TOILYNN O'NEAL

I grew up in the West End. Most of my life under the age of 11 was pretty much spent in this community. My dad helped to start the Arts Consortium of Cincinnati, which was on Linn Street. I spent a lot of time at this library here in the West End and at the Regal Theater. I went to St. Joseph Elementary School, and I also attended the parish of St. Joseph as a child.

Currently, I’ve come back to the West End to remodel the Regal Theater to be Cincinnati’s African American and multicultural arts center. It’s a $12 million project where we are not just going to be a hub to show art and do performances, but actually be a business hub in the arts. We’re going to teach people the business of arts—how to do other things that allow them to grow their mindset around careers in the arts, technology, and entrepreneurship.