The Downtown Digital Arts Festival kicked off yesterday at Columbus State Community College in downtown Columbus. Fusing various arts categories together, students will showcase their talents for three days.
The free festival, founded three years ago by Chairwoman Mary Vaughn of the college’s Integrated Media and Technology department, is a “celebration of excellence in digital art and design,” according to the festival website.
“The purpose of our festival is to bring together student-artists from Columbus State to both educate and inspire not just one another but the community as well,” said Gene Strickland, coordinator of the digital photography program at Columbus State. “It provides an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of our students.”
Promoting interest in the digital arts, both among current and future Columbus State students and as the larger central Ohio community, is a primary goal of the festival, according to the festival website.
Student art will be available for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Wednesday and the festival will conclude Thursday with an awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m at the Continuing Education Workforce building.
More than 1,000 entries have been received for this year’s festival, Strickland said.
The contest categories include digital design, digital photography, interactive media and video.
Although the festival is open to Columbus State students only, Strickland said the department has been pursuing discussion with Ohio State, Franklin University and the Columbus College of Art & Design in hopes of opening student involvement to those campuses, as well.
That part of the evolution process is not yet certain, but the festival continues to grow with each passing year, and a high turnout is expected this year, Strickland said.
Works were judged by a panel of professional artists, received recognition and are displayed at various venues throughout the Columbus State campus.
Students who received a certificate of merit had their works identified in the festival catalog, and winning works are displayed in venues such as the campus cafeteria, ERC TV studio, computer commons lobby and on interactive screens throughout campus, according to the festival website.
Six students selected for honorable mention in each of the categories were rewarded with opportunities to show off their work in exhibit settings and engage in discussions with audiences. The best artists from each category will receive formal recognition at Thursday’s ceremony.
“The student talent is just phenomenal,” Strickland said. “The best part of it all is getting to see the student work and achievement that is displayed each year. It is truly awesome.”
Sponsors of the festival include Canon, Midwest Photo Exchange, Wacom, The Pope Family Foundation, Columbus State Development Foundation and the Ohio Department of Education.
