Jenny Floch exhibits at Sherrie Gallerie

Jenny Floch
Pots: An Exploration of form and glazes

at
Sherrie Gallerie
March 4 - 31. 2006

Artist reception: Saturday, March 4, 5 -7 pm



sherriegallerie.com

937 N. High Street (Short North)
Columbus, OH 43201
614 298 8580

Short North Gallery opening

I attended an opening of "Wood" at the Lindsay Gallery, in the Short North, last evening. The gallery specializes in "outsider art", also called primitive art, mostly represented by self-thaught, non-academic artists, generally working on found resources like scraps of wood or cardboard. Columbus seems to be a general focus for such art, having generated such notable outsider artists like Elijah Pierce, Hawkins and Smoky Brown among several.


LT and Chrisare two good buddies who caled me earlier that evening to invite me to the opening.
Artist Tim Hitchcock, from Annapolis, Maryland, seen here in front of some of his creations on display at the gallery

Gallery owner Duff Lindsay shows Chris Steele some works in his extensive collection.

Meanwhile, just down the street at the Camelot Cerllars Winery, Kim Elliot, doing her best Vana White imitation, was displaying her fantastic, visionary contemporary paintings

"How Big is Cordi?"

Cordelia Rose Einhorn is now one-and-a-half year old. She walks pretty well, babbles on end (we're even starting to understand some of her words), and continues to completely enchant me, her Grampa, and everyone else she meets.
Family, friends and anyone else remotely interested can view her new VIDEO, "How Big is Cordi?"
More such inf available on www.innerart.com

Candy's Transition 1

The entry below mentions the exhibit at the Zenith Gallery, but neglected to show any samples of Candy Watkin's work. The image shown here is called Transition 1. It consists of glass tubes shaped in coils containing neon gasses that are pulsed throught the tubes creating the effect of light balls traveling the lenghth of the tubes. Just a sample of the fine works displayed at the gallery exhibition below.
-charlie

Candy Watkins and more exhibit at Zenith Gallery in Washington DC

My good friend Candy Watkins, who creates wonderful neon sculptures, is off to Washington DC where she and 35 other artists are showing their works for the 28th Anniversary Exhibition, March 3 - March 28, 2006.

Reception to meet the artists: Friday, March 3, 6-9pm; Sunday, March 5, 2-5pm
info? 202 783 2963
email: art@zenithgallery.com
www.zenithgallery.com

Arnett Remembers Ed Colston - Senior and Junior

My People,

I met Eddie J. Colston, Jr. in 1980 as I began my quest to discover the roots of Black entertainers in Central Ohio. His family lived on Eastwood Avenue, down the street from my jazz mom, Emily Sawyer.

I was drawn to the Colstons because of the legacy that was established by Eddie J.Colston, Sr., a tap dancer, journalist, entertainment manager and promoter. Legend has it that his dancing days, he became the road manager for Lionel Hampton's Band, thus becoming the first Black to manage a popular orchestra during the swing era.

Perhaps the need to raise his family took him of the road, but Eddie J. Senior put his energies into promoting all things musical in Columbus. He became the amusements editor for the Ohio Sentinel during the 1940s, soliciting advertising and promoting many of the popular entertainers that came to Columbus. He and pioneer radioman Eddie Saunders were two persons that met and promoted the entertainers of all persuasions that brought their acts to the Central Ohio area during the heydays of supper clubs, concerts and nightclubs during the forties and fifties.

It is said that Eddie J. Senior and photographer Roosevelt Carter worked together and when I met Eddie Jr. and his mother, Dorothy, the collection of items in the family photo box was a who's who of entertainment. There were enough pictures to produce a book, unfortunate I never returned to duplicate the photos and book was never done. Eddie said that after his mother's death, the photos became his sister's property and he said they were now in Georgia.

Eddie Colston, Sr. died suddenly in 1960 at aged forty.

Eddie Junior was sixty-seven when he passed away last week, but he packed a heap into his life also. He was a graduate of St. Mary's High School in German Village and Cols. College of Art and Design, where he later instructed. He spent the bulk of his working years in the Cols. Recreation an Parks Department as a recreation leader and instructor to art students of all ages. Those students will be his legacy.

Jim Loeffler remembered the late 1950s when he and Colston were among the hungry visual artists who decided that they would drag their paintings out to the open space between the State of Ohio building on Front Street for an impromptu exhibition, like those in Jackson Square, New Orleans. Within a few years, the Greater Columbus Arts Festival was born.

Candy Watkins remembers Eddie as being the only color-blind painter that she ever knew. I remember the subtle dark shades and textures that he composed his canvases with.

But mainly, he and I both regreted that we were never able to collaborate on the book that should have emerged from the collection of family photographs that told the story of his father's life making the entertainment rounds in Columbus. One of those bright moments was putting Black performers, like Madam Rose Brown, Nancy Wilson and the Harmonaires on television in the pioneering days of television.

Love live the memory of the Colston Family. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Arnett Howard

(and here is another reminder from Arnett)
PS. Mardi Gras with Arnett Howard and Friends, Tuesday, February 28, 2006, 8 pm. Sunset Negril (in the Continent), 6312 Busch Blvd., across from the Movie Theaters. The food is wonderful and my friends will include Ron Henderson, drums, David Hampton, bass, Louis Salvadore, voice and the house musicians are Deighton and Gabbo, on steel drums and keyboards. I be there by six to setup and dine. Come early and avoid the rush on jerk chicken.

Hello Everyone,
Thanks for the continued support. We have some great things going on and lots of updates coming for the month of March. As luck would have it, last night I ran into Mr. Arnett Howard here at Sunset Negril. The breaking news…We have Arnett playing for Fat Tuesday. Back in the day, he introduced me to Negril as a sensational destination and his annual trips to the Negril Tree House (with 100 or so friends) were a major influence in the overall concept development. Arnett and Mardi Gras go hand in hand, so we will be having a grand Fat Tuesday celebration here on the 28th. Let's send New Orleans our positive Irie vibrations. Plan to come in, bring some friends, beads and an appetite.
Garrett Greenlee
www.SunsetNegrilExperience.com

CAPA presents The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

Thursday - Sunday
March 9 - 12, 2006

Southern Theatre

"Wilde's masterpiece simply dazzles."
-Ed Kaufman, The Hollywood Reporter

"The most clever and witty dialogue ever written in the english language." -Jim Farber, Daily Breeze

Save $10 on any ticket!*

CAPA is proud to host this limited engagement of Sir Peter Hall's new production of Oscar Wilde's comic masterpice, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, starring Academy Award-nominated Actress Lynn Redgrave as Lady Bracknell.

Brimming with wit and wisdom, Wilde's brilliant play is the tale of two young men in late 1890's England who bend the truth to add a dash of excitement to their lives, and the hilarious misadventures and romantic entanglements that ensue. Arguably Wilde's most clever work, this classic satirical romp has brought pleasure and laughter to audiences for more than a century.

* Offer not valid for Friday, March 10 at 11am, Saturday, March 11 at 8pm or on any previously purchased tickets.

Call 614.469.0939 and ask for the "N" type ticket to save!

CAPA ~ 55 E. State St. ~ Columbus, OH 43215

Printmaker Mei Tei Smith at Fort Hayes Gallery

Mei Tei Smith

Printmaking, monoprints, etchings, lithography
March 6 - March 31, 2006

Artist homecoming reception: Friday, March 3, 6-8pm
Fort Hayes Shot Tower Gallery
546 Jack Gibbs Blvd,
Columbus, Ohio
info? call 614 365 6681

Ohio Art League presents "Assembly"

Assembly
March 4-25, 2006
Abby Ferguson
Mary Richards
Curated by Mary Richards
Opening Reception Saturday March 4, 6 - 9 pm

954 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201
www.oal.org
oal@rrcol.com

CAPACITY is closing Studios, but remains in neighborhood

CAPACITY, CAPA's Youth Arts Program, will be closing the CAPACITY Studios on February 28 but we'll still be in the neighborhood.

Central Community House, our wonderful community partner, will host our CAPACITY workshops, open mics, and community garden project.

Next week at Central Community House we will hold our DJ Workshop (with BHB)
and Open Art Workshop (with Richard "Duarte" Brown) on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 pm.

Breakdance with BHB will follow at 6:30 pm.

On Wednesday, March 1 Dionne Custer and Duarte will join forces at 5:15 pm for WORDPLAY, a workshop combining writing and visual art.

These workshops for young people ages 12-19 will be held weekly.

A complete schedule update (including dine-in discussions, media art, open mics and garden art) will be posted on the CAPACITY website by March 10.

See you at Central!!

For more information about CAPACITY programs and our generous funders please visit : www.ecapacity.org

For more information about Central Community House please visit: www.cchouse.org

Women at Play presents its last production: Hungry Hearts

This message was sent in By Katherine Burkman. Women at Play has produced many wonderful and memorable productions in Columbus for te past 12 years. Sadly, we are now informed that the company is disbanding. A real loss for all who love good theatre. -charlie

Dear Friend of Women at Play.

We wanted you to know that our group is disbanding after 12 years. Although somewhat sad, we are excited about our final production, an adaptation of Francine Prose's wonderful novel HUNGRY HEARTS, which will take place March 23 at 7:30, 24 at 2:00, 25 at 8:00, 26 at 2:00, 30 at 8, 31 at 2, April 1 at 8, April 2 at 2. All at the JCC at 1125 College Ave. Tickets $20, or $15 for students/seniors/members of JCC. Group rates available as well.

The play, which we will be giving its world premiere, is a dramatic but joyous romp about a Yiddish acting company who are rehearsing THE DYBBUK in New York in 1920 and take it to South America. The leading lady gets invaded by a real dybbuk (the spirit of a dead person) and the rest of the play involves solving this problem. Mimi Chenfeld is doing choreography and Arcadiy Gips will play live violin. Attached is our poster. For tickets/information: 457-6580.

Anna Bishop photograph

This image of Anna Bishop, failed to upload with the previous article (below) charlie

Anna Bishop - another historic tribute by Arnette Howard

Anna Bishop was a great friend of Hot Times, the annual music and arts festival, and also the poet laureate of the "Listen For The Jazz- Key Notes in Columbus History". Her poem: "That's Jazz" is a dedication printed on the opening page of this book that chronicles the history of Jazz in Columbus in collected oral histories, personal memories and family photo albums. Arnette Howard was a major contributor to the book. Much of the material included was culled from his extensive collection of stories and artifacts. Once again he sends us a fascinating bit of Columbus history.


My People,

I give my greetings with a heavy heart this day; my friend Eddie Colston, Jr. died yesterday morning. Eddie was a noted painter and educator, teaching at the Martin Janis Center, part of the Columbus recreation and Parks Department. His father, Eddie Colston, Sr., was an entertainer and journalist and much of his writing and photgraphy has helped me uncover the legacy of Columbus' Black entertainers. Eddie Jr. is to be honored with a funeral mass on Saturday at St. Dominic Parish on North Twenty-five Street.

The Mother of Black History in Columbus is Anna Bishop. In addition to being an educator in Columbus schools, a singer, poet, composer, actress and tireless community activist, she was the author of Beyond Poindexter Village: The Blackberry Patch.

In 1982, the first of four parts of her writings were published by the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Beyond Poindexter Village chronicled the community that began after W.W.I when Black southerners moved north to take advantage of the industrial boom that was occurring in many midwestern cities. The Blackberry Patch was settled in East Columbus bordering Long Street, Mount Vernon Avenue, Ohio Avenue and Mink Alley.

According to the book, southerners brought strange customs and cultural patterns to Columbus. "On warm days different people came through the streets selling different things. The watermelon man drove a flat bed truck with a hand made sign that said 'Georgia.' You could hear him coming, singing, 'Watermelon, watermelons! Georgia watermelons, red, ripe, red watermelons!"

Jake and Lena, Italian immigrants, had a horse drawn wagon and they sold vegetables. The people on Champion Avenue knew what Jake meant when he called out, "Epple! Epple! Good, juicy red Epple!" All of the people in the neighborhood would run out to get fresh apples, green beans, corn and potatoes.

One man rang a bright metal hand bell as he walked along the streets and all of the children ran out to the musical sound. The scissors grinder carried a contraption on his back that was machinery for sharpening knives and scissors, screwdrivers for umbrella repairing and for fixing things. He was their science and mechanics teacher.

When the rag man called out, "Iron, rags, glass," the people in the Blackberry Patch knew they could exchange the things that they had been collecting in buckets around the neighborhood for cash. The rag man was the original recycling business.

In her four volumes Anna Bishop interviewed the golden agers, born in the south at the beginning of the century, who had the recipes that helped families survive the terrible times of the depression years of poverty. She documented the details of neighborhood business, theaters, nightclubs, transportation and personalities.

One fascinating businessman was James Albert Jackson, a successful feed merchant in the day when Columbus citizens kept small flocks of chickens in their backyards. He and his business partner, James Williams, opened the Empress Theater at 768 East Long Street in the 1920s. When a theater owner on Mount Vernon insisted on keeping Black customers out, Mr. Jackson said that he'd fix them, "I'll build a theater better than any one in the United States."

When the Ogden (Lincoln) Theater opened in 1928, the whole interior took you back to Egypt with marble pillars carved and painted to look like Egyptian antiques. The carpeting was plush and the Club Lincoln was where Sammy Stewart's Orchestra performed and little Sammy Davis, Jr. was four years old when he made his first impromptu appearance onstage.

Anna Bishop passed in 2004, but the legacy that she not only left with her active life but documented in Beyond Poindexter Village, continues to inspire me.

A

http://creolefunk.com/historical/blackhistory/blackhistory.html

Winter over?

Here's proof! These yellow and white crocusses had the temerity to poke out of the ground in my front yard and show off color on Febryary 23.

Oh well, the temperarture is supposed to dip down into the single digits overnight. Brrrr. Hope these little suckers survive that, and the rest of us too. This is Ohio where we get weather... all kinds... whenever...
Keep the hope.