I mentioned last week that I have the Community Arts Partnership Awards on my mind, and I still do. This week I’ve been thinking about our Columbus Makes Art Excellence awards.
These awards are an opportunity to acknowledge arts organizations who not only develop excellent programming (as so many do), but also take risks and embrace innovation. This time of year, we at the Greater Columbus Arts Council reflect on the past year and revisit some of our favorite experiences. It is a time when we are always filled with pride.
Tom Katzenmeyer, president of the Greater Columbus Arts Council
As we looked back however, I couldn’t help but look forward. Last year was an incredible year for the arts and this year is shaping to raise the bar even higher.
We are already in the middle of a stellar fall season. For example, did you know that Columbus is the only Midwest stop for Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957 the exhibition that opened last week at the Wexner Center for the Arts?
Featuring 200 works by 90 artists, this exhibition explores America’s most important artistic legacies and chronicles Black Mountain College, which became a crucial incubator and gathering place for future giants of contemporary art.
This week I’m looking forward to seeing BalletMet, the Columbus Symphony, and Opera Columbus collaborate again with Twisted 2. I am a big fan of collaborations and these three powerhouses team up to launch their 2016-2017 seasons with a transformative production that you cannot see anywhere else.
I’m also looking forward to the continuation of the August Wilson Festival, which launched last winter. Currently Wilson’s play Fences is on stage at the Garden Theatre. According to the Short North Stage’s website we still have The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II and Radio Golf to look forward to in October, November and December.
October brings an unique, inaugural event, Columbus Open Studio and Stage (COSS), which invites the public to step into select Columbus artists’ studios, behind the scenes at local theaters and to explore community art collectives. COSS gives people a chance to peek behind the scenes of the creative process, while also providing them with an opportunity to talk with and get to know local artists. With its focus on local artists and taking people behind the scenes of the artmaking process, this event was a perfect fit for a partnership with Art Makes Columbus/Columbus Makes Art initiative.
October also ushers in the second-annual Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, an event that celebrates the rich history of comics in Columbus and draws attention to the city as a hub for the comics industry.
I can’t possibly do justice to all of the stellar events coming up in our city this fall. I’m happy that we have helped build the ColumbusMakesArt.com site so that all of our arts organizations, groups and collectives have a free place to enter their events so that we can see the incredible range of arts offerings in Columbus.
And, I hope you will join us in celebrating the excellent arts in Columbus at the Community Arts Partnership Awards, Oct. 13, at COSI.
— Tom Katzenmeyer, connect with Tom on LinkedIn.
