By: Jillian Mathinson, Senior Contributor

The Sunset Boulevard office looks exactly like it should.

Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the soft gold of Southern California light. Just beyond the glass, the Hollywood Hills are lined with iconic signs, creative agencies, and storied production studios. And that Hollywood sign and Capitol Records tower—Swauger once stared at from the back terrace of his first Hollywood Hills historic Grace Avenue condo.

This is the skyline of American entertainment—sculpted by fame, sharpened by ambition, and wrapped in the shimmer of myth.

But behind this set of glass walls, something quiet and potentially radical is happening.

The desks are being emptied. The cables rolled up. Hard drives labeled. Painting cases are sealed and stacked shoulder high. The ART Channel, a rising global streaming network devoted to art, culture, and original creative storytelling, is packing up.

And rather than expanding deeper into Los Angeles—or testing its luck in New York—it’s instead moving its headquarters to a place that might rarely make the entertainment news cycle, well except of course, the iconic WKRP in…

Cincinnati.

Ohio.

This isn’t an exit.

It’s an intentional step forward.

“We’re still very much at the beginning stage of this thing,” says founder and CEO Kurt Andrew Swauger. “And when you’re still in startup mode, still deciding who you’re going to become—it’s the perfect time to do something distinct before the structure is baked. Before the costs are set in stone. Before the business becomes too rooted in one place to move.”

That kind of flexibility—both mental and geographic—is exactly what makes this move not just strategic, but symbolic.

“It isn’t about abandoning Hollywood,” Swauger adds. “It’s about evolving beyond it.”

Hollywood as the Spark — Not the Blueprint

This isn’t the familiar tale of someone “escaping” Los Angeles. In fact, to hear Swauger tell it, L.A. was nothing short of foundational.

“I bought my first condo in the Hollywood Hills at 22,” he remembers fondly. “I’d just made my first indie film, HauntedWeen, and I was living this wild mix of fear and freedom and adrenaline. I love this city. I always will.”

That condo—overlooking the iconic bowl of Hollywood and Highland, the legendary Hollywood Bowl—was where many of the seeds of what would later become The ART Channel were planted. It’s where Swauger learned the game, met collaborators, pitched shows, built production teams, forged alliances, and watched both success and illusion dance across living room screens.

“I love California. I love Hollywood,” he says, still grinning. “It’s all good, brother. But once in a while, you get that itch to build something new—to change the game again.”

And so, the story naturally turns.

Why the Heartland Matters

Hollywood will still be a part of The ART Channel’s orbit—a small but focused production branch designed to capture what only Hollywood can provide: access to west coast production, talent, technology, soundstages, and energy.

But the brain of the company—the decision-making, the daily operations, the sweat, the strategy, the story—it’s moving into the Midwestern heart of the country.

Specifically, into a region where art has never stopped living, but where stories have often been overlooked.

Cincinnati isn’t just “more reasonable.” It’s arguably truer.

The city holds some of the oldest cultural institutions in America. It’s home to a globally recognized art museum, a contemporary arts center that pushes boundaries, a university arts academy, a vibrant muralscape, and ArtsWave—a rare institution that funds more than 150 arts organizations every single year.

Cincinnati is where Fortune 50 headquarters meet painters’ studios in repurposed breweries, where public murals wrap around skyscrapers, and fine art festivals spill into historic markets and street corners.

It’s a city that doesn’t need convincing about the power of art — it just needs amplification. As we grow, it grows. The community grows. And together, we create opportunity for all.

And that, says Swauger, is where The ART Channel seeks to make a difference.

A Streaming Network That’s Already Global

Within just a few years of building, The ART Channel has already launched on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, iOS, Android, and web—streaming into homes and businesses across 17 countries and growing.

It’s self-funded. No investors. No venture capital leash. No studio overlords.

The growth has been steady. Measured. Purposeful.

“We’ve proven we can test ideas, build audience, deliver content, produce originals, and grow globally without a dime of outside pressure,” Swauger says. “Now it’s time to grow in a place that lets us be who we want to be as a company.”

And for The ART Channel, that place seems to be the Midwest.

“You Don’t Need to Go to Hollywood Anymore”

“We want to create a system that means something to artists,” Swauger says.

“And to do that, we can’t just live where art is commodified and controlled. We need to live where art is rooted in neighborhoods, schools, butcher shops, garage studios, and real community.”

This is not corporate PR spin. It’s a realignment built from the ground up.

The ART Channel’s next chapter will be artist-driven, regionally connected, and globally amplified. Its original shows, films, and live activations will lift up artists from overlooked regions—not just trendy ZIP codes.

There’s also a personal anchor in this pivot: Swauger was born just across the river, in Kentucky.

“There are pieces of me in that soil,” he says. “This feels like home. Not just physically, but creatively.”

The Triangle of Tomorrow

The following 24 months will complete a three-point structure:

• Hollywood for west coast production and talent sourcing
• Cincinnati for headquarters, identity, and core operations
• Miami for global creative collaborations and cultural connections

Miami—home of Art Basel, the Wynwood explosion, and LATAM / Caribbean influence—is where The ART Channel was originally incorporated. And it will soon become the network’s official East Coast creative hub.

“The new media triangle isn’t geography,” Swauger says.

“It’s vision.”

“Let’s Do This Together”

This move isn’t just business. It’s a hand extended toward the artists, educators, studios, museums, corporations, philanthropists, and community organizers of Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and beyond.

“We’re not coming to Cincinnati to take anything,” Swauger says. “We’re coming to build with you, not over you. The art is already here. We’re just the camera, the channel, and a growing global market.”

He pauses with a small smile.

“And yes, to the business development office in the state of Ohio—I got your brochure. You did your job. We’re on our way.

In the end, it’s not about where the story starts, but where it finally speaks. Ours found its voice in Cincinnati — and the credits are just beginning to roll. So, turn the lights up. We’ve arrived. And the future? It’s beginning to unfold.”