About half of my Weekend Warriors start with comments about the weather, but when things start cooling off, I COME ALIVE! I’ll even take a little bit of rain, as long as it’s not in the 90s. But these seasonal changes make me eager to get out and do things.
Lacey talked about this last week, but this week the Columbus Makes Art Passport program kicks off! Over the next two months you can pick up a free passport and visit dozens of local arts events (many of which are free or discounted), collect stamps and redeem them for prizes. Find out where to pick up a passport, events to attend, prizes and more details at ColumbusMakesArt.com/passport.
All the events I found for this week are part of the program, so you can catch a free concert, see new exhibitions, laugh yourself silly at a comedy and collect stickers for your passport:
- Today (Wednesday, Sept. 1) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Phoenix Rising Printmaking Cooperative hosts the first of their open house hours, where you can tour their facility and see the printmakers at work.
- Last week Columbus College of Art & Design opened a trio of free exhibitions in the Beeler Gallery, including A Bridge to Uncertainty by the recent Aminah Robinson resident artist Johnathan Payne; Biana Beck, Tamara Gonzales and Christina Forrer’s work; and BLM, highlighting a dozen of the Art Unites Cbus murals painted in 2020.
- MojoFlo plays a free concert this Thursday, Sept. 2 at the Columbus Commons.
- Noises Off is one of my favorite comedies. It’s an absolutely delightful, fast-paced farce about a theater company rehearsing and performing a play. Short North Stage opens their production of it this Thursday, Sept. 2 and runs it through Sept. 19.
- Also on Sept. 2, the Carnegie Gallery in the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s main branch opens a new exhibition titled The Writing is on the Wall. The free show features artists from Open Door Art Studio, and is open through September and October.
- That same night, Shadowbox Live opens one of its popular recurring shows, Leather & Lace, which runs through Sept. 30.
- Support Natalie’s by catching the Robert Mason Trio performing free this Friday, Sept. 3 at the Grandview location.
- And on Sunday, Sept. 5, Maroon Arts Group kicks off the Sound Therapy Concert Series. Every Sunday evening in September they host free concerts at the MPACC Box Park. This Sunday’s event features The Flex Crew.
This Saturday, Sept. 4 is Gallery Hop, and there are nine Short North galleries participating in the passport program and stamping booklets:
- Brandt-Roberts Galleries
- Watercolorist Daniel Rauschenbach at Emergent Art & Craft
- Well Seen Becomes Sight and Song Itself at Hammond Harkins Galleries
- Lindsay Gallery’s Gallery Hop group show
- Transformation at (Not) Sheep Gallery
- I'm in Love with the Ordinary at Sarah Gormley Gallery
- Sean Christopher Gallery
- Mark Gingerich: Columbus Illuminated at Sherrie Gallerie
- Studios on High
And there are plenty of worthwhile events that aren’t on the passport list, including:
- On Thursday, Sept. 2, the Streetlight Guild reopens with in-person tours of Lance Johnson's new exhibition. The tours, which will run every Friday and Saturday through the first weekend in October, are free, but you must register for a time slot ahead of time.
- Upper Arlington’s Labor Day Arts Festival is this Monday, Sept. 6. See more than 100 artists, catch live music, do hands-on activities – all outdoors in the open air!
There are plenty of events wrapping up this weekend, too. Find them and more on ColumbusMakesArt.com.
Nick is marketing, communications, & events administrator for the Arts Council. He’s also a food/travel writer penning works for Columbus Monthly, Ohio.org, Ohio Magazine, Experience Columbus and on his own site breakfastwithnick.com. Today is his 20th wedding anniversary.