Arts and Social Change at Fort Hayes

I used to be so jealous of the kids who went to Fort Hayes. Yes, I was very fortunate to attend the school that I did — but Fort Hayes bleeds magic. An alternative high school in the Columbus Public Schools system, admission is based on a lottery system. With a strong focus on visual art, music, and the performing arts, it has this thumping and saucy straight-out-of-Fame aura. I was honored to be asked to participate in a panel discussion there yesterday about arts and social change.

Led by Fort Hayes’ Technical Theatre Director Rodney Grist, the three-hour session took place at Shot Tower Gallery. It explored the ability and responsibility of Central Ohio arts organizations to impact social change, and the possible formation of a socially conscious nonprofit arts organization. The 11-person panel was a “change project” for Grist’s PhD study in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. In small groups and as a whole, we brainstormed how arts programs should tackle social injustice and oppression. We also dissected the needs of Columbus arts educators and studied our own individual roles as change fosterers.

Our music, visual arts, theater, film, and multimedia programs comprise a huge part of the Columbus soul. They’re engrained in our history and in our future. They inspire us to create and teach us to collaborate. They continue to make us unique. We owe it to everyone in our community, from young children to senior citizens, to be hyper-committed to this cause. Columbus Arts and Experience Columbus offer outstanding events calendars that are searchable by date, location, discipline, and price (including free). Now excuse me while I break out the glitter and legwarmers. I’m gonna live forever, I’m gonna learn how to fly.