Greater Columbus Arts Council Creates Free Passport to the Arts This Fall

For Immediate Release
Tuesday August 03, 2021

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Greater Columbus Arts Council has created an arts passport to encourage people to “tour” arts, cultural and entertainment events in Columbus this September and October.

The Columbus Makes Art Passport is a free booklet listing 60+ arts experiences (aka stops) where “tourists” can get a “stamp” on their passport in the form of artist-designed stickers. The program will run Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, 2021. Some stops can be visited at any time during those two months while others are one-time events. Many of the stops are free but there is no purchase needed to collect enough stamps to win prizes. More information can be found online at ColumbusMakesArt.com/passport.

Passport holders will be able to redeem their stickered passports online for prizes such as signed artist prints, tickets to events, restaurant gift cards, even a one-night stay at the LeVeque Hotel and a private screening of a movie at Gateway Film Center.

“It’s been hard financially and emotionally for arts organizations and the public during the past 18 months,” said Jami Goldstein, vice president of marketing, communications and events for the Greater Columbus Arts Council. “Knowing that the arts can heal both our souls and the community, we wanted to find a fun way to encourage people back into arts spaces and experiences.”

Passports will be distributed in mid-August and may be picked up from multiple locations across the city. Thirty-one unique stickers were designed by 23 Columbus-based artists. The Arts Council is paying for all costs associated with the program—from passport design, printing and marketing to paying artists for the right to use their artwork on stickers to use as passport “stamps.”

“We wanted to create a program that didn’t put a financial burden on arts organizations or the general public,” said Goldstein. “The passports are free. While not every arts experience is free, many organizations already offer free admission or have a free admission day, so people can tour many stops for free and redeem their stickered passports for prizes at no cost. Many participating organizations are also including a special offer to passport holders, and we have once again seen the enormous generosity of our community as organizations, businesses, restaurants and individuals donate prizes.”

Visit ColumbusMakesArt.com/passport to find passport distribution spots, a listing of sticker art and artists, passport-friendly events and additional discounts offered by businesses and restaurants, and starting in September, a list of prizes and information on how to submit online to claim prizes. Passport redemption will start Sept. 28 and “tourists” will have until Dec. 1 to submit images of their stickered passports for prizes.

The Columbus Makes Art campaign, a program of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, is a city-wide, collaborative marketing effort designed to highlight the incredible talent of central Ohio artists. Columbus Makes Art is supported by ENGIE, Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium, CD92.9, The Columbus Dispatch and WSNY. columbusmakesart.com

Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To support and advance the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. www.gcac.org

The Greater Columbus Arts Council receives major financial support from the City of Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners and the Ohio Arts Council.

For translations of this release and other pages, please see the dropdown menu at the top right corner of gcac.org.

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