20 Years: July, 1988 Gallery Hop

The 1988 July Gallery Hop seemed to be dominated by 3-D art work of various kinds. (above) The Geoffery Taber Gallery was still in its original space. Large avant garde sculpture were featured by three local artists, including Skip Stander. 
The Ideal Building was newly opened and trying to find businesses to fill the space. Large banners that were hung downtown previous to 1988 were for sale and filled the entire floor. In center of the Ideal Building has a space that is not as welcoming today, but back then it was a cool space with goldfish swimming in the floor and sculpture for spandex clad gallery hopper to check-out. 

Also in the Ideal Building was the Roberta Kuhn Gallery which was reached off of Russell Avenue. Her taste in the best in local artists was unmatched.

In the empty field at Russell and High Street Glass Axis put on a rare demonstration of glass art making. 
Also in the Ideal Building 
Doo Wac was at King and High Street in 1988 and had become one of the most important galleries in the Short North during gallery hops. Curt Goldstein (above, lower left) was showing with (the now late) Wross Smith. Doo Wac would be a whole circus back then for their openings. Late in the evening a rock band would set-up in the small hair salon and a spread of chips (computer chips in this case) and beer would keep the crowd around. Earlier in the day a dancer (lower right) offered to dance in the window for hours.
Goldstein and Smith are among the most important local artists in the late 80's and early 90's. They brought the latest trends to their own exciting work.
The Ohio Ethnographic Gallery was new at the time run by the folks of the Ohio Gallery on King Avenue. For their gallery row shop  near the Short North Tavern they showed Mexican works of great quality.
Many old favorites back then are no longer around. Atlantis (above top left) was a long running clothing store at King and High St. known for their monthly mannequin displays. Not sure what Sakkara sold in their Body Shop boutique. Ritchey's used to be a collectible shop at the corner of Lincoln and High Street. Sally Windels was in the Carriage House next to 6 in Eight . The late 1980's was the hayday of the Short North boutique.

20 Years Ago Today: Doo Dah Parade 1988

The Doo Dah Parade was created in the early 1980's for the 4th of July to promote Victorian Village as a fun place to live. By 1988 the Gallery Hops had shown enough people that High Street was fixed up and a good place to see the parade. Most people camped out on High Street eventhough Neil Avenue and 2nd Avenue were less crowded and earlier in the parade. Before the parade began, a group of people were playing cards in the middle of the street (above left) despite a few cars zooming by. The 1988 parade was most notable for the spring break college student float (above right) which sang the Doo Dah song "Camp Town Races", though they pretended not to know the words.
In the 1980's people seemed more brave in their make-shift floats and costumes. The Doo Dah Parade officially disappeared in the late 1990's after it turned into a water fight, but has returned again. In 1988 it hadn't deteriorated, yet. It was still about the crazy Victorian Village and its people plus a few political floats.
A giant squid and purple grape baloons were representative of the simple fun displays. Whatever was hot in the media of that year that's what some group would make a float about. Back then, groups of people to do a float were not in short supply. In the past 10 years most people would rather watch the parade than participate. This could be because of media attention that first brought people down but is now making people shy about being on display to so many people.
Tall ships were in the news. One of the local movie theaters had a War of the World vehicle.
An early art car had some grass growing on it. Festive summer dress and decoration was common on such a beautiful July day in 1988.

Comfest 2008: Fun in the Muddy Grass

This year's Community Festival was continuing trends started in the past few years. The crowd just keeps growing. This is spilling out into the Park Street clubs and High Street shops. Parking lots close to the festival are taking advantage charging $10.00 when an extra block walk to the Arena District found plenty of $5.00 lots. Local visual artists seem less and less represented in the booths. Several booths closed early or due to the weather or technical problems. Food and drink are available only after waiting in a long line. Unlike the 1980's, music and performers are filling up 6 stages. Somehow, Michelle Shocked not only took a "Bozo" (main) stage spot, she also ran a music workshop on Sunday. Is Comfest attracting national acts now?
Rain struck Comfest 2008 all three days. Above, you can see the water around the Goodale Statue which blocked a major sidewalk across the park. One water puddle became a mud fest for little kids and big kids alike. The solar tent, a stage lit by solar energy, couldn't muster much lighting for the band Sweet & Lonesome (above top).
This didn't stop Comfest's usual crazyness. Topless girls painted each other and a golf cart went way beyond the art cars on display with its own decorations. People come dressed to impressed, but in a casual summer way.
High-Jinks stilt dancers entertained. The art stage was particularly at the mercy of the weather. The sidewalk was just as good.
Local amateur burlesque revivalists the Ooh-La-Las brought the art stage to life Saturday night. The final girl pretended to be drunk and totally ungraceful for a bunch of laughs. It was all in good fun as this new form of burlesque is just a tease for the audience and an ego booster for the women performers.

20 Year Ago Today: Comfest 1988

The Community Festival (Comfest) was much different in 1988 than it is today. Like the first Comfest it had only one stage. The arts tent was still a couple years away. During the afternoon bands played to a thin crowd (above left), but the crowd came out for the evening shows. In the early 1980's Comfest moved from campus to the Short North to this huge empty lot where Riverside Methodist Hospital once stood (known as the White Cross Hospital). The United Commercial Travellers had bought this empty field and adjoining parking lot and rented it out cheap. It stood as the unofficial parking lot for the early gallery hops but was taken over by the construction of the Victorian Gates Apartments in 1994. Comfest had to step it up to what it is today when they were forced to rent out Goodale Park, but back in 1988 it was still a small festival you could still call "community" and expect to see people you knew.
Comfest of the late 1980's had the concessions and booths along Park Street. In 1988 they experimented with carnival rides. The ferris wheel above still didn't have its buckets installed by 8:47 pm. Yet, the wheel was together and running by nightfall that same night.
Clowns and funny hats gave it a carnival feel. Artists and performers other than bands weren't organized as part of the schedule. There wasn't much opportunity for dancers or poets. The crowd was a mix of people and never as crowded as today. First of all, the field was rough with rocks, holes, and not pleasant to sit on. Goodale Park was available, but not officially part of the festival. Many relaxed in the park and listened to the music at a distance.
Facilities were crude, but not unlike all the Comfests up until then. In late 1980's they thought they had to get a headline act to bring people out. On the right you see Country Joe McDonald of Woodstock fame rounding out the evening. The woman to the right of him had been doing sign language on stage all day. This picture tells a thousand words about how shaky Comfest was in 1988. People saw it as a hippy holdover that needed to cater to any and all audience it could.
This is not to say the festival wasn't effective. Many High Street shops started as booths at Comfest and many bands introduced themselves here. When Comfest was forced to rent out Goodale Park in 1993 they realized that getting more of the bands that play live in bars around town (bands of all variety) would bring more people. More people would be good for concessions and booths that pay the tab. The idea worked wonders, almost too good. People come from all over the state and nation. The festival is too big for the park and surrounding streets, but where could it move to and still be a "community" festival?

Nice Buildings Downtown

Yes, this is Broad Street, but not far from High Street. There are some gems that seem to have come in under radar that make East Broad Street a pleasant walk. Above is the new State Teacher's Retirement building which seems to have all the new post-modern flair going for it. Every side of this building looks different. Notice the shades along the windows. The architectural features around the front steps are also exciting, just try to not touch the shiney features. Ther has been much fanfair about the Seneca Apartments (above). It has sit empty for years when the Ohio EPA left for the Lazarus Building on High Street. It probably sat empty for years before that after it stopped being the Seneca Hotel. It was a proud early 20th century hotel at Grant and Broad Street with lots of character. It's four 10 story towers stick up from what I understand is an impressive lobby. They want to rent luxury apartments to art students and college faculty in the area. More likely, Grant Hospital workers and downtown office workers will move in.
Where did this come from? No, you aren't seeing things. Someone didn't build a neo-classical museum next to the Midland Insurance skyscraper. This is the original Veterans Memorial Auditorium that was turned into the original C.O.S.I. science museum in the 1960's. Both institutions moved to the other side of the river to newer facilities. While this building was the Center of Science and Industry there was an ugly modern glass front covering the columns where a space capsule and other things hung.
As you can see, this Veterans Memmorial Auditorium was built in 1904, before either world war. The front has been well preserved and the quality of the building is something that would be expensive to produce today. Alas, it has been brought back to life only to hold county offices, far from the other county offices. Wouldn't this make a great museum? I mean, a local history or art museum as it is a short walk to the Columbus Museum of Art. Oh yeh, you could call C.O.S.I. a museum (more like a childrens' education and play center). During C.O.S.I.'s time here the original Wendy's opened across the street and made some decent money off those bus loads of kids. Now, all of that is gone and a new future can take place.