Cincinnati, Illustrated: The Artists Behind Our New Murals
When we moved into our new downtown Cincinnati office in late summer 2025, we wanted the space to feel creative, welcoming, and rooted in the communities we serve. Art is a big part of that vision. This year we partnered with two artists to create three murals that set the tone for the entire space and remind us everyday why we do what we do. Two are by illustrator Lucie Rice. One is by Cincinnati artist Courttney Cooper. Together, they bring color, storytelling, and a strong sense of place into our work environment.
Lucie Rice: Bright, Layered, and Inspired by Place
Lucie Rice is an illustrator with ties to Kentucky, Nashville, and now Indianapolis. She received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and spent more than a decade developing her illustration practice in Nashville. Her work is known for its bold color and its mix of layered textures and mid-century influences. Animals and nature show up often and her style feels warm, playful, and full of movement. Her client list includes Google, Purina, the Grand Ole Opry, Deloitte, The New Yorker, ESPN, Skyline Chili, and Toyota.
About Lucie’s Murals in Our Office
Mural 1: Invested in Place
This mural illustrates the breadth of The Port’s work across Greater Cincinnati. Set against our region’s geography, it highlights homes, industrial sites, business district revitalization, and public finance projects. It also recognizes key partners including the State of Ohio, Hamilton County, and the City of Cincinnati. Together, the elements reflect our commitment to place-based investment and inclusive growth.
Mural 2: Making Real Estate Work
This mural brings our mission to the forefront. Centered around the phrase Making Real Estate Work, it depicts our homeownership efforts, landbank-supported redevelopment, and catalytic public finance projects across the region. It visualizes transformation and impact in the neighborhoods where we work every day.
To learn more about Lucie Rice visit her website and follow along on social media:
Courttney Cooper: A Cincinnati Storyteller With Deep Memory and Meaning
Our third mural is by Cincinnati artist Courttney Cooper, whose work holds a special place in the region’s arts community. Courttney draws large, detailed maps of Cincinnati completely from memory. He pieces together found paper from his job at a grocery store and uses ballpoint pen to create sprawling, incredibly intricate worlds. Every street, building, landmark, and note is pulled from his own experiences, both physical and emotional. He incorporates conversations he hears, observations he makes, and the feeling of walking through the city. His work reflects not only what Cincinnati looks like, but what it feels like.
Courttney updates his drawings as the city changes. He adds new buildings and removes old ones. He includes references to local events such as the WEBN fireworks and Taste of Cincinnati, along with constant nods to Cincinnati’s iconic Ocktoberfest. Words and thoughts appear tucked inside the white space. Each piece becomes a living record of the city’s past and present.
His artistic footprint is significant. Courttney has exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, The Carnegie in Covington, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago. His 2024 solo exhibition in Chicago was covered by Artforum. His work is in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. One of his Cincinnati maps was recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Why Courttney’s Art Belongs in Our Space
For our office, he expanded one of his original drawings by 300 percent. The enlarged mural focuses on the heart of downtown, with our new office landing almost exactly in the center of the composition. Courttney even labeled The Port inside the drawing, a small but meaningful detail that reflects his connection to the city and the intentional way he captures place.
Courttney’s mural aligns deeply with what The Port stands for. His drawings honor the history of Cincinnati and the neighborhoods that define it, while also expressing change, growth, and new possibility in a way that feels personal and sincere. His work is not about perfect accuracy. It is about love for place. It is about paying attention. It is about memory and future at the same time. We work at the intersection of past and future, reinvesting in places that hold meaning for generations while creating space for what comes next. Courttney captures all of that in a hand-drawn world.Â
A Space That Feels Like Home
These murals do more than decorate a wall. They bring identity, warmth, and a sense of purpose into our new space. Lucie and Courttney created pieces that reflect who we are, who we serve, and the region we are committed to strengthening. Together, their work welcomes every person who walks through our doors into a space that is truly rooted in Cincinnati.
To learn more about Courttney Cooper and Visionaries and Voices, visit their website and follow along on social media:
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