Our Story

Circle Round the Square (Circle) was launched in 2005 in response to the lack of art education in the Nelsonville York City Schools. Founder Barb Campagnola says that it was a matter of social justice. 

Currently, the poverty rate in Athens County, and Nelsonville in particular, is the highest in the state. Back in its day, Nelsonville was the wealthiest city in Ohio. Its brick Victorian town square bustled with commerce as the coal flowed out on the barges to the tune of a million dollars a day. When the mines closed, like so many in the Appalachian Little Cities of Black Diamonds area, Nelsonville never recovered. 

In 2003, when Campagnola was hired to be the Director of Paper Circle, a small non-profit arts studio on the square, Nelsonville was experiencing a renaissance. Artists were moving in to the once boarded up storefronts. Galleries, studios and shops flourished. Final Fridays, a monthly art walk, was established. But a block away some of the highest poverty rates in the state persisted.  The school system, in its history, had never been able to afford art education in the school. For as far back as anyone could remember nobody attended an art class in school.  Many early Circle teens had never held a paintbrush or played with clay before attending the program.  

In 2005, in partnership with the Nelsonville City Schools, Campagnola launched the program with three visual arts classes conducted in the mornings. Collaborative theater and media classes were added to the rotation to teach cooperation outside dysfunctional homes. Hot meals were added to feed hungry bellies. Backpack meals were distributed over the weekends. Gardens were planted. Bussing was provided for students who lived in remote rural areas. Field trips became a staple for bonding and exploration. Daily wellness activities like swimming and rock climbing were added. Leadership classes were provided for Circle graduates to become paid program interns. Hocking College provided scholarships. The program grew to be an all-day, month-long enrichment program. Partnerships and good will expanded. 

 In 2013 and 2014 Measurement Resources conducted research using a control group and collected scientifically valid data that demonstrated, amongst other things, that participants experienced a rise in self-esteem in four short weeks. Circle’s robust programming was impacting lives — and getting noticed. The program was named a finalist for the prestigious National Arts and Humanities Youth Arts Award.

 In 2018, Campagnola separated the program from the parent organization to form a new non-profit, Art and Soul Collaborative (dba) Circle Round the Square.  In 2019, Circle was launched on the Hocking College Campus under her direction.

2019 Community Partners

In June 2019, Circle moved from conducting programming in multiple, small, unoccupied spaces on the town square, often without water or air conditioning, to the Hocking College campus where students, staff and teachers were given free access to ceramics, photography, painting and film studios, design labs, computer labs, classrooms and lecture halls. In addition to providing bussing, Hocking also provided an all-you-can-eat buffet and salad bar in the college cafeteria and afternoons in the student center, where participants could swim, rock climb, use the track, gym etc. Best of all, Hocking provided the students one of their college track classes every Wednesday afternoon. They cooked in the culinary school, assembled circuit boards and learned about carpentry, had hands-on experiences with wildlife management, public health, sound engineering and heavy machinery operation.

The First Presbyterian Church, a long time partner, provided our town square connection. Camp started with a USDA breakfast every day at the church. Doors opened at 8:30 a.m. for early drop off for working parents and/or hungry kids. The bus brought students to the church and waited while they ate, before transporting all to the campus. Pastor Peter managed breakfast and then joined us later for afternoon activities.  Hopewell Health  came on board as a partner in 2019, to provide Circle with an embedded counselor to help meet the needs of our population. 

Magestic Galleries on the town square gave us a discounted rate for gallery use for our Final Fridays exhibit. Being on the square for the exhibit allowed our children, who lived within walking distance, to attend. The gallery’s large space allowed us to comfortably show the artwork created by 50 students in four different classes. We added a photo booth and product sales to the fun! Ohio Valley Summer Theater pulled together an afternoon performance for us, in spite of the cast’s busy schedule! Ohio University College of Fine Arts provided afternoon classes in sculpture and printing.

Our teaching staff consists of artists, not art teachers, who have been given professional development to create projects first, and then lesson plans from the projects that are measured to state standards. We take pride in the results of our student’s creativity and hard work!

In 2023, Campagnola decided to step back and hired photography teacher Josh Birnbaum to lead the camp! She is still on the board and consulting to make sure Circle can be successful for many future youth arts initiatives.