October 2006 Gallery Hop

The October gallery hop was on the heels of another late afternoon OSU football game, so the crowd was massive and stuck to the beaten path. High Street shops were packed, but half a block off High Street and the crowd was thin. It is the first season that the new South Campus Gateway devlopment flowed into the Short North. Several new art-type businesses have popped up. There was a dedicated break dance stage in front of Michael's Goody-Boy. BLD Studio people had a couple of displays that started at Cornell in Ithaca, NY (think architecture students putting on performance art and arty installations). It was a spooky halloween hop with lots of people handing out announcements, both political and artistic. A "hop art" mural was created in front of Victorian Gate, is this a regular event now?

High Street Art: early 1980's

Beginning a series of photos from the early to mid-1980's in the Short North arts district, before and after the Gallery Hops began. The above picture is from outside the "Innovation" fashion and art show in 1984. (The Yukon Building held most of the galleries in the Short North until 1984) Left: a picture of Apple Gallery storefront (689 N. High), the gallery that began everything in 1977. Artist Linda Apple rented an abandon storefront as an art studio and exhibition space. Legend has it that artists flocked to the openings and events at the Apple Gallery which became mostly dorment by 1980. The "689 Apple" remained until the renovation of the building in the late 1980's.

Olentangy finally crossed by Suspension Bridge

It is a rediculous idea: put a suspension bridge over the Olentangy River. Yet, as a focal point of the Ohio State University's arenas and stadium, it somehow works. The lighting at night is scarlet and grey. A great place to drive your new car.

South Campus Gateway

above: Mad Mex has metal sculpture at their door.

Sunflower Market is a natural foods grocery begun by Sav-A-Lot. Look for the giant sunflower

Short & Sweet: The Ohio State University bought-up and wiped-out the old bars along High Street just south of campus and built an inner-city lifestyle center with entertainment businesses and apartment buildings. Called South Campus Gateway
it is the first of at least three redevelopments of the campus commercial strip on High Street. This one includes a parking garage, four bars, an 8 screen theatre, campus bookstore, and a natural foods grocery store. The biggest gold mine in the gateway project has to be the Eddie George Grille which has brought in a non-student crowd to campus High Street. Eddie is already expanding the sport bar restaurant.
Coffeeshops and high definition TVs abound in the South Campus Gateway. Not exactly a shopping mall, but bigger than a single project. It is the third version of a lifestyle center created in Columbus. The first was the Continent shopping center and French Market in 1975. The second was the sprawling Easton Town Center in 1999 through the present. South Campus Gateway is an urban infill shoppping center which tries to upgrade the quality of life in the neighborhood.

New Scot Laboratories

The best looking of the new post-modern buildings on campus has to be the new Scot Labs. It is a far cry from the sawtooth building it replaced. Every side of the complex is different with many exciting features clad in glass and corregated metal.