The sounds of music radiating from the stage blend with voices and shuffling feet. Teenagers sell homemade clothing and artwork from tables. This is an event hosted by Nomad Art, a local nonprofit. Junior Ayla Glick further describes what Nomad Art is.

“We’re an organization that creates a community for teenagers to create and artists to share their art and young teenagers to sell anything that they create,” Glick said.

Junior Leo Copeland provides more details about the events that Nomad hosts.

“We have an event every month, usually at the end of the month,” Copeland said. “And it always moves locations. That’s why it’s called Nomad.”

Glick discusses another aspect of the organization.

“It’s only ever been run by teenagers,” Glick said. “It used to be only teenagers and we would kick out anyone over 18, but then recently we’ve been letting college kids come, too.”

Glick describes her responsibilities as a member of the board.

“I reach out to vendors, anyone who sells any sort of item at Nomad,” Glick said. “I try to get them to come to our events. I also help to find venues, like places to host the organization.”

Sophomore Sebastian Hartwell adds how he contributes to the organization.

“I’m involved with the planning of where it’s going to be, the vendors, the music,” Hartwell said. “It’s a pretty cool thing to be involved in.”

Copeland, on the other hand, focuses on finding people to perform live music at events.

“With Nomad, we bring in bands from all over Indiana,” Copeland said. “Primarily, we try to find some bands from Columbus and some bands from Seymour.”

One such local musician is sophomore Finn Cauble, who performed at the Nomad event held in March.

“I had been trying to perform for the better part of two years and finally, they had a spot for me,” Cauble said.

Cauble describes the experience of playing at the event.

“I was really nervous,” Cauble said. “I don’t know why I was because everyone accepted me really well.”

Glick provides more details about what it’s like to be at a Nomad event.

“It’s anywhere from 50 to 150 people,” Glick said. “It really depends on the month, location, and attractions because different bands bring more people in than other bands.”

Copeland adds that the popularity of the events depends on the time of year.

“It’s way more popular during the summer because people are out of school,” Copeland said.

Along with lower attendance, Glick describes another challenge Nomad faces in the winter.

“In the winter months it’s much harder to find a venue than the summer months because a lot of people don’t have indoor space that they will rent to us,” Glick said.

According to Glick, issues with finding venues is a common problem.

“People stopped making bands and the Crump stopped letting us host there,” Glick said. “They didn’t want us to be in that venue so much and since we couldn’t go to the Crump anymore, it made it really hard to find venues and we didn’t have a Nomad for a couple of months.”

Copeland adds that there is another challenge Nomad has been facing.

“Honestly, I think we’ve just not been marketing ourselves enough,” Copeland said.

But according to Glick, they’re working to change that.

“We are posting more on social media,” Glick said. “We started making Instagram reels and a TikTok page to reach out more. We’re hoping to start a website soon.”

Hartwell adds how he’s been contributing to the efforts to increase awareness about Nomad.

“Personally, I’ve been trying to get flyers and put them up in places,” Hartwell said.

Copeland shares that he hopes his work will help revive the organization.

“It was bigger with people who graduated in 2024,” Copeland said. “But I’m really working with Ayla and all those other people to try and bring it back.”