By Linda Lee Baird for Arts Midwest.
Broadcast version by Chrystal Blair for Ohio News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration

Have you ever wanted to star in a sci-fi adventure, meeting creatures from outside the bounds of imagination? Have you ever wanted to touch the artwork in a museum? Did you imagine it would respond when you did so? Nine miles from downtown Columbus, Ohio-in a surreally reimagined corner of an abandoned shopping mall-you can do all of this, and more. Welcome to Otherworld.

Five years ago, Otherworld’s Ohio-raised founder Jordan Renda took the skills he’d learned from designing haunted houses and escape rooms, and converted a former Office Max store into an experience unlike any other. “It’s a place where people can interact with art,” Otherworld’s General Manager Jon Stewart says. “Not just looking at it; they can touch, feel, and play with it.”

“It’s kind of like a choose your own adventure art exhibit,” Otherworld’s Lead Props and Scenic Fabricator Ira Tecson explains.

Over 40 artists worked to turn the 32,000 square-foot space into an immersive-and evolving- experience, designed to delight kids and adults in equal measures, with a story slowly unfurling through nearly 50 unique rooms.

“If you follow parts of the storyline, you’re a beta tester going into a sleep study. And then you’re traveling from one experience to the next,” Stewart explains. Whether visitors decide to begin by walking through a science lab, or studying clues in a janitor’s closet, they become part of an expansive tale. Throughout their visit, guests encounter puzzles and places that Stewart says “makes the art interact with you.”

Midwest creatives have played a crucial role in the space from its inception. Tecson uses the skills she obtained studying sculpture at The Ohio State University to build the exhibition’s fantastical scenes, including a giant tree that anchors its center. Stewart-an Indiana native-joined the team after a stint working on cruise ships. And other local artists help keep the space dynamic, frequently refreshing and redesigning rooms. Tecson says that sometimes, “an artist will have an idea, and then we help them kind of execute their vision.” Area muralists have painted interior walls, and Columbus DJs have been invited to play music during special events.

This unique redevelopment could be an innovative model for ghost malls nationwide. A 2023 study published in the blog of financial company IPX1031 notes that 68% of Americans live within an hour of a dead mall, and other experts predict the nation could have just 150 malls left by the early 2030s.

In contrast, Otherworld’s popularity is having a positive impact on local businesses, with a new indoor bounce playground opening up in another corner of the old shopping center, and a nearby seafood restaurant offering discounts to Otherworld’s customers.

A second location opened last summer in Philadelphia, and the team hints that there’s more to come, though they’re coy about the plans-not surprising for a group that’s mastered the art of the unexpected. In the meantime, a visit to the original Columbus location is well worth a drive this summer.

Linda Lee Baird wrote this story for Arts Midwest.

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Some select alleyways across San Diego are set to get vibrant makeovers thanks to a transformative community initiative.

Sue Peerson, lecturer in urban studies and planning at the University of California-San Diego, has been spearheading a project to transform drab alleys, typically used for parking and trash pickup, into greener, safer public spaces.

The “Alleys in Action” project has received a $20,000 flagship AARP Community Challenge grant, part of a broader initiative including 11 organizations throughout California.

The grants aim to help cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas become great places to live for people of all ages. With the help of her students and the Adams Avenue Business Association, they solicited community feedback through a pop-up event in the Normal Heights neighborhood.

“Our hope is that improving the physical conditions of this alleyway will create it as a public space that’s a draw for people that are already in this neighborhood, that also has a connection to the business district and to these public spaces,” Peerson explained.

The Normal Heights alley will see the creation of a large mural along with other beautification efforts by November. This grant program is a cornerstone of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative. The grant initiative is part of its largest investment in community projects to date, with a total of $3.8 million awarded to 343 organizations nationwide.

Jennifer Berdugo, senior planning adviser to AARP California, said since 2017, the organization has awarded 57 grants totaling more than $660,000 to nonprofit organizations and government entities across the state.

“The goals are really to inspire change in communities in different areas like housing, transportation, parks, community resilience, which ties into disaster resilience as well,” Berdugo noted.

Among this year’s 11 grantees are PlacemakingUS, which will receive more than $16,000 for a project to build a community comal, or traditional griddle, and engage older Meso-American women to revive the weekly tradition of tortilla making.

Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates will receive $2,500 to conduct a bike audit of Rancho Cordova’s first-ever roundabout project. And the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum will receive $10,000 to transform a parking lot into an outdoor plaza, with accessible benches to accommodate older adults attending planned events in the space.

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Advocates in Wyoming trying to get music therapy licensure recognized in the state are hitting roadblocks.

Members of the Wyoming Music Therapy Task Force fielded questions last week from the state’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee. Music therapy can help relieve anxiety, dementia and stroke symptoms, as well as aid people living with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Hilary Camino, chair of the Wyoming Music Therapy Task Force, told the committee she wants music to to be a protected title to increase access and so that practitioner qualifications are clear.

“We often work with vulnerable populations, people who cannot advocate for themselves. So it is very important that we know what we’re doing when working with those very vulnerable populations in a clinical setting, ” she said.

Camino, who is a practitioner herself, said she is given up to three referrals per week to provide music therapy services in a hospital setting and that there aren’t enough providers to fulfill the need.

The committee asked questions about what kind of training practitioners need, what kind of funding licensure would require and under what state statute licensure would fall, before moving forward a bill draft for title protection.

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, supported the idea of licensure and also noted the idea moves what he says is “against the tide” of the current Legislature.

“The sense that I get from our colleagues, especially with some of the new groups out there, are the work is to lessen licensing across the field. I think that is going to be kind of a strong issue in the 2025 session,” he explained.

Seventeen other states have enacted music therapy legislation and similar bills have been brought to other legislatures.

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Teaching artists can now apply for grant funding centered on programs for older Wyomingites.

The Creative Aging Project Grant, from the Wyoming Arts Council, is open to teaching artists and nonprofit arts organizations, often libraries and other community centers. The grant funds $2,500 per program and uses the creative aging arts education model, offering eight weeks of sequential skills-building classes culminating in a community event.

Josh Chrysler, folklorist and health and wellness specialist for the Wyoming Arts Council, said the focus on older adults comes from a pillar of the council’s mission.

“These programs should be available throughout our life span,” Chrysler contended. “Which is predicated on the understanding that participating in the arts is healthy for you.”

Engaging in the arts plays a fundamental role in slowing cognitive decline and ensuring a high quality of life, according to a 2023 study. Applications for the Creative Aging grant are due July 10.

Denica Shell has been working with the program for three years now, which led to a full-time job at the Buffalo Arts Center. She is glad to be able to offer the programming to older adults for free and enjoys helping students reconnect to activities they have not done in a while.

“One thing that I’ve heard from several students is they really loved art as a kid or always wanted to learn certain things and are basically coming back 50, 60 years after and have this opportunity to explore something that they hadn’t previously,” Shell observed.

Shell utilizes various media in her classes, including drawing and watercolor, although the grant covers other forms of media, too.

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