Our boys are going back to school this week, which always makes it feel like summer is over, but the weather is still warm, pools are still open, there are outdoor markets and concerts to attend, and there’s still plenty to do in Columbus arts.

This is just a smattering of what I found in the ColumbusMakesArt.com calendars for this weekend:

• For the second year, the Columbus Symphony is traveling and performing FREE community concerts. In partnership with the Columbus Recreation & Parks, concerts will be held at Driving Park (Aug. 18), Marion-Franklin Park (Aug. 19), Dodge Park (Aug. 20) and Mayme Moore Park (Aug. 21). Bring your chairs and blankets, pack a picnic and join them at a location near you!
• I love the exhibitions that the Grange Audubon Center hosts. You can visit the center, see some local art, learn about plants and wildlife, then take a stroll through the park and the playground. They’re currently hosting Relationships with the Natural World, a show from painter and printer Karen Albanese Campbell.
  
• The Deal Breakers perform a free concert at the Columbus Commons on Thursday, Aug. 19.
• This is the second to last week for CAPA’s Summer Movie Series:
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Aug. 19)
  • East of Eden (Aug. 21)
  • Jason and the Argonauts (Aug. 22)
• The Lincoln Theatre hosts the next Club Lincoln show on Friday, Aug. 20, featuring Native Tongues, Tripp Fontaine, Quan Howell and other musical and spoken word artists.
• Friday night the Columbus Black International Film Festival kicks off with a live comedy set and film screening at ROY G BIV. The festival is a Project Support recipient from the Arts Council.
• On Saturday, Aug. 21, Cbus Libraries hosts the People’s Mural of Columbus, a celebration of the Columbus Black community held at Simakovsky Law offices on East Main Street. It’s two hours jam-packed with poets, photographers, music, a free book fair and food. It features some big names in like Hanif Abdurraquib, Bryan Moss, Barbara Fant, Scott Woods, Debbie Riguad, Donte Woods-Spikes and many others. This event also gets a Project Support grant.
• On Saturday, Aug. 21, the McConnell Arts Center pairs a concert from the Mad, Mad Men with a screening of the 1960 Rat Pack version of Ocean’s 11.
• Finally, the 13th-annual African Village Arts Festival and an accompanying exhibition opening take place this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 21-22. The Saturday festival takes place outside at 1251 Bryden Rd., while the Sunday exhibition opening is happening at the William H. Thomas Gallery.

And several things wrap up this week. Don’t miss them!

• Do your kids love Legos like mine do? This Friday, Aug. 20 is the last day to see Think Outside the Brick at the Columbus Museum of Art.
• The Cultural Arts Center also wraps up a trio of exhibitions in its galleries on Saturday, Aug. 21: Hard & Soft; Philip Sorenson’s Law, Lumber, Stone; and Sharone Putter’s The Workscapes Collection.
• Madlab Theatre (which sports a stunning new mural on its building) wraps up its annual Young Writers festival this Sunday, Aug. 22.
• Also this Sunday, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State finishes an exhibition called The Dog Show: Two Centuries of Canine Cartoons.

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. He really can’t believe this summer went so quickly.