Feature stories - The LocaL

A Night of Music and History at Historic Zion Church

Posted on April 14, 2026April 14, 2026 by Editor - the Local

Neal Lucas returns to Talbotton for an intimate full-band performance inside one of the region’s most remarkable historic spaces. By Monica Jones On Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m., songwriter Neal Lucas will take the stage inside Historic Zion Church in Talbotton, Georgia for an evening that feels less like a typical concert and more like the start of something powerful and new. For Lucas, the night carries a personal significance. “Getting to play in…

CineForge Co-op: A (bit of) Hollywood Comes Home

Posted on April 6, 2026April 6, 2026 by Editor - the Local

By Andy Carpenter In 2022, just as I was beginning to take screenwriting seriously, I saw my first locally shot feature film: The Greatest Inheritance. I was invited to the premiere by a friend, and at the time, I knew nothing about the film or its cast. After the screening, a heartfelt story of a family learning to accept one another, forgive, love, and embrace their differences following their mother’s death, several actors and the…

‘Chicken & Biscuits’ Serves Up Big Laughs at the Springer Opera House

Posted on April 6, 2026April 6, 2026 by Editor - the Local

A Funeral, A Family, and No Filter By Jhai JamesContributor It can be argued that Southern culture is the cornerstone of civilization, and families are the backbone of its society. Southerners have perfected the art of emotional warfare. (“Bless your heart,” anyone?) Food equals love and fellowship. And church is more than an expression of faith. Combine those traditions with a family that puts the fun in dysfunction, and you’ve got the premise for the…

Mixed Doubles

Posted on March 5, 2026March 5, 2026 by Editor - the Local

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…

Jerry Farber Turns 88 at The Loft

Posted on March 3, 2026March 3, 2026 by Editor - the Local

Still Boxing By Monica Jones Some people slow down at 88. Jerry Farber books another show. “I’m still in the ring,” he said. “It’s late rounds, but I’m still boxing.” He was in Atlanta for a run of shows when we spoke — quick, warm, already moving — still stacking gigs like it’s a competitive sport. That’s Jerry. When I asked him how he’s still doing it, he didn’t go for the easy line. No…

CineForge Co-op

Posted on February 27, 2026February 27, 2026 by Editor - the Local

When what is on screen ain’t what the real story is about By Andy Carpenter On a chilly winter morning, a group of filmmakers stood around a kitchen while cold rain pinged on the tin roof. Everyone tucked into their coffees, contemplating the day ahead. A mother of one of the actors preparing for his scene suddenly asked, “What is the story about?” It was a reasonable question; as the writer and director of the…

How Do You Build a Man Like Calvin Smyre?

Posted on February 18, 2026February 18, 2026 by Editor - the Local

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…

We Are the Drum and the Scribe

Posted on February 12, 2026February 12, 2026 by Editor - the Local

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…

Stirrup Trouble

Posted on February 6, 2026February 6, 2026 by Editor - the Local

Baddie, Spelled with a V By Monica Jones Some people leave Columbus and never look back. Most of us are not those people. Most of us are boomerangs – we go, we grow, we test ourselves somewhere bigger, louder, faster. Then, one day, we circle back to the place that built us. Not because we failed, but because we finally know what we’re building, and we want to build it here. That’s the energy behind…

Choose Wonder. Choose Joy.

Posted on February 3, 2026February 3, 2026 by Editor - the Local

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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