This weekend is the 50th Columbus Arts Festival. The Festival is being held in the Discovery District neighborhood of downtown Columbus, adjacent to the Columbus College of Art & Design, the Columbus Museum of Art, and Columbus State Community College. The area is just a few blocks down Gay Street from my office. So, when I finished up with work a little after noon today, I walked down to have a look.
It was a brilliantly sunny day, and there was a large crowd. The Festival is set up in a rectangular pattern around a two-block area, providing good foot traffic flow and making it easy to see all of the artist tents as well as the music and poetry stages, the food and drink areas, and the “hands on” activities that are being offered. There was a wide variety of art on display and for sale — ranging from different styles of paintings, to some very interesting sculptures, to jewelry, to some distinctive kinds of folk art — and visitors were interested and, in some cases, buying.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time. The only unpleasantness came when an officious woman who was manning a tent that sold painted ceramics came out and objected to my taking a picture, saying it could impair the value of the artist’s intellectual property. (Sorry about that, lady! Next time post a “No Photos” sign, and I promise I’ll avoid your “intellectual property” like the plague!)
The Arts Festival runs until 10 p.m. tonight, and from 11:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. tomorrow. If you haven’t made a visit, it is well worth your time. Just be careful with those cameras!
Webner House 