Muralists, performing artists to canvass Gahanna's Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival
Musicians won’t be the only artists sharing their craft at this year's Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival.
New to the June 17-19 festival, to be held at 117 Mill St., will be an open-air arts studio, including a performing-arts stage where the Gahanna Area Arts Council will be host to more than 20 central Ohio mural artists, as well as aerialists, stilt walkers and other performers.
Each visual artist has been commissioned to paint a temporary mini mural live at the festival, according to Christian Peck, board president of the Gahanna Area Arts Council.
He said the artists would work on the murals next to the Rotary Stage behind Local Cantina, 101 Mill St.
At the conclusion of the festival, the mini murals will be taken to various Gahanna parks to be on display for the next year, he said.
"For years, Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival has featured the best musical talent in the Midwest and nation, and we're looking forward to expanding that to visual and performing arts,” said Lori Kappes, executive director of Visit Gahanna, the city's convention and visitors bureau. “Through this new partnership with the Gahanna (Area) Arts Council, we are thrilled to showcase all kinds of great local and regional artists. We can't wait to see the murals come to life and hear the crowd respond to the aerialists, stilt walkers and fire performers."
On June 17, the open-air studio will start out as a bunch of blank canvases, according to Rose Hawk, the arts council's lead organizer for the festival.
“But it will grow more and more vibrant as the festival goes on,” she said. “By Sunday, expect to see an explosion of color at Creekside.”
Hawk said the council has received a lot of interest from area artists.
“They’re excited for the opportunity to paint live in front of people,” she said. “I’m excited we got to say yes to so many of them.”
In addition to their incredible talent, Hawk said, the council selected the artists for their diversity.
“We’ve got people from many backgrounds, cultures and experience levels painting in many different styles,” she said. “But that’s the value in something like this. It really showcases the power of the arts when it comes to community building.”
Rebekah McBride-Smith, arts council board member, said it's a nice metaphor for the Gahanna community.
“At the Gahanna Area Arts Council, we believe public art like this serves to help us connect with our neighbors,” she said. “We can celebrate our differences and create something beautiful together.”
Peck said the Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival has been the most significant arts and culture event in Gahanna for more than 20 years.
“We’re honored to be working with Visit Gahanna and the city parks department to help bring a new experience to this year’s festival,” he said. “By re-creating a studio environment at such a large event, artists will reach many more people than they’d ever be able to host in their individual studios.”
In addition to the artists painting murals, the council will showcase some of Ohio's most talented nonmusical performance artists, such as aerialists, stilt walkers and fire performers, according to Peck.
The schedule includes aerial artists from Cleveland-based Sky Aerial Studios at 2:30 p.m. June 18 and 19, stilt walkers from the Amazing Giants at 5 p.m. June 18 and fire performers from the Amazing Giants at 8:30 p.m. June 17 and 18.
For more information about this year’s Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival, including band and ticket information, go to creeksidebluesandjazz.com.
mkuhlman@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekMarla
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Muralists, performers to canvass Gahanna's Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival
