The pandemic put so much on pause. We started 2020 with ambitious plans for new programs, but as our major funding sources dried up, we had to regroup. One of the initiatives that we were excited to launch last year was the Neighborhood Arts Connection Fellowship. Now, thanks to Crane…
The Art Unites Cbus project came about as a solution to an immediate challenge, how to turn broken windows into messages of support for Black Lives. Columbus businesses and organizations hired artists to paint the temporary plywood with messages that ranged from calls for justice, humanity and hope to expressions…
Today, with a heavy heart, I have to announce that we are canceling the 2021 Columbus Arts Festival. I can’t believe that I have to write this again; however, there is simply too much uncertainty surrounding the pandemic to responsibly host an event that draws hundreds of thousands of people…
The Greater Columbus Arts Council has received dozens of messages related to the temporary murals painted on boarded up windows throughout the city. I’d like to give you an update on where things stand. Tom Katzenmeyer, president & CEO of the Greater Columbus Arts Council These murals…
We are coming to the close of another year, and as we step toward a new decade I am feeling hopeful and full of gratitude. It took many years and many hands, but we head into 2020 with new revenue streams to support the arts in Columbus. This is monumental.
One constant in the history of humanity is our need to share our stories. Whether through oral traditions handed down from generation to generation, hieroglyphics on tomb walls, meticulously hand-painted vellum or podcasts, we share our stories, and through them our history, our culture and our humanity. This recent train…
January 31 is National Inspire Your Heart with Art Day. It is a day to pause and reflect how art touches your heart—how it can move us to tears, cause us to bust out laughing, make us think, broaden our perspective and feed our humanity. To celebrate, let’s take a moment to…
Last week Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin unveiled a bold and forward-thinking plan providing revisions to the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s ticket fee proposal. I am immensely grateful to City Council for demonstrating their belief that public funding for the arts strengthens our city and neighborhoods. Columbus has grown…
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to be part of collaborative efforts to develop public policy aimed at improving the quality of life for a specific stakeholder group locally, across the state and even nationally. But helping lead the endeavor that could stabilize public funding for arts in Columbus with…
One of our biggest weeks is here: the week of the Columbus Arts Festival. Thousands of hours of work by hundreds of people results in a memorable weekend of art, music, craft, food and family activities on the downtown riverfront. Both the presenting artists and Festival guests travel from…
One week ago today we hosted our annual Community Arts Partnership Awards and it’s still on my mind. During one luncheon I am reminded of everything I love about the Columbus arts community—the artists, the sense of family, the provocateurs and the advocates—and everything that I want for the Columbus…
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of a new piece of public art on the 40th floor, observation deck in the Rhode Office Tower. Created by Columbus artist Mandi Caskey, the 28’ x 6’ mural is replete with representations of Ohio’s native flora and fauna, from the…
