If someone offered you a year of free rent so you could pursue a dream, what could you do with that year?
That is the question Kaufman Development and its founder and CEO, Brett Kaufman, asked local artists when kicking off its artist residency program last year.
More than 45 people applied and four were chosen to live together at Gravity, free of charge, for the entirety of 2024. Those four artists are Ariel Peguero, Kerry Boganwright, Toése Brewer and Hyde Ebright.
With the rest of 2024 ahead of them, these artists are eager to get to work and see where this program can lead them, while making way for future artists to do the same.
Planting the seeds
The idea for the program came about at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and slowly developed until it came to fruition this past spring.
Mary Sundermeier, a brand ambassador and programming manager at Kaufman Development, got the idea off the ground. She has been the leading force since the program’s inception and says a big part of what brought it together was how much the Kaufman team wanted to help the local art scene.
“It’s going a step further and really trying to transform people and make a real impact in their lives. It’s not just about living, but being fully alive,” Sundermeier says. “One of our brand elements is creative expressions. So what an impact to be able to give artists free housing, especially in these times.”
The artists chosen not only had to show great promise and drive, , they had to have an open mind and love of collaboration.
Each artist must create some sort of public engagement piece at least once a month, which Sundermeier says may take the form of workshops, classes, talks or similar efforts. The goal is to help create a timeline and push the artists to hone their craft.
A mentor will be paired with each artist with the hope of helping them grow artistically, professionally and personally.
“I want the people that we choose to help (the artists) and be the right person to help open doors, because networking is everything when it comes to being an artist in Columbus,” Sundermeier says. “You really need to put yourself out there, and that’s what we’re trying to help facilitate.”
Excitement for the future
All four artists considered it an honor to be selected and are entering the program with open minds, looking forward to learning from one another.
“We’re going to be living with each other, so you’re going to be living with creative people that have different mediums (for) expressing their artistic minds,” says Brewer. “That’s the biggest thing for me: … ‘Wow, I should want to be in an environment where I can express myself and be around people that are doing the same thing that I’m doing.’”
Collaborative efforts have already started to take shape as the group finds its footing, in the artistic and business spheres.
Peguero, for example, is an associate for the grants and community engagement department at the Greater Columbus Arts Council and can share information about how and where to apply for assistance for larger projects. Boganwright has a lot of knowledge surrounding brand building, having worked with several companies in New York over the years to create events and campaigns.
“We all have experiences having to have gone through certain channels, so we can all leverage each other for those,” Boganwright says.
While all the artists are very excited to be a part of the program, they are also hopeful about the ways they can help create for future artists.
“We are going to be the first people experimenting with this thing in this newish part of town,” Peguero says. “We’re able to put down a footprint that I think is not going to come around again. We get to be the first ones to kick this thing off, and if we do it right, I feel like it’s going to set off a chain reaction.”
Meet the artists
Ariel Peguero
Courtesy of Ariel Peguero
Ariel Peguero
Multi-media painting (Aerosol, acrylics, digital, etc.)
Ariel Peguero spent several years of his childhood in the Boston area before he moved to Ohio with his four siblings and his mother in the early 2000s.
Peguero was always interested in art. His mother signed him up for drawing classes at a young age, which ultimately changed the direction of his life.
Near the end of high school, he wondered what he would do after graduation.
Courtesy of Ariel Peguero
Work by Ariel Peguero
With the help of his teachers, he put together a portfolio and felt encouraged to pursue an art career.
“It’s been kind of a mixture of moments,” Peguero says. “I can’t say that I always feel confident that what I’m doing is gonna work or it’s gonna be what I need to do my entire life, but it’s always felt like the right thing to do. So I think that’s kind of one of the things that keeps me going.”
Peguero is grateful to have been chosen for the Gravity artist residency as it came when he felt like he was at a crossroads in his career. With guidance from his mentor and the extra time and resources available to him, Peguero is excited about the opportunities ahead of him.
“A huge (weight) on my shoulders I feel like has been taken off, and I get to really create with a freer conscience,” Peguero says. “Now I know I have a lot of money for supplies and a lot of time to really focus on what my art means to me. … And it’s going to lead to a lot of other opportunities.”
Kerry Boganwright
Ceramics
Courtesy of Kerry Boganwright
Kerry Boganwright
Kerry Boganwright grew up in the Hilliard area and started getting into ceramics in high school when she would create pottery pieces during her lunch breaks.
After graduating from the Columbus College of Art & Design, Boganwright worked on advertising and creative strategy for several Fortune 500 companies in New York.
Working in a field where she planned a lot of events, she lost her job when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She decided to move back to Columbus to live with family and that is when she started creating with clay again and reignited her passion.
“I started working out of the bedroom of my mom’s house because
Courtesy of Kerry Boganwright
Work by Kerry Boganwright
I moved in with her because of the pandemic,” Boganwright says. “That was the way that I was able to kind of deal with just this massive amount of change and creative identity. That’s really how ceramics absolutely saved me and in that, I was able to foster a positive relationship with my creativity again.”
Although she has already been honing her craft in recent years, she is looking forward to expanding her skills through the Gravity program – including learning about metalworking at Idea Foundry to create supports for her ceramic pieces – and creating spaces for people to interact with her art.
“My work is beautiful, absolutely, but that interaction piece is really what I’m the most passionate about,” Boganwright says. “Just helping people understand themselves and orient themselves within their area.”
Toése Brewer
Music Production
Courtesy of Toése Brewer
Toése Brewer
With a mother who was the director of the youth choir, and a father who was the minister of music at their family’s church, Toése Brewer and his four siblings grew up with a love for music.
As he grew older, Brewer thought he wanted to pursue a career in coding and programming until he found a love for video game soundtracks and started to explore music production.
“There’s a music program demo that I downloaded and I was just messing around with it and I would just spend hours and hours and hours just making stuff,” Brewer says.
Courtesy of Toése Brewer
Toése Brewer working
Now, he loves using his art to bring people together and make memories over a shared experience.
Having heard good things about the Gravity from a friend, Brewer was thrilled when he was chosen to participate.
He hopes to connect with more people in his field, especially those in different genres, and step up as a community leader. He thinks it’s important to create spaces for people to learn from each other, get feedback and grow their craft.
“The information that was given to me wasn’t like, trade secrets and I think there’s room for everyone in any space,” Brewer says. “The way that I got into it may not be the same way that you get into it, and it may not be the same lane or the same vein, but I am here to help whoever asks.”
Hyde Ebright
Fashion design and textile art
Courtesy of Hyde Ebright
Hyde Ebright
Growing up on the south side of Columbus, Hyde Ebright was involved with all kinds of sports and art, enjoying everything from pottery to photography.
He decided to pursue that love of art at the Columbus College of Art & Design, where he learned more about fashion design and textile art. Ebright makes sustainable clothing with upcycled materials and natural dyes, crafting unique pieces that he hopes appeal to everyone.
“I love to make garments specific to people’s needs and really cater to them,” Ebright says. “Fashion is wearable art and it’s how we express ourselves and to be able to create that for someone in such an individual manner is something beautiful.”
Having just graduated in spring 2023, Ebright was trying to figure out where he’d go next with his career, so he was blown away by the opportunity the Gravity residency program offers.
While he hopes to grow his skills throughou
Courtesy of Hyde Ebright
Work by Hyde Ebright
t the next year and ultimately put on a show, Ebright also hopes to help his city by sharing what knowledge he knows.
“I want to be able to teach people like, ‘This is how you can sew’ or ‘This is how you can naturally dye,’” Ebright says. “All of these different processes that I know, I would love to teach someone else. There’s no reason to gatekeep any of the things I know. We should be able to better ourselves at the end of the day.”
Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.
