VISUAL ARTS

September

Mickalene Thomas’ "Sitter Owns the Gaze," featured in the Wexner Center for the Arts galleries, is a lens to the contemporary legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. The subjects of Thomas’ portraits are almost always women of color, conveying a spirit of strength and self-confidence.

October

The Columbus Museum of Art presents "I, Too, Sing America," an exhibition of paintings, works on paper, books, sheet music, ephemera and photography by artists from and inspired by the Harlem Renaissance, including Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas and others. Curated by author and journalist Wil Haygood. The 1921 Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake musical “Shuffle Along” is produced by CATCO in collaboration with the Lincoln Theatre Association. Revelatory when it premiered, “Shuffle Along” put African-American performers squarely and triumphantly in the spotlights of Broadway.

Nov. 17

BalletMet hosts a 1920s speakeasy-inspired performance at the Nicholson Auditorium at the King Arts Complex, featuring dance, live music and spokenword artists.

Mid-November

The Dance Theatre of Harlem, celebrating 50 years, visits the Lincoln Theatre. Presented by CAPA.

September

In tandem with “Shuffle Along,” CATCO and the Lincoln Theatre Association launches an oral history project collecting stories and photos of Columbus’ black community during the period of the Harlem Renaissance.

Haygood hosts Lyric Lounge at the Lincoln Theatre, gathering local writers and poets in a night of performance.

October

Haygood curates Community Conversations at the Lincoln Theatre, inviting authors and scholars to examine the Harlem Renaissance and how this work resonates in America today.

September 2018

The Wexner Center for the Arts presents “Duke Ellington & Friends: Jazz Greats on Film,” a series of six short films featuring some of the greatest musical performers of the Harlem Renaissance and produced by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1935.

August

The Urban League convenes its national conference in Columbus. Programming includes a lecture by COSI president and CEO Frederic Bertley on the African-American scientists and thinkers energized during the Harlem Renaissance.

Momentum University — a two-week summer program for 50 children — culminates in a performance about the Harlem Renaissance set to live music.

Fall 2018