Weekend Warriors: The Snow Isn’t Stopping Me
1/23/19
By Nick Dekker
Sorry, winter-haters… but I say BRING. ON. THE. SNOW. There’s something to love about every season, but in order to fully appreciate my spring, summer and fall, I need some heavy, street-clogging, break-out-your-winter-coat snowfall.
The thing is, as a western Michigan native, snow doesn’t stop me from leaving the house. So no matter how many inches we get, I’m still scanning the calendars on ColumbusMakesArt.com and brushing up on my #artmakescbus hashtag to plan our artistic adventures.
This week includes two epic, long-in-the-making performances. Opera Columbus performs The Journey on Jan. 24, highlighting 200 years of African American music, and nodding to the role of music in the Harlem Renaissance. Then Mark Lomax debuts 400: An Afrikan Epic, the culmination of his residency at the Wexner Center for the Arts. During the Jan. 26 performance, he’ll showcase selections from his upcoming 12-album cycle.
Two new exhibitions are on my radar for this week. ROY G BIV’s annual IMAGEOHIO opened at the Shot Tower Gallery; they’re holding a reception on Friday, Jan. 25. And the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery opens their first exhibition of 2019, Duo Trio, on Jan. 24.
Our boys loved the Pete the Cat books, so we’re hoping to see Columbus Children’s Theatre’s one-act musical, which opened last week and runs through Feb. 3. Imagine Productions performs the Sondheim classic Into the Woods starting on Friday, Jan. 25. I haven’t seen that musical since high school, but it’s my favorite Sondheim piece.
I love Beethoven’s works, having developed a love for them from my high school band director, and on Jan. 25-26, the Columbus Symphony features their concertmaster Joana Frankel in a marathon of Beethoven’s works. (And you can read this great interview with Frankel here!)
I need to introduce my boys to more classic comedies from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The Wexner Center shows a new biography of Keaton, titled The Great Buster, in their film/video theater on Jan. 24 and 25.
Every Saturday evening, the Nest Theatre hosts ComedySportz, a short form improv competition. This type of improv is delightful and hilarious. The teams compete and the audience awards points. Think like “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” If you’ve never seen live improv, this is the perfect introduction.
Nick is Marketing, Communications, & Events Administrator for the Arts Council. He also leads culinary tours and blogs about breakfast at breakfastwithnick.com. He’s glad he ordered more firewood last week.









