Young Art Patrons is a growing, diverse group that’s making a big impact in Columbus

For nearly five years, the Columbus Museum has been home to the only arts organization in town that is entirely composed of young professionals.

The Young Art Patrons was created in 2015 as a new membership subset at the museum. The aim was to encourage young professionals to get involved in the museum’s activities and to increase their membership population. The result? An entirely new generation of movers and shakers in Columbus’ cultural environment.

Katie Bishop, a newly elected officer of the Young Art Patrons, has been encouraged by the organization’s growth over the past few years.

“We now have a little over 100 Columbus locals involved,” she said. “The Young Art Patrons range in age from 21 to 45 and older. Age is just a number to us though — all are welcome.”

Although the organization started out with less than 20 members, its’ growth has been substantial and quick. It’s good to know that although several local artists are members, most of the members are actually not artists at all.

“We have a wide variety of careers represented,” Bishop said. “We have artists, Aflac and TSYS professionals, marketing professionals and even stay-at-home parents.”

Bishop went on to add that the group is primarily comprised of women. “We are trying our best to get more men involved and passionate about art in the community,” she said.

The Young Art Patrons is an organization within the Columbus Museum, with the young professionals making a much larger impact in the community through the organization.

“The Young Art Patrons are helping to grow Columbus’ art community,” Bishop said. “We are doing this by being present and active in The Columbus Museum, and other art events happening through out the community.”

Many of the members of Young Art Patrons attended the recent opening of the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University. Cameron Bean, executive director of development for CSU and chairman of the Columbus Cultural Arts Alliance, was thrilled to see so many young professionals in attendance at the Bartlett opening.

“We are certainly celebrating the youth and diversity so present among the 500 attendees at the Bo Bartlett Center Grand Opening last week,” he said. “It was wonderful.”

Bean went on to discuss the continued trend of young professionals getting involved.

“We continue to see our younger friends embracing volunteerism, board leadership and executive leadership throughout our arts and culture institutions,” he said. “And that should give all of us great confidence in what the future holds for the arts in our community.”

Bishop noted the importance of young people showing up to support arts events, and why the Young Art Patrons consider it a part of their organization’s mission.

“We hope that as others see young people caring about art in the community, they will feel it is more approachable and attainable,” she said.

In addition to supporting other organizations’ events for the arts, the Young Art Patrons host numerous events around the city. “The YAP goal is to get people feeling inspired and interested in the arts. We do this by providing the community with culturally enriching events through out the year, a lot of which are hosted at The Columbus Museum,” Bishop said.

The Young Art Patrons work in tandem with the museum and professional artists to ensure that their programming content is accessible and enjoyable for their members.

“Our events range from panel discussions with nationally renowned artists, to concerts at Olmstead Garden at the Museum,” Bishop said. “Our hope is through providing these programs and exposure of the arts, our community’s art community will continue to grow.”

On Friday, the Young Art Patrons will host their 2018 Kickoff Event. The free event will feature seven different acts, live art, culinary demonstrations and an unveiling of the organization’s events for the coming year.

Bishop is looking forward to seeing how the Young Art Patrons continue to grow this year.

“Our theme for the year is ‘Art is’ and we decided on this theme because art is so many things for people. Art to one person may be a beautifully plated dish at a restaurant, and to others it may be a handcrafted antique chair,” Bishop explained.

According to Bishop, the Young Art Patrons’ success has shown that there is a growing and diverse population of young professionals looking for ways to support the arts in Columbus. And why is this?

“The point is, art is completely subjective,” she said. “Art interpretations are up to us. The one thing art is not is boring and pretentious. Art can open minds to places we never thought we could go. Art is cool, and the Young Art Patrons are spreading a love of art from year to year.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Young Art Patrons is a growing, diverse group that’s making a big impact in Columbus."