EVENTS

Celebrating Black History Month? Check out these films, concerts and events in Columbus

Peter Tonguette, Margaret Quamme and Erica Thompson
Special to The Columbus Dispatch

Columbus is full of compelling arts and cultural events year round, and Black History Month is no exception. Take a peek at films, concerts, literary events and other gatherings that the city has to offer this February.

‘Pioneers of African American Cinema’ and related programming

A still from the film “Within Our Gates"

Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St.

Details: The series “Pioneers of African American Cinema,” which kicked off in January, will continue with additional screenings of works of early Black cinema. A program of short films will be shown on Feb. 19. Additionally, the film center will host a month-long companion series of films by contemporary Black filmmakers, including Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Feb. 10), Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” (Feb. 17), Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” (Feb. 24) and Lee’s “Malcolm X” (Feb. 26).

Time: Times vary

Admission: $12.50 for evening show, or $9.50 for matinees

Contact: gatewayfilmcenter.org

'Cinema Revival'

Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St.

Details: As part of its annual series celebrating film restoration, the arts center will present a number of films appropriate for Black History Month, including the 1981 drama “Burning an Illusion,” about working-class Black people in Britain (Feb. 23), and “Rewind & Play,” a documentary deconstructing an encounter between Black musician Thelonious Monk and a biased French interviewer (Feb. 25).

Time: Times vary

Admission: $9, or $7 for senior citizens and Wexner Center members, $5 for students; passes to “Cinema Revival” cost $36, or $27 for senior citizens and members, $18 for students

Contact: wexarts.org

Urban Strings Columbus

Alexis Cunningham practices during Urban Strings orchestra practice for high schoolers at Columbus State Community College. Cunningham has been in Urban Strings for eight years. “I’ve made a family here because you have a sense of belonging,” said Cunningham.

Multiple venues

Details: In celebration of its “sweet 16” anniversary, Urban Strings Columbus will host multiple concerts throughout the month. Talented young musicians (ages 11 to 17) from underrepresented communities in Columbus will give performances all month long, including at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Karl Road branch (Feb. 11), Dublin branch (Feb. 18), Hilliard branch (Feb. 19), Hilltop branch (Feb. 25) and Barnett branch (Feb. 25). A special concert at the Main Library, featuring guest artists, will take place on Feb. 26.

Time: Times vary

Admission: Free

Contact: urbanstringscolumbus.org

Florence Price's 'Symphony No. 3'

Florence Price

Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St.

Details: On Feb. 17 and 18, the Columbus Symphony will play “Andante ma non troppo” from “Symphony No. 3” by Black composer Florence Price. Commissioned by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Music Project, the piece premiered in 1940. The performance also will include an excerpt from “The Caged Bird,” a documentary about Price. Additionally, the orchestra will play works by Brahms and Schubert.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Admission: $9.84 and up

Contact: columbussymphony.com

SZA

SZA will perform at the Schottenstein Center on Feb. 21.

Schottenstein Center, 555 Borror Dr.

Details: R&B singer-songwriter SZA (Solana Imani Rowe) jumped to the top of the charts with 2018's “Ctrl,” and followed strong with last year's “SOS,” the basis of her current tour. Rolling Stone praises its melodies as “edgy, pristine and instantly memorable,” and notes that “remarkably, she makes pettiness and Carrie-level bloodlust sound damn near angelic.” She will visit Columbus on Feb. 21.

Time: 8 p.m.

Admission: Resale market tickets at varied prices

Contact: schottensteincenter.com

Brown Girls Mentoring Presents: Black History HERstory Series

Brown Girls Mentoring Presents: Black History HERstory Series will take place Feb. 18 at the Linden Community Center.

Linden Community Center, 1350 Briarwood Ave.

Details: In this Feb. 18 program aimed at young women, four local community leaders will discuss their paths to success. Speakers include Judge Kimberly Cocroft of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Erica Crawley of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, Shayla Favor of the Columbus City Council and Dr. Erica Glasper, associate professor in the Ohio State University Department of Neuroscience.

Time: Noon to 2 p.m.

Admission: Free, but seating is limited, and advance registration is required.

Contact: browngirlsmentoring.org; Click here to register on eventbrite.

Novelist Jamila Minnicks in conversation with Hasan Jeffries

Novelist Jamila Minnicks will visit Gramercy Books on Feb. 7.

Gramercy Books, 2424 E. Main St., Bexley

Details: Jamila Minnicks' debut novel is “Moonrise Over New Jessup,” which is set in an all-Black town in Alabama in 1957. Minnicks will discuss the book and the civil rights movement of that time on Feb. 7 with Hasan Jeffries, associate professor of history at The Ohio State University.

Time: 7 p.m.

Admission: $5, or free with purchase of “Moonrise Over New Jessup”

Contact: gramercybooksbexley.com

Lecture and book signing by novelist Marlon James

Marlon James will appear at Capital University on Feb. 15.

Capital University, Mees Hall, East Mound Street

Details: James is best known for his 2014 novel, “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” which is set in Jamaica in the ‘70s and ‘80s and revolves around Bob Marley. The book won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. More recently, James has been working on the “Dark Star” series, a planned trilogy of fantasy books, the first two of which — “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” and “Moon Witch, Spider King” — were published in 2019 and 2022, respectively. The author will appear at Capital University on Feb. 15.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Admission: Free

Contact:  capital.edu/news-and-events/annual-events/gerhold-lecture/

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