Greater Columbus Arts Council

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Tim Fulton  00:00

Music. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the confluence cast presented by Columbus underground. We are a weekly Columbus centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment and people of our city. I’m your host. Tim Fulton, this week, I spoke with Jamie Goldstein, the vice president of marketing, communications and events, at the Greater Columbus Arts Council. We discussed the organization and how it’s funded, the difference between being an art advocate and an artist advocate, their non competitive grants program, their new office and gallery space, how the arts community has the opportunity to engage and uplift marginalized communities and the importance of public Art. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at the confluence cast.com also the confluence cast is on Patreon. Find out how to support this podcast on our website, the confluence cast.com or at patreon.com/confluence. Funny enough, the confluence cast is sponsored this week by art makes Columbus. Columbus makes art featuring stories about our city’s incredible artists, stories full of inspiration, challenge, passion and success, for videos, articles, an up to the minute calendar of events and an artist directory. Visit Columbus makes art.com. The resource for all things arts and culture in the capital city. Enjoy the interview, sitting down here virtually with Jamie Goldstein, the Vice President of Marketing Communications and events for the greater Columbus Arts Council, better known as GCAC.

Jami Goldstein  02:03

Jamie, how are you? I’m Well, Tim, it’s nice to be here with you, virtually. Yeah,

Tim Fulton  02:07

absolutely. Thank you for taking the time. For those that are not super familiar, can you give sort of the elevator speech on what GCAC is and does? Absolutely,

Jami Goldstein  02:18

the greater Columbus Arts Council is your local arts council. There are local arts councils all over the country. They do varying things, and not all of them do what we do, but I think what we do is pretty special. Primarily, we’re a funder. We receive funding from the city of Columbus, Franklin County, and the City of Columbus is both the hotel, motel bed tax, which we share with which we share with experience Columbus and the convention center and Human Services, and then the 5% admissions fee that we got passed in late 2018 which really hasn’t been realized due to the pandemic, but is starting to come back, and really that’s That’s that’s going to be a game changer. That’s really what will allow us to take Columbus arts and the nonprofit creative sectors at the next level,

Tim Fulton  03:09

and just in the interest of, I don’t know if this is full disclosure, but how big of funding are we talking about that you guys manage.

Jami Goldstein  03:18

So the bed tax, I believe, comes in, you know, in 2019 which was, which was its top year, 7.2 million in 2019 from the bed tax, and then the admissions tax, which really didn’t get going, went into effect July of 2019 so we had a half a year of that, and that was about a million, okay, and then the county provides us funding each year, and the majority of those funds go back out into the community, to organizations, nonprofit organizations and projects and events and festivals, and then to individual artists as well. And in 2020 that part of that took the form of the emergency artists relief fund that we set up to help artists with basic needs at the height of the pandemic. So we don’t normally fund rent and food medical bills, but that those monies, which were mostly privately supported, were really essential to artists during, you know, when all the gigs were getting canceled, when all the Yeah, you know, and everybody was just like, what’s going to happen next? And reeling, we support about 90 organizations and projects each year, and part of that is operating support grants. So the large institutions you’re familiar with, like the Columbus Museum of Art and cosi and Franklin Park Conservatory, those folks get funding from us, and then everything from, you know, the smaller galleries like ROY G BIV and and festivals like Summer Jam, West and Southeast Asian theater festival, we really, you know, we, we try and provide the community with as much support as possible to to really. Engage the broadest possible audience,

Tim Fulton  05:02

yeah, and you guys are sort of at a high level. You’re a grant making organization. You run the Columbus arts festival. We do that. And then you sort of have, for for lack of a better term, lower tier, sort of initiatives and things that you do,

Jami Goldstein  05:19

yeah, I call them ancillary resources, I guess so, things like better way of putting it, things like the Columbus makes art campaign and the passport program we’re going to do this fall, which I know we’ll talk about in a minute, and things like the community and street performer database, which we do, matching funds with entities like Pearl Market in the airport and north market and pay buskers to perform in public and outdoor spaces. That’s a pretty unique program in the country, actually. Yeah. I

Tim Fulton  05:51

do want to highlight here that you guys, if you are going to fund or be involved in a program, you’re very explicit with the actual exhibiting institution or organization that’s putting out, putting it on you have to pay artists. Oh, absolutely can’t expect them to do this for free, or even say, well, they’re busking so they’ll be getting money from people on the street. You guys have sort of drawn a line in the sand and said, That’s not okay. You don’t get to sort of offer exposure for work

Jami Goldstein  06:26

you are you are absolutely correct there. In fact, I still get calls, usually at least one a week, from people who you know want us to help connect them with artists. And my first question is, what’s your budget? Oh, they’re gonna get great exposure, Don I’m sorry I can’t help you, because exposure does not put meals on the table or pay rent or any of those things that are you know it I like to say that we’re not just arts advocates at GCSE, we’re artist advocates. It’s about changing the mindset about the value of creative contributions to our community. And artists are essential to our to our vitality, to our well being, to our soul. I think this past year particularly has really brought that home for all of us. And when I talk to people about, you know, how much they missed live performance, how much they missed being able to walk into the museum, it really hits me that our work makes a difference, and that means the world to me. I’m getting all over clemmed When I think about it. So, yeah, it’s, it’s important, and we really want people to respect and understand that artists work their butts off. I mean, they were one of the hardest hit sectors in the in the pandemic, as hard as travel and leisure. And then you have to, and then you have to pile on the fact that many of them are, were, are hustling to have two and three jobs, and a lot of times that’s in the service industry in some kind, which also got slammed. And so, you know, we really want to be a support system for artists here in Columbus. And I regularly have artists say, you know, one of the reasons I stay in Columbus is because GCSE supports artists. We are only, you know, I think it might be around half of the local arts councils in the country support artists, but it only a portion of those do it the way that we do it, which is a non competitive grant. So when you we come into the sport professional artists program, you aren’t, you’re not submit. I mean, you’re submitting your bio, and you’re telling us what you want to use the money for, whether it’s to market yourself better for supplies, to enhance professional development, development, but you’re not competing against the other applicants. Basically, if you, if you complete the form and you meet the criteria, you’ll get money. And really, and I think that’s the, you know, that’s a that’s a really important service to provide to the creative community.

Tim Fulton  08:45

Yeah. And I think the other virtue of you guys, I think, is, I’ve been to your do you call them grant workshops? Yes, been to the workshops where you guys just walk people through, here’s how easy this is and yes, there are, sort of, there are hoops, but if you qualify, there’s no, there’s no point where anybody’s going to tell you no.

Jami Goldstein  09:09

For artists, that is correct. So the organizational applications are a little bit tougher, but we do workshops for all of our programs. And you know, thank God for YouTube and being able to make those available for everybody. But yeah, we really, we really try and try every entry point that we can, and that includes down to the physical space. So in the height of the pandemic in April of last year, we moved into a new office, which we have been searching for for many years. We are in a long term lease at 182 East Long Street, and it’s an historic building. It used to be the windmill for the formerly the windmill motor companies was like the only downtown auto dealership, and Brad de Hayes and connect Realty did a really nice job in basically gutting this place and and making it a space that’s not just for us. But a community space. So we have a gallery here that is focused on exhibitions by historically marginalized communities. It is called, it is called the LO Ann crane gallery at the Greater Columbus Arts Council. She, as you know, has been a very long time patron and supporter of the arts in Columbus. And we also have a space and a couple computers for artists to come in and use. So these are secure computers if they if they don’t have access to something, where that you know to apply for a grant. We have that space for them during the work day.

Tim Fulton  10:30

Gotcha and are you guys are open now and letting folks come in? Great. We

Jami Goldstein  10:36

are. We have gone back to requiring masks if you’re visiting. Okay? And the gallery hours are posted at GCAC gallery.org. We have a great exhibition up right now that was curated by Lynn Logan Grimes and the King Arts Complex called entangled threads. And it’s five, five fiber artists, and it’s really great.

Tim Fulton  10:55

Yeah, can you talk a little bit more? You talked about sort of the mission of the gallery and exhibiting folks who are from marginalized communities. Can you talk a little bit more about your additional D dei work?

Jami Goldstein  11:10

Absolutely, you know, I think we, as I say, you know, historically white, privileged institutions have have one had to accept and acknowledge that in the past year, and also then begin the work that needs to continue until it’s as normal as breathing or or the term is obsolete, right? And I hope to see it in my lifetime. But this is about ensuring that we’re providing opportunities for Black, Brown and indigenous peoples, that women and LGBTQ and trans communities have equal treatment and opportunities that all marginalized communities and individuals feel welcome, embraced, engaged by, by Columbus, by not just GCAC, but the arts community as a whole here and so, you know, our work on that is completely across the agency, whether It’s the festival or the arts campaign, we’re looking at making sure that the phases that we put out there and the work that we that we support, matches the demographic of our community as much as possible. And I think that’s that’s really important to let those folks know that they have a place here and that we and that we support them, and that applies to our organizations too, and supporting them in doing this work and making sure that there, they have programs and are thinking and implementing diversity, equity, inclusion work throughout their organization.

Tim Fulton  12:40

And you, I was actually going to follow up just a little bit. You guys have your diversity and inclusivity statements on your website, and they are very forward. They say, essentially what you just said, that we acknowledge that these institutions and art in general tends to come from a place of privilege, and especially the audiences and the folks that support it. I wonder if you hold while you are supporting organizations in following along with those ideals and those goals and those affirmations, do you feel like you have a responsibility to hold them to account as well? In order to do that,

Jami Goldstein  13:19

part of this work includes, you know, our applications from organizations at that they are that they have a place to tell us what what they’re working on, and so that we can track that progress. It is, it’s it’s going to remain one of our top priorities in making sure that not just we GCAC, but the the rest of the arts community that we fund moves forward and makes progress on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Tim Fulton  13:47

Absolutely, that’s great. Do you want to talk about art unites Columbus and deliver black dreams?

Jami Goldstein  13:54

Yeah, I think that that’s one aspect, very public aspect of the of this investment and this commitment, our unite sea bus was born out of the protests over the deaths of George Floyd and breonna Taylor and so many other black people at the hands of law enforcement last year and and you know when the boards went up throughout downtown Columbus in the short north and artists really just sort of, you know, we sponsored a program here at GCAC and at the Ohio theater, along with Kappa, where we paid artists. And then, you know, there was a lot Heinz Company at the Huntington center paid artists to come and paint. Lots of artists just went out to the streets and did it to really, to share messages in in this time of turmoil, to share messages of love and hope, and we together, we can get through this right and that it’s going to take all of us to make a difference here. Black folks have been fighting this alone way, way, way too long. So, you know. Know, as white allies, we have to do everything that we possibly can to not find us in to not find ourselves in the state like I look back at the, you know, the civil rights protests of 50 years ago and and I feel like we haven’t, we haven’t, barely moved the needle in many cases. I mean, you know, maybe the signs whites only have come down, but that is, that is not enough, right? That is, that is absolutely not enough. There are still, there’s still far too much to be done. Now, I personally believe in reparations. I understand that’s a really, really sticky thing to work out, but wow, we have so much work to do. We just gotta, we just gotta keep at it every day. And I think that when we in, those of us who are in the arts lane, can use things like the art unites sea bus boards and all the murals that were put up last summer, when the art unites sea bus boards started to come down last year, we felt we could play a role in preserving them for a period of time and documenting them, and then can we take these back out into the community and other places where they weren’t seen? Right? Okay? And so we did a series of exhibitions late last year and into this early this year, and they’re going back up in a few places, as we speak, that will then be up through November, mostly in sort of cube formations, okay. And there’s a couple outdoor spaces that are up right now, the plaza that’s just south east of the Wexner Center by Merton, okay. And the Columbus library is going to have some inside. There’s a couple other places, the Hale Cultural Center on OSU campus, Thompson library, Fort Hays will have some inside and outside this year. And then, did I say the library? So,

Tim Fulton  16:55

yeah, so we were naming all my old stomping

Jami Goldstein  16:59

grounds. CCD, I’m sorry, the Beeler gallery is going to be going to have a few of them inside too. And and the messages, they still they resonate. They will continue to resonate. I think, you know, for all of us, so great launching point discussion point. And you know, the deliver black dreams initiative, which was the brainchild of Marshall shorts and began sort of as a Get Out the Vote effort really resonated with Councilwoman jail a favor and with the mayor. City has invested in that. And, you know, sort of one point of intersection as a series of large scale murals throughout the community. We’ve just completed the second one of those. The first one was done on Fifth Avenue just west of Cleveland Avenue last, last November, and then the one on wilson road, just south of Fisher, went up this past weekend, and they’re both beautiful, and they’re they’re messages of you know, this is if Black Lives, if Black Lives Matter, then we must deliver black Dreams, right? This is the, this is the aspirational step of of of that idea and that, that movement, the Black Lives Matter, movement that we, we have to deliver black dreams. The murals have been done by Lisa mcclima, Marcus, William Billingsley, Shelby Harris so far. And then Marshall shorts is working on the next one, which is going to be on free bus just west of Elm Creek. That’s great, and that will be painted mid September so

Tim Fulton  18:29

and in addition to the the message and the purpose of it, we’re also creating more public art, which I think that you would absolutely agree is sorely needed it is in the community

Jami Goldstein  18:44

public you know, it’s funny. You know, we’re not a city that has major iconic pieces in lots of places like Chicago and New York, et cetera, but we do have some really great public art, and we have a lot more of it, I think, than people realized. In 2019 and late 2019 we launched the public art database as part of Columbus makes art.com and that actually is, is also a statewide database at Arts in ohio.com but Columbus, Columbus alone has more than 1200 pieces of public art. There are some indoor collections that are part of that, like the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the State House, but the vast majority in the convention center, the vast majority of them are outdoor pieces. We’re really growing quickly on the mural side, and we’ve got some good sculpture stuff underway. I believe there’s a there’s a project that gay and high that’s going to be going to get going pretty soon, they just dedicated the makers monument by Mark riegelman In the short north which is a major sculpture at high in Hubbard.

Tim Fulton  19:49

Picture of my daughter on it.

Jami Goldstein  19:52

It’s really cool. He did all of this, like all of this laser cutting and this gigantic piece of steel. That reminds me something. Out of like, I think, like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. That’s what the shape looks like. But all of the, all of the shapes that are cut into the sculpture are things that Columbus has made throughout its history. Oh, so you’ll see shoes in there and and buttons like, all the tiny little shapes that are that are laser cut out of that sculpture are things that have been made in Columbus at one point in our history I

Tim Fulton  20:22

had, I had no idea. That’s fantastic. Yeah, it’s

Jami Goldstein  20:26

pretty cool. So, you know, we, we, there’s two levels that that need to happen, right? You can, you we want to bring, we want to bring Columbus artists along in whatever way we can, in the skills and and the experience to make more public art, and not just make up public art here, but be able to make public art in other places. And when we and when there is a major piece of public art that is being done by an artist from someplace else, we’ve, you know, we’re doing really well, particularly the Short North did a great job of this with the journey. It’s on the side of the graduate Hotel, which is which is based on a Somali woman who lives here in Columbus, of providing training opportunities for Columbus based artists. When those international artists are here, I mean, those guys work on murals all over the world, and for folks like Hakeem call wood and 70 Ron and all artists that we know do really good work anyway, to have the opportunity to sort of get a get a peek at what it takes to do something of that magnitude is really important for their learning and their opportunities in the future.

Tim Fulton  21:35

Well, that’s, I mean, I think that’s great to make sure that, like, not only are you funding public art, but you’re, as you said, funding the artists as well, yeah, and making sure that those dollars are making a local impact beyond just this looks great, right? So we are funded full disclosure. And I think I probably said it in the intro, we are funded by the Columbus makes art campaign. Can you talk about sort of what that is? Also, I’m interested how that got started, sure. And then I know it’s extending into the passport project in the fall. Yeah.

Jami Goldstein  22:10

So one more thing about public art, though, before we move on, please. Which is, you know, it’s all, all of this is under Columbus makes art.com, which, which that, you know, the great thing about that program, which started in 2015 is any way that we can encourage engagement in the arts, it fits in this umbrella. Under this umbrella, right? Whether it’s learning more about artists, finding events to go to, finding public art, it all fits under that umbrella. So we the public art database, which we launched in 2019 we always had visioned. You know, it’s mobile, responsive, but it’s not an app. And apps are really useful. In some instances, when everything sort of went crazy last year, there was a great opportunity that was sort of brought to me by the can’t stop Columbus folks who did such amazing work in so many sectors, and they helped develop the first version of an app for the public art database and information. So that’s called art walks. And if you go to COVID makes art.com and click on public art, you can see the links to whether you’re on Apple or or google play store and download the app. And we’re getting ready to launch a next version in the fall, which will include art, points of architecture, user profiles. You can find and save your your own public art in the public art that you love, but in Columbus, share it on social, that kinds of things. So we’re working to make it more robust. But right now, it’s a great way to explore by neighborhood, you know, find out what’s around you. You know, you think I would, I would bet that there’s lots of people out there who are probably 100 feet or less from a piece of public art, and they don’t even know so find what’s in. Find within your hood,

Tim Fulton  23:51

absolutely so

Jami Goldstein  23:53

Columbus makes art.com. Is all of these things. It’s sort of your one stop shop to find arts events and public art and find and but it really began out of this desire for us to showcase the tremendous talent that’s here in Columbus in all disciplines and that and that, you know, that happens by telling the stories of artists and helping people understand where they get their passion, where they get their inspiration, how they do their work, what it means to be, you know, to be a performer at shadow box, and how hard you work, how hard you work your butt off, right? And so I couldn’t be more proud of the work and the I’ll use the word exposure, but they don’t have to pay for it. And the exposure that we’ve been able to provide to Columbus artists, and a number of them have said, this meant the world to me. I’ve gotten jobs from this. People are recognizing me on the street. And, you know, I think it took a few years, but the first time that someone who had no connection with the arts, and it was someone I was just meeting, and I introduced myself, and they said, Hey, are you with people with. The Columbus makes our campaign that’s so cool. And I was like, I love you. You validated my work. Yeah, when, when people start to see, well, we know in marketing repetition we were in that we’re in that campaign for the long haul, and we’re gonna stick with it coming out of the pandemic too, it may end up looking a little different. We want to start to get into, you know, what are the artists doing now? Try and find different ways to highlight their work and their continuing story, but we, but we stand behind the, you know, featuring these incredibly talented people, whether it’s in music or writing or dance or visual arts. I mean, we really, we take a look at the artists that we’re featuring, not just from the perspective of demographics, but also artistic disciplines and sub disciplines, and trying to make sure that we’re really showing the breadth and depth of the talent here in COVID

Tim Fulton  25:58

Absolutely. And I think that you can see it even from the the artists that you guys have recommended come on the confluence cast as well. Yeah,

Jami Goldstein  26:07

you do. Those have been some really great interviews. So

Tim Fulton  26:11

they all credit to them. So the Arts Festival has been on hold for two years, correct?

Jami Goldstein  26:22

We did a bit. We did a virtual version last year, right? But this year, you know, we we didn’t really feel many of the artists that we had juried into the 2020 show who we featured online, some of them aren’t making art anymore. You know, some of the pandemic had to go do other things, and so we really felt we needed to re jury, and, you know, and it’s just been such a year of unknowns. Yeah, we’re sort of heading back into another period of unknowns. The application opens for arts festival exhibiting artists in mid September, and closes in early December, and that’s 2022 it closes in early no this year for the 2022 festival, yes, yes. For the 2022 festival, we hold a jury in late January and and then, you know, we start, start placing artists this year, it’s we have a new challenge in front of us. Because of the construction in the on the Scioto Peninsula. We lost a good portion of the Arts Festival space. That’s the construction that’s west of cosi. So we’ve been working with NRI, and we are going to be in the arena district at least foreseeable future McPherson Park, and then long and spring streets in North Bank Park. If anybody remembers the jaws and ribs fast when it used to go along, it’ll be, it’ll be similar, similar to that, probably without as many ribs,

Tim Fulton  27:49

well, and we don’t see as many festivals in that area, but it certainly happened before.

Jami Goldstein  27:55

Yeah, and it’s really an interesting it’s, it’s such a drive by space. You know, we’ve been out and walked it a couple times. And when you walk it one it’s big. That median there between long and spring is bigger than you think it is. Yeah, just driving by, and it’s a really beautiful park. There’s historical markers and there’s, it’s just, it’s, I think it’s gonna be, you know, brand new experience for us and for the arts fest. You know, from the State House lawn to the riverfront to the Discovery District, back to the riverfront, to the arena district. It’s just the next iteration in our life, and we’re still, you know, I think it’s going to be a great new way and new neighborhood for people to come and explore when they come to the arts

Tim Fulton  28:35

festival, absolutely. And I do think that there have been a lot of conversations, at least, among people who don’t plan festivals or do anything, like, Hey, why? Why wasn’t there red, white, and, boom, why wasn’t there? Why didn’t com fest happen? Like, why didn’t that stuff happen? And the super easy answer is, nobody had any time to plan like you, this stuff doesn’t happen even in a month. It happens over the course of a year. And I think you saying, like, you know, we’re jurying artists starting next month for an event that’s happening next. It’s early June, right?

Jami Goldstein  29:12

The 10th, the 10th through the 12th in 2022,

Tim Fulton  29:14

yeah, that that you need that much. I mean, we

Jami Goldstein  29:18

essentially start planning the next year’s arts festival as this. I mean, we might take a few week breather there at the end of June each year, but, you know, it starts up again in July. This is a festival that brings close to 500,000 people downtown, and that’s the other reason we didn’t feel in good conscience. We could, we could do it. You know, we’re just not, we’re just not there yet in terms of vaccine percentages and and our first and foremost priority is the safety of our patrons and our artists. And so we we had to take that into into account.

Tim Fulton  29:53

Absolutely. I’m excited about this, because I get to ask artists a lot. But what is Columbus doing well? And what is Columbus doing not so well? And as you know, you’re not an elected official or anything, but you are funded by and a representative of a very public entity. And so I want to wrap up by saying, first of all, what do you believe Columbus is doing well? I think,

Jami Goldstein  30:20

I think we collaborate really well, you know, I think a great example of that is the passport program Columbus makes art passport, which you’ll be able to find on the Columbus makes art.com site, slash passport. And that is 65 plus organizations who in a, basically in a six week period of time, we’ve gotten all of these organizations to come together and say, yes, we’ll, we’ll do this thing where we have a free passport. It’s pre for organizations to participate. We engaged artists by getting them to design the stickers that provide the validation for visits, and then people donating prizes. And really this is like fun stuff you can win. You More stickers you collect over the course of September and October, the more, the more prizes you can win, and the better prizes. We’ve got, everything from assigned artist prints to a hotel night at the Leveque with drinks at the keep to a private screening at the Gateway Film Center for you and up to 20 of your friends, movie of your choice, spending, availability. So we have lots of really fun prizes. The stickers are amazing. We’re all having, like, a ridiculously weird childhood, childish reaction to and being excited about stickers, yeah, but we collaborate well in Columbus, and I think that being able to, you know, pull together something like that in such a short period of time, shows that the arts community enjoys working together, believes in these kinds of initiatives and and so we’re super excited to do this this fall. We’re a little bit building the plane as we’re flying it, but it’s been a lot of fun so far. I feel like that. I feel like that about a lot of things, right? You know, we do have a strategic plan, and we do move forward in a in a very like thoughtful and and dedicated way. But you know, we also are constantly looking for opportunities to to make our community better, stronger, more vital and vibrant, and support the creative sector. So, you know, in terms of being able to encourage people to get out, be tourists again, in our own community and explore and support our arts organizations that are so vital to our soul, you know, I think Columbus also does this well, and that people here really love the arts are and are engaged in the arts. So,

Tim Fulton  32:45

yeah, well, and I back to your you know, we are purposeful, but we also want to have these opportunities. I think that’s evident from things like how you pivoted in your grant funding and how the deliver black dreams project and the boards project, everybody kind of figured it out, you know, and you did what you had to do in order to remain not only a sustained organization, but one that was frankly relevant to what was happening. And if folks are interested, your all your annual reports are online. All your 990s are online, and you mentioned it, but your recently adopted strategic plan is also there as well. It is. So not only are you, you’re doing all this stuff, but you’re also very open about it.

Jami Goldstein  33:36

I mean, if you’re, if you’re going to be a public Stu, if you’re going to be a good steward of public money, which we strive to be you have to be transparent. You have to you have to be able to just lay it open for people so that they can see what you’re working on. The benefit of being a private nonprofit with a small staff is that we stay nimble. We work hard, which keeps the days moving fast, but we but we stay nimble, and we can, we can pivot, which was the word of 2020, pretty much, besides QR code, to, to, to, you know, really respond to the needs of the community and needs of our artists?

Tim Fulton  34:12

Yeah, the follow up to that is, what do you think Columbus is not doing so well? You

Jami Goldstein  34:18

know, I’d, I’d like to see us have a public art master plan for the city. We don’t. We are of the top 15 largest cities in the country. We’re the only one that does not. And I think that in order to really take our public art efforts to the next level, that’s that’s going to be something that has to happen so that we’re not looking at it by neighborhood by neighborhood, but there’s, there’s, you know, a thought for the overall community and how each neighborhood can benefit. But, you know, overlaying it with other, with other sectors like travel and tourism, you know, I mean, the Philadelphia mural arts program is such a boon to their tourism economy. But it’s also, it also provides opportunities for youth at risk. It also provides opportunities for our young college students. And it, you know, that’s the kind of thing that I’d love to see Columbus having, that, you know, really put, put us on the public art map as it were,

Tim Fulton  35:19

as it were, well, and I do like that. That recommendation is actionable, too. So Jamie, thank you so much for your time today, absolutely Thank

Jami Goldstein  35:28

you, Tim, it’s been fun.

Tim Fulton  35:40

Thank you for listening to the confluence cast presented by Columbus underground again. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at the confluence cast.com Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of The confluence cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite artist. If you’re interested in sponsoring the confluence cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info, at the confluence cast.com, our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Philip Cogley. I’m your host. Tim Fulton, Have a great week. You.