POWELL, Ohio — The owner of Powell Fitness on Presidential Pwky, is trying to not only help her business through the pandemic but local artists as well.
Through an announcement made on social media, Kim Davis is inviting artists to hang up their work on her gym’s walls.
So far, she is getting a lot of calls and artists eager to get back to sharing their work and then selling some of it.
The first artist to hang up his artwork on one of the walls was Michael Eugene.
He’s from Columbus and said his grandma was a painter, so art has always been a passion of his.
However, he’s only been painting for about six months himself and the last several months haven’t been easy for anyone in the arts industry.
“Of course, with the pandemic, there’s a lot of art shows that have been canceled so it’s hard to get your name out there,” Eugene said.
He thinks Davis’ idea is a great opportunity for artists to branch out and show off their hard work.
Powell Fitness has been open for 18 years and when Davis first open, the bare walls were what she noticed right away.
A client of hers, helped her come up with the idea of hosting a feature artist party twice a year. They would have a different artist come in with artwork and that artist could invite their friends and family.
Davis is still holding off on that for a while because of the pandemic.
She’s hoping this remodeled idea of hanging the artwork on the walls gives them a little hope to continue doing what they love to do.
"I didn’t really think of it as a big give back, but it’s turning into a big give back feel good for everybody,” Davis said.
She’s not only hoping it helps them, but also encourages new faces to visit her gym.
“With COVID, I mean of course we’ve been hit gyms have also been hit as well as artists, so for us, it’d be nice to have some extra foot traffic,” Davis said.
They are a personal training facility and they do follow all COVID-19 safety precautions for when visitors step inside.
As for Eugene, like many other artists, he’s excited to get his name out there by using his website, and Powell Fitness to do-so.