ART IN THE NEWS

At GCAC

Columbus City Councilmember Tyson Receives Humanitarian Award

On January 12, City Councilmember and GCAC board member Priscilla R. Tyson received the Columbus Education Association’s 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. Tyson received this award for her “distinguished service in the areas of community service, education, or human and civil rights which has been rendered at the local, state or national level.” To read more, click here.

OPPART Workshops Coming Up

GCAC’s OPPArt series is a way for local artists and creative people to connect with each other and further their professional development through workshops, roundtable discussions, social events and more. Join us for the following workshops in February:

• February 2 –Artists in the Community – Individual Artist Support program
• February 11 –Body Release Technique for Dancers

For more information and to RSVP, contact Ruby Harper, Grants & Services director, at rharper@gcac.org or 614-221-8406. Walk-ins welcome, space allowing.

Columbus Arts Festival News

FESTIVAL MOVING BACK TO THE RIVERFRONT!

Starting at 11:30 on Friday, June 1, the Columbus Arts Festival will begin its three day celebration. The festival is returning to the Columbus downtown riverfront and will have several different initiatives including the Emerging Artists program as well as hands-on activities for children and adults. The festival has always emphasized its support for artists, patrons, restaurants and businesses from the Columbus area. To learn more about activities, dates and times click here.

 APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR POETS AND FOOD VENDORS EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 17.

Food vendors and poets are needed for the Columbus Arts Festival. We are looking for approximately 30 food vendors who can provide great quality food and friendly service for huge and hungry crowds! A tent, cold water hook-up, security and site clean-up will be provided. We are also looking for poets ages 18 or older and are Ohio residents to submit two poems to be considered for auditions. The top 20 poets chosen by a panel at the auditions will read at the Columbus Arts Festival. Click here to find out more and to download applications.

FESTIVAL TO HOLD PUBLIC JURY TO CHOOSE 2012 VISUAL ARTISTS

During the weekend of February 4 & 5, the Columbus Arts Festival will hold an open jury  to choose the visual artists for this year.  More than 1,000 artists have applied and the categories to be juried are 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Clay, Digital Art, Drawing & Pastels, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Leather, Metal, Painting, Photography, Printmaking & Graphics, Sculpture, Wood, and the Emerging Artist Program. The panel of jurors choose artists using a blind jury procedure and the artists who are given the top scores will be asked to participate in the festival this summer.  To RSVP to attend, contact Festival coordinator, Shana Scott at sscott@gcac.org.  To read more, click here.

LOCAL & REGIONAL

Barnetts Donate $6 Million to The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences

Lawrence Barnett, former president of Music Corporation of America and Ohio State alum, and his late wife Isabel have committed to donating $6 million to the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University. This very generous gift will be used to create the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise and also to help with the renovations for Sullivant Hall. To read more click here.

Columbus 2012 Bicentennial Artists inFormal

As part of 200Columbus, the city's Bicentennial, the arts community of Columbus is having an ‘inFormal’ party. Come dressed with artistic flair and bring your original labeled 2”x3”x1” or smaller artwork to be included in the summer installation of FACES 2012: COLUMBUS ARTISTS. For more information, click here.

Columbus' 200th Birthday Party: A Celebration of the Centuries

On February 10, help celebrate Columbus’ 200th birthday with food, cocktails and entertainment! The event will take place at the Battelle Grand Ballroom of the Greater Columbus Convention Center from 5:45 to 11:30 p.m.. You must be 21 or older to attend and dress is black tie optional. To purchase tickets and learn more, click here.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

NORTHERN LIGHTS CALLS FOR NORTHERN SPARK 2012 ARTISTS

Northern Lights has announced calls for artist participation in Northern Spark 2012. They are looking for sited or performed projects in any media/discipline that can engage the audience. Northern Lights is also calling for a data visualization project that will be in collaboration with the Eyeo Festival. The deadlines for applications are in February. To get more information or to apply for the calls, click here.  Northern Spark is a new Minnesota festival modeled on a nuit blanche or “white night” festival - a dusk to dawn participatory art event along the Mississippi River and surrounding areas and takes place in June.

To see more calls that will be announced you can subscribe to their newsletter, follow their @Northern_Spark account on Twitter, or Like their Facebook page.

VIRTUAL MUSIC INSTRUMENT DEVELOPED FOR MUSICIANS WITH DISABILITIES

Developed at the Bloorview Research Institute in Toronto, the Virtual Music Instrument (VMI) enables musicians with disabilities to use the movements of their bodies to create music. Eric Wan, a paraplegic and former violinist, and engineer Tom Chau came together to create the VMI. This state-of-the-art instrument was debuted in November with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra. To learn more, click here.

ARTWORK STOLEN FROM GALLERY IN GREECE

Three priceless pieces of art were stolen from Greece’s National Art Gallery on January 9, 2012. Among the missing paintings are Picasso’s Woman’s Head, Mondrian’s Mill, and a sketch of St. Diego de Alcala drawn by Guglielmo Caccia. The thieves staged the robbery by intentionally setting off the museum’s alarms before entering, which resulted in the alarm being shut off by the security guards who were not able to find anything suspicious after investigating the area. With the alarm shut off, the thieves were able to enter the museum through the doors of a balcony. There was an attempt to take a fourth painting, but it was left by the thieves as they made their quick escape. To read more, click here.