2024 Columbus Arts Festival Jury to Select Participating Artists
For immediate release
January 11, 2024Contact: Jami Goldstein
jgoldstein@gcac.org
(614) 221-8492
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jurying for the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival, presented by the American Electric Power Foundation, will take place Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 20-21.
Applications from visual artists seeking to participate in the 2024 Festival will be reviewed by a jury of arts professionals. Judging will take place at the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s (GCAC) offices at 182 E. Long St. downtown and is open to the public.
“Once again, we’re excited about the dynamic jury we’ve assembled for the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival,” said Alexis Perrone, Festival director. “They offer a wealth of experience as practicing artists, curators, educators and administrators. As usual, they’ll have their work cut out for them as they jury more than 800 applications to approximately 250 exhibiting artists across 16 different categories.”
“We also received a record number of 77 applications for our Emerging Festival Artist program,” Perrone added. “This nearly doubles the amount we received in 2023. Last year we featured 18 artists in this category, and our goal is to accept 25 emerging festival artists in 2024. We’re very proud of how this program highlights central Ohio artists who are new to the festival circuit.”
For their application, each artist submited four images of their work, one booth photo and an artist statement. The jury is conducted as a blind jury, with no identifying names or demographics provided for the artists being reviewed.
The 2024 Festival jurors are:
- Michael Bush (he/him) is a Columbus area artist who has served as a juror for regional and national exhibitions, most notably the Naples National Arts Fair. His work has been seen at Art Link Gallery’s Midwest Regional Exhibition, the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition and Capital University’s Schumacher Gallery. He has volunteered regularly with the Columbus Arts Festival’s Emerging Festival Artist Program, in addition to serving on the board of the Franklinton Arts District.
- Ketal Patel (she/her) is an assistant professor of teaching for the Arts Administration, Education and Policy department at The Ohio State University. She serves as the Director of Field Experiences and Licensure Program for the art education major, and has worked as an arts educator with schools and communities nationally and internationally.
- April Sunami (she/her) is an award-winning multi-media painter, installation artist, muralist and arts educator. Her work has been featured at the Columbus Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, and National African American Museum and Cultural Center, and her murals are on display throughout Columbus and Cincinnati.
- Jared Thorne (he/him) holds a BA in English literature from Dartmouth College and an MFA from Columbia University. He is an associate professor in The Ohio State University Department of Art and is the co-head of the Photography Area there.
- Zach Vincent (he/him) is the owner of Reelo Leather Co. He began his leather-working while with the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Cavalry Detachment in the U.S. Army. Vincent has appeared at the Columbus Arts Festival the past two years, taking home the awards for Best Emerging Artist (2022) and Best Presentation (2023).
The jury is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20 and Sunday, Jan. 21 (ending times each day may vary). The Columbus Arts Festival jury is a great opportunity for curators and collectors to see and discover a wide variety of artists. Space is very limited.
The Arts Festival received 855 applications, including 244 from Ohio. Applying artists represent 43 states and four countries in addition to the United States – Belgium, Canada, Cuba and The Philippines.
Festival Hours: Friday, June 7 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, June 8 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, June 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Please note: on Friday and Saturday artist booths close at 9 p.m.; artists have the option to stay open later.)
To volunteer at the Columbus Arts Festival, please go to columbusartsfestival.org/engage/volunteer.
For more information on the Columbus Arts Festival, call (614) 221-8531 or visit columbusartsfestival.org.
For a selection of high-res images, visit the Festival’s press media page.
The Columbus Arts Festival is produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council.
The 2024 Columbus Arts Festival is presented by the American Electric Power Foundation. Additional sponsors and partners include Bank of America, Bath and Body Works Foundation, Battelle, COSI, Downtown Columbus, Edwards Communities, Encova, G&J Pepsi, Go Brewing, Graeter’s, High Bank Distillery, Holiday Inn Downtown, Hotel LeVeque, Huntington, IGS Energy, The Junto, King Business Interiors, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University, OSA Technology Partners, Paul-Henri and Erika Bourguignon Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center, Rhinegeist, Sonesta Columbus Downtown, South Wind Motel, Visit Savannah, The Westin Great Southern Columbus, White Castle and Whole World Lemonade. Media sponsors include ABC6/FOX28, Columbus Radio Group, Dispatch Media Group, Lamar Outdoor, Ohio Magazine, Orange Barrel Media, WCBE, WOSU Public Media and WWCD Radio.
Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To support and advance the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. www.gcac.org
The Greater Columbus Arts Council receives major financial support from the City of Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners, Ohio Arts Council and The Ohio State University. None of these funds are used for the production of the Columbus Arts Festival.
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