Cultural Arts Center


The Cultural Arts Center is a combination gallery and teaching space, primarily for visual artists and crafters, in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It is a 38,500 square-foot space at 139 West Main Street, and is part of the city's Scioto Mile tourist district. Features of the space include a ceramics lab in the basement, with painting and weaving labs on upper floors. It offers community oriented arts classes at a variety of levels, and is also utilized as an events space.

History

The site of the center was originally a state penitentiary, in 1814. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1861 as it exists today by prisoner labor as the Ohio State Arsenal. This brick Italianate building housed weapons and horses during the Civil War. Historical artifacts on site include an eagle-and-shield from the battleship the USS Ohio, and a bell from the missile cruiser the USS Columbus. A proposed flag of Ohio briefly flew over the arsenal. The arsenal building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 18, 1974. The Cultural Arts Center is also featured on many of Columbus's historical tours.
Access to the building was acquired by the city from the state through a 99-year lease at a cost of $1/year. It was transformed into an arts center starting in 1976, with the help of a $1.4M grant from the US Department of Commerce, with the official opening on June 11, 1978.