Laurie Nocks has relocated her photography studio and gallery from the old Lincoln School to 4000 Eastern Ave, opposite the East End Cafe.  And we're glad she did.

Laurie's Gallery combines customized portrait photography with her own specialized photographic art and a framing service.  She joins the growing arts district on Eastern Ave. 

Laurie has been interested in photgraphy since high school, but didn't at the time know how to make a career of it.  She started in graphics work early on.  As a husband and three children followed, Laurie continued with her interest, often photographing her children.

Laurie's husband's goal to be a pilot led to the couple moving to Wilmington, Ohio where Howard had a flight school.  The couple also ran the County airport, and Laurie used her skills to do aerial photography.

With the children moving along in school, Laurie went back to school herself for a Bachelor's degree in Photography from Antonelli College.  She then decided to open her own photograpy studio.

Laurie's pilot husband got a job at Lunken Airport, and the couple agreed in 2006 they were ready for a move to the cIty. The Lunken connection brought Laurie to Columbia Tusculum, where she initially set up her studio in the old Lincoln School on Delta Avenue.

Laurie's specialty is portrait photography.  She combines a lifetime of photography experience with the sensitivity of a mother to create lasting images of children, families, high school students and special events.  "I try to create my client's own personal art that's meant to be displayed for years.  Something created as a family memory to hand down for generations.  Hopefully, something the children later fight over to have," said Laurie.

Her logo says "Laurie's Gallery: Photography as Art."  Her work may be as simple as a memory book and prints for framing; or gallery worthy poses she enhances by hand with oils.  These need to be examined up close.  Are they photographs, or is it an oil painting? Or actually, it's both.  In either case, she's taken her photography to a higher form of art.

Laurie says many of her clients are repeat customers, who return to add to their collection of  family portraits. "I'm honored to be invited into their homes, and see my work hanging there as art."

One of Laurie's specialties is called "Footprints," a series of photos she takes to document a baby's  first year.

Laurie has expanded beyond portraits to create another signature art form.  She digitally combines several exposures of the same image and then color enhances to create what she calls "LAN prints." (LAN, as in Laurie A. Nocks)  "The computer is my palette," says Laurie.  She enhances the image based on the type of media on which they'll be printed - giclee print, metallic surface or ceramic tiles.

Her expanded 4000 Eastern Avenue gallery includes a display of her LAN prints.  Stop by to see Cincinnati icons, like FIndlay Market, C-T's Painted Ladies, and the moon rising over a Tusculum hillside.

Laurie now also offers a framing service.  Feel free to bring in your own art, photos or documents for framing. 

Laurie's Gallery, with her distinctive form of "photography as art," is a welcome addition to the performing arts community now gathered on Eastern Avenue.  Whether for yourself, or as a gift, stop by to see all she has to offer.  Gift certificates available.  www.lauriesgallery.com/  

Spring is around the corner, and it's time to plan a "spring cleaning" for Columbia Tusculum.  We will participate in the April 16 Great American Cleanup Day organized by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful.

We are targeting high visibility lots and sidewalks where we will:

    **  pick up trash

    **  cut back overgrowth

    **  maintain landscaping  

Residents can also organize their own street cleanup.  If you have litter, overgrowth or discarded items on your street to remove, recruit some neighbors to knock it out in one morning. 

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful will provide a trash dumpster to remove large items unsuitable for residential trash pick-up.  eg., tires, building materials.  The dumpster will probably be located at Greener Stock.

Help beautify Columbia Tusculum 

BYO rakes, clippers, gloves and garden shears and meet at Greener Stock for the community clean-up.  Lunch will be provided by Tusculum Pizza.  

Whether you join in for the community clean-up, or work on your own street, this is the perfect opportunity to make our neighborhood clean and beautiful.   

For more information, contact Christine Carli at chriscarli@fuse.net 

Hope to see you there.    

Friends of Alms Park - Looking for some new Friends!

Friends of Alms Park is a small group of local people interested in supporting and promoting Alms Park.  The Park Board encourages citizen advisory groups like this one to provide input and take action on improvements and activities for the city's parks.

FOAP is looking for new "friends."  In this year of major Cincinnati Park Board budget cuts, it will be important for residents and businesses to be proactive in supporting our park.

FOAP work to date

FOAP was formed several years ago with a vision to build the park's Ohio River Scenic Overlook. The initial group came together and worked with the Park Board on design and fundraising, raising over $90,000 towards the Overlook.  Much of this went into an endowment to fund maintenance of landscaping at the overlook.

FOAP prepared a letter of support on the City's zoning district proposal for "Scenic View Corridors," and then testified at a City hearing on this.  These proposed new zoning districts include height restrictions on future buildings to ensure views from places like the Alms Park Overlook and other points on the Tusculum hillside are not impeded by new development.

In 2010, FOAP helped publicize and support two Park Board sponsored events at Alms Park.  FOAP also sold drinks and cookies to picnic-er's out for the June Everybody's Neighborhood Picnic and the August Shakespeare in the Park night.

CT Bike Path Extension is Open

The extension of the Ohio River Trail through Columbia Tusculum is now complete and open for your use.  This run-walk-bike path was funded with Federal Stimulus funds.

The path begins at the front door of the old Lunken Terminal building near the corner of Wilmer Rd and Airport Rd.  It continues along the upper side of the MSD Plant, coming out at Carrel St.  You'll pass a historic cemetary here that includes Revolutionary War veterans, tucked behind the railroad tracks. Then, continue either down Carrel St and Kellogg Ave to Riverview East Academy, or go along Dumont St following the railroad tracks, then west on Eastern Ave to Stanley Ave, and south to the school.  At Riverview East, you can pick up the existing bike path following along the river to Schmidt's Field.   

So, if your exercise routine needs a change of pace, or you're tired up making laps around the Lunken Recreation Area, you now have an alternative.  The new bike path extension gives us a continous path from Lunken to the boat launch at Schmidt's Field.  Get out and enjoy our new path.