831, and St. Xavier Church on Sycamore acted as its official place of worship for students. When the university moved to its current location in 1912, the church continued operating downtown. 

St. Xavier Church offered the lightshow “Sanctuary” on Saturday and Sunday nights. Unlike other BLINK shows, this one was accompanied by The Union, a professional choir ensemble.   

As the choir changed songs, the lights that were projected onto the altar would switch between warm and cool colors, almost mirroring the Nativity and Passion Facades inside the Sagrada Familia. Lighting designer Thomas Hase created the display which lasted 35 minutes and served as a reprieve from the scattered rain showers. 

Whether students and staff traveled downtown to see the shows or not, BLINK remains a very unique event for Cincinnati, accentuated by the fact that it only occurs once every two years. 

“Blink does a really good job of reinforcing the city’s identity of being a cultural innovator. We’re so privileged to have this much artistic quality coming in and out of the city, and BLINK just illuminates, if you’ll pardon the pun, that aspect of this culture,” Miles said. “Many people who aren’t in the art world may not notice it on their day to day, but if you’ve ever lived in another city at any given time, it doesn’t feel the same as Cincinnati does.”