Dublin Arts Council Mission Statement

Dublin Arts Council engages the community, cultivates creativity and fosters life-long learning through the arts.

Dublin Arts Council Vision Statement

A community of those who live, work, visit, play and learn in Dublin, in which the arts are embraced and nurtured; and through the arts, lives are enriched, diversity is celebrated and the economy is enhanced.

Dublin Arts Council Facts

FOUNDED
Dublin Arts Council (DAC) was founded in 1983 as an ad hoc committee to bring the Columbus Symphony Orchestra to the dedication of Dublin’s Scioto Park. The success of this activity encouraged the committee to form DAC, which was incorporated in 1984.

IMPACT
DAC improves lives through the convergence of creativity, curiosity and well-being. DAC provides lasting, meaningful, life-changing experiences for the community –  All those who live, work, visit, learn and play in Dublin.

FUNDING
DAC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, supported in part by the City of Dublin’s hotel/motel tax which was established to improve quality of life for residents, corporate citizens and visitors through community investment in projects and events that enhance visitor appeal, enrich the aesthetic of public property, provide cultural arts experiences, support business, attract positive local, regional and national attention, and encourage overnight stays in Dublin. DAC is also supported by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. In addition, Dublin Arts Council is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, fundraising events, gallery sales and in-kind contributions. Please click here for Dublin Arts Council’s 2021 Return on Investment summary. Dublin Arts Council’s Tax ID/EIN is 31-1101457

PROGRAMS
Dublin Arts Council is a thriving local arts agency which administers comprehensive, engaging programs including a variety of award-winning Art in Public Places projects, a yearlong Visual Arts Series and the annual DAC Sundays at Scioto concert series. DAC is committed to programs and events with strong emphasis on education and community-building. DAC serves as a community convener and thought leader for using art as a catalyst for social change and cultural cohesion.

STAFF AND LEADERSHIP
DAC employs six full-time professionals to administer programs and projects. The DAC Board consists of volunteer members who represent the community in diverse ways.

CONTACT
Dublin Arts Council is housed in the Dublin Arts Center, 7125 Riverside Drive in Dublin. The historic property
is owned by the City of Dublin and is leased by DAC. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10am-5pm and the
second Saturday of each month, 11am-2pm. DAC can be reached by phone at 614-889-7444 and online at
www.dublinarts.org. DAC’s Twitter and Instagram handle is @dublinarts. The organization’s Facebook page is
at Facebook.com/DublinArtsCouncil/

Awards and Recognition

DAC serves as a community convener and thought leader for using art as a catalyst for social change and cultural cohesion, and has received numerous distinctions recognizing programmatic excellence. Accolades include:

  • The Riverboxes program – where public art meets geocaching and letterboxing – received a 2008 Award of Excellence from the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association.
  • Field of Corn (with Osage Oranges) by Columbus sculptor Malcolm Cochran has received “Best of Columbus” honors by readers of Columbus Monthly magazine each year of its nomination since 2008, including four #1 awards as best public artwork in central Ohio.
  • Dublin Arts Council was the recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Invitational Grant awards for Titration III: Rock, Paper, Sculpture (2009-2010) and the Dublin Art in Public Places Cell Phone Tour (2012), as well as a competitive ArtWorks grant for the 2018 multicultural B.R.E.A.D! festival of arts and community.
  • Dublin Arts Council received a 2010 “Living the Irish Attitude” award from the Dublin Convention & Visitors Bureau for creation of the Dublin Arts Council Gift Shop Celtic Corner.
  • The Dublin Art in Public Places cell phone tour and Riverboxes program received the 2013 Groundworks Group CreativITy award for using technology in innovative ways to advance mission.
  • The Shifting Perspectives exhibition series received the 2013 Commitment to Excellence award from Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio and was a 2013 statewide finalist for the Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Award from the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
  • In 2013, the Dublin Art in Public Places collection was the first public art tour in the state of Ohio to be included in the international CultureNOW “Museum Without Walls” project database and mobile applications.
  • The Dublin Art in Public Places program was named “Best Suburban Public Art program” in central Ohio by readers of CityScene magazine in 2013 and 2014.
  • In 2014, the Dublin Art in Public Places collection became the largest collection in the state of Ohio to be featured in the Public Art Archive database, an online and mobile accessible catalog of public artworks worldwide.
  • Dublin’s public art is the only collection in the state to be included in the augmented reality GPS-enabled mobile app Wherigo. 23 artworks are included in the 20-stage game. (2014)
  • Dublin Arts Council has received a PNC Arts Alive Year Five Grant Award to curate and present the socially-focused exhibition Alfred Tibor: Hatred Doesn’t Work in 2015.
  • Dublin Arts Council was nominated for a 2015 Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio for Community Development and Participation.
  • Dublin Arts Council was named a top 1% geocacher among 450,000 in the United States by Geocaching.com in 2017.
  • The pandemic-inspired public art and public health 6-ft gallery project, created in collaboration with Visit Dublin, Ohio, received the Ohio Travel Association’s  2020 RUBY Awards’ Spirit of Community Award.
  • Dublin Arts Council’s Curbside Concerts were voted Best 2020-21 Drive-In Concert by the readers of CityScene magazine
  • The Dublin Chamber of Commerce named Dublin Arts Council’s Executive Director David S. Guion, Ph.D. 2021 Business Person of the Year
  • ProMovers Reviews named “Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees)” one of 150 must-see attractions in the United States in 2021. (The only one in central Ohio.)
  • The Dublin Arts Council gallery received back-to-back “Best of the “Bus” awards for Best Suburban Art Gallery from the readers of CityScene magazine for five consecutive years, 2017 – 2022.

Equity and land acknowledgement

Dublin Arts Council is committed to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in all programs and services, and does not discriminate on the basis of race/ethnicity, color, religion, gender, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. Dublin Arts Council’s established policy is to provide equal employment, advancement and other opportunities to all individuals based on merit, qualifications and abilities.

Dublin Arts Council identifies community as those who live, work, visit, play and learn in Dublin, Ohio, USA.

Dublin Arts Council acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous peoples, including those on whose land its institution is located. Its programming takes place on the unceded land of the Hopewell, Adena, Miami, Delaware, Shawnee, and Wyandot peoples. Dublin Arts Council asks community members to join the organization in acknowledging and honoring these Native communities, their Elders both past and present and all future generations. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.

Dublin Arts Council is located at 7125 Riverside Dr., Dublin, Ohio 43016

and can be reached by phone at 614.889.7444.