Forest Walk

Dave Rickerd – Muralist – Field of Flowers
Dave has been painting most of his life and was inspired by his father who is also an artist. Dave has painted murals throughout the Midwest including several at The Acres including the botanical mural on the covered driving range building. Inspired by a trip to Burning Man, Dave created this field of flowers using day glow paint over design shapes that exist naturally at the Acres. Dave resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Tabb Harrison – Sculpture – Giant Foam Botanicals
The root of Tabb’s artistic endeavors are formed in this quote, “Building stuff with your hands is just the freakin’ best. From drawing to sculpting to photography to wood working, creating things with my own hands has given me a sense of peace and purpose.” Tabb graduated from University of Cincinnati Design Art Architecture Planning (DAAP) in 2004.

R. Diller – Sculpture – Giant Foam Botanicals
R. Diller is a Cincinnati raised artist. She gravitated to sculpture and installation during her collegiate years in DAAP’s Fine Art college at the University of Cincinnati. Following graduation she worked at Casting Arts and Technologies as a bronze sculpture technician. Currently, she is working on building a small business as a fiber artist and designer. Her main source of inspiration comes from observing nature, especially plant life. So when she was invited to work on creating large scale plants and flowers she was thrilled to have the opportunity. Instagram: rach3elmorgan13 / fabrics_and_florals

Giovanni Weissman – Animation – More than Golf
Giovanni studies motion design at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he’s had an interest in creating art his entire life. Most of his childhood art consisted of natural landscapes erupting in motion from seas full of prehistoric fish to battle- torn fields populated by Star Wars troopers firing lasers. Starting with markers as a child he discovered After Effects and Adobe Illustrator in high school and fell in love. Currently, he is learning to create cohesive designs and animations in various mediums and is interested in creating motion and telling stories through sequential art.

Jake Brinkmann – Duck Tape Sculpture – Mike the Mastodon
Cincinnati based artist Jake Brinkmann is a creative adventurist seeking out his passion through the visual arts of multiple mediums including woodworking and Duct Tape. Fine Arts Graduate from The University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, Jake expresses his work with this ultimate American made adhesive through sculpture and classic two- dimensional form. Jake currently works at The University of Cincinnati and teaches the Duct Tape Studio Course at The Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Queen City Milk Duds – Sculpture – Skunkadelic
Joe Girandola, Jedidiah Knight, Matt Lynch, Rick Wolhoy with Liam Druley, Fritz Ebbler, Ethan Fessler and Hazel Lynch The Queen City Milk Duds (QCMD) are a group of 4 artists who began working as a faculty/graduate student team at DAAP in 2016. Our shared studio practices brought us together with a desire to create new forms with common materials through experimental engineering and electronics. Blink 2017 catalyzed our efforts and have participated in Blink 2017, 2019, and 2024 plus events at the Carnegie Art Center and Par Projects.

Our site-specific experiential artworks are humorous and critical. We examine design trends, history and function through exaggerated scenarios and refined objects. By using everyday and iconic forms, we engage a diverse audience. We are problem solvers and create surreal and fantastic challenges to instigate our works. Our work takes dynamic physical form to register as a bold artistic statement and offers an interactive function specific to the work and its surroundings. It is accessible and architecturally scaled so that it can be socially experienced.

Cullan Sanders – Animation – Mastodons Once Roamed These Lands
Cullan grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began studying animation in 2015 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati DAAP program. By day, Cullan works as an anesthesia technician but spends his free time dreaming up and pursuing his next animation project. He drew interest in the mastodon jawbone that was found in the Mill Creek 35 years ago bringing animation of color and light to an otherwise drab grayish brown color.

William Roberts – Install / Carpentry
Bill grew up in Cincinnati and then attended the University of Montana where he played in a jam rock band. While in Montana, he honed his golf game in the warmer months and spent summers enjoying the outdoors. Following college, Bill entered the PGA Teaching Professional career path and worked at both resort courses and country clubs. Golf and family brought him back to Cincinnati where he gained interest in building and repairing things and spends time fixing up his early 20th Century home in the Linwood neighborhood of Cincinnati. From carpentry to mechanics, Bill is a jack of all trades.

Alexander Fee – Install / Carpentry
Alex grew up in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati the son of an absent-minded college professor. He attended St. Xavier High School and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Washington. He has spent the past 25 years in Maine as a traditional boat builder and mariner. Most of his free time was spent sailing around the gulf of Maine including delivering sailing vessels between New England and the Caribbean. Family has brought Alex back to Cincinnati and he has been an integral part of the Lighted Forest project.