You know, I get asked a LOT why I chose to go to art school in Ohio when I came from California. Its been an almost constant question, from all sides, and well...
When I was growing up in CA, Ohio was considered a "Flyover State". I heard people call everyone from there "bumpkins", "rednecks", "bigots", "children of the corn"...but my education told me, at the same time, that Ohio produced more presidents than almost any other state, that tons of actors and artists and musicians came out of Ohio. So the insults couldnt be true, and pissed me off! And then I dated a girl who graduated from CCAD, and praised it, and found that cartoonists I respected were teaching there; that the world's largest cartoon archive was in Columbus.
And I said, what the hell, I've been wanting to explore new perspectives, and applied to CCAD. Since I got here, I've met amazing people, every bit as intelligent and creative and wonderful as any Californian (in many cases moreso!); found entire new ways of looking at the world and myself; got incredible education which directly led to some of my biggest accomplishments as an artist to date.
So yes, I moved to Ohio, and I can now say conclusively, those who shit on Ohio* are simply just ignorant coastal elitists who dont know the first thing about what they're talking about! The only reasons Ohioans aren't up beside any of the "West Coast Greats" are lack of opportunity and lack of faith in them.
* - Ohioans can shit on Ohio all they want of course