Signs to Change Cincinnati - Paul Shortt

Education, discussion, and reconciliation through the act of drinking coffee 

“Signs to Change Cincinnati” is a project led by artist Paul Shortt in collaboration with Cincinnati residents. The project aims to create new signs for public spaces around the city that encourages new uses, comment or highlight the infrastructure and create conversation starters for future redevelopment and use.

 Over the past five years Shortt has been exploring the language of street signs focusing on texts that deny and warn against an action. After appropriating the text he mimics the reflectiveness of the street signs through bright colors, line, dot, and geometric patterns. Recently, Shortt has begun to create his own texts while still using the authority found on street signs. Through a collaborative process with the community in Cincinnati, Shortt will create signs that reflect the needs and wants of the participants.

During his time in Cincinnati, Shortt will transform Wave Pool’s gallery into a sign-making workshop, creating signs that participants can take with them and place wherever they want. A neighborhood walk with residents will take place where discussion around underutilized and/or wrongfully utilized spaces around the city result in creating new signs that are created and placed around the city. Additionally, Shortt is hosting an artist talk at the American Sign Museum.

Paul Shortt received his MFA in New Media Art from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his BFA in Painting from the Kansas City Art Institute. He has participated in over 80 group and solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His works engage the public in physical interactions and conversation that examine everyday experiences and cultural norms often in humorous ways through books, videos, prints, and temporary public art.  

The exhibition will be up in Wave Pool’s main gallery from August 14th – 28th, 2021.

This 2021 Art Space is Your Space Residency Program is supported by Puffin Foundation West Ltd.