Kids in Harmony Putting Artistic Spin on Vine Street Parking Garage

Columbus students will be putting their own stamp on the Vine Street Parking Garage as part of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority’s (FCCFA) major initiative to fill city convention venues with local art.

About 50 students from the Harmony Project’s Kids in Harmony, a children’s choir that also gives students a chance to give back to the community, recently spent three hours with professional artist, Amanda Cook, to design special tiles for installation in the garage later this year.

“This is a great opportunity for the kids,” Cook said. “It’s a rare chance for students to do something that they can show their grandchildren in another 50 years.”

Students in the fourth through seventh grades and professional artists are among the many who will create art for display at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the Goodale Street Parking Garage and the Vine Street Parking Garage as part of a major initiative to add local art to the FCCFA facilities. Cook, known for her realistic oil paintings depicting neon signs, asked each student to focus on a letter found on signs throughout Columbus.

Kids in Harmony Director Jen Robinson called the art project a perfect fit with the community service philosophy that marks each of the Harmony Project’s affiliated programs.

“To sing we have to serve,” she explained. “We talk a lot about leaving things better than you found them and leaving your mark on the community. The art program will allow students to literally leave their mark on the community, and it’s great to have something tangible that the kids can see.”

The Vine Street Parking Garage will include 28 different installation locations, said James M. Reese of Reese Brothers Productions, the firm managing the art acquisitions for the FCCFA.