Recent News

May 4, 2006

ROY G BIV Gallery and me – a Columbus Bar success story

~ written by Michael Loughry

My name is Michael Loughry and I am in my fifth year of practice as an associate with Mazanec Raskin & Ryder. I am also the president of the ROY G BIV Gallery in the Short North Arts District, a non-profit gallery with a mission of showing emerging artists and giving the public an opportunity to view work from these exciting new voices from the local, regional and national art scenes.

My involvement with the ROY G BIV Gallery can be directly traced to my Columbus Bar activities. After passing the bar, I began attending meetings of the New Lawyers Committee, and I was also accepted to participate in the 2002-03 Barrister Leader Program, a wonderful year long program designed to expose new lawyers to leadership opportunities in the profession and the community.

The Barrister Leader Program is actually a two-year program. After going through the first year of programming, those class members who choose to stay on direct the programming for the next class. I stayed on and developed a presentation designed to address how new lawyers could get involved with the arts. I assembled a panel of local arts luminaries, and in my own humble opinion, I thought the presentation and panel discussion was a rousing success.

In the process of putting together this presentation, I met many people who encouraged me to get involved, and ultimately I was invited to join the board of directors of the ROY G BIV Gallery. Since I joined the board, I have found that the experience and skills I use every day in my practice are invaluable to the gallery. And I would not be involved with ROY G BIV at all if it were not for the Columbus Bar.

The local arts community needs professionals from the legal community to get involved. Most arts organizations are non-profits, and many struggle on a day to day basis just to keep their doors open, relying on grants and donations to survive. They must be diligent to maintain their non-profit status in order to be eligible for most grants, and the grant application process grows more competitive and complicated every year.

The ROY G BIV Gallery is throwing its Night of Art + Glamour fundraiser at Spice on Thursday, May 18 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 for a couple. This is going to be a fantastic event with art, fashion, food and drink, all in a wonderful space. I invite each of you to come out and experience what supporting the arts feels like. I have tickets available. I hope to see you all there.