A Portrait of Connection at The Do Good Fund By Monica Jones There’s something powerful about walking into a gallery and realizing you might be part of what hangs on the walls. So this March, The Do Good Fund isn’t just presenting an exhibition — it’s inviting Columbus to step into it. From March 3–11, The Do Good Fund Gallery will transform into a portrait studio for Mixed Doubles, an ongoing photographic series by New…
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By Monica Jones I caught him in the car. Between stops. Between obligations. Between fifty years of service and a television crew waiting downstairs. And somehow, in that in-between space, Calvin Smyre was calm. Grateful. Reflective. The Columbus Museum is currently presenting The Puzzle of Politics: Calvin Smyre in Service, 1975–2025, honoring fifty years of public service. Forty of those years were spent in the Georgia Legislature. He later served at the United Nations General…
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By Monica Jones You don’t have to know much about art to recognize when something is worth your time. You feel it when a room slows you down. When the work asks you to stand still. When beauty, history, and craft meet you without explanation and quietly say, stay with this. That’s what happens inside We Are the Drum and the Scribe, now on view at the Bo Bartlett Center. Drawn from the Black Art…
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A Night Out with Riverdance By Monica Jones There are moments when we don’t need another obligation, another errand, or another item on the calendar. What we need instead is to step outside of our routine and into something that reminds us why we love being here at all. On February 10, Riverdance will arrive at RiverCenter with exactly that kind of invitation. For some, the name Riverdance brings up a set of familiar images:…
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Why an Old Place Is Quietly Opening Its Doors Again By Monica Jones For a while, it felt like Westville existed mostly in memory. People spoke about it in the past tense. School trips. Blacksmith forges. Quilts, looms, and the smell of iron and wood smoke clinging to a warm afternoon. Then the pandemic came, and like so many cultural spaces built on shared presence, Westville went quiet. Now, quietly and deliberately, Historic Westville Village…
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Inside Columbus Ballet’s 29th Year of Holiday Magic Images provided by the Columbus Ballet (@braxleestudios) By Monica Jones Each December, just as Columbus starts to glow with lights and wreaths, another kind of magic begins to stir at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. Backstage, pointe shoes are being broken in, tutus sewn and resewn, and young dancers run their variations again and again until the counts live in their bones. This year, that familiar ritual…
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Soulful Sounds, Historic Ground – An Intimate Afternoon in Historic Talbotton By Local Staff A hush falls over the moss-draped oaks as the afternoon sun casts long shadows across the weathered, wooden façade of the Zion Episcopal Church. On Saturday, October 25, this beautiful, living relic of a bygone era will serve as the perfect backdrop for a truly powerful performance: “An Intimate Afternoon with Musicians,” featuring the Grammy-nominated blues sensation Jontavious Willis and the…
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The Springer Opera House Does October Right By Jhai James Temperatures are cooling, the leaves are starting to turn, and there’s a distinct chill in the air—and it’s not just the fall weather. This October, Columbus’s historic Springer Opera House is conjuring up a month-long celebration of all things spooky, silly, and spectacular. From laugh-out-loud comedy to spine-tingling ghost tours and a certain cult-classic film, the State Theatre of Georgia is the place to be…
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Jazz Society Celebrates 38 Years with Inaugural Fundraiser The LocaL Staff In the heart of Columbus, a new rhythm is stirring. For nearly four decades, the Columbus Jazz Society has been the keeper of a timeless legacy, nurturing a community of musicians and fans united by a shared love for America’s quintessential art form. They’ve brought soulful melodies to our streets and provided a stage for local artists.Their dedication has been a quiet, powerful force,…
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A Family Lens on the American South By Monica Jones Get ready for a truly special visual treat which weaves together family, art, and the enduring spirit of the American South. “In Threes: Photographs by Maude Schuyler Clay, Langdon Clay, and Sophia Clay” is an intimate look at the intertwined visions of a celebrated Southern couple—Maude and Langdon Clay—and their youngest daughter, Sophia Anchored in the quiet Mississippi Delta town of Sumner, the Clay family’s…
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