As ArtsWave marks its 99th year, the 2026 ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source of funding for the arts and the largest community arts campaign in the nation, has officially launched to support over 150 arts organizations, artists and projects across the Cincinnati region.
This year’s campaign is chaired by James Zimmerman, partner-in-charge at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, who will lead the effort to sustain and strengthen the region’s arts sector through collective community investment.
The 2026 ArtsWave Community Campaign launches as the Cincinnati region continues to earn national recognition for the strength and consistency of its arts sector.
The arts community’s strength shows up not only in national rankings, but in shared experiences that bring people together across the region. BLINK will return this year, with ArtsWave serving as the event’s illuminating sponsor, reinforcing the role of the arts in creating moments of connection that cross neighborhoods and state lines.
The impact is also felt in classrooms across the region. ArtsWave’s More Arts, More Kids initiative provides arts field trips to nearly 20,000 students each year from school districts across the Cincinnati region, including Ludlow Independent Schools, Hamilton City Schools, Catholic Inner City Schools, Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Education Services, and every first through sixth-grade student in Cincinnati Public Schools. These shared experiences connect classroom learning to creativity, curiosity and community.
Reflecting on this momentum, Zimmerman said, “What we’re seeing across the Cincinnati region is the result of decades of intentional, collective investment. The arts don’t just happen on their own. They thrive when a community chooses to support them together, year after year.”
The 2026 campaign theme, Discover More, builds on ArtsWave’s long-standing role as a connector, linking people to experiences, organizations and one another.
“Discover More is an invitation,” said ArtsWave President & CEO Alecia Kintner. “It’s about discovering more connection between neighbors, more opportunity for students, more vibrancy in our neighborhoods and more reasons to feel proud of the Cincinnati region. The arts make all of that possible, but only when all of us pitch in to support them.”
Since 1927, the community-funded ArtsWave campaign has provided stable, reliable support for the arts across the Cincinnati region. Today, that collective investment supports more than 150 arts organizations, projects and artists, helping keep the arts within reach for everyone while strengthening them as a shared asset for the region’s success.
Early momentum is already strong with thousands of donors pledging over $2.3 million to the 2026 Campaign.
Zimmerman announced that Western & Southern Financial Group’s $99,000 Challenge for the Future of the Arts, launched in honor of ArtsWave’s 99th year, has already surpassed its original goal. Business and civic leaders have contributed more than $135,000 through new $5,000 gifts and increased renewals as part of ArtsWave’s Executive Leaders for the Arts initiative.
“This response sends a clear signal,” Zimmerman said. “Leaders across Cincinnati understand how the arts make our community stronger and serve as a key asset. They’re a major part of how we define ourselves here in the Cincinnati region.”
ArtsWave funding supports more than 150 local arts organizations, projects and artists through one collective community campaign. Donations come from individuals through workplace giving campaigns at hundreds of regional companies, special events, direct giving and a variety of other community-driven funding mechanisms.
The 2026 ArtsWave Community Campaign runs through May 19. To donate or learn more, visit artswave.org.
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