COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Greater Columbus Arts Council (Arts Council) is proud to partner with Lamar Advertising and the Art Makes Columbus/Columbus Makes Art campaign to present the second-annual ArtPop street gallery. ArtPop Cbus shines the spotlight on Columbus’ talented artists by placing their work on available billboards throughout Franklin County, as well as downtown City Solutions news racks, beginning in mid-April.
Five artists were selected from 41 applications:
Richard Duarte Brown (43227) is an artist and educator based in Columbus. He has worked with TRANSIT ARTS for many years, helping young people find their sense of self-expression. He paints from his spirit and his greatest thirst is for natural and organic thriving communities causing vibrant colors that cry out to him. He compares his art to a loaf of bread we can eat from, and when we share this bread we become a family.
John Grosvenor (43201) is a local illustrator/artist based in Columbus. He grew up on a small family farm where his parents instilled in him the values of straight forward honesty and a good day’s labor. He graduated from Columbus College of Art & Design in 1996. Art is his profession, his family, his therapy and his community.
Cassidy Rae Marietta (43206) lives and works out of her studio in downtown Columbus. She is a surrealist illustrator working with ink, mixed media and digital design and using rich-juicy colors, textures and surface qualities. She plays with a spectrum of candy-colored hues intermingled with ornate design to create life-affirming visual meditations. Returning themes in her work include the position of women in modern society, sexuality and the role division between social normality, censorship and the rawness of human nature.
Alissa Ohashi (43009) is a Columbus-based artist and a first-year MFA candidate specializing in photography at Columbus College of Art & Design. Most of her work has an underlying theme of people who demonstrate beauty and boldness. The images that she creates have been inspired by socio-cultural issues that women and minorities have been experiencing in recent times. She aspires to show this through documentary-style photos of people who are working for change as well as stylized images of unapologetic femininity. Her hope is that when people engage with her work, they feel a sense of empowerment and self-worth by identifying with the people in the images. Her ArtPop photograph was taken in Washington. D.C. on Jan. 20, 2017.
Amandda Tirey (43054) is a Columbus-based artist who received her BFA in 1997 and her MFA in 2002 from The Ohio State University. As an oil painter intrigued by the vast existence inside and around us, Amandda brings to life mysterious biomorphic science-fiction liquidscapes and strange nebulous spaces, layered thick with positive visual energy. Her work was once perfectly described as “What the world of Dr. Seuss might look like under a microscope!”
See the artists’ work at columbusmakesart.com/artpop.
The ArtPop Cbus selection committee included representatives from the Arts Council, ArtPop, Lamar, a 2017 ArtPop participating artist and two at-large community members. The winning artists’ work will be displayed on print billboards owned and managed by Lamar throughout Franklin County, changing locations as space becomes available.
ArtPop is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works with local arts councils and media companies to promote artists, give them a voice, create public street galleries and energize residents’ commutes. Currently, ArtPop is on the streets of 14 cities nationwide. Art + Public Outdoor Project = ArtPop. For more information, visit ArtPopStreetGallery.com.
About the Greater Columbus Arts Council: Through vision and leadership, advocacy and collaboration, the Greater Columbus Arts Council supports art and advances the culture of the region. A catalyst for excellence and innovation, the Arts Council funds exemplary artists and arts organizations and provides programs, events and services of public value that educate and engage all audiences in our community. The Arts Council thanks the city of Columbus and the Ohio Arts Council for their continued support. www.gcac.org
The Columbus Makes Art campaign is a city-wide, collaborative marketing effort designed to highlight the incredible talent of central Ohio artists.
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CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org
