Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, vendors and organizers will have to adjust to whatever form the Arts in the Alley festival takes this year.
As of August, decisions have not been announced for Grove City’s largest annual event, but there’s no question the event will be different following its 40th anniversary last year.
“It’s definitely not business as usual,” says Shawn Conrad, executive director of the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce, which has organized the event during most of the event’s history. “Safely say, nothing is off the table.”
GARY CHISOLM
Pandemic restrictions are, unfortunately, expected to affect attendance for one of central Ohio’s longest running music and arts festivals. The event typically attracts about 30,000 people each year and “sometimes seems like a million,” Conrad says.
“It’s going to be likely we won’t have a crowd like that,” she says.
From its beginnings as an art show in an alley, the event has grown to feature more than 100 vendors on Broadway and Park Street. Arts in the Alley has never been canceled in its 40 years.
“It would be a tragedy if they do (cancel it),” says Robbie Hay, who helped start the event and has participated ever since. “There are a lot of artists that are depending on it.”
Face painting by Robbie Hay
Hay, who studied painting, drawing and printmaking at The Ohio State University, remembered when the event started with 20 vendors.
Hay brings her expertise in body art and face painting to the festival each year. It’s hard not to reflect upon so many years of participation.
“Makes me feel really old,” she says.
The event, however, serves as a homecoming for Grove City area artists and friends from all over the country, Hay adds. “I’m very proud of Arts in the Alley these days,” she says.
“The chamber has done a marvelous job keeping up with it.” Artist Leslie Morris says the event is well organized, as vendors have no hassle with setup, are provided with refreshments in the morning and festival staff are there to assist with any questions.
“It’s really exhibitor-friendly,” she says.
Morris, who specializes in hand-thrown pottery, has participated in the festival for nearly 20 years, and has only missed a few years. She’s been making pottery for as long as the arts festival has run and got into the craft as a way to support another hobby, growing house plants.
Morris knows her audience well at the arts festival. She sells utility items such as oil lamps, candle holders and windchimes.
Due to medical concerns and the uncertainty surrounding the event, she’s held off on making new pieces for this year’s festival.
“I would not expect to be selling much if (the event) was virtual,” she says.
Whatever changes occur for the event, Morris says she would miss the personal interactions with customers and fellow vendors.
“It’s a nice atmosphere,” she says.
On the other hand, Morris expressed her concerns about how successfully she could sell her works at a virtual event.
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Leslie Morris’s booth at Arts in the Alley
“I’ve just had fun and successful years there,” she says.
Arts in the Alley is not one simple thing, Conrad says. The event is a gigantic art piece for the Grove City community that includes a three-decade-old parade, concessions and six competitive shows: craft, fine arts, youth art, quilting, photography and – added last year – singing. For the shows, artists compete for cash prizes and for people’s choice awards.
“We want to save and put on as much as we can, even if it’s in a different format,” says Marilyn Reiner, the chamber’s events manager.
Chamber officials have looked at how other arts festivals have adjusted to the pandemic. That includes the Columbus Arts Festival, which went virtual in June.
In addition, Arts in the Alley brings significant economic impact to the city as it brings visitors to the shops, restaurants and lodges.
From that perspective, “it’s definitely going to be heartbreaking,” Reiner says.
In the summer, the Grove City Farmers’ Market, also put on by the chamber, was adjusted a few times as state and local officials tightened and loosened pandemic restrictions.
“That’s the challenge: following orders of the day,” Conrad says. “When it’s all said and done and whatever normal looks like, I think we’re going to learn to be creative and do things differently than before and still be successful.”
At the time of publication, Arts in the Alley is scheduled for Sept. 19 and 20.
Brandon Klein is the editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
