BLINK: A Festival of Light & Art Announces Exhibiting Artists for BLINK 2026 Biennial

BLINK, illuminated by ArtsWave, the country’s largest celebration of public art and light, is excited to announce the 90+ artists participating in its fifth edition, which will be free and open to the public across Cincinnati and the Northern Kentucky area from October 8–11, 2026. 

Since 2017, BLINK has biennially transformed the urban core of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky into a massive, immersive art festival spanning more than forty downtown city blocks. This year’s renowned local, national and international artists will continue to shed light on the area and encourage new ways of looking at the familiar, through 90+ large-scale projection mappings against some of the city’s most iconic and historic architecture, interactive light-based installations in its public spaces, expansive murals across its buildings, and several activations throughout, including a live fashion show and pop-up skate park. 

This year’s iteration features the latest technology and digital art techniques, a record number of women artists, and marks the first time many of the participating artists are exhibiting at BLINK, underscoring the festival’s role as both a global showcase and a launchpad for emerging and established talent alike. The biennial highlights the city’s creative economy and growing arts ecosystem, utilizing local cultural workers and emerging artists while also showcasing artists who regularly exhibit at international festivals and cultural institutions.  

BLINK welcomes audiences of all ages and interests, and creates space for experimentation, play and discovery. In its last iteration, BLINK was attended by over 2 million people and is estimated to have had a $205 million impact on the city. Past installations from 2024 can be seen here. 

For BLINK 2026, visitors will enjoy art, architecture, live performance, food and beverage, enhancing Cincinnati’s already rich cultural landscape. Details about programming, including talks and community events, will be announced at a later date. More information can be found on BLINK’s website. 

BLINK 2026 BY THE NUMBERS: 

• 92 artists 

• 20 countries represented 

• 40 international artists  

• 30 artists from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky 

• 59% US-based artists 

• 47 new artists  

• 46 returning artists 

• Over 70 murals have been created as part of BLINK throughout the past decade 

• 56 are permanent as of BLINK 2024 

• BLINK 2026 brings the total number to 75 

BLINK 2026 PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Aérosculpture*, France

Beamhacker*, Australia

Big Art, Canada

Cedric Michael Cox & Studio 181 Brent Keltch*, Cincinnati

Christian Reichle & Squid Kohut, Reno, NV

Custom Fibre Optics*, England

Daniel Shields, Cincinnati, OH

Fifth Third Design, Cincinnati, OH

Illumaphonium*, England

Looking Up Arts*, San Francisco, CA

JP Jackson & Brian Havener, Nashville, TN

Juan Fuentes*, Madrid

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Cincinnati, OH

Kemper Sauce Studios, Cincinnati, OH

Koros Design Studio*, Hungary

Forealism, Northern Kentucky

LeMonde Studio*, Austin, TX

Lindsay Glatz & William Nemitoff*, LA

Northern Kentucky University Art Students, Erlanger, KY

Mike Stasny*, Atlanta, GA

Structurals*, Switzerland

Paper Acorn, Cincinnati, OH

Parker Heyl*, England

Radius Concepts, Cincinnati, OH

Scott Pennington*, Baltimore, MD

Sew Valley, Cincinnati

The Mz.Icar Collective, New York, NY

This is Loop, England

Vigas*, Brazil

Xavier University Art Students*, Cincinnati, OH

0H10M1ke*, New York, NY

Chase Melendez*, Covington, KY

Drew Merritt*, NM

Dulk*, Valencia, Spain

Elléna Lourens*, New York, NY

Gera 1*, Greece

James Bullough*, Berlin

Jim Tucker and Frank Young*, Cincinnati, OH

Marie Ajras*, New York, NY

Medianeras*, Barcelona

Pastel*, Argentina

Sofles*, Australia

Truly Design Crew*, Italy

Wayne Horse*, Amsterdam

Polina Soloveichik*, Berlin

Max Sansing, Chicago, IL

Ana Tomashvili*, Georgia

Brett Bolton, Las Vegas, NV

Chaske Haverkos, Cincinnati

Christo Squier & Thomas Blackburn*, England

Daniel Rossa*, Germany

DecideKit, Thailand

Felix Frank, Germany

Filip Roca, Barcelona

Inka Kendzia, South Africa

Jérémie Bellot, France

Jérémy Oury*, France

Jonas Denzel*, Germany

Justin Boh, Cincinnati

Kasumi Art Studios*, Cleveland, OH

Ke Jyun Wu*, Los Angeles, CA

Kyle Eli Ebersole, Cincinnati, OH

Leslie Epsztein*, France

Lightborne, Cincinnati, OH

Mindscape Studio*, Romania

Napoleon Maddox, Cincinnati, OH

Onda Studio*, Italy

Paper Massacre*, Italy
Sean Van Praag, Cincinnati, OH

Silent Partners Studio, Montreal

Smash Studio*, Sweden

Spencer Sterling*, California

Susan Kosti, Australia

Vamos Animation*, Germany

Vince Fraser, England

Strangeloop*, Los Angeles, CA

Shahzia Sikander*, New York, NY

Miami University – Emerging Technology in Business & Design, Oxford, OH

Black Art Speaks, Cincinnati, OH

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music – Lighting Design & Technology, Cincinnati, OH

Asha AMA, Cincinnati + New York

Cincinnati Skatepark Project, Cincinnati, OH

Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

Asianati, Cincinnati

Marc Phelps*, Northern Kentucky

1001 Colors, Cincinnati, OH

Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus

Greg D’Amico, Cincinnati,  OH

SnellBeast, Cincinnati, OH

Liv Cassinelli, Cincinnati, OH

School for Creative and Performing Arts*, Cincinnati, OH

577 Studio, Los Angeles, CA

*Denotes an artist who is new to BLINK.

About BLINK 
Started in 2017, BLINK is a biennial celebration of public art and light that spans the urban core of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The massive four-day event features 90+ large-scale projection mappings against some of the city’s most iconic architecture, interactive light-based installations in its public spaces and expansive murals across its buildings, all by renowned local, national and international artists. The largest of its kind in the country, the festival’s mission is to nurture a sense of community, connection and inspiration through the medium of public art. In 2024, BLINK spanned 30+ city blocks, crossing the Ohio River into Covington and Newport, Kentucky and was experienced by over 2 million people. BLINK is by the artists, for the people. Executive producing partners are the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, AGAR and the Haile Foundation. 

Press Contact BLINK@culturalcounsel.com