Chinese and US artists presented a joint exhibition on Saturday in the midwest US city of Cincinnati in an effort to deepen cultural exchanges.

The exhibition, held at the Caza Sikes Gallery, showcased approximately 50 paintings and drawings of 11 Chinese artists and seven US artists, and offered the public the artists' view of different parts of the city.

The exhibition was part of the Cincinnati/Liuzhou Paint Out Program, in which artists from South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were invited to visit Cincinnati for a week. They visited museums and galleries, exchanged art views and techniques with their US counterparts, and created artworks inspired by the city.

Jan Brown Checco, lead artist of the program, said the program was the first of its kind ever to be carried out between Cincinnati and Liuzhou in Guangxi. The cities celebrated their 30th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relations in 2018.

Working with Cincinnati's network of 10 sister cities for 20 years, she said such partnerships among cities far apart make people feel connected.

One of the places that the artists went sketching was the Smale Riverfront Park. Built only eight years ago, the park has become the front yard of the entire city. Checco, who took part in designing the park, said some of the features were inspired by the designers' trip to Liuzhou.

"In Liuzhou, we had our trips on the river, saw the city lit at night, and appreciated the beautiful gardens in Longtan Park. We like to bring the beauty back to our own hometown," she said.

The program was organized by the Cincinnati-Liuzhou Sister City Committee. After the exhibition, the artworks will be on sale until August 19. The money received from the sale of the paintings will be donated to the committee to help pay for future exchanges.

The committee has recently organized exchanges for teachers, students, libraries, parks and chefs, among others, said Joe Hamrick, the committee's chairman.

The exchanges between sister cities "allow people to see beyond the stereotypes and understand how much alike they are no matter where they live and what they look like," he said.