Alley Activity

The grand opening of Arts in the Alley -- the new arts community sponsored by the Arts Initiative at Ohio State and South Campus Gateway -- on Oct 8 attracted big crowds and lots of activity. The festive evening welcomed new partners to the area, including the Ohio Art League (below), Couchfire Collective and emerging artists taking up residence in the Shoebox, all in the alley at the Gateway on High Street at 10th Avenue. Some of the evening's activities included a tap dance class doing the Shim Sham (above), along with a DJ and VJ, a wide range of artwork for sale and two solo exhibitions.

Works by Joey Monsoon (above) were featured in the Ohio Art League gallery, while the Arts Initiative spotlighted paintings by Ian Magargee (below), who chatted with special guest, OSU President Gordon Gee.

Notable News

The Shoebox -- part of Arts in the Alley at South Campus Gateway -- is gearing up with all sorts of events and activities. The space came to be after local artists submitted proposals for the space, outlining their vision to perform, teach, display and sell artwork that will energize the neighborhood. The groups that are collaborating together within the Shoebox space (below) are ARTillery (artilleryohio@gmail.com), JamJam Productions (http://jamjamproductions.org/), (Mix)ed Media (http://learnmakeshare.com) and Whistling in the Dark Theatre Co. (http://www.whistlingtheatre.com).

A few upcoming Shoebox activities include:

• Monster Mash, Weds, Oct 28, door opens at 6:30 pm, screening of Psycho at 8. Halloween mixer with live DJ spinning spooky tunes, VJ mixing monster mashups, and a goblin-themed art market, followed by an 8 pm screening of Hitchcock’s Psycho. $5 donation suggested. More info at: www.learnmakeshare.com.

• The Howlariouis Hahalloween Puntastic Sketch Show, Oct 31, 7 pm. Sketch by Number, a sketch comedy troupe of young Ohioans committed to new, exciting, observational comedy is haunting the Gateway. Stop by on your way to High Ball in the Short North. After this, Sketch by Number will be presented every Thursday night at 11 pm. $5 suggested donation.

• Workshop: DVDesign, Weds, Nov 11, 7 pm. Looking for a way to organize your digital photos and video? This hands-on workshop in basic DVD design will help you make a keepsake DVD of your favorite digital files. $15. For more info and to sign up, go to www.learnmakeshare.com.

• William Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth, Nov 15, 7 pm. Directed by Kal Poole, the inaugural ShoeboxSundays@7 is a staged reading of the most horrifying Scottish tragedy ever written for King James I of England. Sundays@7 is a series of staged readings of new plays, classics, slam poetry and live radio dramas offered in the Shoebox every Sunday at 7pm. $3.

ARTillery also has regular gallery hours at the Shoebox with an ever-changing inventory of original works of art. Hours are Tuesdays and Fridays 11 am-7 pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays 11 am-2 pm, and Saturdays 11 am-4 pm.

For more, go to http://artsinitiative.osu.edu and click on Arts in the Alley.

Photo Op! Photographers were snapping pics of lots of passers-by in Arts in the Alley on Oct 26. Why all the shooting? The banners hanging on some of the store fronts in the alley are getting spruced up. Watch for the area's brand new look in a few weeks.