Helping artists build careers beyond the studio
Ohio State’s Barnett Center blends creative practice with contracts, collaboration and guidance for sustainable work.
The Barnett Center hosted a Lunch-and-Learn event in April about the role of AI in arts education. The panel included arts educator Ketal Patel ’06, ’11 MA, ’21 PhD (above), Tina Tallon from the School of Music and Terron Banner ’19 PhD from the Urban Arts Space. Through such programming, the Barnett Center positions creatives for success following graduation. (Photo by Jodi Miller)
The shift from student to professional is rarely easy, but for emerging artists, it can feel especially abrupt. A center in the College of Arts and Sciences helps students navigate this difficult transition.
Since opening in 2014, the Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise has become a hub for students seeking to supplement their technical training as artists. They come to understand more fully the landscape of a creative career.
That vision traces to center namesakes Larry ’88, ’96 HON and Isabel Barnett. Larry was a legendary music and business executive who managed the careers of such star performers as Benny Goodman, Jack Benny and Judy Garland, while his wife, Isabel, won a Tony Award for her role as Sarah Brown in the original Broadway production of “Guys and Dolls.” They saw how often artists were undervalued simply because they didn’t understand the business side of their work. The mission the Barnetts helped establish was clear: provide Ohio State students with the skills to manage both the creative and business dimensions of an artistic life.
Today, several signature Barnett offerings provide students across the university such real-world practical insights. Through the center’s Arts Entrepreneurship Residency program, visiting artists share decisions, risks and pivots they experienced in building their careers. And the Life in the Arts initiative brings Columbus-based creatives to campus to speak openly about their professional journeys.
Video: Welcome to the Barnett Center
Watch Director Scott A. Jones describe how the Barnett Center inspires and educates student artists. Runtime: 2 minutes, 23 seconds
In addition, Director Scott A. Jones ’89 has emphasized cross-disciplinary arts collaboration since assuming center leadership in 2021. “We have supported work specifically designed to bring meaningful value to communities,” says Jones, a professor in the School of Music. “Enterprise isn’t strictly about making money. It’s also about creating meaningful value through creative work.”
The center’s mission also comes into focus through Creatives @ the Barnett, a cohort-based experience designed to give students space and resources to create interdisciplinary artistic projects. Lydia Gokey ’24, ’26 MA was a member of the pilot cohort in 2023–24. “It was incredible,” Gokey says. “We were able to give feedback and help shape the program.”
Working alongside students from different artistic and academic backgrounds, Gokey found herself navigating unfamiliar perspectives and building connections through them. The experience pushed her to think beyond individual practice and consider how art could respond to larger cultural moments.
“Seeing everyone’s work at the end of the year made everything feel meaningful,” says Gokey, whose graduate research focused on the role of arts in mental health and substance abuse treatment. “It showed that what we created together mattered.”
