Artist tents lining the Rich Street Bridge at the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival. Credit: Courtesy of David Heasley
The Greater Columbus Arts Council is bringing some extra color to the Scioto Mile this weekend with the annual Columbus Arts Festival.
Over 250 visual and performing artists will show, sell and demonstrate their work Friday to Sunday along Columbus’s downtown riverfront, according to the festival’s website. The free event includes four stages of performances, family-friendly and hands-on activities, accessibility options and more than 40 food vendors.
“Columbus Arts Festival is the city’s ‘Welcome to summer’ event … we basically build a mini city within a city,” said Jami Goldstein, chief creative officer of the GCAC. “[W]e take up both sides of the river, between the Main Street and Rich Street bridges, and then over a little bit into Franklinton, so it’s hard to miss us.”
The Genoa Park Main Stage, Bicentennial Park Stage, Big Local Arts Stage and Word is Art & Acoustic Lounge provide entertainment with a variety of performing arts acts, according to the festival’s guidebook. Everything from fashion runway shows to spoken word poetry will take place throughout the weekend, ensuring live entertainment throughout the day.
Columbus-based musician DrippDaDon performs at the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival. Credit: Courtesy of Nicholas Dekker
The festival features established artists from across the country — Goldstein said there’s also an artist representing Ontario, Canada — as well as up-and-coming local artists through the Emerging Festival Artists program. This year, 19 artists were selected by a jury to present their work, according to the guidebook.
The Big Local Arts Village — which is located near the railroad trestle — is another place where Central Ohio artists will exhibit, Goldstein said.
“We wanted to respond to the community’s desire, and our artist community’s desire, for more space for them to show their art in a way that wasn’t quite so structured, and you know, the expense is much lower,” Goldstein said. “So, we established the Big Local Arts Village.”
The village is populated with local, independent artists showcasing and selling their art. The guidebook states the village will also have select artists demonstrating their crafts of varying mediums — such as Japanese calligraphy, leather crafting and blacksmithing — and an immersive lighting installation on Friday and Saturday night.
Liz Raymond, creator of Wildflower and Flora, is a returning artist this year to the Big Local Arts Village. She said she’s excited for the opportunity to connect with other artists and hear about their perspectives and creative inspirations.
“I hope that this year it’s another experience of just meeting new artists and getting to converse, spend time together, learn [about] each other and bounce off creativity,” Raymond said. “You can learn so much talking to other people who have a creative mind. It’s very interesting just to see their process, where they’re coming from and how they created their joy into what they’re making.”
Raymond said she creates non-toxic resin flower pressings in several forms — such as wall art, jewelry and bolo ties. Based out of Worthington, she said the flowers in her work are foraged in or are native to Ohio, allowing buyers to take a piece of the state home with them.
Liz Raymond, owner of Wildflower and Flora, standing at her booth in the Big Local Arts Village at the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival. Credit: Courtesy of Liz Raymond
Raymond said the festival gives local artists like her the opportunity to market their work to a larger-than-typical audience, with hundreds of thousands of people attending the festival annually.
“It’s an amazing experience, just [to] be with the crowd to get yourself out there, you know?” Raymond said. “I pick up followers, I sell a lot of art — last year, I did really well, so I’m really happy to be included again.”
New additions to this year’s festival include a partnership with Momentum Refresh, who provide adult changing stations and sensory locations. These services, Goldstein said, give people the chance to stay longer at the festival than they might have been able to previously.
Another thing Goldstein said they’re bringing back this year is a ballet performance.
“BalletMet is performing excerpts from Black Voices at the Bicentennial Park stage at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and that’s going to be really beautiful. That program is actually at the Davidson Theatre the weekend of the festival and the following weekend,” Goldstein said. “It’s all work by black choreographers … [we] try and work with one major Columbus arts organization each year, but it’s been a while since we’ve had the BalletMet at the festival, so we’re really excited to have them with us this year.”
Raymond said she hopes the festival helps younger artists find their place within the Columbus art community, as she did just a few years prior.
“I really hope that the art community that’s at college reaches out to the art community that’s in Columbus and sees what opportunities as a young artist you could have, that I didn’t know existed until I was in my 30s,” Raymond said. “There is opportunity, even if you feel like there is none. Just keep going, keep pushing, keep creating. I hope that someone catches you in the right place and can propel you into this beautiful art community that I’ve found.”
For more information on the festival, including performance schedules, food options and sensory maps, visit the festival’s website.
