Through the Columbus Arts Festival, GCAC encourages public appreciation of the arts and culture by providing a high quality experience for the community featuring visual artists, musical performers and hands-on arts activities.

About the 2008 Columbus Arts Festival

2008 was a year of change for the Columbus Arts Festival, the most notable of which was the location. After over 20 years along the downtown riverfront, the Festival relocated to the Discovery District because of construction on the riverfront. For many central Ohioans, the Festival provided an introduction to this cultural district, surrounded by Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus Museum of Art and Columbus State Community College. Visitors had the opportunity to not only enjoy the traditional Festival along the streets, but to visit each of these institutions and experience the artwork being created and exhibited in the district. The Discovery District was a wonderful partner, and the dedication of the businesses and institutions within the district will allow the Festival to continue to grow and prosper in that location. The Columbus Arts Festival also welcomed a new presenting sponsor to the event. Time Warner Cable, a long-time media sponsor of the Festival, became the second festival presenting sponsor in the history of the event.

At the Festival, patrons experienced many different types of art. The Artist Market featured 230 visual artists from across the United States, Canada and Israel, with nine artists from central Ohio participating. Festival goers could also create art. In the Columbus Museum of Art’s parking lot, children and adults tried their hand in a variety of art activities at the Giant Eagle Hands-On Art Activities area, including printmaking, glassblowing, throwing clay pots and paper-making. Throughout the event, local bands like the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, TRANSIT ARTS, Maggie Green and The Floorwalkers kept patrons dancing in the streets. Over 50 bands performed during the event on the two stages. And for family, the Festival showcased Children’s Theater performances were held in the Topiary Park. Children from Upper Arlington, Westerville, Dublin, Delaware Art Castle, New Albany, Worthington, Bexley, Reynoldsburg and Powell performed the classic tale Pinocchio throughout the weekend. Within the Giant Eagle Hands-On Activities Area, the Family Stage highlighted magicians, Celtic Dancers, Storytellers, Thurber House and folk dancers. The Ohio Magazine Poetry Corner, a stage offering a coffeehouse atmosphere dedicated to the art of the spoken word, featured readers who auditioned in front of a jury of accomplished local poets and educators in March.

Local artists also had the opportunity to showcase their artwork in a new exhibition space called Art: Revealed. A local jury panel selected 35 local artists to display a piece of their work and offer Festival goers a glimpse into the fantastic local work in central Ohio. In addition to the adult art exhibition, the Festival proudly brought back the Elmer’s Student Art Exhibition, with over 15 local schools systems exhibiting work by their students.

Festival photos by Greg Bartram.