By: Michelle Gibson

As a creative hub for Columbus, many artists, musicians and small businesses call the Short North Arts District home. Though the monthly Gallery Hop is favorite event of the city, a new buzz is in the air around Columbus’ creative community, thanks to a new opportunity for local ventures.

Housed in the old Wonder Bread factory in the Italian Village, “Wonderland” is a co-op project started by local arts and business leaders that they hope will act as a launch-pad for creative types.

“Our goal is to take the space we have and create a space for a lot of people,” says Adam Brouillette, local artist and art advocate. “The initial goal - to get people interested and make them feel like they’re participating in something - has been achieved. People feel activated.”

The spaces in Wonderland will have a wide range of uses. Artist work spaces and galleries, recording studios and performance venues, shared offices and workstations, and retail stores are among the plans.

“We’re working toward sustainability so that what’s created is actually making money and not just sustained by grants,” Brouillette says. “There will be a lot of shared workshops, and smaller entrepreneurial ventures will be encouraged. I think of it as an elevator; smaller groups come in and exist in the building for awhile until they grow to where the building is too small and can be a vehicle to moving to a bigger space.”

Joining Brouillette in facilitating these plans are Andrew Dodson, David Hunegaw, Kevin Lykens and Josh Quinn, each of whom will focus on his particular area of interest. Brouillette, president of the 10-person, art-advocacy group Couchfire Collective, will head up the art spaces; Dodson, president of Central City Recording, will cover music; Hunegnaw, creator of creative community "The Sandbox Columbus" will oversee office spaces; Lykens of Lykens Companies is handling the real estate; and Quinn, owner of the men’s and women’s boutique Tigertree, will take the retail spaces.

“The idea has been around for awhile,” Brouillette says. “The city needed an art space, and there were several different groups trying to do it. The factory idea came when Wonder Bread left and Mike Brown [Urban Ventures Coordinator for Mayor Coleman] suggested working together.”

Despite the uncertain economic climate, Brouillette believes the timing is right. He believes that this project would not have been possible just five years ago, saying Columbus has moved from having a vertical organization to a horizontal playing field.

“One of the benefits of the project is that it will be a bridge between the two extremes of the unemployed and the under-employed,” he says. “Wonderland can teach people that they can own and run their own business; we’ll have all the resources in one facility to make that happen.”

Brouillette also partially credits the ability to build social networks on the Internet, which he says makes it easier to make things happen because people are more connected, involved and invested.

“Already, there are over 4,000 people signed up to be (Wonderland's) Facebook friends. When you can say you have thousands of people who are interested, talking to the city about ordnances, loans and parking and zoning is pretty easy. There’s a lot of momentum. The interest of Columbus citizens has helped Wonderland immensely.”

For more information, visit www.wonderlandcolumbus.com.