COLUMBUS, Ohio — King Arts Complex in Columbus will soon undergo modernization efforts thanks to a new $100,000 grant from Google.
Winton Steward, head of government affairs and public policy for Google, Demetries Neely, executive director and CEO of the arts complex and Rep. Joyce Beatty are expected to celebrate the new grant during an event on Monday. The announcement will take place at 3 p.m. at the King Arts Complex, located at 835 Mount Vernon Ave.
According to a spokesperson from Google, the grant will assist the arts complex in modernizing its exhibits like the "Cradle of Jazz" room and their Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade exhibit. The hope of the arts center is to illustrate their art through technology with help from the grant.
The mission of the King Arts Complex, which opened in 1987, is to connect the community through arts and to be the preeminent culture and arts institution in the state by preserving, producing and presenting cultural expressions of African Americans.
Google has been making investments in other areas of Ohio as well, recently investing $1.7 billion into data centers.
In August, the tech giant announced its plans to build on the more than $2 billion the company already invested in the state. The company said that its continued investment in technical infrastructure plays a role in supporting its Google Cloud and business efforts.
Construction is now underway at two data center sites: one in Columbus and the other in Lancaster. Once completed, the data centers will help power the company’s artificial intelligence innovations and tools like Search, Gmail, and Maps.