The Creative Side of Columbus
Arts & Culture
Columbus has cultivated a cultural identity that punches well above its weight. Anchored by a National Historic Landmark theatre, a state-of-the-art performing arts center, and one of the largest free museums in the Southeast, the city supports a creative ecosystem that ranges from grand-scale Broadway productions to intimate gallery openings and vibrant street murals. This is a city where the arts are not an afterthought — they are woven into the fabric of daily life.
Springer Opera House
The Springer Opera House is the crown jewel of Columbus's cultural landscape. Constructed in 1871 during the city's post-Civil War economic resurgence, it was designated the State Theatre of Georgia by Governor Jimmy Carter in 1971 and holds the distinction of being a National Historic Landmark — one of very few theatres in the nation with that honor.
Today, the Springer operates as a professional regional theatre with a full annual season of productions. The repertoire spans Broadway musicals, Shakespearean drama, contemporary plays, and holiday classics, all staged in a meticulously restored Victorian auditorium that seats approximately 600. The intimate scale of the space means there is no such thing as a bad seat — every performance feels personal and immediate. Historical luminaries from Oscar Wilde to Edwin Booth once graced this very stage.
Docent-led tours of the building are available for those who want to appreciate the architecture and history without attending a performance. The Springer also runs educational programs for aspiring young performers and hosts community events throughout the year. It sits in the heart of Uptown Columbus, within walking distance of restaurants, galleries, and the RiverWalk.
Springer Opera House — State Theatre of Georgia
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts — Uptown
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
Where the Springer represents Columbus's historic cultural roots, the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts embodies its contemporary ambitions. This state-of-the-art facility in Uptown Columbus serves as the city's premier large-scale performance venue, hosting touring Broadway productions, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, classical concerts, dance performances, and major community events.
The building itself is architecturally striking, designed to complement the historic character of the surrounding Uptown district while providing world-class acoustics and staging capabilities. The main hall seats over 2,000 and is equipped to handle everything from full orchestral performances to large-scale theatrical productions with complex staging requirements.
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra, in residence at the RiverCenter, performs a full season of classical, pops, and chamber concerts. The venue's programming ensures that Columbus residents and visitors have access to the same caliber of touring productions that play in much larger cities — often at more accessible price points and without the hassle of big-city logistics.
The Columbus Museum
The Columbus Museum stands as one of the largest museums in the Southeastern United States, and the fact that it charges no admission makes it all the more remarkable. Located in the leafy Midtown neighborhood, the museum's permanent collection spans centuries of American fine art — from colonial-era portraiture and Hudson River School landscapes through mid-century modernism and contemporary installation works.
Equally compelling is the museum's deep exploration of Chattahoochee Valley regional history, tracing the area's story from prehistoric indigenous cultures through the cotton economy, the Civil War, and into the modern era. The interactive children's gallery, Transformations, seamlessly blends art, science, and ecology in a space that engages visitors of all ages — it is far more than a typical museum kids' corner.
Rotating exhibitions regularly bring nationally significant works and traveling shows through Columbus, and the museum's lecture series, workshops, and community programs make it a vital hub of intellectual and creative life in the city. It is one of the top things to do in Columbus for first-time visitors and locals alike.
The Columbus Museum — Free Admission
Public Art — Spirit of the Chattahoochee & More
Public Art & Murals
Columbus has invested significantly in public art, and the results are visible throughout the city — particularly in Uptown and along the Chattahoochee RiverWalk. The crown jewel of the city's outdoor art collection is "The Spirit of the Chattahoochee," a massive 6,000-square-foot mural located along the RiverWalk that depicts the river's ecological and cultural significance through vivid, large-scale imagery.
Beyond the headline pieces, Columbus maintains a growing collection of murals, sculptures, and installations across its urban core. Many of these works are accessible via self-guided walking tours — the OtoCast app provides audio-guided tours that add historical and artistic context to each piece, turning a casual walk through Uptown into an open-air gallery experience.
ArtBeat Columbus, the city's arts advocacy organization, coordinates many of the public art initiatives and hosts events that bring artists and community together. For visitors, the combination of world-class indoor museums and a rich outdoor art landscape means that engaging with the arts in Columbus requires nothing more than a willingness to walk around and look up.
Bo Bartlett Center
The Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University is dedicated to the work of Bo Bartlett, a Columbus native who has become one of America's most acclaimed contemporary realist painters. The center houses a significant collection of Bartlett's large-scale works — canvases that are often monumental in size and deeply rooted in themes of American identity, landscape, and the human figure.
Bartlett's paintings are characterized by their clarity, emotional depth, and a distinctly American sensibility that draws comparisons to Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper while remaining entirely his own. Seeing these works in person — many of them five or six feet tall — is a fundamentally different experience from viewing reproductions. The scale and luminosity of the paintings demand a physical presence.
The center also hosts rotating exhibitions, artist talks, and educational programming through Columbus State's art department. It is a smaller, more focused venue than The Columbus Museum, but for anyone with an interest in contemporary American painting, it is an essential stop. Combined with the museum and the city's public art, the Bo Bartlett Center rounds out a full day of arts exploration in Columbus.
Bo Bartlett Center — Columbus State University
Discover more of Columbus
Columbus's arts scene is just the beginning. Walk the neighborhoods where these institutions live, explore the city's top attractions, or head to the river for an outdoor adventure.