Past Performing Arts | Music

Brian Harnetty

Shawnee, Ohio

Live Q&A | Mar 9

Virtual

Brian Harnetty

Shawnee, Ohio returns, this time in a video version using footage from a live performance to create a new experience of this Wex co-commissioned project. Stay tuned after the presentation for a live Q&A with Harnetty alongside Shawnee Mayor Bev Trovato and community member John Winnenberg.

Harnetty's Shawnee, Ohio weaves together field and archival recordings, video, images, and newly composed music to critically examine and explore issues of energy extraction, economics, and ecology in the region. As with many of his other projects (including The Star-Faced One, performed at the Wex in 2013), Harnetty drew from extensive archival recordings as well as regional music and personal testimony to create a transporting portrait that places history in dialogue with our lived experience today.

Shawnee, Ohio ​features performances from Harnetty, Paul de Jong (The Books), Anna Roberts-Gevalt (Anna and Elizabeth), and Katie Porter (Red Desert), among other distinguished musicians. The event streams live starting at 5 PM EST on March 9 with a live Q&A following; enjoy the entire presentation on this site through March 23.

Brian Harnetty is an Ohio-based interdisciplinary artist using sound and listening to foster social change. Shawnee, Ohio was given 5/5 stars from MOJO magazine and named its 2019 Underground Album of the Year.

More about the artist

More about the project

"[There is] a strong sense of engagement…in the ability to absorb oneself so deeply in the history of a place that the most trivial happenings, rather than the most dramatic turn out to be the telling ones."
The Wire (UK)
Brian Harnetty

Brian Harnetty | Photo by Jennifer Harnetty

Brian Harnetty and a band play music in the old Tecumseh Theater.

Brian Harnetty and ensemble performing at the Tecumseh Theater in Shawnee | Photo by Kevin Davison

Brian Harnetty and a band play music in front of a slideshow of old photos.

Brian Harnetty and ensemble performing for the Liquid Music Series in St. Paul, Minnesota | Photo: Jayme Halbritter Photography

Album cover for Brian Harnetty's Shawnee, Ohio.

Shawnee, Ohio album cover, courtesy of Brian Harnetty.

Photo of 2nd Street, Shawnee

2nd Street; Shawnee, Ohio. Photo courtesy of the Little Cities of Black Diamonds Archive.

An old photograph of a band.

A string band in Shawnee. Photo courtesy of the Little Cities of Black Diamond Archives.

Shawnee, Ohio​ was co-commissioned by the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, Duke Performances at Duke University, and Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati. Shawnee, Ohio​ is a project of Creative Capital, and also received support from the Ohio Arts Council.

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
L Brands Foundation
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Huntington
Nationwide Foundation
Adam R. Flatto
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease
Arlene and Michael Weiss

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Carol and David Aronowitz
Michael and Paige Crane
Axium Plastics
Fenwick & West LLP
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
KDC/ONE
M/I Homes
Ohio State Energy Partners
Regina Miracle International Ltd.
Washington Prime Group
Alene Candles
Lisa Barton
Fuel Transport
Russell and Joyce Gertmenian
Liza Kessler and Greg Henchel
Nancy Kramer
Matrix Psychological Services
Paramount Group, Inc.
Bruce and Joy Soll
Clark and Sandra Swanson
Business Furniture Installations
CASTO
E.C. Provini Co, Inc.
Garlock Printing & Converting
M-Engineering
New England Development
Our Country Home
Performance Team
Premier Candle Corporation
ProAmpac
Steiner + Associates
Textile Printing
Andrew and Amanda Wise

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Past Performing Arts

Brian Harnetty