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Weekend Reading: August 16 Edition

Melissa Starker, Creative Content & PR Manager

Aug 16, 2024

Watercolor painting of a group of people populating a wood-walled space.

Top of page: Linda Gall, The Art Lovers, 2019 (detail). Acrylic on panel 24 x 24 in., courtesy of the artist

Around Ohio

A Black woman wearing a black suit and a braided updo squats with arms extended as she looks down toward the camera.

Najoura, courtesy of the artist

If you haven’t stopped by yet, this month’s Friends of the UA Library Art Sale is ongoing through August 25.
Sunday, our neighbors at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum are hosting the Cartoon Library Book Sale.
Congrats to local Heather Moore for being among the nine artists who won a 2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities.
And to fellow local treasure Hanif Abdurraqib for making Barack Obama’s summer reading list.
Columbus Underground profiled local musician Najoura, who’ll be performing next Sunday at the Columbus Women and Girls Fest.
The Dispatch wrote up Perennial Movement Group, which is dedicated to creating movement opportunities for people over 50.
Netflix reportedly found a vampire coven in Dayton.
Columbus Monthly covered retired CCAD Professor John Kortlander and the creative hub he’s built in Athens with his wife, painter and CCAD Provost Julie Taggart.
The Greater Columbus Arts Council announced its latest artist support grants, given to a wide range of local artists including Leni D. Anderson and Raeghan Buchanan.
GCAC also announced a new call for community reviewers to help judge upcoming grant applications.
And Wednesday, the grants agency is hosting a workshop on application writing for artists.
Also Wednesday, Contemporary Art Matters and Sarah Gormley Gallery are teaming up to open a brief show of new works by Linda Gall with an evening reception at Gormley.
And one more for Wednesday: Columbus Collage Collective is having a collage party at 83 Gallery to celebrate its first birthday.
Thursday’s a good day for a road trip to Cincinnati for the Fotofocus Biennial Preview. The Wex is a Fotofocus partner this year with our upcoming presentations of photography by Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Ming Smith.
Next Saturday, Urban Arts Space will hold a reception for its new show Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
Also next Saturday, Gravity is hosting an epic showcase of work by local filmmakers including former Wex Film/Video Studio Editor Mike Olenick.

Around the Globe

Illustration of Kamala Harris is various shades of blue, with the word “forward” below it.

Shepard Fairey, Forward, courtesy of the artist

Shepard Fairey created a new portrait of a presidential hopeful and made a hi-resolution download available for non-commercial use.
Attendees of next week’s Democratic National Convention will be greeted by new public art from Chicago artists such as Noel Mercado and Esperanza Rosas.
Slovakia is seeing mass protests demanding the resignation of Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová for promoting a neo-fascist agenda.
Vienna’s museums saw a surge in attendance after they offered free admission to ticketholders for a series of Taylor Swift concerts canceled due to a terrorist threat.
A suspect has been arrested in connection with alleged arson at Baltimore’s Jewish Museum of Maryland.
There was a big resignation at the Mütter Museum.
The Rothko Chapel is closed indefinitely due to damage from Hurricane Beryl.
Vogue turned its attention to art dogs.
A judge in California ruled that artists can sue AI companies for using their work.
The Cut focused on a booming subreddit devoted to using Photoshop to help process grief.
StoryCorps is seeking personal stories of important figures in Black families for the new series Brightness in Black.
H/t to Art Possible Ohio for sharing info on Thursday’s free virtual screening of the film Telephone with filmmakers Heather Shaw and Krishna Washburn.
The New York Times published an exposé on Shen Yun Performing Arts, the dance troupe founded to spread the message of the Falun Gong religion.
This week brought a chance to get to know viral dance artist Sarah McCreanor, aka Smac.
Vox offered the full story on how controversial Australian breakdancer Raygun wound up at the Olympics.
Speaking of the Paris Olympics, the host city brought in some hostile architecture ahead of its international celebration of athletic excellence.
NPR spoke up in defense of brutalist architecture.
The Guardian offered a visual history of the movie poster.
Artforum dug into its archives for an interview with Brian Eno ahead of the new doc about the musician from Helvetica helmer Gary Hustwit. Both the film and the filmmaker will be at the Wex October 7.
The practices of Sing Sing director Greg Kwedar could help inspire a new model for pay equity in filmmaking.
Filmmaker Brad Bird’s animated sci-fi noir Ray Gunn will, eventually, be available via Netflix.
GOAT actress Gena Rowlands passed away at the age of 94. Among the many tributes to Rowlands is this one from film writer Sheila O’Malley.