COLUMBUS, Ohio — Following the cancellation of the live 2020 Columbus Arts Festival at the Riverfront, the Greater Columbus Arts Council (Arts Council) has converted the annual welcome-to-summer event into the Columbus Arts Festival in Place, presented by the American Electric Power (AEP) Foundation.
In April, the Arts Council announced that the 2020 Festival, scheduled for June 12-14, would be shifted to 2021. Juried artists had the option of a refund or to roll their fees over to 2021, and were automatically accepted into next year’s Festival, scheduled for June 11-13, 2021.
The Columbus Arts Festival in Place will include a new browsable gallery of local and national visual artists, playlists and interviews with local musicians, volunteer and community shared memories and art collections, and an at-home Arts Fest Chalk Challenge. In what would have been the 59th year, the Festival in Place will also be a reflection on festivals past and a look forward to the 2021 event. Through the website and social media channels, the festival will additionally showcase the process of producing the event from the perspective of festival staff, committee chairs, volunteers and community members.
Visual Art
Visit columbusartsfestivalinplace.org for the new 2020 Arts Festival in Place website, with an online gallery allowing guests to shop for work from the websites of juried exhibiting artists and of CoverMyMeds Big Local Arts Village artists.
Music
To make up for the dozens of scheduled concerts, the festival will promote online viewing of previously recorded performances from headlining acts such as jazz pianist Aaron Diehl, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (recorded with WOSU and presented in partnership with The Ohio State University), and We Were Promised JetPacks (supported by Worthington Industries and CoverMyMeds). In addition, in partnership with WOSU the festival will present new interviews with Columbus-based musicians and bands that have been featured on WOSU’s Broad & High.
The new festival site will also link to local performers’ previously recorded content, and will feature Spotify playlists of past performers and performers planned for 2020. In addition, festival organizers are collaborating with radio partners CD102.5, Sunny95 and WCBE to showcase the local exhibiting artists and music on air and online.
Chalk Art Challenge
The festival will also launch a community-wide hands-on activity, supported by Battelle: a Chalk Art Challenge where people can create anything they want on their sidewalk, driveway or parking lot, then share photos with the hashtag #CAFChalkChallenge and their neighborhood (ex: #OldeTowneEast, #UpperArlington, etc). Challenge entries will be judged by a jury of local artists, business owners and Arts Council board members, and prizes will be awarded from local businesses and partners such as Homage, Hotel LeVeque, Bath & Body Works, Rhinegeist, The Kitchen, Middle West Spirits and more.
Festival Memories
On the new site and social media, the festival will also feature volunteer memories, sponsored by Bank of America, and encourage guests to share their favorite memories or artwork purchased at the festival in years past.
In addition to the new website (columbusartsfestivalinplace.org), guests are invited to follow along through the festival’s social media channels:
- Facebook: @columbusartsfestival
- Twitter: @cbusartsfest
- Instagram: @columbusartsfest
For more information on the Columbus Arts Festival, call (614) 221-8625 or visit columbusartsfestival.org.
For a selection of high-res images, please contact Jami Goldstein at jgoldstein@gcac.org.
The Columbus Arts Festival is produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council.
The 2020 Columbus Arts Festival is presented by the American Electric Power Foundation. Additional sponsors and partners include Bank of America, Battelle, Cardinal Health, CoverMyMeds, G&J Pepsi Cola, Grange, Holiday Inn, Hotel LeVeque, IGS Energy, The Ohio State University, OSA Technology Partners, PNC, Rhinegeist, Smart Columbus, Superior Beverage, Vintage Wine Distributors, White Castle, The Westin Great Southern and Worthington Industries. Media sponsors include ABC6/Fox28, CD102.5, Dispatch Media Group, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Ohio Magazine, Orange Barrel Media, RBX, Sunny95, WCBE 90.5 and WOSU Public Media. Community partners include Columbus Recreation and Parks, COSI, Gateway Film Center, Harmony Project, Homage, Oakland Nursery and Stauf’s. The Columbus Arts Festival in Place logo was adapted from work by Columbus College of Art & Design student Jahliya Willis.
The Greater Columbus Arts Council receives major financial support from the City of Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners and the Ohio Arts Council. None of these funds are used for the production of the Columbus Arts Festival.
Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To support and advance the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. www.gcac.org
For translations of this release and other pages, please see the dropdown menu at the top right corner of gcac.org.
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CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org
