Photo by Rob Colgan
From L-R: Hilltop Arts Collective Board President Danny Peterson; board member David Householder; muralists Marcus Billingsley, Thom Glick and Lucie Shearer; and board member Victoria Bates-Frye.
Summer Jam West, the organization running an annual art and music festival of the same name, has announced a change of title to Hilltop Arts Collective. The festival will continue as Summer Jam West.
The change, announced Feb. 9, reflects the nonprofit arts organization’s transition from focusing predominantly on that festival to creating year-round arts and culture programming for the Hilltop community.
Hilltop resident Patti Von Niessen founded the organization in 2014 as a way to bring arts into the community.
“We’re excited to make this announcement, and we’re ready to get to work as the Hilltop Arts Collective,” says Danny Peterson, board president of the Hilltop Arts Collective, in a press release. “The organization has always been greater than the sum of its parts, and we’re grateful for the many people and organizations who have helped us in ways big and small.”
In addition to Summer Jam West, Hilltop Arts Collective’s other programs include For the Common Good, which commissions permanent public art installations throughout the community, and ARtsway, a mural mentorship program for high school students launched in 2021.
Over the last several years and during the pandemic, the community-based music festival and public art commission continued to grow alongside the organization, according to the press release.
“Summer Jam West has been such a valuable stakeholder in the Hilltop community – working to invest in people, places and spaces to build a healthier, happier and more beautiful neighborhood,” says Melissa Green, manager of the City of Columbus Westside Pride Center, in a press release.
Alongside the rapid growth and redevelopment across the westside of Columbus, Green says Hilltop Arts Collective will be imperative in helping to shape the vision for the future of the neighborhood.
The Summer Jam West board’s approval of the name change came following the launch of new programs, opportunities and partnerships, such as Columbus Drives Art and Songs on Sullivant, aimed to help the Hilltop community grow and expand.Hilltop Arts Collective will now focus on expanding its public art commissions and providing mentorship opportunities in addition to creating and promoting more arts programming in the community.
“Year-long programming and continued mentorship of young people is an incredibly important step toward strengthening the cultural fabric of the neighborhood,” says Jami Goldstein, Greater Columbus Arts Council vice president of marketing, communications and events, in a press release. “Summer Jam West and its founders and board should be very proud of what they’ve built in the Hilltop.”
Summer Jam West returns this year after two years off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival takes place July 9 from 11 a.m.- 7p.m. at Westgate Park.
