Roots
grow in the dark
before they break ground.
MOTHERROOT
Underground Studio + Press
1556 Chase Avenue — Northside, Cincinnati
A working studio, a press, a classroom, and a gathering space. Where mother is a verb, and transformation begins beneath the soil.
upcoming EVENTS
What We Are
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MotherRoot is a matriarchal working artist studio, press, and gathering space where mother is a verb and transformation begins in the soil.
Located in the basement of Northside Cincinnati's WordPlay Building, we are a community-rooted underground built on the belief that creativity is a tool for transformation — not decoration.
The space is a blank palette for large-scale art, a classroom for radical learning, and a sanctuary for dialogue and community storytelling. We teach here. We print here. We make art here. We continue the work of liberation.
WHAT WE believe
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Mother as a verb is not a metaphor. It is a framework.
Mother is an action. The work of tending the ground, feeding what is growing, teaching without hierarchy, holding contradiction, and letting things rise.
It is labor that predates capitalism, patriarchy, and every system that tried to privatize it. It is something any person, any community, any movement can choose to do — or refuse.
Here, mother is not a noun. Not a category, a credential, or a moral obligation.
MotherRoot is where that practice lives in physical form. In paper and ink. In open doors and sliding scales. In the pressed mark of a human hand. We do not just occupy space — we tend to it.
This is the philosophy underneath everything at MotherRoot.
“Mother as a Verb” is an original theoretical framework developed by Jeni Jenkins, first proposed in 2024.
© 2026 Jeni Jenkins / Renegade Babe Creative LLC
Where We Are
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The Corridor of Freedom
Located at 1556 Chase Ave, along the documented Hamilton Avenue corridor of the Underground Railroad, MotherRoot sits in the literal path where freedom seekers once moved north toward liberation.
Blocks from our door:
The Hall of Free Discussion, where seminary students illegally taught Black students to read. Teaching as resistance.
Wesleyan Cemetery, where the Escape of the 28 began — twenty-eight freedom seekers disguised as a funeral procession who passed through those gates in April 1853 and kept walking north toward Canada.
Robert S. Duncanson, the first African American artist to achieve international fame, made his work commissioned by the abolitionists who lined this very road.
We carry that lineage forward, shifting the energy from the flight for survival to the labor of creative freedom.
A Sanctuary for Storytellers
We are housed in a building that breathes story, adorned with murals of icons like Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou. We draw inspiration from their brilliance as we build a home for the next generation of poets, photographers, and mark-makers.
What We Do
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Printmaking + Press We make prints, zines, and editions here. Paper, ink, and the pressed mark of a human hand. The underground press has always been a tool for subversion and legacy.
Here in the Middle An ongoing inquiry into biracial and mixed race identity through art and printmaking. Grounded in the theory of third consciousness — the place that belongs to neither circle alone.
Signal Fire Art as Resistance. A six-session community art series.
The Witch Doesn't Burn Here Visual Culture, Gender, and the Art of Resistance Magic. A six-session community art series.
Sit + Draw Bi-weekly open drawing sessions. By donation. No experience required.
Youth Art Programming Kids learn to make marks here. That is not a small thing.
Mural Projects Public art rooted in community authorship and neighborhood history.
Clothing Swaps Tending each other's material needs is also a form of mothering.
Studio Visits MotherRoot is a working artist studio. Visits by appointment.
Collaborator Events The space is designed to be shared.
How We Work
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Mothering does not withhold nourishment from those who need it most.
Body: Many workshops will be available at low cost or free. Every paid workshop holds two free, zero-barrier seats. The sliding scale is not a pricing strategy. It is a value made material.
The door opens regardless of what you can pay.
Access facts: — Fully wheelchair accessible via elevator — Flat front entry — no steps, no barriers — Free parking in the lot and on the street — Northside, served by public transit — 1556 Chase Avenue, WordPlay Building, lower level
How to Help
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MotherRoot is a program of Renegade Babe Creative LLC, a fiscally sponsored LLC by A Picture's Worth. All donations can made to A Picture's Worth and designated for Renegadebabe/MotherRoot programming. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
THE ROOTS
GO DOWN
SO THE
WORK
CAN RISE.
Mother is a verb.
MotherRoot: Underground Studio + Press
1556 Chase Avenue — WordPlay Building, Basement
— Northside, Cincinnati OH 45223
A Program of Renegade Babe Creative LLC
Renegade Babe/MotherRoot are Fiscally sponsored by A Picture's Worth. Donations are tax-deductible.