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Weekend reading: July 8 edition

Melissa Starker, Creative Content & PR Manager

Jul 08, 2022

Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg face each other in a scene from Federico Fellini's film La Dolce Vita

Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Around Ohio

Painted portrait of actress Viola Davis by artist Roger Kent Groswiler

Work by Roger Kent Groswiler on view at Cap City Tattoo, image courtesy of the artist

Our summer Federico Fellini retrospective caught the attention of The Columbus Dispatch and Columbus Underground.
Saturday afternoon, Summer Jam West brings art and music to Westgate Park.
Saturday night at Cap City Tattoo, Roger Kent Groswiler, who’s currently appearing on our social feeds in support of art access, has a group show opening with Frank Lawson, Tom Hamrick, and former Wex staffer Marc Spurgeon.
Blockfort also has a group show opening Saturday: What They Found There.
Wex house DJ Spidey-X (aka Dorian Ham) will be spinning a set at sunset at Little Rock Saturday.
This weekend also brings Moonlight Market and Sunlight Market to downtown, featuring lots and lots of local makers.
Sunday afternoon, you can also head to Olde Towne East to join in the OTE Art Walk.
A Sunday gazebo set by The Coal Cave Hollow Boys launches this year’s Goodale Park Music Series.
And a Sunday afternoon reception is scheduled for Michael Bush’s solo show at High Road Gallery.
Ohio State Executive Vice President and Provost Melissa Gilliam wrote meaningfully about the importance of the arts for her blog this week.
Congrats to Wex Performing Arts team member Adam Elliott and his band Long Odds for a great feature in Chicago Reader.
Not only has local treasure This is My Suitcase released a new album, the band is making all of its old EPs available to download for free for a limited time.
Sherrie Gallery, a Short North institution and home to ceramic and fine jewelry artists, closed this week after 36 years in the neighborhood.
A much newer player in the neighborhood, Sarah Gormley Gallery, is moving downtown.
The Akron Art Museum is celebrating its centennial with a new show.
And here’s what you can look forward to from Columbus' Available Light Theatre next season.

Around the globe

Image of Barbara Kruger's "Your Body is a Battleground" billboard project for the Wexner Center for the Arts

Barbara Kruger, Your Body is a Battleground, 1990. Billboard project, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, ArtReview has a fresh consideration of Tracey Emin’s 1996 film How it Feels, along with a link to watch.
For good and bad, Barbara Kruger is having a major moment. The picture above features the artist's work on a 1990 billboard project for the Wex.
Over 40 prominent artists including Kiki Smith and Alec Soth are calling on President Biden to take a stand against Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
Protesters in London are gluing themselves to artworks again to make a point about fossil fuels.
A mysterious rock sculpture in Georgia was bombed. No word yet on who did it or whether the piece was actually the work of a satanic New World Order, as one GOP candidate for governor of the state has charged.
Here’s a consideration of how urban beautification campaigns might make some people less likely to use public spaces, looking at examples from cities such as Seoul and Chicago.
Librarians are under fire in the culture wars.
Iran is arresting filmmakers again.
Whistleblowers are calling for the Detroit Institute of the Arts to lose its accreditation.
Things are also getting ugly in the competitive world of NFTs.
And there’s trouble at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In better news, the Philadelphia nonprofit danceLogic is introducing girls of color to coding through dance.
Here’s a look at dance activism and its growth in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Here’s a profile of three individuals working to make theater more accessible.
Meet our newest obsession: a website that tells accurate time by using quotes from books.
Miranda July and Robert Longo are among the artists who chimed in on the experience of going to art school—and whether it’s worth it.
Todd Haynes says a re-release of his long-banned short Superstar will definitely happen.
A judge threw out former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore’s $95 million (?!) defamation suit against Sacha Baron Cohen.
The great Jacqueline Stewart got a promotion this week at the Academy Museum; she’s gone from chief artistic and programming officer to director and president of the institution.
Following the recent death of painter Sam Gilliam, Artnet looked at how his home base of Washington, D.C. supported him over the years.
Víctor Erice, known for the 1973 arthouse classic Spirit of the Beehive, is making his first film in 30 years.
We’re sad to report the death of groundbreaking theater director Peter Brook at the age of 97. He was the first recipient of the Wexner Prize in 1992.
Also, veteran actor James Caan passed this week at 82. Here’s a fond remembrance from Esquire.
Last but certainly not least, Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate from everyone at the Wex!