This article is included in our Fall 2021 newsletter. Click here to view the entire newsletter!

Artists are thriving with recent opportunities to showcase their work

From the Columbus Metropolitan Library to the Columbus Museum of Art to Wild Goose Creative, the artists we support at Open Door Art Studio & Gallery have had many recent opportunities to showcase their work in the community.

Exhibiting is important for all artists; it’s almost like the final puzzle piece to the act of creating. You pour your heart and soul into your work—essentially giving it all of yourself—and then you finally get to share it with the world. (And hope the world receives it well!)

The artists we support are no different than any working artist. They dedicate themselves to their creative process and want to share the result of that process with others. Community exhibitions give them the platform to do just that. They also help to broaden their audience base, connect them to the overarching arts community, and promote them as working artists. And there’s nothing more rewarding than making a sale!

Some of these opportunities come from personal connections that staff members have with local artists, organizations, and venues. Others have come from word of mouth or community experiences that we have structured for our artists.

Artists have a lot to gain from just being able to talk to other artists in the community and observe their work.

“Providing our artists with opportunities to connect the dots from creation to exhibition is priceless,” said Sean Moore, Program Director of Open Door Art Studio & Gallery. “The connections they’ve made while taking part in community experiences often lead to new opportunities for programming and exhibition. Our artists have so much passion for what they do, and that is infectious; people want to be a part of it!”

They ended up selecting two of his pieces to be featured, and Ron was able to attend opening reception for this exhibition. The following Monday when he came into the studio, he was so excited to talk about his experience! He continues to make amazing pieces and jumps at the chance to take part in every exhibition opportunity that comes his way! He’s one of our breakout stars, and we see big things on his artistic horizon!

Open Door Art Studio also hosts regular in-house exhibitions. Every October, we try to formulate some exhibition that has a costume or dress up element. This year, we thought the concept of ‘Decades’ would be a fun new twist that would also lend itself well to a costume-themed exhibition opening.

The goal was to have artists create works exemplifying their favorite decade and then attend the opening reception dressed in the era-defining fashion.

The artists chose a wide variety of decades to honor! Chris Padilla’s watercolor piece, “Open Your Mind,” is centered around the counterculture of the 1960s, while Brooklyn Gary’s “Sonny and Cher,” is the perfect example of 1970s popular culture. Brittlynn Burkett went all the way back to the 1920s with her acrylic portrait of a chic flapper.

All the pieces for this show are amazing and we were thrilled to see all the decade-themed costumes that made an appearance at our Decades opening reception on October 9th!

This exhibition will be on display through November 5th. All works from this exhibition are available for purchase at Open Door Art Studio & Gallery located at 1050 Goodale Blvd. in Columbus, and you can find more great works on our website at opendoorcolumbus.org/shop.