COLUMBUS, Ohio — One local nonprofit is making space for central Ohio artists to grow and develop.
"Central Ohio is filled with so many talented people and so many artists," said Krista Lively Stauffer, director of Boxland Media's educational academy.
Boxland Media is a 501 c3 nonprofit with a mission to support multimedia art and artists.
"There's a lot of underrepresented things that need to happen for artists and that's what we wanted to create here is a place for certain folks to get training or to try something new," Lively Stauffer said.
Ben Neidenthal, filmmaker and CEO of Boxland, pointed out that from CCAD to Ohio State and beyond, central Ohio is filled with exceptional training programs for artists of all disciplines.
Boxland's mission is to create a space for those artists to stay here and thrive.
Boxland has the following services available to the local arts community:
- A main room large enough to hold more than 50 spectators for theatrical presentations
- A podcast studio that turns out several professional podcasts each month
- The Academy that hosts one-on-one acting classes as well as classes including voiceover, theater camps for kids and a monthly improv class for adults
“We’ve had a lot of those folks who have been showing up to that saying how improv has helped them at work, how they just gain confident, better listening skills,” said Stauffer. “Again, it’s just providing a place and a space for these folks to get better at what they do, even if that translates into their job or into the real world activities that they do.”
One other feature that is a focus for the group is their emphasis put on local artists in their gallery space.
"We have a lot of wall space here at Boxland that we weren't using so we just decided [to] offer it up to local artists who need a place to display their artwork," explained Kristin Green, office administrator for Boxland as well as the gallery's coordinator. "We don't take any sort of commission; all the sales go directly to the artists. We just wanted to brighten the place up, make it look fun and lively, and also help out local artists, too."
One of the outreach events that Boxland puts on monthly is a free event called "Creative Happy Hour." Taking place the second Friday of every month, the event is designed to allow all artists to meet and mingle with each other and make connections that may help bring their projects to life.
"We really just want to get people in the doors and see what we can do for them," said Stauffer. "This community is just full of creatives, and we just want to provide a space where they can meet others just like themselves."
For more information on Boxland Media, visit: https://www.boxlandmedia.com/.