Columbus Monthly / May 2011 / The Arts

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The Arts

Talented performing and visual artists ensure Columbus enjoys a strong arts scene. Here's a look at the city'€™s most prominent arts organizations.

Music

Since 1952, the Columbus Symphony has been making beautiful music. Talented guest artists join the orchestra, led by music director Jean-Marie Zeitouni, for classical performances, and the Pops Series features well-known, nonclassical guests. The orchestra also performs special concerts for children and families, as well as a popular summertime Picnic with the Pops series.

ProMusica Chamber Orchestra has been offering traditional chamber music and promoting an appreciation for contemporary American composers since 1979. It serves as the resident orchestra in the Southern Theatre and also performs at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington.

The Columbus Jazz Orchestra (under the umbrella of the Jazz Arts Group) is Columbus’s resident big band, led by artistic director/trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling and joined by noted guest artists at its Southern Theatre home. Also performing at the Southern—as well as at the Ohio Theatre—is Opera Columbus, Central Ohio’s professional opera company. Now in its 30th season, the group presents several full-scale productions each year.

National and international performers are brought to town by arts presenters such as CAPA, which owns the Ohio, Palace and Southern theaters, manages the Lincoln and Riffe Center theaters and books acts at other venues. The Wexner Center for the Arts leans toward the offbeat and avant-garde in performance events, while the King Arts Complex, a multicultural, multidisciplinary institution on the east side of downtown, presents musical events highlighting the African-American experience.

Theater

Columbus hosts theater performances by local troupes as well as touring shows direct from Broadway. CATCO is known for presentations of contemporary plays, usually in the three theaters of the Riffe Center. Actors’ Theatre presents plays—mostly Shakespearean productions—each summer to crowds who bring blankets and picnic dinners to the grassy amphitheater at Schiller Park in German Village. One-act plays, original comedy skits and live rock music are performed by Shadowbox Live. The zany troupe will move from its cabaret-style theater at Easton Town Center to expanded digs in the Brewery District in summer 2011.

Broadway Across America—Columbus brings touring companies to the Ohio and Palace theaters to perform hit musical productions and Tony Award-winning shows. The Wexner Center contributes to the local theater scene by importing shows a bit beyond the ordinary, and CAPA also presents the occasional theater performance.

Several organizations produce theater for and by children, including the Columbus Children’s Theatre, Phoenix Theatre for Children, the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department’s Davis Performing Arts Center and the King Arts Complex.

Dance

BalletMet, the city’s resident ballet company, is a first-rate troupe presenting both classical and contemporary works. The company enlivens the local dance card with wide-ranging performances at the Ohio Theatre and the Riffe Center’s Capitol Theatre.

The acclaimed OSU Department of Dance offers student performances that attract a sizable following, as does the Columbus Dance Theatre. And several arts presenters often have dance on their schedules, including CAPA and the King Arts Complex. At the Wexner Center, progressive dance lovers might see some of the dance world’s biggest stars.

Visual arts

In addition to major shows at the Columbus Museum of Art and the Wexner Center, regular presentations at the King Arts Complex and works in numerous commercial galleries in the Short North Arts District (see “Tourist Attractions”), the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery, on the ground floor of the Riffe Center downtown, regularly hosts exhibitions featuring the works of Ohio artists or works from Ohio galleries, as well as traveling exhibits.

The highly regarded Columbus College of Art & Design showcases the work of its faculty and students, as well as outside shows, at the Canzani Gallery. And Ohio Designer Craftsmen is a nonprofit guild of artisans with local display space and a gift shop at its offices on Fifth Avenue. It also organizes the annual Winterfair festival before Christmas, where more than 400 artisans sell their wares to large crowds at the Ohio Expo Center.