Tavares Strachan, Encyclopedia of Invisibility (Pocket Guide), 2024. Leather, gilding, archival paper, lucite box and stand. Credit: Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery
The Columbus Museum of Art is revitalizing The Pizzuti building with a series of artistic events called “Prologue” starting Friday.
The series’ launch party will be held at The Pizzuti building — owned by the CMA and located at 632 N. Park Street — from 6:30-10 p.m. It will consist of a conversation with Daniel Marcus, a CMA curator, and Heather K. Calloway, a fraternal archivist, or someone who is responsible for preserving and making available all history of a fraternity. Each event will end with a DJ series, “Errant Forms X Nesting,” curated by Love Higher with DJ Reg Zehner, according to the CMA website.
According to the center’s website, the next events are scheduled for Jan. 31 and March 14, with talks from art historian Faye Raquel Gleisser, and artists featured in the program, including David L. Johnson, Julia Scher and Julia Weist.
Marcus said the series focuses on the history of The Pizzuti building as the previous headquarters of the United Commercial Travelers, a non-profit organization which supports communities and causes throughout the United States and Canada.
“There are some historical works, and there is that historical dimension to Prologue as much as it’s sort of looking forward and trying to kind of imagine a new program at Pizzuti,” Marcus said. “It was the headquarters of [UCT] — that was both an insurance provider, but also a fraternal society — so like a social organization, like a kind of membership club.”
The Pizzuti building. Credit: Courtesy of the Columbus Museum
Lydia Simon, director of marketing and communications for CMA, said “Prologue” highlights The Pizzuti’s role in Columbus and as a Short North staple.
“It’s a beautiful building. I’m really excited that we’re reinvigorating the space with programming, and really thinking about the role that The Pizzuti has in the Short North Arts District,” Simon said.
Marcus said the programming is a new way of experiencing the space, with pieces of all different kinds of immersive media, such as video projections, paintings, sculptures and more.
“The Pizzuti is meant to be an experimental space where you might walk through the front doors and be met with a blast of sound or there might be a video projection. For “Prologue,” there’s not a conventional title or introtext to bring you into the story,” Marcus said. “Rather, there’s a map, and visitors are encouraged to explore, so we want people to think of it as a place that you’re going to kind of explore a set of experiences that have been staged for you by artists.”
Simon said this exhibition is also in collaboration with Ohio State, as it was organized with Ohio State faculty and the Office of Academic Affairs.
“I think this speaks to our ongoing collaboration with OSU at this space specifically, and that it is a laboratory for experimentation, learning and education,” Simon said.
Simon said Prologue allows the building to remain an integral part of the Short North by serving as a platform for artists by having new programming and events.
“It’s really an exciting opportunity for us because it’s experiential,” Simon said. “There’s so many things to do in that district anyway, and there’s a lot of partners — the Short North Alliance were working with. They have holiday hops and all of these other things that I think are going to be really impactful for us in reaching new audiences at the Pizzuti.”
More information can be found on CMA’s website.
