This exhibition recreates the signs, symbols and early language created by our earliest ancestors and left behind on their migration out of Africa and around the earth. These ancient marks are incorporated into colorful sculptures, painting and ceramic works and pay respect to our ancestral human creativity. There are also a series of paintings in response to the artist’s own relocation around America and the world.
Amritha Murali - vocals
R K Sriramkumar - violin
K Arun Prakash - mridangam
This is an exceptional team of musicians. Amritha is a popular and proficient young singer who has received many awards and accomplishments. RK Shriramkumar is a multi-talented musician and composer. He has performed widely for several decades, and his music is a connoisseur's delight. Arun Prakash’s mridangam artistry combines the best of tradition and modernity. While his technique of handling the instrument is very traditional, his playing is characterized by mathematical innovation, brilliance, and modernity.
We know much about ourselves and the world we’ve inherited, so what inheritance do we plan to leave? In this class, we’ll reflect on being “future ancestors” to generations ahead and travel back in memory to our own beloved ancestors after whom we take in looks, memories, characteristics, likes, dislikes and more. From the artist of the one-woman show A Map of Myself, this session will include writing exercises, a discussion on the value of preserving memories, and creative approaches to writing a memoir.
Inspired by the ‘spacewalkers’ that repair the Hubble telescope, Spacewalkers is a series of street art installations and indoor work that explore figures who exist in liminal spaces, spaces both human and otherworldly, spaces of creative possibility and personal peril. These figures tell a different story about the purpose of public art as well as the women and marginalized people who are too often excluded from participation as well as representation.
The series re-imagines what--and who--deserves to be made visible in public space. Traditionally, monuments exist to reaffirm and reinforce power. I believe it is important to consider not only who is represented and glorified by monumental art, but also who is not represented, who is perpetually absent, who is denied recognition. I see the Spacewalkers series as anti-monumental, a series of artworks that resist--and, more importantly--rebuke the assumption that public space exists to exalt the already powerful.
Public space is deeply gendered. It is no accident that few female-identifying persons are depicted in monumental art and statuary in Columbus, and Spacewalkers is designed to challenge that. I am especially curious about the way that women react to spaces that are not built for their flourishing and, in some cases, their very survival. My spacewalkers refuse their containment, protest their restriction, and defy efforts to subordinate them.
Finally, Spacewalkers is resistant to a primary goal of monumental art: the creation of a work that appears invulnerable, permanent, and transcendent of death. I work with paper, which, by definition, is ephemeral and in outdoor spaces likely to fall away within the year. I'm not looking to sustain illusions of a world without loss. I also work with stencil art, a technique that is often in contrast to the traditions of fine art and identified with the visual language of protest. In this way, I invite new questions about the form of public art and its purpose, and create dynamic space for female voices to emerge in our city.
The public is welcome to an opening reception with DJ Moxy Martinez providing entertainment. Additionally at the opening — and during the run of the exhibition until they are all claimed—patrons can pick up a limited-edition yard sign, specially designed by Rond and printed in cooperation with American Sign Studio. There will be 100 available, and information about where the sign is to be placed will be collected so that the artist can create a map showing their locations. In this way, the work can move beyond the gallery walls and into the world.
NOTICE: This event has been rescheduled. The new date will be announced as soon as it is confirmed. Please contact the MAC with any questions, or if you need assistance.
Experience the enchanting world of Miss Marlene, a cherished children's musician captivating Central Ohio families since 2003. Join us at the McConnell Arts Center for a family music concert filled with boundless energy, instant connections, and a repertoire of over 150 songs that blend traditional favorites with new gems.
With a dynamic setlist featuring sing-alongs like "Wheels On the Bus" and covers such as "We Are the Dinosaurs," Miss Marlene's concerts offer an interactive and joyful experience for children under 6 and their big people. Don't miss the chance to be part of this musical journey, where laughter, silliness, and cherished memories abound in a celebration of two decades of musical excellence in Central Ohio.
In What to Listen For in Music, Aaron Copland states that an instrument finds its way into music by being invented, perfected and mastered. We’ll investigate the clarinet’s path from discovery in 1690 to today and how it works. What are the clarinet’s timbre qualities and how do composers utilize its unique voice in their works? Who are some influential composers that have written great music for the clarinetist? The exploration will include a performance of Thomas Zugger’s “Alaskan Images for Solo Clarinet” composed in 2006 following Gail and Thomas’s honeymoon trip to Alaska. It showcases 4 stops along our journey in Anchorage and Sewell. The performance will include pictures from our trip to reflect the music played.
P Praveen Kumar is one of India's leading exponents of the traditional Bharatanatyam dance form. He has received numerous awards and has performed at many national and international art festivals. He will present a traditional Margam performance with a talented orchestra.
Praveen Kumar - Dancer
Smt. Krupaa Lakshmi - vocals
Barghav Hariharan - vocals
Umesh Venkatesan - nattuvangam
Ethirajan Ramanujan - mridangam (drum)
Visveshwar N - Bamboo Flute
Paisha Thomas is an American singer/songwriter who commands attention from the moment she takes the stage. Equally at home singing Soul, Gospel, R&B, she creates music about love, self-discovery, and the condition of the world.
Paisha released her first album in 2016, which drew immediate praise from critics and fans alike, and she frequently collaborates with Counterfeit Madison, Scott Woods (Holler & Streetlight Guild), and many others on a variety of engaging projects, including the ongoing “Say it Loud Columbus”, featuring compelling original protest music.
A descendant of the Randolph Freed People - a group of 383 freed slaves who traveled by foot from Roanoke, Virginia to their promised land in Ohio in 1846 only to be met by violent white mobs. Their land was seized and sold from under them – they scattered throughout Ohio. Paisha's music preserves not only her family history but sings to the current social and racial injustices in our country.
Paisha's performances seek to inform and inspire. To ask the question - When will we overcome? And present a call to action to the audience, bringing them into the movement.
In response to ongoing police violence in 2020, Paisha organized a collective of musicians to perform at protests around central Ohio – Say it Loud Columbus. The performers not only appeared on street corners, at vigils and in front of the Statehouse, they also recorded and released an album of original songs – Music for the Movement Vol.1.
Paisha uses music to educate, heal and unite. Her songs capture both the struggle and pride of being Black in America.
Paisha Thomas and the Soul Strings Band guide the audience on a music history journey of Black people’s contributions to Americana music.
Sandra K-Horn’s book, Undercover: Becoming Street Smart in Central Ohio, is the chilling biography of two undercover officers' journeys from rookie cop to undercover officer. Mike Powell and Shawn Bain started their careers in the lower echelon of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department. They worked their way from beat cop to undercover drug enforcement. Powell commanded a nine-county bust operation that included a motorcycle gang and a web of traffickers and led to breaking up a conspiracy of Cuban Nationals. He assisted in bringing to justice individuals contributing to the operation of the Mexican Cartel that worked a network between New York, Columbus, Houston, Miami, and Los Angeles.
K-Horn will discuss Undercover and the five years during which she interviewed Powell and Bain to amass information for her book. She will be joined by Sargent Mike Powell (ret), who will answer questions about his time in the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and his work with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Join exhibiting artist, Stephanie Rond, in an informative and in-depth tour of her exhibition, Spacewalkers, at the McConnell Arts Center. This will be an opportunity for patrons to be in conversation with the artist about the work as they tour the exhibition.
Upon arriving in the United States in 1994, Colombian-born Edmar Castañeda has made a name for himself as the preeminent jazz harp virtuoso. Castañeda brings forth a brilliance that beautifully merges the jazz tradition with a diverse set of styles and genres while bringing unbridled attention to a somewhat unfamiliar instrument: the harp. Singlehandedly, Castañeda has cemented the harp’s place in jazz with innovative technique and heartfelt creativity from a wealth of formidable collaborations with music titans such as Wynyton Marsalis, Bela Fleck, John Scofield, Ricki Lee Jones, Hiromi, Pedrito Martinez, Marcus Miller, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ivan Lins, The Yellowjackets, Paco De Lucia, and Paquito D’Rivera....
