Jurying for the 2025 Columbus Arts Festival took place January 18-19, with a five-person panel evaluating more than 1,000 applications for approximately 250 spots across 16 categories. The festival, produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council and presented by the American Electric Power Foundation, ran June 6-8.

Festival director Alexis Perrone said the 1,000-plus applicant pool was the largest since 2016. The panel also reviewed 79 applications for the Emerging Festival Artist program, the most in the program’s history. The 2025 jurors were Joni Boyd Acuff, professor and chair of the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy at The Ohio State University; Alexandra Fresch, assistant director at the Columbus Glass Art Center and former staff member at Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion; Rebecca Rea, a Columbus-based ceramic artist and owner of Spinfire Studios; Stephanie Rond, a painter and community arts leader who directs the Carnegie Gallery at Columbus Metropolitan Library; and Shelbi Toone, founding director of All People Arts and a designer focused on art-driven social change in central Ohio.

Source: https://www.columbusartsfestival.org/press-room/2025-columbus-arts-festival-jury-selects-participating-artists