the tough questions
light up downtown
Even though it took me 20 minutes to find a parking space and cold rain was drizzling over everything, Light Up Downtown, put on by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, managed to brighten an otherwise dreary December night for me.
I showed up a little bit late for the stage show about Christopher Pop-In-Kins (for which I am, admittedly, a little old), but was marching through the street right when the lights burst on and fireworks started fighting the rain. Instant smile.
Lots of local school groups got a chance to show off, too. There were choirs from at least three schools, though I only really saw the Jacks-N-Jills of Jackson High School. With the stage show, there were dance teams and even faux Rockettes.
Honestly, my favorite part about the night was the same thing that I end up liking about First Fridays during the winter: no matter how cold it really is, there are enough people out doing things that there’s sort of a heat in the crowd. There are some times when I’m down there for events like this where I’m fooled into thinking that Canton is a much larger city than it really is.
The holiday lights will be up for a while, so take some time to go check them out before Christmas comes around.
the late late late show »
This is about as far away as physically possible from being local art, but it’s probably one of the biggest shows to be seen this year. The Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight, right around 4 a.m. our time. I’ve been meaning to mention it, but I forgot all about it myself. We’ll be getting about 20-30 meteors per hour, while viewers in Asia will be watching more than 200-300 pieces of crumbling, shining debris streak the sky. If you’re up early enough, you might be able to catch some streaks of light before the dawn.
first friday november
I refuse to believe that November is here, especially in that the days are starting to get shorter and colder. Despite a little bit of a chilly night, plenty of people showed up to First Friday November: Harvest Moon.
I was out there with a coat and scarf, and I was still a little cold. I sort of wanted to get a warm snack, so I stopped at Sheri’s Sweets. I ended up choosing a pumpkin spice cake, but it was tasty enough that I didn’t really worry about heat. While I was there, I got to listen in on the sounds of several performers in the Canton Idol contest, which I had forgotten about entirely. To the little girl (I didn’t catch your name) who was singing “Soak up the Sun,” best of luck; you sounded really good!
The galleries were pretty packed, and I saw a few new pieces that I liked over at ACME Artists. I can’t believe I’ve gone so long with First Friday without mentioning this gallery here, since they consistently have visually interesting pieces up. I was really getting into a couple of the new Mona Lisa mashups they had on display.
Since I had gotten to the party a little late, I finished off by heading down to Muggswiggz. Actually, I went and got my car, and then drove down to Muggswiggz, because I did not want to walk all that way. I know, I know, I’m a wimp when it comes to cold!
revenge is a dish best served animated
Last year, unsuspecting filmgoers were terrified by a series of haunting and sometimes gruesome shorts in the merciless Freakishly Short Animation Festival.
Now, it returns to thrill a brand new crowd with the Revenge of the Freakishly Short Animation Festival!
No, seriously. Akron Film got to setting up the Halloween mood at the Akron Art Museum with an animation festival filled with more than a dozen great shorts. Several of the films, like The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9! and Who’s Hungry? cut right to the heart of what makes the season so much fun by being so unsettling.
Not everything was gore, though. Several of the films, including one of my favorite segments, went to the absurd. I couldn’t find a full version of Hello (my actual favorite part of the night), but here is Mameshiba, a tiny bean dog that unnerves people who are about to eat them with disturbing trivia.
It was all a build up to Seeds of the Damned, made by local Akron animator Cory Sheldon, and Please Say Something, a literal story of cat and mouse.
Thanks to the site, I found out that Hello ended up winning the crowd’s favorite award, so at least one vote I made recently counted!
These clips and the video below are from the Zombie Walk in Massillon Oct. 17. It isn’t specifically local art, but I’ve been sort of disappointed in the local Halloween stuff.
Though most of my shots are of the Thriller dance, the costumes looked even better during the daylight, where you could see some of the painstaking (zing?) effort put into the living dead. I think my favorite part was seeing people’s faces when a horde of hungry zombies swept into Smiley’s looking for some… pizza.
The whole thing took a lot of creativity, and I can’t wait to see what people come up with next year! I am definitely getting out there next time. Though with my sense of rhythm, I should probably start practicing now to be ready in time.
downtown dining discounts
First Friday might be the big event around downtown Canton, but at least through October, the Canton Development Partnership is trying to get people to notice the food as much as the art in the district for Downtown Deals Wednesdays.
Each Wednesday evening through the end of the month, a coupon printed from the site will earn a half-priced meal for every full-price entree bought at several restaurants in downtown Canton like Iris, Arcadia Grill and the Desert Inn. Played right, it could mean a great cheap meal from a favorite restaurant or a chance at a new regular spot.
Beyond the lure of food, musicians are lined up for much of the area through the month, and several of the galleries and shops will be open late - a great chance to see them if you can’t make it out on a First Friday.
Photos taken by a friend at the Hattie Larlham presents Hollywood event at the Akron Civic Theatre. Akron doesn’t usually have a history to share with Hollywood, but for the sake of a pretty special benefit, jeweler Richard John put his collection of classic Hollywood costumes and accessories on display
Patrons got to sample some hors d’oeuvres as they took in the gowns of some of the most famous ladies of the golden age of Hollywood, with actors playing the parts wandering in the crowd.
first friday october
I didn’t actually make it out to First Friday this month, but I hear it was a good time. I’d be a little iffy on the family-friendlyness of the “Oktoberfest” chapter of the monthly event, but there was apparently plenty of focus on the food and fun parts of the harvest season.
The Kresege lot was the scene for people focused on pumpkins, where there was painting and a seed-spitting contest, put on by the Canton Jaycees.
I’ve noticed a growing trend of musicians on just about every street during the events this year - I can’t believe this many musicians got out to different venues for shows this month. The site lists 25 performers and groups, all spread out over downtown Canton. For my own taste, I’m a bigger fan of the visual art, but I’m glad that so many people are getting something out of First Friday that it’s growing like that. I hope the November harvest moon brings out even more!
first friday september
Geez, is it September already? And already the end of it, I guess. I have no idea how it got so late in the year so quickly, but I think I’ll be okay with it (if for no other reason than all the great comfort food that comes with colder weather).
First Friday this month was all about “the color of music.” There have been academic battles back and forth in the art world about tying music and visual art, but the evening focused more on sounds parading through the streets. Musicians covered almost every street in the festival with lots of different musical tastes. I would have the names of some of the musicians, but there were actually crowds around almost all of them.
The closest I got to really being involved with the music was up on 4th Street, where the drum circle that I had taken some photos of a couple months ago was keeping a heavy beat. The circle leader got the crowds around involved even if we didn’t have instruments by clapping our hands and shouting along. I’m not great with rhythm, but playing along with a group was a ton of fun.
