Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center

Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center

The Dairy Barn Arts Center site has a long and interesting history in the Athens’ community. As the name suggests, the center is housed in what was once an active dairy barn.

The Dairy Barn Arts Center site has a long and interesting history in the Athens’ community. As the name suggests, the center is housed in what was once an active dairy barn. The barn was completed in 1914. For many years, the dairy barn and surrounding farmland supplied the nearby Athens Lunatic Asylum with milk and produce as well as therapeutic and occupational training opportunities by employing patients. Things began to change in the late 1970s as patients were no longer available for employment and the farm began to fall behind in production. By 1977, the buildings were empty and slated for demolition until a last-minute effort by the Hocking Valley Arts Council, led by Ora and Harriet Anderson, raised money to purchase the dairy barn for the purpose of creating a nonprofit arts center. The barn hosted its first exhibition in 1979.

Today, the Dairy Barn Arts Center offers a variety of attractions for the heritage traveler. Exhibitions, often featuring local artists, rotate biannually, and the Ora Anderson trail takes hikers through 32 acres of reforested farmland. Most notably, Quilt National is a biannual exhibition featuring innovative “art quilts” submitted from throughout the world. Quilt National is the largest and oldest judged competition for art quilts in the United States.

Notes for Travelers

Pets are not permitted on the Ora Anderson Trail.