By Jennifer Sadler

All forms of art contribute to the uniqueness of a community. The arts transcend barriers of language, age, gender and cultural differences and bridge experiences across cultures. The arts accomplish the seemingly impossible task of revealing our differences across the globe while also managing to bring to light the threads that connect us—enriching our lives in ways nothing else can.

Many people say that travel broadens the mind. Spending time immersed in a different culture can certainly expand a person's horizons by revealing new customs, cuisine, a new language and the arts and history of the community.

Finding fresh inspiration, especially for artists, can be difficult in everyday life. Many artists seek out residencies in other cities and countries for this very reason—they want the opportunity afforded by travel and exchange of ideas between peers to enrich their creative development. Exploring a new environment and culture can encourage inspiration for an artist—and a residency allows the time necessary to focus and to bring life to that inspiration.

Columbus is a city committed to the promotion of multicultural arts dialogue by expanding our community’s access to the art of other cultures and enlarging the understanding of our own culture and that of the global community.

In order to build bridges with other countries, Columbus established its first sister city connection in the mid-1950s with Genoa, Italy, the common link being Christopher Columbus, the city’s namesake and Genoa’s most famous son. Since then, Columbus has established seven other sister cities with Ahmedabad, India; Dreden, Germany; Hefei, China; Herzliya, Israel; Odense, Denmark; Seville, Spain; and Tainan City, Taiwan. Sister Cities International is the national headquarters for sister city, county and state programs in the United States. In every region of the world, sister city partnerships play a significant role in supporting long-term community partnerships through reciprocal exchange programs. The Sister Cities International network represents more than 2,500 communities in 135 countries around the world.

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PROFILE:  Dr. Craig Woodson: Musician, Educator and Humanitarian

By Patricia Prater, GCAC Marketing Intern

Dr. Craig Woodson brings a wealth of knowledge about world music to his fun-filled performances in which he invites the audience to join in the process of discovery. He has presented assemblies, workshops and play-along concerts to more than 300,000 elementary and high school students over the past 30 years across the United States and in Europe.

Woodson is a longtime participant in GCAC’s Artist-In-School’s program which provides direct contact between children and professional artists by coordinating artist workshops in schools and other community locations. Artists-In-Schools, one of GCAC’s longest running programs, has served hundreds of thousands of people of all ages for the last 30 years.

GCAC recently interview Dr. Woodson to learn more about his career and to hear more about an exciting project he's currently working on with the world-renown Kronos Quartet.

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