PICKAWAY – ArtsAround President Dale Herron reflects on a successful but trying 2020 year where the community group pushed into more public eye.
At the beginning of 2020 ArtAround was prepared to launch a trial run of a possible permanent downtown gallery located at 135 West Main Street in Circleville. Filled with hope and excitement from a successful Holiday Pop-up gallery only a month ago, agreements with the property owners and a unanimous vote had just set the galley in motion. ArtsaRound Gallery on the Original Circle was born with hopes to open in March.
Unless you were living under a rock you know what happened next, Covid and the pandemic hit, and Governor Dewine started stay-at-home orders and Pickaway county was put on pause. The gallery had to make adjustments to this new world, and in June according to Herron, “we felt comfortable enough to safely open the Gallery to the public.”
Even though the pandemic pushed the art gallery back four months ArtsaRound defines it as, “one of our more successful endeavors. When we opened, we had no choice but to cross our fingers and go for it, and fortunately, the public responded greatly. We were able to host several big-name exhibits in our inaugural year, including glass artist Jack Pine and muralist Eric Henn.”
 Gallery Manager JP Pennell, Muralist Eric Henn and President Dale Herron |
Other noted shows we hosted were the Bob Good/Tonya Bess retrospective on historical Circleville, and glass artist Matt Takas. Most recently, the show featuring the Images of Pickaway Calendar artists has had fantastic community response.
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| Photographer Tonya Bess and Author Bob Good |
“In October, we were able to fill a void left from the cancellation of the Pumpkin Show Art Show by hosting our own Year Without A Show Art Show. Many artists that would’ve been unable to have their work seen were able to get some great exposure and compete for ribbons.”
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| Best of Show – Jim Callihan; People’s Choice – Alivia Stump |
Herron says that the gallery has been a , “relative success,” he says theres things that they wish they had done but, “we definitely ended up exceeding our adjusted expectations. The public, local artists, and Downtown Circleville have been great supporters to this effort, and we look forward to being a cultural destination for years to come.”
What’s next for the group? A lot and they are settling in and working on putting together more art in Circleville Downtown. You can check out the local art display in the historical district below are the hours.
