Saturday will be 21+ with admission at $5 and the party starts at 10pm.  Moon High will be playing at 11pm, Dj Captain Lonesome will be spinning old and rare tracks all night.  There will be a live dance performance, tarot card reading and Brian Reaume has raised the bar for this year’s “Sanctuary Room.”  There will be food on hand from Pattycake Bakery and El Pirata Borracho and ThoughtCo will be printing shirts.  Some come on out, pay respect to loved ones gone, see some great art and shake ‘dem bones.

Oh and Day of the Dead costumes are encouraged but not required!

For more info: www.dodevent.blogspot.com

We’d like to say a big congratulations to Megan Green (Stinkybomb Soaps) and her husband Rob.  Mason Wolfe Green was born on 10/8/10.  Mom and kid are doing well.  We can’t wait until he’s tall enough to help us hang Agora!

Megan would also like you all to know about the 6th annual Craftin’ Outlaws.  Taking place from 10-6 this Saturday at the Gateway Film Center.

This Thursday (Oct. 14th) during the day, we’d like to bring this event to your attention:  Creativity in your Life- presented by the Columbus Museum of Art and Artie Isaac.  Spend this day focusing on the importance of creativity and innovation in your life.  The man above is author Michael Chabon and he will be the keynote speaker for the event.  Other speakers include Artie Isaac, Liz Lessner, and Pete Scantland.  You can find out more about this day of creativity here.

Thursday night, come on over to Junctionview Studios for the second installment of Bad Movie Nite!  A whole night of B-Movies, Shorts, Mashups, Music Videos, Local Commercials, YouTube Opuses and Surprise Guests!  It’s only $3 per person, so come on out and have some Thursday night fun.

This Sunday, we’ll be hosting the Food Cart Food Court in the Wonderland parking lot!  Come on out from 4-7 and peruse all your favorite local food carts.  Some of the vendors will include Foodie Cart, Leslie’s Crepe Cart, Skillet Rustic, Three Babes & A Baker, Dave’s Caribbean, Ray Ray’s, Rad Dog, Fusion Cafe, Red Snapper, Da Levee Express and Yankee Cajun.  Come hungry!

Speaking of Wonderland-as members and patrons of the creative community, we encourage you to vote for Wonderland in the Pepsi Refresh Everything competition (just follow the link and enter your e-mail to vote every day).  If selected, the money won will help with demolition and build-out costs.  Vote early and often!

One of our members, Boryana Rusenova is currently showing her work at the Columbus Airport through the end of the month with Christine D’epiro.  The next time you’re headed in or out of the city, be sure to take a look at the walls.

Andrew Ina recently participated in the 48 hour film fest and his film was part of the festival’s “Best Of” night.  Not only did he create a film worth watching, but he brought home some hardware!  His film was awarded Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best use of Character, and was the first runner-up for Best Film!

Alright, so what about our next event?  Well here’s the skinny!  Viewfinder will take place the weekend of Nov. 20-21 at Junctionview Studios.  This will be a weekend of vendors selling their handmade wares and the artists of Junctionview opening their studio doors and inviting you to take a look at what they’ve been up to.  In the space that’s left, we’re inviting artists to fill a 4′ x 8′ space with their art.  Artists can register here, there is more info about the whole event here, and you can RSVP on facebook.

Last but most certainly not least, Adam Brouilette has been up to quite a bit lately.  He was recently named the Executive Director of Wonderland.  He has been on the Channel 4 news, WOSU and in the Alive and City Scene for his recent creative endeavors.  Notably, he was named “Emerging Arts Leader” by the GCAC.  This was a part of the 2010 Community Arts Partnership Awards.  The recipients will be honored this Thursday at a luncheon (open to the public!) from noon-1:30 at COSI.  For the full release, head here.

Whew!  That was a lot to get through, but we’re glad you stuck it out to the end.  Hopefully we’ll see you soon at one of these awesome events.  Until then, remember to vote for Wonderland every day and to always drink your Ovaltine!

-Bryan

First, there’s Friday night(tomorrow!).  Fort Shame(one of the bands Bryan Kossmann plays drums in) will be playing with the Woosley Band and Angela Perley at the Treehouse.  The fun starts at 10pm and it’s only $5 to get in. facebook

Second, there’s all day Saturday!  That’s right, starting at noon, Independent’s Day 2010 begins!  There will be food, drinks, art, music, and a whole lot more.  The whole shebang will be on Gay St. between High and 3rd and the festival bleeds onto Lynn and Pearl alleys.  We here at Couchfire will have art on display in the Grip Technologies space on Gay St.  Stop in and say hi!  Oh and if you have a good time and happen to run into Wolf Starr-let him know and thank him for his hard work this year.  Let all of your friends know that you’re going and invite them to come along on facebook. Full details for the festival can be found on the ID10 website.

Okay, so we’ll let you rest on Sunday, and Monday too, but Tuesday night should be another great event.  We’ve had our art on display at the Artillery space in the South Campus Gateway for a couple of weeks and we’re having our closing reception on Tuesday night(it’s also the celebration of our 4th anniversary!).  OAL has a show opening that night too, and Artillery will be hosting their monthly artist market as well.  And if that’s not enough, there will also be music from Bell Acoustic, The Shrewdness of Apes, The Little Professors, Karate Coyote, and The Wet Darlings.  Check it out on facebook!

That’s about it for now, keep your eyes and ears open for news on upcoming events like Feast II and Viewfinder!

Firstly, there’s Urban Scrawl.  From Noon until 8pm, stop by Dodge Park in Franklinton and check out 30 local artists working live, a skateboarding competition and music from The DewDroppers, The Receiver, Maza Blaska, Behind You With Knives, The Ill Fits, Mojoflo, The Saturday Giant, and 0 To 60ish(organized by the Columbus Music Co-Op).  There will also be food vendors and a beer truck to keep you hunger and thirst-free.  Speaking of free, that’s how much it costs to attend this event!

Here’s a full list of the participating artists:

Chris Waldron;  Pat Vincent;  Paul Giovis and Angel Luna;  Lou McAfee;  Caroline Crary Elbert;  Cloudhaus;  Josh Direen and Kyle Bergamo;  Coreroc and Cyrus Fire;  Bijan Sharifi;  Adam Levene;  Larry Doyle;  Jason Sidwell;  Grace Passerotti;  Justin Hines;  Jason Kroninger;  Dan Gerdeman;  Ron Arps;  Rebecca O’Neil;  Adam Crum;  Carolyn Slebodnik;  Heather Wirth w/ARTILLERY;  Carlos Roa;  John Hastings and Krista Brianna Drummond;  Jon Stommel and Christopher Cropper;  Adam Brouillette;  Michael Bush;  James David Mericle;  Nate Underwood;  Clint Davidson;  Sara Adrian and Bela Grimm;  Dillon Sirimongkhon and Chris Semer;  Zack Sisson;  Julia McCann;  El-Amin Asadi;  Joey Monsoon, Craig Dransfield, and CHOP CHOP artists;  Tyrome Stewart;  Marina Goldshteyn; Nikos Fyodor

If that’s not up your alley, then you should stop by the OAL space in the Arts Alley at the South Campus Gateway for Arty Party 2!  From 6pm-10pm, there will be a raffle for donated works from local artists.  Every piece donated will be up for grabs and the more tickets you buy, the better chance you have of winning!  Best of all, there’s no limit on the number of times you can win!  There will be refreshments on hand and the raffle starts at 8!  Come out and hopefully you’ll take a piece home with you!

So there you have it folks, two great events this weekend.  Come to one, come to both, come out and support local art at it’s finest!  Stay tuned for information about upcoming Couchfire events and happenings!

-Bryan

Yummy Summer Weekend has grown out of a collaboration – something the Couchfire loves to do. The event is also a fundraiser for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

You can find some of the details below. More info, as well as a full event schedule, is available at yummyartshow.blogspot.com

What: Too Yummy! Art Show (at the OAL Gallery), Summer Art Market (outdoors in the Alley), The Intern Show (ARTillery Gallery), performances by Available Light Theatre, Maza Blaska, and Coco Lupe & friends, and a FREE mystery/surprise movie (Gateway Film Center, 4pm)

When: Saturday, July 31, 2010 from 2-9 pm is the main event

Where: The South Campus Gateway at E. 11th Ave. and North High St. in Columbus.

That’s right, Treasure Swap be upon us again, me mateys!  Swap yer junk for other junk, errr, Treasure!

Pirate talk aside, drop off your unwanted stuff at Junctionview Studios on Thursday May 6 or Friday May 7 and receive one gold dubloon!  What will that buy you?  Free admission on May 8 where you can pillage to your heart’s content!  No seriously-you get to take the stuff that other people dropped off!  Looking to just ADD to the pile in the basement/garage/attic?  You can come by on the 8th as well.  Early parrot admission is $10 and gets you in from 8-10am.  After that, it’s a mere $5 to come and take stuff.

Drop off dates:

May 6th 5pm-10pm

May 7th 3pm-8pm

Treasure Swap 2010:

May 8th 8am-3pm

It’ll be a swashbucklin’ good time!

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Oh yeah, have you registered for Agora 7 yet?

-Bryan

So maybe you were fooled and didn’t actually check to see if the Agora site was up and running for this year….maybe you weren’t.  The good news is that Agora 7 is fast approaching and the registration sites are now open.

Artists

Vendors of all kinds

volunteers

film/video artists should e-mail video@agoracolumbus.com

musicians and bands should e-mail music@thecouchfire.org(stage time is limited, but we’re building a list for both this and future events)

performers other than musicians should e-mail info@thecouchfire.org

if you would like to be a sponsor in one way or another, please e-mail treasurer@thecouchfire.org and learn how this can be mutually beneficial for your business and our event.

We’re all excited about this year’s Agora and we hope you are too.  Further information and full details can be found at www.agoracolumbus.com.  Once you’ve registered, invite your friends to come and see your art/music/wares/food/whatever.  At the very least, save the date(May 22) for a day of local food, music and art.

-Bryan

Hey all you college types!  Registration for the Art School Throwdown is open until the 13th of April.  This is your reminder that you should register.  It is only 5 dollars and you’re guaranteed that all the pieces you submit will hang for the first round on April 17th at Junctionview studios.  There will be chair building, a canvas stretching race, and art history Jeopardy!  Jurors will be judging works in different categories including painting, drawing, print making, film, sculpture and more.  Selected works will go on to hang at the OAL gallery on April 24th.  Best of all, there will be cash prizes!  Remember the only way to win anything is to enter.  Full details and registration here!  Once you’ve registered, why not invite all of your friends?

Hoping to find out more stuff about Agora 7?  Too bad-you’ll just have to keep checking back….

-Bryan K.