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A place to connect, create, and collaborate.
Located at 40 N 3rd St., Second Floor, Columbia PA 17512 "Above Kettle Works"
The Switchboard is open to guests during Columbia Kettle Works hours. Patrons are encouraged to bring up their beer, enjoy the gallery, and talk to artists while in their spaces.
Monday – Wednesday 4–10pm
Thursday - Saturday 12–10pm
Sunday 12-8pm
*PLEASE NOTE: The Switchboard is NOT a retail space with regular staff. It is a collaborative community space. If you are interested in purchasing artwork from the gallery, please contact the gallery operator, Miss A, directly for sales. (717)779-9363. Call/ Text and leave a message. Any work with a red gem on the tag has already been sold. All works sold must hang until the end of the month. Thank you for your understanding.
Ticketed Events & Art Markets
Regular Shindigs
MONDAYS
1ST & 3RD - Peer Support Group- 6:00-7:00PM. This group is an 18+ Peer Support Group for community members looking for a safe space to speak about their trauma, learn from each other and reconnect. FREE EVENT
2ND & 4TH- Family Theater Playhouse- 6:30-8:00PM A family friendly event for all ages where we will circle up and play theatre games. FREE EVENT
TUESDAYS
EVERY TUESDAY- Morning Open Art Sessions- 10AM- 12PM Need a minute to work on some personal projects? Have a hard time setting that time? Bring your art supplies and join some other cool cats to get in that work time and satisfy those "art talk" needs. Sometimes you just need to create in and environment with other creatives to get the juices flowing and get some work done. FREE EVENT
1ST & 3RD-Improv In A Hat- 6:30-8:30pm- Join Rebecca and Travis for an evening of improv games and meet-up with whimsical friends. FREE EVENT
2ND & 4TH- Open Mic w/ Bjorn Jacobsen- 6-10PM Grab your instruments and beer from Columbia Kettle Works, then follow the steps up to the 2nd floor to Switchboard Studios & Gallery to put your name on the list! Join your host, Bjorn Jacobsen, for a chill evening of jamming out, networking, and brushing up on your musical skills. FREE EVENT
WEDNESDAYS
EVERY WEDNESDAY- Beginners Yoga w/ Miss A- 6:30-7:30PM Bring your own mat, a water bottle, and stretchy clothes to relieve stress, get better sleep, and reintroduce movement back into those stiff muscles. $10 COVER
THURSDAYS
1ST & 3RD- Poetry Workshops w/ Gray- 7-10PM 1st Thursdays, focus is on Poetry, 3rd Thursdays focus is on Prose. A great space for anyone looking to improve their writing skills, polish their works in progress, and learn more about what makes a piece effective. My email is Grayson.ruyak@gmail.com for any inquiries. :) FREE EVENT
2ND & 4TH- Open Nude Figure Drawing w/ Darren Jordan (Ages 18+)- 6-9PM All artists welcome, both ameteur to professional. BYO art supplies. $10 COVER
FRIDAYS
2ND- Poetry Slam- 7-9pm Bring your poetry, short stories, spoken word, song lyrics, all words welcome. A great opportunity to share creative writing and get positive criticism. FREE EVENT
4TH- Monthly Gallery Opening- 6-9PM Every 4th Friday our gallery transforms with new art from all of our local artist friends. All upcoming 2024 Open Call For Art themes can be found under the art tab of the website so local artists can prepare and create ahead of time. Interested in submitting your work? Join in the fun! FREE EVENT
SATURDAYS
EVERY SATURDAY- Hatha Yoga w/ Stormy (Bumbling Circus Workshop)- 9-10AM Bring your mat, waterbottles, and comfy clothes for a restorative session of stretching and feel goods. $10 COVER
. For information on Stormy's AERIAL YOGA classes, please click here.
2ND- Switchboard Art Market- 12-6PM- Switchboard Artist Eric Tonzola hosts an art market where local artists are welcome to come vend their work All inquiries about setting up vendor spaces can be directed to Eric. FREE TO ATTEND/ FEE TO VEND
4TH- Brewery Comedy Tour- 7:30-9PM- Every month Herron Entertainment sends us new comics from around the country for your laughing pleasure. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time by following the ticket link or pay $20 cover at the door while space is still available. Please note: These shows fill up fast and are best for ages 18+. We like to give our comedians freedom to touch on the more saucy sides of life. Only bring your grandma if she's a hip ol' bird who can hang. ;)
About the Switchboard
Switchboard Studios & Gallery is a place for artists, musicians and wordsmiths to connect, create, and collaborate. Located above Columbia Kettle Works, the space is equipped with 7 artist studio workshop spaces, a gallery, and private entertainment space ideal for private parties, community meetings, and small music gigs.
The Switchboard is quickly becoming the central creative hub of Columbia. Workshop spaces are shared with 10-12 other artists and is open to the public during Columbia Kettle Works hours. Patrons of the brewery will be welcome to grab a beer, go upstairs to view our monthly gallery exhibits, talk to the artists while they are working in their spaces, and jam out to live music in our event space.
The space was named the Switchboard to honor the past history of the building as the United Telephone Company. We love using this to build on our own love for making connections. The artists that utilize our workshop spaces and entertainers that grace our stage come from all over. We have a healthy mix of creators from York, Lancaster and Local Columbians who all have their own unique medium to bring to the collective. Our Switchboard has everything from wall muralists and fashion design, to collage, tinkering and pottery. We host regular Open Mics every other Tuesday to offer our local musicians a place to hone their skills and host Live Music entertainment in the event space.
Each individual artist that we bring in for solo exhibits in our gallery we try to pull from both local Columbia artists and elsewhere to bring in more connections for everybody on both ends of the line. Whether you are a professional looking to make connections or fresh on the scene and looking for experiences hanging your work in a local gallery, we want to use our Open Call For Art shows every other month to help support artists of every skill level and medium.
The Switchboard has been actively reaching out and collaborating with other local organizations like the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, MFE (Music For Everyone), Coexist In Kindness, the Boys & Girls Club, artist collectives in Baltimore, and our local school district's art program. The list keeps growing!
As a creative space, it's our goal to provide as many opportunities as possible to the local arts and music community.
Our artists enjoy helping to curate our kids summer art programs. They are the adventurous and artistic escape that your kiddos are searching for. Getting to pull from experiences from several artists, several mediums, and several creative avenues, we LOVE being able to provide our local kiddos with hands-on mess-making and creative exploration.
The Switchboard offers monthly Poetry Slams on the 2nd Friday of every month from 7-9PM where the community can explore the magic and art of words. Participants are welcome to share poetry, song lyrics, stand-up comedy skits, monologues, inspirational speeches, short stories... any words that inspire you. It is a great place to get good, positive constructive criticism for your work or just enjoy sharing ideas with like minded individuals.
Our event venue is host to cool happenings like Paint n' Sips, monthly Switchboard Soirees where we bring in caterers and musicians for private ticketed events, and family entertainment.
The Switchboard is also home to Columbia's Movers & Shakers Society, a group of local community volunteers, artists and businesses that work together to pull off wondrous shindigs for our Columbia Community like our annual Halloween Party in the Park and Columbia's Chili For Charity Cook-Off.
As long as you are CREATING, we want you to come see us. The Switchboard is excited to make such an impact on the local arts and music community here in this little river town and have lots of ideas to look forward to putting into action. :)