Love may not be the only thing in the air this February, but it is certainly central to the community’s love of art. With a drastic cut in funding to the arts over the last couple years, made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, jobs and the promotion of art have been lost in Ohio. According to a creative economy study by the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation in 2018, this generates $41 billion in economic activity as well as supporting nearly 300,000 jobs in the state. To celebrate the love of art and promote artists and their work during this time of struggle, Collide: Cuyahoga Falls has made a call to artists to submit their work to be featured on social media as part of “For the Love of Art.”
“Especially during the pandemic, it is challenging for artists to show/display their work,” explained Collide: Cuyahoga Falls co-founder Matt Weiss. “One of our main goals as an organization is to help artists be seen. Unfortunately, so much of the funding for the arts has been cut, and this is one way we can try and help promote.”
Drawing on the Valentine’s Day theme (but only limited thematically by imagination), artists can submit their own visual or performance art, including but not limited to, images of your work or audio or video of a poem, song, dance, or theater performance, by emailing collidecf@gmail.com. Upon receiving submissions, the organization will highlight submissions via their social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Collide: Cuyahoga Falls asks that artists include their name and contact information, any links to an online portfolio, and a sale price if it applies.
“We hope the community considers purchasing/supporting work from local artists. Often, their neighbors have no idea how much talent we have here in our community, so this is an easy way to be able to see.”
For more information about Collide: Cuyahoga Falls and how to submit your artwork, visit: https://www.facebook.com/CollideCF/
