I believe that a person’s cashflow shouldn’t be a barrier to experiencing art. Having spent the majority of my life poor, I know what it’s like miss out and it thrills me when I search ColumbusMakesArt.com/events and see so many opportunities that are either free or budget friendly. So that is my focus for recommendations this week.

• A Tribe for Jazz welcomes bassist George Delancey for a free show in the Columbus Dance Theater, Thursday, April 18.
• The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio is offering pay-what-you-can for the first two (preview) shows (Thursday and Friday) of Ride the Cyclone, which opens in Studio One at the Riffe Center this weekend.
• Enjoy free jazz show at the Amelita Mirolo Barn in Upper Arlington on Thursday as they open their Jazz at the Barn series.
• The Columbus Symphony is offering another of their Coffee Dress Rehearsals for a concert of Tchaikovsky & Prokofiev led by their charismatic music director, Rossen Milanov, at the Ohio Theatre, Friday, April 19, 10 a.m. – noon. Tickets are $14 and include coffee and donuts.
• A free Franklinton Night Market kicks off this Friday and includes music, art and food. The event is organized by Wild Goose Creative, Columbus Young Professionals Club and Franklinton Board of Trade.
• Tickets are only $25 for ‘Night, Mother presented by eMBer Women’s Theatre at MadLab, which opens Friday.
• Book lovers rejoice! The 2024 Ohioana Book Festival is free. Happening at the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on Saturday, April 20, the festival has authors, illustrators, live podcast recordings, panel discussions and a book fair. If you go keep an eye out for D.M. Guay, the queen of comedy/horror with her hit series 24/7 Demon Mart.
• The Wexner Center for the Arts brings the annual Banff Centre Film Festival World Tour to Columbus. Tickets range depending on who you are and how many programs you want to see. The highest cost is $42 to see all three programs throughout the run of the three-day festival.

And, don’t forget admission to the Columbus Museum of Art is free on Sundays. Gallery admission to exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts is free. And, most other galleries and visual arts spaces are free to visit.

There is more to see at ColumbusMakesArt.com and you can filter to only see free events. I do want to make one more point: While I believe arts experiences should be accessible to all, I also believe that artists must be paid. Must. Be. Paid.

Image: from Jazz at the Barn.

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Symphony, Contemporary Theatre of Ohio and the Wexner Center for the Arts are funded in part by a Greater Columbus Arts Council Operating Support grant. Wild Goose Creative is funded in part by a GCAC General Support grant. EMBer Women’s Theatre, MadLab and Ohioana Library Association are funded in part by a Project Support grant and A Tribe for Jazz is a recipient of a Thrive Grant and Project Support.

Lacey Luce is a digital strategist for the Greater Columbus Arts Council who is grateful for every opportunity she has been given to experience arts events she could not normally afford.