A Cincinnati nonprofit with a 30-year legacy of public art and youth employment has a new name.Artworks Cincinnati is now 1001 Colors, a name the organization says was hiding in plain sight.During renovations of its new creative campus at 2429 Gilbert Ave. in Walnut Hills, workers uncovered a hand-painted sign reading "1000 1 Colors." The sign is a remnant of Bolsi Paint, a paint manufacturer that built the structure in 1909 and was once the third-largest paint manufacturer in the country."When we're tearing down walls and signage from the company Race Refrigeration, which was there, which occupied in between, we saw like this, literally this hand-painted sign that said '1000 1 colors,'" James Marable, senior director of marketing and communications, said. "It just became obvious this should be our name. It represents the colors, the paint, the backstory, the building and the paint company. We were painting murals all over the city, 400 murals in our 30 years. It just all perfectly tied together."Watch to get a look at the nonprofit's new campus: ArtWorks changes name after 30 years of public art, youth employment in CincinnatiThe rebrand was announced June 1 at the organization's 30th anniversary Art Dinner at Mercantile Immersive, in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 300 supporters.The name change also addresses longstanding confusion with other organizations sharing similar names, including another ArtWorks in Cleveland and local partner Arts Wave."There's just multiple ArtWorks organizations across the country," Marable said. "Even locally, between us and Arts Wave, who is a great partner of ours, we're in our 30th year they're going into their 100th year. We wanted to make sure everyone's being celebrated properly."The organization's mission is to produce world-class public art and creative projects that employ and develop youth, strengthen communities, and support artists at every stage.It is best known for its mural program, with works visible across Cincinnati neighborhoods including Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills and downtown.Those murals are painted by young people between the ages of 14 and 21, who are paired with professional and internationally recognized artists."A lot of times people just think this work is being done by people that are older, but in reality we partner these young, emerging artists with professional artists, internationally known artists, world-renowned artists who design and help teach them the techniques to further their careers," Marable said.The organization also launched its annual summer apprentice program on June 1, marking its 30th summer. This year, 115 young people were hired and are completing projects across the city. One project will span multiple Ohio cities, including Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo, as part of the America 250 Tuskegee Airmen mural project, honoring Ohio-based Tuskegee Airmen.The new 1001 Colors creative campus, which opened in late April 2025, was made possible through a capital campaign that raised $12 million. The building was previously owned by the Milton family, who operated Race Refrigeration, historically noted as the first Black-owned business certified to repair GE products."To be able to work with them, and they saw the vision for what ArtWorks, now 1001 Colors, could be and could do in this neighborhood, it's just gone so far," Marable said.The campus consolidates all of the organization's functions, artists, administrators and teachers under one roof after nearly three decades of operating from scattered locations.The organization currently has a gallery exhibition, Resilient Roots, on view through the first week of July. Public gallery hours are Wednesdays and Fridays.An upcoming community event, a block party, is scheduled for June 5 at the Creative Campus and Five Points Alley, directly behind the building.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less