Upper Arlington arts manager reviews 2025 season, temporary installation moved after vandalism

Jody Hartfield, Upper Arlington’s arts manager, presented the city’s 2025 cultural-arts update, reviewing this year’s performance series, gallery shows, and public‑art work and outlining next steps for temporarily and permanently sited pieces.

Hartfield said the UA performance series marked its fourth year and that the Labor Day Arts Festival drew high attendance (estimated around 9,000). She said Arts on Arlington saw about 1,200 attendees this year, compared with a larger turnout in a prior year when a bigger act drew roughly 2,000. Hartfield emphasized metrics beyond raw attendance — including support for artists, volunteer engagement and youth participation — as measures of success.

On public art, Hartfield described three donated works from Pizzuti Solutions in partnership with Haystack that are being acquitted for the new Bob Crane Community Center and noted interior and community-gallery rotations. She identified local artists in current and upcoming exhibits and said an emerging-artist program helped five artists show work for the first time at a festival.

Hartfield reported that a temporary installation by artist Marsha Armstrong was installed at Northwest Kiwanis Park but that pieces were tampered with shortly after installation. "Unfortunately, it only lasted about a week there... some of the pieces were tampered with," she said, and staff, working with the artist, removed the work to preserve it. The installation will be relocated to the Bob Crane Community Center Level 2 deck with an installation date targeted for Oct. 12 and a reception scheduled. Hartfield said staff will display photos documenting the original installation in the community center hallway.

Council and commissioners discussed whether improved signage, earlier public education about temporary art, or additional advance outreach would reduce tampering and help the community respect installations that blend with natural settings. Staff said signage had been posted and that they would consider more advance awareness efforts for future outdoor installations.

Hartfield also described policy changes: a formal public-art acquisition process, maintenance policy and collection management plan with lifespan assignments for pieces (for example, some outdoor work is intentionally temporary). The commission and staff said they will continue integrating art into capital projects and exploring how to site work in future parks plans.