Columbus has been getting national recognition for our collaborative spirit. Just last year The Atlantic published a series of articles about how we do things differently here – how our business community, our nonprofits and our political leadership work seamlessly with one another to accomplish great things.
We’ve seen this in recent years as our community has focused on economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and travel and tourism.
Today, we are once again aligned around a single purpose, and I am thrilled that it is our artists and arts and cultural community.
Art Makes Columbus/Columbus Makes Art represents an unprecedented, five-year focus on the arts as a key pillar in Columbus’ culture, economy and quality of life. With strong support from Columbus businesses, the philanthropic community and the public sector, this campaign is the largest effort to market the arts in this city’s history.
It features a website, columbusmakesart.com, with an interactive calendar that serves as a go-to resource for arts events, showings, activities and tickets. Engaging videos of Columbus artists telling their own stories are housed on the website and promoted through venues and media throughout the city as well as social media channels.
A strong arts community and cultural attractions draw tourists, conventions, and business expansion and relocation. Arts and culture generates about $226 million in total annual economic activity in the Columbus region, including 8,500 jobs and $207 million in local household income.
Columbus has a vibrant local music scene and terrific galleries throughout the city. We have a world-class ballet company, symphony, and jazz orchestra that travel and represent us on an international level. Columbus is fortunate to have a wide range of theater companies, ensuring access to mainstream and avant garde productions. We have institutions, such as the Columbus Museum of Art, the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Pizzuti Collection that bring in top-tier national exhibitions normally expected in cities like New York or Chicago. And, we have proudly renovated historic downtown theaters such as the Ohio, Palace, Lincoln and Great Southern—which are now gems in our city.
Most importantly, we are a city of passionate, talented artists.
Artists like Laura Alexander whose intricate paper sculptures comprise layers of papers with thousands of tiny hand-cut details.
Or, writer Katherine Matthews who wrote her first story, in the second grade, about two good friends, a rat and a coconut, facing off against an invisible monster.
And, Byron Stripling a master trumpet player, conductor and the artistic director for Jazz Arts Group, who says: “I use jazz to uplift and inspire the Columbus community. Upon hearing the Columbus Jazz Orchestra one can witness the instance transformation of an audience as they pat their feet, nod their heads and snap their fingers to the infectious beat of jazz. You soon realize that the spontaneous, creative powers of jazz provide valuable, nutritious food for the soul.”
It is the stories of these and many other Columbus artists that we are showcasing through our campaign.
I believe these stories will remind all our residents of the unique opportunities we have to experience art in Columbus, whether by attending a performance or purchasing a piece of art for their home.
We appreciate all they have done to inspire our community and make it what it is today, and we excitedly anticipate discovering the art they have yet to create.
GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.
