2006 Highlights

Executive Office

• New President Bryan W. Knicely was hired in October, 2006.

Community Funding

• GO Arts Columbus, our new online grant application system, successfully went live September 1. We are developing the system and are in the process of migrating all administrative functions from the old database to GO Arts.
• Once again, GCAC served as the local partner for the national economic impact study, Arts & Economic Prosperity, coordinated by the Americans for the Arts. We invited 186 organizations to participate, and 46 responded. The surveys completed by these organizations, along with audience surveys collected at 16 Columbus events, will provide arts advocates and the City of Columbus with valuable information about local arts organizations' impact on the local economy.
• The Individual Artists Archive is online, and will be continually updated as artists send new information. This site publicizes talented individual artists in our city and supports the artists with their own Web presence.

Community Arts Education Program

• Children of the Future began an additional partnership with Columbus Public Schools (CPS) in October of 2006, leading to the start up of an after school program in 20 CPS middle school buildings citywide. For this program, which focuses on academic achievement and includes one day per week of arts and culture programming provided by GCAC, 10 artists work on a rotation basis, serving each school once a week. To date, we have had a total of 1,100 contacts with middle school students.
• GCAC began distributing grants through its new Franklin County Neighborhood Arts Grants Program, which helps support amateur and avocational groups, traditional arts organizations, civic and neighborhood associations, guilds, social service, youth-centered and cultural organizations with arts projects in all disciplines that are promoted and offered to the public. The goal of this program is to increase community participation in the arts throughout Franklin County.

Columbus Arts Festival

• The Columbus Arts Festival presented by Chase joined several other arts festivals nationwide in using ZAPPlication™ (ZAPP), a digital visual artist application process. ZAPP allows artists to apply online to participating festivals at the same time, among other benefits.

Marketing & Communications

• In addition to developing Go Arts and ZAPPlication™ for the Columbus Arts Festival, GCAC for the first time accepted e-nominations for the Business Arts Partnership Awards program.
• GCAC and WOSU's monthly television magazine program ArtZine, which showcases local artists, arts organizations and cultural activities, won a regional Emmy Award in July.