By Abby Brown, Creative Associate

As someone who grew up in Cincinnati, I know a few things to be true. Skyline is far superior to Gold Star, the Bengals will always upset my dad, and Graeter’s Ice Cream is made from the precious tears of unicorns. But coming back to live and work in Cincy after college has taught me a few new things about my hometown. Cincinnati isn’t just home to delicious chili and strong German heritage, it has a pretty strong creative community, too. Here are three of the many factors that make Cincinnati a perfect place for the right-brained:

1) Cincinnati has an awesome (and free!) art museum: The Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest in the country, and hosts a wide range of spectacular artwork. They frequently rotate special exhibitions, but also curate an impressive permanent collection.

2) Our AIGA Chapter is a great resource: From workshops, to lectures, to an annual Design Week, AIGA is the perfect organization for professional designers. They also hold no-stress networking events. Painting pumpkins at a local brewery makes connecting with other designs and professionals super easy (and you know how I feel about scary networking events).

3) Cincinnati is dense with creative agencies: With a barrage of Fortune 500 companies located in the area, Cincy certainly isn’t short of creative jobs. Because of huge names in design such as Landor, LPK, and Possible Worldwide, our city gets global recognition for its creative efforts. And of course, your favorite marketing communications firm is here, too! From international firms to successful small agencies, Cincinnati is a happy home for a ton of creative folk.

So even if you’re unfamiliar with a goetta, you don’t sympathize with our rivalry against the city of Pittsburgh, or you don’t understand a single point on this list,  don’t be afraid to dive into Cincinnati’s creative community. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.