A dozen students from different artistic backgrounds will collaborate on interdisciplinary projects, over the course of the academic year, to spark dialogue on the many dimensions of homelessness in Columbus and abroad.

Scott A. Jones, a professor and Associate Director of Bands in the School of Music, has served as director of the Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise for the past three years. Jones spearheaded the launch of the Creatives @ the Barnett program, which connects six pairs of students from different artistic backgrounds under the guidance of six mentors with similarly diverse artistic talents. By the end of the semester, each pair will create an artistic expression related to the social theme of homelessness. The program will conclude in April with an exhibition of their collaborative creations on campus. 

The focus of those projects is a social theme with broad impact. “That theme for us, this year, is homelessness, which is a broad, complex, multifaceted, multi-dimensional societal issue with which all communities in our country wrestle,” Jones said. “There are so many points at which two students in a creative endeavor can latch on or be inspired or go, ‘That's speaking to me, right now.’ There are so many opportunities to shine a light on the particular dimensions of homelessness.”

Created with the financial support of the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Charitable Foundation, the center was named after and endowed by two veterans of the performing arts industry. And even in its early days, Creatives @ the Barnett is honoring the principles upon which the Barnett Center was founded. Encouraging collaboration between artists of different disciplines - and reframing the lessons it can teach to budding artists - soon became a key component of the Creatives program. “We’re also reminding our students that the creation of a new and unique expression - because, for instance, a dancer and a creative writer have come together to create something that has never existed before - that is entrepreneurial.”

The program is expected to give each of the cohort members a heightened understanding of their individual walks as creatives, but there are other benefits to operating in a collaborative space with fellow artists and mentors. “Another outcome…is an understanding of the importance of risk and failure in the arts. Anyone who creates, putting yourself and your ideas out before others, risks those expressions and those ideas not being received in predictable ways. And into that space,” continued Jones, “enter the six faculty mentors, people who are already experienced interdisciplinary artists, to serve as a North Star for these creatives.”

While the curriculum of Creatives @ the Barnett is the result of a lot of thoughtful planning, the program itself is in its infancy. But the building blocks for success are already firmly in place, thanks to the mentors and mentees who have signed on for the inaugural year. “One of the most satisfying moments came from the first time all of these creatives – students and mentors – walked into this space,” Jones said, adding that the launch of the program is also an exercise in the power of creative collaboration. “For those who create, there’s this period of time where you’re dreaming and wondering what might be. But there is such a deep satisfaction to see that idea manifest.”

“For Larry and Isabel Barnett to provide resources that, well after their time on this earth has passed, are impacting the lives of our current students in countless ways - there’s such a profound beauty in that,” Jones said.