The Columbus Arts Festival is back in 2023. This year’s festival, presented by the American Electric Power Foundation and produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, is Friday, June 9–Sunday, June 11, on Columbus’ downtown riverfront. Look for a CCAD booth at this year’s festival, and keep an eye out for our alumni at solo booths and as part of Big Local Arts Village.
CCAD faculty & grads celebrate Fashion as Art
Fashion Design Adjunct Faculty Celeste Malvar-Stewart, a Columbus designer, fiber artist, and GCAC board member, has organized a fashion show at the festival’s Genoa Park Main Stage at 8 p.m. Friday, June 9. The Fashion as Art runway show features four local designers—Malvar-Stewart and three CCAD graduates—whose fashion intersects with art in meaningful ways. Each of the designers will showcase eight looks on the runway and one on a mannequin at the Arts Fest’s Friday night Patron Party. “In exploring fashion as art, the designers will be showcasing unique and avant-garde pieces that demonstrate high-end fashion and couture that expresses artistry in fashion,” says the GCAC news release.
In addition to Malvar-Stewart, who will showcase pieces from her MALVAR = STEWART fashion line, the participating designers are:
- Casey Immel-Brown (Fashion Design, 2023), Class of 2023 Outstanding Senior for Fashion Design
- Tracy Powell (Fashion Design, 2020 ), with The House of IsA
- Yuqi “Crystal” Zhang (Fashion Design, 2019; Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts, 2022), with YǓNIVERSE
Alum’s High Bank Distillery at Columbus Arts Festival
CCAD’s impact on the Columbus Arts Festival will not only be seen—it’ll be tasted, too. High Bank Distillery, which was co-founded by alum Adam Hines (Advertising & Graphic Design, 2007), will be Columbus Arts Festival’s first-ever local spirits partner.
In a news release, Hines, who is master distiller for High Bank and also is principal of branding firm States of Design, said it’s a “special honor” to be the festival’s local spirits partner. “The Arts Festival showcases local artists and this aligns with what we are doing at High Bank—creating specific flavors in new batches is an artform within itself,” he continued.
“As an alumnus of Columbus College of Art & Design and a graphic designer of 15+ years, the arts community is fundamental to my journey,” added Hines in the release. “We are thrilled to be involved with the eclectic and unique community that is the Columbus Arts Festival and its patrons.”
