Weekend Reading: December 6 Edition

Around Ohio

ICYMI, local authors including Damon Mosley, Maggie Smith, and Scott Woods shared recommendations for who on your holiday gift list might like the books they have available at the Wexner Center Store.

Ohio ranked 12th in arts vibrancy in the 2024 SMU State of the Arts report.

Columbus Underground featured local ceramicist Megs LeVesseur.

Jason Hines talked with The Dispatch about Radio Unbound, his project that aims to keep the spirit of WWCD alive.

Axios Columbus covered the local organizations that are hopping onto Bluesky—including the Wex.

Tuesday brings a conversation between authors Sharon Short and Andrew Welsh-Huggins to The Book Loft.

Thursday evening, No Place Gallery hosts an opening reception for Wheatland, a solo exhibition by Jacob Mason-Macklin.

Also Thursday, Columbus Collage Collective is having a holiday card collage party at Wild Cat!

And there’s an opening Thursday for Ohio Art League’s exhibition Mindful: The Art of Gratitude at Broad Street Presbyterian Church.

Friday, Urban Arts Space has the Poetry Ball, a night of inspiration curated by Felicia Derosa and Travis Mclerking.

Across the river from that, next Friday is Franklinton Fridays, with attractions including smallworks 2024 at ROY G BIV, a holiday group art show at Rehab Tavern, and a poster show by Allison Chapman at Secret Studio.

The following day, 400 West Rich will have its annual Festivus celebration.

Also Saturday is the WOCO Holiday Market at Zora’s House.

And Saturday night, you can join Krampusfeast!! at Witchlab Lounge while checking out the space’s latest exhibition, Cold Hard Chicken Legs of Baba Yaga.

Around the Globe

• The Wex exhibition Nancy Holt: Power Systems, opening February 7, made ARTnews’ list of 40 shows to see in the season ahead.
• The news outlet also revealed the winners of its inaugural ARTnews Awards, including Lifetime Achievement recipient Magdalena Campos-Pons.
• Jasleen Kaur won the 2024 Turner Prize.
• Cameroonian-born Swiss curator Koyo Kouoh has been named artistic director of the 2026 Venice Biennale.
• A current show at MoMA honors the institution’s cofounder, Lillie P. Bliss.
• A crater on the planet Mercury has been named for Ruth Asawa.
• Philadelphia’s Weitzman Jewish Museum will be joining the Smithsonian Institution.
• The Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott considered the role of artists in dark historical times.
• Visitors to the 2024 edition of an annual exhibition held at East Tennessee State University’s Reece Museum are being asked to sign a waiver before entering.
• In his later years, was Claude Monet capable of seeing the ultraviolet spectrum?
• In the latest story of blurred lines between dance and visual art, choreographer Diego Vega Solorza is showing items and documentation from his performances at this weekend’s Art Basel Miami Beach.
• The movement art of parkour is taking off in Gaza.
• Wired shared how advancements in science are reinforcing that music can improve health outcomes.
• Two information researchers called out the parallels between right wing media and improv.
• A panel of judges upheld the ruling that TikTok will be banned in the US if it isn’t sold.
• Variety wondered whether Hollywood’s addiction to sequels is cannibalizing its future.
• John Waters released his much-anticipated annual list of the year’s best films.
• Winners at the 2024 Gotham Awards included A Different Man for Best Feature and Unorthodocs 2024 selection No Other Land for Best Documentary Feature.
• We might not have seen the last of the project director Todd Haynes recently scrapped after star Joaquin Phoenix walked away.
• Director Spike Jonez got cute with Coldplay and 99 year-old performer Dick Van Dyke.
• Slate revealed the similarities between the critically acclaimed drama Conclave and the process by which critics groups choose their award winners.
• Here’s an interesting look at the afterlife of abandoned Redbox machines.
• T Magazine did a rundown of “The Freaks Who Rule New York,” including interior designer Ricky Clifton and actor Jackie Hoffman.
• Mocha Mousse is the 2025 Pantone Color of the Year.
• “Brain rot” is the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year.