Everyone has the opportunity to document their lives in their own ways. On the eve of the release of her latest collection of work, I spoke with Columbus-based poet Maggie Smith. We discussed how she writes, how the publishing industry works, the inspirations for her work, and why she chooses to stay in Columbus.
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Contemporary art and the presentation of it has traditionally been a class-based endeavor. The Wexner Center for the Arts is trying to change that through its programs and the type of work that they present. I spoke with Johanna Burton, the Center’s Executive Director about what the Wexner Center is and how you should view it, how to convince people to expose themselves to the arts, the importance of being a multi-disciplinary laboratory, and how they are pivoting in this time.
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Take your broken heart and turn it into art. This week, I sat down with Andrew Levitt, AKA Nina West, Columbus’s predominant drag queen and champion. It’s been 20 years since Andrew became Nina; high time to take stock in his career and what’s next. We discussed how he got started, the cultural phenomena of drag, the importance of being resourceful and scrappy, what’s it’s like being on Drag Race, and how he manages his career.
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The annual Beatles Marathon, now in its eleventh year, has become a holiday tradition in Columbus. Normally gathering thousands of people throughout the day at the Bluestone, the event will be streamed live online this year. On the occasion of the upcoming 11th annual Beatles Marathon, now called Sgt. Peppercorn’s Marathon, I spoke with the event’s creator and frontman, Joe Peppercorn, about how the marathon started, what it will be like this year, and how Joe prepares for the show.
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The work of an artist isn’t much different from other pursuits. You have to plan, react to change, and it doesn’t hurt if you’re in the right place at the right time. This week, we talk with cartoonist and one of the organizers of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Jeff Smith, to discuss the origins of his character Bone, the importance of getting buy-in to those that you’re accountable to, what it was like to have Bone get picked up by Netflix, and what the virtual Cartoon Crossroads Columbus will look like this year.
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In this time of consistent change and challenge, we look at how the Columbus community is standing up. Can’t Stop Columbus is a community-wide movement that tries to address some of the problems that have arisen due to the COVID-19 crisis. Co-organizer Mackenzie King joins us to discuss how the organization got started, how they’ve scaled up to 56 projects, and the importance of being authentic in their endeavors.
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When artist Laura Alexander came back to Columbus after graduate school, she thought she’d stick around for a couple months. That was ten years ago. Laura sat down to talk about why Columbus is the place she makes her work, her background, and we go behind the curtain on the art world at large.
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Who should be taking ownership over the uniqueness that is Columbus culture? Scott Woods has some ideas about that and how we should be defining it. Among his many hats (poet, organizer, journalist, etc), he’s working to curate and develop what Columbus has to offer with his biggest project to date, Streetlight Guild.
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Two years ago, when the Independents’ Day Festival wrapped up after 10 years, it left a gap in the Columbus festival scene that’s slowly been filled by other independent event producers. Festival and community organizer Cassie Young sat down this week to talk about her new endeavor, Cloud City 614, filling that gap, and how people can discover what’s going on in Columbus.
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Honing any craft takes practice. That’s the philosophy of educator, illustrator, and animator Charlotte Belland. In this week’s episode, she discusses her background, her role at the Columbus College of Art & Design, how Columbus gives to its artists, and the importance of forming habits and showing up.
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Who should we have at the table when trying to address the challenges and opportunities in Columbus? Storyteller and filmmaker Donte Woods-Spikes talks about that, being a young Black man in Columbus, and how he tries to show the importance of being present with family and friends in his work.
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Being a working artist isn’t easy. Thankfully, there are plenty of folks in Columbus to show you the way. Muralist Adam Hernandez talks about how he found his way here, the importance of mentors, and being a “real” person in the business.
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