GCAC leader dedicated to helping Columbus arts grow

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The Man

What do The Ohio State University, the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, the YMCA of Central Ohio, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Columbus Clippers, Leadership Columbus, L Brands and, most recently, the Greater Columbus Arts Council all have in common?

The answer: Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of GCAC.

Katzenmeyer, a native of Youngstown, ended up at the University of Georgia for his undergraduate career, but couldn’t stay away from Ohio for too long. He came back to receive his master’s degree in journalism from OSU, and has now been in Columbus for 40 years.

Katzenmeyer lives in downtown Columbus with his wife, Mary. The pair have two children; Anne lives in Atlanta with her husband, and Patrick and his wife, Columbus City Council member Liz Brown, live in Victorian Village with their daughter, Caroline.

Four years ago, Katzenmeyer left his post as senior vice president for OSU’s University Communications and took the helm at GCAC, where he has dedicated himself to helping the relationships among Columbus organizations grow.

“I have had the good fortune to work … over the last 35 years with some very progressive leaders in Columbus who have always encouraged participation in nonprofit activities,” Katzenmeyer says. “We have a lot to give. It helps the agencies and entities that I’ve worked for over time, and I find it very personally fulfilling.”

Columbus has seen some major changes in the last few years, and Katzenmeyer has been with the city for it all. The changes, Katzenmeyer says, are good ones. With the plans to revitalize the Scioto Mile, Columbus is continuing to prove its worth.

“I’ve been able to grow with the city. I take on more and more activities, stay involved in politics and nonprofits,” he says. “It’s such an incredibly desirable city – and easy, and smart, and open city – to live in, and now that I’m working with artists, I can see how they thrive in this environment.”

The Festival

From June 9-11, during the 56th annual Columbus Arts Festival, Katzenmeyer hopes to showcase some of the partnerships he has encouraged. For the first time ever, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rossen Milanov, will perform at the festival.

Katzenmeyer also credits GCAC’s relationship with Experience Columbus for much of its success.

“We’re inextricably linked, and we enjoy a very strong relationship with Experience Columbus,” he says. “It’s the Columbus way.”

The festival is teaming up with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission to create River Fest, offering festival attendees free kayaks and canoes to enjoy the river from a new perspective. A partnership with Pelotonia allows attendees to park their bicycles at a corral, and a student agency at the Columbus College of Art and Design is creating festival T-shirts.

“It’s a great family-oriented event,” says Katzenmeyer.

Also new this year is a light-based art installation by artists Christabel and Samuel Wagner. The huge, 24-by-8-foot mobile home replica, titled Structural Circumstances E.G. 2, will be on view on the east side of Bicentennial Park. The colorful acrylic glass installation will light up the arts festival.

“It’s quite stunning,” Katzenmeyer says. “I think people are going to be drawn to that. It’s so different and unusual.”

With new changes coming to the Scioto Mile, the festival will feel fresh not just because of the plethora of new offerings, but also because of the changing landscape. Having lived in Columbus for the last 40 years, Katzenmeyer has seen the aesthetics of the city evolve in drastic and positive ways.

“The downtown is undergoing incredible, dynamic change. The city has really grown up, and is more sophisticated in terms of the arts offerings, the food offerings,” he says. “I could go on and on about it, really. There’s just so much to do.”

In terms of his work with GCAC, Katzenmeyer hopes to continue helping Columbus artists grow. Columbus, he says, is a city in which artists are thriving, and where the arts culture is strong.

“Columbus Children’s Theatre has had 60 sellout shows in a row, COSI just had their gala and there were 750 people at that event. Plays, shows, concerts, art openings, gallery openings; things are packed,” he says. “There’s an air of electricity about it, which is really cool.”

In addition to his dedication to promoting the arts culture of Columbus, Katzenmeyer has been a major spokesperson for Columbus in both his professional and personal life. He says he hopes to inspire others to stay in Columbus, like he and his wife have.

“A lot of people are staying, a lot of people are coming back,” he says. “I consider that my personal job: to make you want to stay.”

Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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