fall arts
Photo by Andy brown PhotogrAPhy
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
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PHOTO BY WILL JONES
P en s to P ic tures Writer-directors from the dayton correctional institution bring short films to the Wexner center for a screening and dialogue on art and social change By Andy downing
during the Sept. 6 event). “I went in and met [Chukwu] and she told me what she wanted to do, and I was like, ‘I’m all on board.’” As the course progressed, the women of DCI adapted their short stories into screenplays before shifting into director mode, where, even incarcerated, they were able to remain hands-on throughout the entire process, making casting choices, selecting shooting locations and blocking scenes. (Each writer-director was paired with a co-director who was charged with handling on-location film shoots.) Fully aware of the difficulty inherent in opening oneself up in the writing process, Chukwu would start each class with an affirmation period during which the women would embrace their strength, skill and self-worth, allowing any accumulated self-doubts to evaporate. “It was a reminder of our worthiness and greatness,”
Chukwu said. “It was important in reestablishing our humanity.” “One of the women said, ‘[The affirmations are] about breaking down walls,’” said Jennifer Lange, curator of the film/video studio program at the Wexner Center, which partnered with Pens to Pictures to assist with post-production work on the five films. “And once you walk into that room, all the walls are broken down, and it’s like I’m a curator doing a studio visit with an artist. I’m not in a prison anymore.” During class, Chukwu also shared stories from her own journey, including struggles with severe depression and suicidal thoughts. “It let them know I was willing to make myself vulnerable,” she said, “and this was a reciprocal kind of exchange.” The women responded in kind with unvarnished scripts that tackled issues ranging from sexual abuse (in “The
Devastating Game,” which Fears described as “not fully my story, but close,” a young girl endures years of abuse at the hands of her brother) to the anxieties devouring a jobless young woman attempting to find work in order to care for her two young children (“Bang,” written and directed by Kamisha Thomas). “I was surprised at how raw the films were,” said Wexner Center studio editor Paul Hill, who handled post-production edits on the five films, making weekly trips to DCI for nearly four months to screen various rough cuts and accept director notes. “They were so interested in bringing awareness to the various issues they were confronted with, be it addiction or loss or abuse.” Fears, for one, said the idea of tackling such difficult subject matter was terrifying but essential.
Filming taking place on set.
PHOTO BY KAMERON DAVIS
ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
rounds of revisions — the group was pared back to five: Fears, Kamisha Thomas, Tyra Patterson, Jamie Ochs and Aimee Wissman. According to Fears, she entered into writing fully believing she would be one of those women who walked away from the challenge. “It took a lot of courage to revisit [the writing process] because it touched on what happened so many years ago with my mother tearing up my story,” Fears said. “I had the assumption that I would write a story, Chinonye would say it wasn’t good enough, and then I could walk away and have my peace, like, ‘Well, I tried.’ But that didn’t happen.” Owing to the dedication of those who stuck it out through multiple, intensive critiques, and at the urging of DCI warden’s assistant Vivian Covington, who served as a steward and champion of the program, Chukwu abandoned plans to shoot a single movie, opting to have each writer direct her own short film — a massive undertaking that led to stress-induced nightmares (in one, Chukwu envisioned herself locked alone in the prison) and countless sleepless nights. “Early on in the screenwriting process, Ms. Covington took me aside and said, ‘We can’t really choose just one. Everybody has a story that’s worthy of being told,’” said Chukwu, who will also be appearing at the Wexner event. “That was when the program as we know it was really born.” “I was in my office one day and the warden ran in and said, ‘This is for you. You have to come here and meet this lady,’” Covington said during a midAugust event at the Wex where two Pens to Pictures shorts were screened alongside rough footage from a planned documentary tracing the process of creating the films (a slightly longer version of the doc will premiere
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
a child, Beverly Fears turned to the pen as a means of dealing with trauma, working on a nonfiction story about her experiences with abuse. At least, that is, until a draft of it was discovered by her mother. “I always wanted to write my story … but one day my mother found it when she was cleaning my room, and she wasn’t happy with what was written, so she tore it up,” Fears said by phone from her home in Columbus. “That killed the writer in me for a long time.” Fears said she spent many of the ensuing years feeling “invisible,” finally recovering a sense of identity when she took part in the Pens to Pictures program beginning in late 2015, at the tail end of a four-year stint spent incarcerated at the Dayton Correctional Institution (DCI). (Fears was released in March.) “I had already been healed in the areas I was abused and hurt and beaten down … but [the program] helped me rediscover my voice,” said Fears, who wrote and directed the short film “The Devastating Game,” which will be shown at the Wexner Center on Wednesday, Sept. 6 as part of a film screening and director’s dialogue on art and social change. “It was the first time I really got back to writing.” Pens to Pictures, launched by Wright State University assistant professor of motion pictures Chinonye Chukwu in late 2015, was initially conceived as a writing class where participating inmates at DCI would be given an opportunity to craft individual screenplays, and at the end of the course the group would join forces to complete a single short film. The class started with nine or 10 women, who were each tasked with writing a short story, which Chukwu then critiqued. Over the course of several months — and numerous
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PHOTO BY KASEY HOSP
Pens to Pictures has shown me my teaching doesn’t just have to take place in a college classroom. it made me think about why i teach in the spaces i teach in … and added another layer of purpose.
Chinonye ChukWu
ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
Chinonye Chukwu (left) offers instruction.
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“Women go through things that can be complex, or are never spoken of. It’s a way to shine a light on the struggles women go through, and to show them they’re not alone,” Fears said. “It’s important women don’t feel overlooked or invisible. I spent a big part of my life feeling invisible, which is devastating in itself. It’s important to feel seen and recognized and valuable and real.” Though each woman was intricately involved in her film’s creation, the prison environs bred certain limitations. There wasn’t a dedicated space for the class to meet each week, and the room could shift depending on prison needs. The same was true of the inmates. Midway through the process, Tyra Patterson, who wrote and directed “Love or Loyalty,” which itself is set in a prison, was transferred from DCI to a facility in Cleveland.
Access to technology was also limited — there was only a single prison computer with editing software, and nothing could be saved or stored on it — so the editing took place at the Wexner Center production studios. In addition, Chukwu said it was a constant struggle knowing that at the end of each class she had the good fortune to return home while her students were ushered back to their respective cells. “I was in a very privileged space where I’m not incarcerated,” she said, “and one of the ways we were able to create a safe space was by acknowledging all of that.” As the class progressed, Chukwu said there were many times she adopted a student’s role, embracing the opportunity to have any long-held beliefs or practices challenged. “Pens to Pictures has shown me my teaching doesn’t just have to take place in a college
classroom,” she said. “It made me think about why I teach in the spaces I teach in … and added another layer of purpose.” More recently, Chukwu started teaching a film course at a juvenile detention facility in Springfield, Ohio, and she’s considered introducing a Pens to Pictures-like program for her young students there. She also hopes to bring Pens to Pictures into prisons nationwide in the coming years. It’s a sharp growth curve for an idea that hatched small in September 2015 when Chukwu, who volunteered on Patterson’s case prior to shepherding her through the Pens to Pictures process, visited DCI and was struck by a simple realization: Most of the women’s stories would remain locked up with them. “Those stories would never leave prison walls,” she said. “We all want to be seen and heard, so
why not create this opportunity for them?” Despite initial reservations, Fears is grateful for the program, which served as a reminder of her strength — “I wasn’t aware that I had the ability to overcome obstacles,” she said — and reignited a love for writing nearly extinguished in childhood. In the coming months, Fears even said she hopes to trace her knotted path as a survivor through an autobiography, the first draft of which turned up in the trash at her mother’s hands. “Things happen, but it doesn’t have to defeat you, and it doesn’t have to be the end of you. You can overcome,” said Fears, who, after her March release from DCI, made her first stop the Potter’s House-Dayton International Ministries in order to pray with her family. “I found that [strength] in my relationship with a higher power. I truly
believe, for myself, if I didn’t have a relationship with a higher power, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story.” This relationship carries over to the big screen in “The Devastating Game,” where the protagonist, searching for courage in the midst of an emotional breakdown, grasps at a cross dangling from a simple chain around her neck. It’s a smallbut-powerful moment that signals a deep, burning hope amid all the surrounding pain, turmoil and upheaval — kind of like Pens to Pictures.
Wexner Center for the Arts Mershon AuditoriuM 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6 1871 N. High St., Campus wexarts.org
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
Photo by Andy brown PhotogrAPhy
“Shots Fired" by Marshall Shorts
“BLK PWR MixtaPe” A small handful of recent utterances have been flagplanting moments for black artists in Columbus. Among them are Scott Woods’ “Holler,” an every-day-for-amonth display of black creativity, and Marshall Shorts’ Black Creatives Manifesto. Out of the latter comes “BLK PWR Mixtape: A Black Art Exhibition by Black Artists,” as local black makers explore themes from the aforementioned Manifesto, celebrating the history of black art and announcing a coming future. This show opens during the annual Creative Control Fest. New Vision Dance Co.
Opens Sept. 8 162 N. 6th St., Downtown blockfortcolumbus.com
can’t-Miss events
Photo by dArlene delbecq
By JiM fischeR
The arts scene in Columbus continued to create on its summer vacation. Regardless, the onset of fall brings with it a kind of renewed vigor among its makers, participants and patrons. With that in mind, here’s a quick-hit look at 25 cool art events happening this fall to further whet your art-petite.
Steve Hackman
“tchaiKovsKy v. DRaKe” The Columbus Symphony Orchestra continues a recent tradition of bringing classical music and hip-hop together courtesy Steve Hackman’s program. Three vocalists and a rapper will join the orchestra as it presents the music of the Russian composer’s “Symphony No. 5” with Drake hits including “Started from the Bottom” and “Find Your Love.”
ohio theatRe
Sept. 15 39 E. State St., Downtown columbussymphony.com
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BLocKfoRt
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2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
“Cindy Sherman: imitation of Life” Photography, personality and self-image come together in this career retrospective of the work of acclaimed artist Cindy Sherman. From her early work employing a variety of techniques to make herself over as imagined and generic B-movie actors to her 2016 series in which she takes the form of aging Hollywood divas, the pieces are imaginative, thought-provoking and visually captivating. This is the only exhibition of this collection outside of Los Angeles.
Wexner Center for the artS
ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
Sept. 16-Dec. 31 1871 N. High St., Campus wexarts.org
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“Untitled #100” by Cindy Sherman
PHOTO COurTesy Of THe arTisT and MeTrO PiCTures, new yOrk
Photographer James Friedman made this series of works in the early ’80s, a colorful counterpoint to historical images of these horrific places that capture tourists and survivors visiting one of 12 sites. In addition to bright color, sunlight and smiles often provide a striking contrast to the tragedy and human suffering associated with these Nazi camps. Angela Meleca brings this once-again-timely collection to her space this fall.
aNgela meleCa gallery Sept. 16-Oct. 28 144 E. State St., Downtown angelamelecagallery.com
this masterwork by British composer Benjamin Britten opens Opera Columbus’ 2017-2018 season. Based on the Henry James novella of the same title, the story follows a governess hired to oversee three children in a household full of secrets. Britten’s music combines tonal work with atonality, a perfect complement to the uncomfortable aspects of the story. The production will feature two singers from the company’s partnership with the Juilliard School.
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
“12 Nazi “the turN of the sCrew” CoNCeNtratioN Camps” Yes, there is English-language opera, and
southerN theatre Sept. 27-Oct. 1 21 E. Main St., Downtown operacolumbus.org
CartooN Crossroads Columbus This now-instantly-recognizable staple of the Columbus Arts scene moves a few weeks earlier in the calendar for 2017. Hosted by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library, the fourday festival celebrates animation, comics, publishing and all things ’toon, with featured artists this year including Derf Backderf, Kat Fajardo and Columbus Museum of Art Columbus Comics Residency recipient Laura Park. Sessions, screenings, exhibitions and networking are the order of the week at arts spaces around town.
billy irelaNd CartooN library aNd museum Sept. 28-Oct. 1 1813 N. High St., Campus cartooncrossroadscolumbus.com Derf Backderf
ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
photo by Fred Squillante
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Photo by Rod Millington
“The SighT of MuSic”
What does music look like? Not notated music, but what visions does it evoke in the mind’s eye? Synesthesia — the activation of one part of the brain following the stimulation of another — is the next step in answering this question. Artists will present works based on the colors, shapes and lines produced in the mind by music. Lectures and a Richard Lopez-commissioned composition will be part of this fall show at the CAC.
culTural arTS cenTer
Sept. 29-Nov. 4 139 W. Main St., Downtown culturalartscenteronline.org
John cleeSe A generation of Americans knows John Cleese as the originator of clever recurring roles on “Cheers,” “Will & Grace” and the like … is something you might say if his work with comic legends Monty Python’s Flying Circus wasn’t still central to popular culture. Cleese himself will be in Columbus in September, chatting, telling stories and answering audience questions, all coinciding with a screening of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
John Cleese
OHIO : The Start
of it All
ohio TheaTre Original Children’s Book Illustrations celebrating the great state of Ohio from the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum Curated by Dan Chudzinski, Mazza Museum
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JULY 27 – OCTOBER 14, 2017
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Visit the Riffe Gallery in Downtown Columbus • FREE ADMISSION EXHIBITION LOCATION
Vern Riffe Center for Government & the Arts 77 S High St, First Floor Lobby
RIFFE GALLERY HOURS
Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thurs 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sat 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Closed Sunday and all state holidays
For more information Visit riffegallery.org Call: 614-644-9624
Shing Yin khor This visiting artist from Los Angeles will recreate one of her most recent installation works inside 934 Gallery this October. The piece by the illustrator/ cartoonist/sculptor will include a divination board on the floor of the gallery with which patrons can interact.
934 gallerY
Opens Oct. 6 934 Cleveland Ave., Milo-Grogan 934.gallery
cJo 45Th anniverSarY exTravaganza The Columbus Jazz Orchestra turns 45 this season, and Byron Stripling and the band have big things planned. The season kicks off with concerts featuring frequent CJO collaborator and composer/conductor extraordinaire John Clayton, sax-man Joshua Redman and Columbus native Micah Thomas. The programs will include a commissioned world premiere by Clayton featuring star-in-the-making Thomas at the piano.
SouThern TheaTre Oct. 12-15 21 E. Main St., Downtown jazzartsgroup.org
Sept. 30 39 E. State St., Downtown capa.com
naked claSSicS We dug into Naked Classics with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra Music Director David Danzmayr back in the spring, and it’s clear he’s a fan of the concept. Part fresh-and-fun music appreciation lesson (with some theory) and all concert, Danzmayr relishes the idea of providing this kind of look at a particular piece of music. Naked Classics is returning this fall to take a closer look at Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5,” perhaps the world’s most wellknown piece of classical music.
SouThern TheaTre
Oct. 6 21 E. Main St., Downtown promusicacolumbus.org
Image credit: Kevin Luthardt, Zoom!, pages 14-15, acrylic, 22” x 28”
The Gallery is supported by these media sponsors:
Photo by StePhen PaRiSeR
Columbus Jazz Orchestra’s Byron Stripling
A one-time bastion of the Short North arts scene, ACME Art Gallery opened in 1987, eventually spawning other arts organizations and providing a space for many of Columbus’ most popular artists. This fall, with the help of the Vanderelli Room, ACME marks its 30th anniversary. An exhibition will be bookended by two programs — the first a recreation of the gallery’s popular Cafe Ashtray of the early ’90s, and the second an art auction.
thE VAndErElli rooM
Oct. 13-21 218 McDowell St., Franklinton thevanderelliroom.com
“pArAllEl ConnECtions” BalletMet Columbus, the Ohio State University Department of Dance and the Wexner Center for the Arts will collaborate on this two-night contemporary-dance presentation. Professional and student dancers will perform separately (BalletMet offering James Kudelka’s “The Man in Black” and OSU dancers presenting the work of Merce Cunningham) and then combine for a work by noted Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin titled “Minus 16.”
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
“ACME Art CoMpAny rEsurrECtEd”
MErshon AuditoriuM Oct. 20-21 1871 N. High St., Campus balletmet.org
“BEyond iMprEssionisM” A partnership with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao brings this comprehensive exhibition to the Columbus Museum of Art. Comprising more than 120 individual pieces, “Beyond Impressionism” examines the Paris art scene of the late 19th century via the works of many of the greatest practitioners of Neo-Impressionism, Symbolism and Nabis. Visually stunning and thematically daring, this exhibit bridges a bevy of social, political and religious movements of the time.
ColuMBus MusEuM of Art Oct. 21-Jan. 21, 2018 480 E. Broad St., Downtown columbusmuseum.org
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2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
Amber Knicole
PHOTO BY Eric AlBrEcHT
“come TogeTher”
masha hamilTon
New Vision Dance Co. marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band with a program of choreography set to and inspired by the music of the Fab Four. World premiere works by founder and Artistic Director Melissa Gould and company dancers will be augmented by pianist Abhy Devalapura, the New Albany High School A Cappella Choir and other guest artists.
This journalist/author’s recent “What Changes Everything” is a work of fiction inspired by, incidentally, the armed and political conflict in Afghanistan, where Hamilton has worked as Director of Communications for the U.S. Embassy. The book weaves together stories of varied and disparate characters as Hamilton brings the impact of the unrest home to each.
mccoy cenTer For The arTs
“Dreamgirls”
“ramala”
Felicia Derosa
The hit movie and stage musical gets the Short North Stage treatment. You know the play is based loosely on the story of the Supremes; you know the music is big, beautiful, Motowninspired pop-R&B; you know the story is full of the pitfalls, laughter and triumph that makes a stage musical enjoyable. But did you know that the singer of local soul-funk outfit MojoFlo, Amber Knicole, is booked to play Effie White?
The Ohio State University School of Music’s Opera and Lyric Theatre presents this never-beforeproduced work by early 1900s composer/ethnomusicologist Charles Wakefield Cadman. The feature is based on forms Cadman encountered in his time living with Omaha and Winnebago tribes of Native Americans. Katie Graber will discuss her research into this “Indianist” work, alternating with scenes and songs from the opera.
DeRosa, a local artist and adjunct faculty member at CCAD who identifies as a trans woman, will be featured in this inventive Milo-Grogan gallery in November, which also happens to be National Trans Awareness Month.
garDen TheaTer
Weigel auDiTorium
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Oct. 26-Nov. 19 1187 N. High St., Short North shortnorthstage.org
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Nov. 1 1866 College Rd. N., Campus music.osu.edu
934 gallery
Opens Nov. 3 934 Cleveland Ave., Milo-Grogan 934.gallery
Nov. 4 100 E. Dublin-Granville Road, New Albany newvisiondanceco.org
suzanne silver CCAD welcomes this multimedia artist to its Project Room. Silver blends traditional and non-traditional elements to examine what she calls “the structure of visual language,” including Morse code and semaphore, for example. Silver will be on campus for a presentation on Nov. 16.
ccaD Beeler gallery
Nov. 9-Jan. 2, 2018 60 Cleveland Ave., Downtown beelergallery.org
ThurBer house
Nov. 14 77 Jefferson Ave., Downtown thurberhouse.org
“lines/eDges: Frank sTella on PaPer” The Pizzuti Collection will host two exhibitions this fall, including this collection of work by the American painter/sculptor/ printmaker. The exhibition will feature experiments on paper that advanced Stella’s Black series, color woodcuts and screen prints from the 1980s. Also presented will be the artist’s “Moby Dick Deckle Edges,” a series of nine, large-scale works based on the Herman Melville novel.
PizzuTi collecTion
Nov. 17- April 26, 2018 632 N. Park St., Short North pizzuticollection.org
Columbus artist Lorenzo Doyle presents work in a variety of media created with the idea of preserving the memory of past sacrifices made and atrocities suffered — particularly in Nazi concentration camps during World War II — by and on behalf of the queer community in its struggle for affirmation and acceptance. Doyle balances this very real history with his fantastical and super-real approach to art-making.
the VanDereLLi room
Dec. 1-18 218 McDowell St., Franklinton thevanderelliroom.com
WiLD Goose CreatiVe 10th anniVersary party Last December, you read in these pages about this local arts incubator’s 10th anniversary, and now they’re actually going to celebrate it. (Actually, our story was about the kick-off of the 10th year, while this event marks its close.) Anyway, this will be a time to celebrate by doing some very Wild Goose-type stuff, like cooking (an “Iron Chef” contest) and art (the “Please Touch the Art” exhibition will be up during the party) and more.
“matChGirL” The 20th season of Columbus Dance Theatre will include the 18th iteration of its now-classic holiday production of “Matchgirl.” The ballet provides a lesstraditional take on seasonal performing arts, while having itself established a tradition. A full orchestra and choir accompany the performances.
2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE
“Keep the Ghost: Lorenzo DoyLe”
LinCoLn theatre
Dec. 15-16 769 E. Long St., King-Lincoln columbusdancetheatre.com
roast of santa CLaus Disney heroes and villains, superheroes of all stripes and other characters from pop culture — these have all been subject to roasting by the Columbus comedy community. So, as the holidays roll around, and since apparently no one is immune, have a laugh at the expense of the jolly ol’ gift-bringer, why don’t ya?
BaCKstaGe Bistro
Dec. 22 503 S. Front St., Brewery District sbxbackstagebistro.com
WiLD Goose CreatiVe
Dec. 9 2491 Summit St., North Campus wildgoosecreative.org
PHOTO BY JODI MILLER
ColumbusAlive.com | Thursday, August 31, 2017
2016 Wild Goose Creative Board
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2017 FALL ARTS GUIDE