Columbus Arts Festival returns after 2 years of COVID-19 cancellations – The Columbus Dispatch

Lisa and Bruce Curry were on the hunt for the "perfect piece." And in the decade or so they'vebeen coming to the Columbus Arts Festival, they've never found it.

But this year, they're hopeful.

"Every time we come, we're like, 'This is goingto be the day, we feel it,'" said Lisa Curry, 56, of Dublin.

She said they're hopeful because of the "huge variety" of artists they'd seen so far during their visit to the festival Saturday morning.

That's because after two years of canceling the arts festival due to COVID-19, vendors from around Ohio and across the country swarmed the Scioto Mile this weekend, showcasing their ceramics, paintings and other kinds of visual arts.

The arts festival saw artists from numerous states, from Texas and Alabama, to California and Arizona.

Chris Goodenbury came to Columbus from Rochester, New York, and set up a booth selling and showcasing his wide-angle photos of abandoned buildings, mostly churches.

Goodenbury, a first-timer at the arts festival, said he heard about it through a friend who was previously a vendor. He applied and got waitlistedbut ended up getting a spot.

"(My friend) says it's one of the best shows in the country to do, so I thought why not give it a shot?" Goodenbury said.

During the pandemic, Goodenbury said he had to go onto unemployment due to art shows and festivals being shut down. However with some around the country coming back last year and now the Columbus festival this year, he's enjoyed seeing everyone again.

"Last year, when shows started coming back, people were just out in droves," he said. "It seemed like everyone was psyched to be back out."

Chris Charles, Goodenbury's friend from Rochester, New York, who had her own booth for prints, said it was her fourth time coming to the Columbusfestival. She first came in 2016 her first major art festival as a full-time artistand then came back in 2018 and 2019. And now, after two years of COVID, she returned to Columbus.

"I'm excited to be back;not just selling and having my business up and running but (also) getting to interact with people is huge," Charles said. "It's so nice to get immediate reactions to my work and just see old customers."

But while many artists came to Columbus from around the country, others only had to drive down the street to the arts festival.

One such artistwas Elijah Kleman, who set up his drawings and paintings as a part of the festival's Emerging Artists program. It is for artists who have little to no art festival experience andalso offers training for selling art and a lower booth fee.

Kleman, 32, of Columbus, had been coming to the arts festival for about a decade since he arrived at Ohio State University for collegebut only as a visitor.

"It's pretty surreal to be here as an actual artist," Kleman said.

After over two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, having the arts festival back feltlike a "return to normalcy," he said.

"I think it's really important to the artist community and in general; you see people from all different backgrounds here," Kleman said. "So I think it's important to the city itself, not just the artists."

Emily Cline, who set up her ceramics tent, Daphnia Ceramics, was in a similar boat.

Cline, who makes her pottery in North Linden, had been coming to the arts festival a few times over the years as an Ohio resident. But now vending there has been a dream come true, especially since opportunities to showcase art have been scarce during the pandemic.

"It's just great to see the vibrancy that we have here in Columbus with the arts community, coming back to life to what it normally is," Cline said.

But for Columbus residents like JoAnna Rogers, 60, the arts festival had a fresh feeling this year, even though she'd been going since the early '90s.

"Seeing people out walking and moving, walking with friends, staying together, getting separated and coming back together, all the experience has been good," Rogers said.

However, at the end of the day, the arts festival being back just means finding "that" piece of art again whether it's Rogers, who hoped to find a nice piece of jewelryor the Currys, looking for a statement piece to hang up on their wall or put in their garden.

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mylee@dispatch.com

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Columbus Arts Festival returns after 2 years of COVID-19 cancellations - The Columbus Dispatch