Columbus Recreation and Parks displays youth work and training across city centers

Columbus Recreation and Parks Department opened a youth art exhibition Nov. 6 at the Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center, showcasing work from preschoolers through seniors and describing a two‑year effort to make arts training available across the department’s 29 community centers.

The exhibit features mixed media projects, recycled‑material works from the We Go Green program, fused glass trinket dishes made by preschoolers, cyanotype (sun‑exposed) prints and a large collaborative portrait created by participants in the Girls Empowerment program.

Tish Gautner, center manager at Tuttle Park Community Center and chair of the department art committee, said the committee re‑formed after the pandemic and set two main goals: “training other centers that might be, making sure that all the training is available to teach art to people of all ages in their community centers,” and “to showcase all the artwork that all the amazing people of all ages make in our community…