When Ryan Bauer launched The Art of Yoga two years ago, he was ahead of the curve. He picked a quiet spot in a nondescript building to open his yoga studio / art gallery business, but new development and new residents have continued to come to live all around him, bringing more energy to the area.
“It’s a great time to be in the RiverSouth neighborhood; there’s a lot of great energy from the developers down here,” said Bauer. “Being Downtown has been an overall positive experience for the past two years. A lot of it has been about finding our voice — businesses are no different than individuals — and we’re still in this ‘toddler stage’ in many aspects.”
The Art of Yoga differentiates itself from other yoga studios with a mission that focuses on more than just the traditional business model.
“We are here to offer high quality yoga instruction — that’s what we do best — but beyond that we strive to take good care of our instructors and our students,” explained Bauer. “We approach things differently than most small businesses. Of course, we have a lease and we have to pay utilities, but for me as an owner, this has always been more of a passion project.”
Bauer and his instructors took that passion to the streets recently, instructing outdoor classes on West Cherry Street, which was converted from an alley into a functional pedestrian-centric space for a portion of this summer.
“I think this type of project shows that streets can be used for other things,” he stated. “We have a lot more outdoor space that people want to use, and we can use it better.”
The Art of Yoga will be utilizing space at the Columbus Museum of Art during the upcoming Healthy Bites festival on Friday, July 29th, and will be demonstrating yoga positions and handing out free class cards for anyone who wants to test out their studio.
“We want to help people understand the concept, and we want to have people try things out a little bit,” said Bauer.
Healthy Bites will take place from 6pm-9pm at the newly renovated Columbus Museum of Art. Advance tickets are $30 and will include food samples, live entertainment, participatory yoga demos by Art of Yoga, admission to the current exhibits at The Columbus Museum of Art and a cash bar.
Featured food vendors include Fusian, Root 23, Pocket Produce, Gluten & Grain Free Gourmet, CoffeeFit Bar, Banana Leaf, Krazy Kraut, Zest Juice Co., Food for Good Thought, Snowville Creamery, Darista Dips, Native Cold Press, Acre, Alchemy Juice Bar + Cafe, Fronana and Lift Energy bars and drinks. We’ve also brought on board Cadence Kitchen, who will be providing on site food demos of quick and healthy meals.
A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will be donated to The Godman Guild. The Columbus Underground Best Bites event series have collectively raised over $16,000 for local charities since August 2014, with a goal of raising $20,000 for local charities in 2016.
CLICK HERE TO BUY ADVANCE TICKETS
Healthy Bites is presented by The Ohio Poultry Association.
