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    Westerville Shop Promotes Ohio Art Community

    Ohio Art Market, located in the heart of Uptown Westerville at 30 N. State St., is a hub of Ohio art and creativity. Artists from all over the state display and sell their pieces in the shop. A wide variety of mediums, combined with a wide price range, allows art novices and seasoned art enthusiasts to browse and purchase gifts and art pieces for their own collection.

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    When Ohio Art Market was started in 2011, a dozen artists displayed and sold their creations in the space. One year after its conception, current owner Wendy Emery purchased the company and went to work creating a space that is friendly to both the artists and the customers. Today, close to 150 artists have pieces in the shop. As an artist herself, Emery tries to create a space that is both artist- and consumer-friendly.

    Instead of grouping art pieces by type, such as all jewelry displayed together and all glass pieces together, Emery has curated a browser-friendly space. She has observed customers for five years, noting which pieces draw attention and which are overlooked, and has organized items to draw attention equally to all pieces. This allows customers coming in for a specific item the opportunity to see more pieces they might have otherwise missed.

    Ohio Art Market houses a variety of mediums. The shelves and racks are lined with three-dimensional tactile pieces, such as blown glass, handmade jewelry, organically-dyed scarves, pallet signs, candles, and ceramic pieces. Covering every inch of wall space are two-dimensional photographs, paintings, and illustrations. Because Emery communicates with each artist individually, she is able to relay the story behind each art piece to the customers, so they walk away knowing interesting details about their recently purchased art and the artist behind it. Although most of the artists featured in Ohio Art Market are from Central Ohio, there is a good number of artists from Cleveland and Cincinnati, and everywhere in between. Logos and mascots of several major universities from across the state can be found on jewelry, apparel, and home décor items throughout the shop. Additionally, local towns and cities are represented on art pieces as well.

    Ohio Art Market is always accepting artist submissions to sell art in the shop. The vendor application as well as more information about the shop can be found at ohioartmarket.net.

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    Randi Walle
    Randi Wallehttp://randimwalle.com
    Randi is a freelance contributor to Columbus Underground, writing mainly articles for Shop Talk. She studied photography at Columbus State and enjoys utilizing both journalism and photography to tell the stories of people in the community.
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