CategoryArt

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

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to the ArtBeat of Rick McKnight CSU offers free shuttle service on 15-passenger vans tonight for ArtWalk, Rick McKnight explains, however this personal tour of Uptown’s vibrant art scene comes courtesy of the open-air cart driven by Henry Carswell. A popular Uptown Ambassador (aka “the Purple People”), Carswell calmly navigates McKnight’s itinerary. The tour is a fun, frenetic, and free-wheeling...

Youth Movement

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“The kids decided they weren’t going to put up with it anymore.” Ibrahim Mumin (left) with Chattahoochee Valley Libraries Director Alan Harkness. “How happy I was to come here and not have a seat!” Ibrahim Mumin exclaimed to an overflow audience at Mildred Terry Library in the Liberty District last night. Special guest for the free community event featuring Wayne Wiegard, author...

Arts on Parade

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Morning fog had lifted from Georgia’s gold-domed state capitol yesterday by the time Cameron Bean addressed at its front steps the group he assembled on behalf of the Columbus Cultural Arts Alliance. “Our trip here has a three-fold purpose, Bean, executive director of development at CSU, said of Arts Day activities: “Big” check presentation in the rotundaLunch & Learn tourism industry meet...

Good Viberations

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“St. EOM made up his own words, like Pasaquan and viberations,” Charles Fowler says. “We decided we wanted to bring back Artists for Pasaquan weekend but to put our own spin on it. So in the spirit of St. EOM, we renamed it a word we came up with: Pasafest.” An artist and musician, Fowler is also caretaker of Pasaquan: the surreal vision of inter-planetary utopia on 7 acres erected by mystic...

(Not) Hidden Figures

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“You can’t hide anything—it’s all out there,” Garry Pound says of the allure for artists to capture the nude human form. “You can’t fake it. You either get it, or you don’t.” Transferring the naked body into fine-art form has been the focus of live drawing sessions Pound, an acclaimed portraitist, has hosted for decades. Originally held at the Columbus Museum, these Friday morning gatherings...

Najee’s Art in Columbus (and America)

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When Najee Dorsey talks about Black Art in America, he talks not in the singular but in terms of “Us,” “We” and “Our.” “Our greatest strength is our flexibility, our agility,” the 45-year-old Arkansas native says of his critically, culturally and commercially booming business. “If we were a corporation, it would take too much time to cut through all the bureaucracy. If we’re more agile...

Words & Music, Southern Gothic Style

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“I’ve written one song off Reflections of a Golden Eye from the passage where the main guy takes his wife’s horse out riding,” Aimee Bobruk says of a songwriting process that led the Austin, Texas musician to where she sat Tuesday night, sipping wine on the front porch of  Carson McCullers’ childhood home. “He’s riding, loses control and finds his bliss,” she continues, talking during a quick...

Valued Voices: Poet Jennifer Horne and the Chattahoochee Valley Writers Conference

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Though established by an act of the state legislature in 1931, the Poet Laureate of Alabama has no specified official duties. “People have done different things with it,” Jennifer Horne, honored with the four-year designation last November, says of the position. “In general, it’s been developed to be the public face of literature for the state, one that strives to show how important the literary...

With a Little (Literacy) Help from Friends

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  To celebrate its recent installation of the Little Lending Library on its Riverfront campus, , Troy University is holding a book-drive now through Friday. This public donation campaign to fill up the cute new library just off Whitewater Way wraps up with another celebration: the grand opening of the Phenix City Food Truck Park, with the vendors lunch-hour fare paired with live music and...

Ladies Night

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“It’s the year of the woman so we wanted to do something for the ladies,” Carnel “Mr. C” Coyle explains of the inspiration for bringing together four of the top female talents in comedy to Columbus for a special one-night show Saturday at the Springer Springer Opera. “Single in the City” draws from concept developed by headliner Kiana Dancie, the TV/YouTube star best known for her hilarious takes...