With the cooler weather this past weekend, we enjoyed a series of lovely summer days. Friday night we watched the OSU Marching Band performing with the Columbus Symphony at the Commons (pro-tip: get cocktails at Parable After Dark beforehand!). Sunday we spent a few hours at the Ohio State Fair; in addition to loads of fried food and a ride on the SkyGlider, we enjoyed the quilt and cooking competitions, as well as the annual Fine Arts Exhibition. Finally, we finished with more music outdoors with Sons of Gladys performing a Tom Petty tribute on the Worthington village green.

All that’s to say it was an arts-heavy weekend, and as we step into August I’m hoping to keep up the pace. Here’s what stood out to me on the ColumbusMakesArt.com calendars for this weekend:

• Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour speaks at the Thurber House on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
• The Columbus Symphony brings back its free Community Concerts this week. They’re performing Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at various parks and rec centers across the city.
• This week the Dublin Arts Council opened a new exhibition of tapestry-like abstract paintings from Elsie Sanchez titled Behind the Surface.
• The OSU Faculty Club also opened a new show titled Paradise, featuring paintings from Brenden Spivey.
• Urban Arts Spaces hosts Thick Like Me: The Dawn of Body Liberation Aug. 3-5. On Friday it also opens a new dual exhibition of work from Meagan Smith and Chen Peng, titled Meandering North.
• Easton kicks off its August Unplugged at the Yard free concerts on Thursday, Aug. 3 with The Randys. Also that night, the Columbus Commons launches its Local + Live concert series. They’re free as well; this week features Grassinine and North to Nashville.
• Bobby Floyd and Dave Powers play selections from the Great American Songbook at JazZoo on Friday, Aug. 4.
• The Gateway Film Center kicks off its August From Book to Film screenings with movies like Akeelah and the Bee and Ready Player One. Cat-lovers, you should also head to GFC for CatVideoFest Aug. 4-6. It’s described as “a compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos.”
• That same night Megan Palmer, Amelia White and Sean Woosley take the stage at Rambling House.
• Gallery Hop is Saturday, Aug. 5! Hit up the arts district to see shows like Heroic Women at Sharon Weiss Gallery.
• Head to Columbus Dance Theatre for Evolved Productions’ Festival of Movement, featuring dozens of international styles of dance throughout the day on Saturday, Aug. 5.
• This is the final week to see the 2023 Greater Columbus Visual Arts Exhibition at the Pizzuti Collection. It closes Aug. 6.
• And finally, the Dublin Irish Festival returns this weekend, Aug. 4-6, at Coffman Park!

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Symphony, Gateway Film Center, Jazz Arts Group and Thurber House receive Operating Support grants from GCAC, while Evolve Productions and Short North Alliance are Project Support grantees.

(Image credit: ‘Mirage’ by Brenden Spivey at OSU Faculty Club)

Nick is marketing, communications, & events administrator for GCAC. He’s also a food/travel writer penning works for Columbus Monthly, Ohio.org, Ohio Magazine and his own site BreakfastWithNick.com. The best corn dogs at the Ohio State Fair at Tracey’s, near the north end of the SkyGlider!