These days we are in full space mode. Our youngest’s latest obsession is space travel, which coincides perfectly with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this Saturday, July 20. We’ve been watching videos of shuttle launches, reading books about Neil Armstrong and we rented the Apollo 11 documentary released this spring (it’s amazing, btw). We gave Owen the “Women of NASA” Lego set, while I just bought the three-foot-tall Apollo Saturn V rocket set. (Insert “Treat Yoself” emoji.)
This Saturday, the Ohio History Center marks the anniversary with a moon landing celebration, complete with rocket launches and a talk from Dr. Kathy Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space!
I’m also searching ColumbusMakesArt.com for more things to do this weekend. Here are eight more arts activities I’ve discovered!
- Jazz & Rib Fest returns to the riverfront July 19-21 with a huge collection of live music and BBQ.
- On July 17, Evolution Theatre Company opens The View UpStairs, a musical exploring the deadly fire in the UpStairs Lounge gay bar in the 1970s.
- The Salty Caramels play at the Columbus Museum of Art on July 18. It’s like a neighborhood block party, complete with good food and drinks!
- That same night, MojoFlo and Funk Worthy play a free concert at the Columbus Commons.
- Having just wrapped a successful run of Little Women, Actors’ Theatre opens As You Like It on Thursday, July 18. It’s one of my favorite Shakespearean comedies; I’ve seen a couple different Royal Shakespeare Company productions over the years. And I still have a mug emblazoned with the “All the world’s a stage” speech; I bought it in eighth grade on a trip to the Stratford (Ontario) Festival.
- This month, Highline Coffee in Worthington features an exhibition of Kelly Dawson’s mixed media work. I spied it this morning when I picked up my coffee, and it’s beautiful!
- On Friday, July 19, artists Grant and Erin Garmezy are doing a free glass-blowing demonstration at Glass Axis.
- Honey & Blue performs a free show at Sundays at Scioto on Sunday, July 21. They were fantastic at the Columbus Arts Festival, and I look for any chance to see them live.
Make sure you tag your local arts adventures with #artmakescbus!
Nick is Marketing, Communications, & Events Administrator for the Arts Council. He also leads culinary tours and blogs about breakfast at breakfastwithnick.com. His new Apollo Saturn V Lego set has exactly 1969 pieces. Get it?