Location: 400 W. Rich Street, Columbus, OH 43215

I circled the block to find a good place to park. There were a couple of close lots charging $5. I parked at a meter. I didn’t realize the meters were free after 6 pm. Don’t be like me and throw in a couple extra quarters just in case. I walked about a block or two to get to the event. A person only needs to show their id if they plan to purchase alcohol. They had a DJ playing music. The music was at a good level to allow for comfortable conversation with the artists. I was overwhelmed with the number of artists creating art. I walked around for several minutes just taking in the scene before I settled into obtaining blog information.

Tell me what is going on?

It is 50 plus artists. They each get either an 8 by 4 or a 4 by 4 panel. It is a free for all. You do whatever you want in the two days allotted. I do 3d stuff, so I was going to bring that to it. It is nice being around so many different styles, and so many different processes. It gets your creative juices flowing for sure.

What are we doing today?

A 3D Angler fish that interweaves through some seaweed, with an ocean background.

What is your process?

For me, it is a lot of prep work. I work with wood. A lot of this was cut out pre-Scrawl. I mainly use spray paint and acrylic paint. I’ll paint everything and then I’ll put it on the panel. After that, I’ll go back and do some detail work.

It looks like you have multimedia going on here. Tell me about it.

This is a tribute to Hank Marr. He was one of Columbus, Ohio preeminent jazz musicians and an East High School graduate in 1945. He played the Hammond B3 organ in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He was a professor at Ohio State, and Fort Hayes. This is a tribute to Columbus’ own.

Are you pretty much done?

There is some tweaking here and there, but we are almost done. We all tend to paint quick. We were given instructions by our wives because we all have children, “You will finish it on Saturday, so people can enjoy it on Sunday when you are home cooking dinner for your family.”

If someone is interested in your work, how can they find you?

Craig Allen, @horriblyhandsom

Dan Gerdeman, Instagram: @Gerdeart

Rob Jones, @uncle_gutbucket

Tell me about the collaboration.

Craig: This is our third or fourth Urban Scrawl together. Two years ago, we did a tribute piece to Columbus’ own Camu Tao who was a local hip hop legend. Before that, we did MaryAnn Black, who was a local R&B and soul singer. Rob is the master mind who comes up with the ideas. We are just the vessels that support him.

Rob: Those guys are easy to collaborate with. We had the idea to do Hank Marr. We each researched him independently and came up with some ideas. Paul Klee is a favorite artist of all of ours. He did a piece called the” Twittering Machine.”  All these birds look like they are going up and down out of an instrument. We went with that as our idea. We just wanted to pay homage to Frank Marr.  He was an amazing Hammond B3 organ player.

Why urban Scrawl?

Rob: Because it is an awesome venue for public art. This is my fourth year doing it. In three out of four years, we have done a Columbus musician. We have an awesome music/artistic history in Columbus and we want people to know about it. We want to shine the light on some of that.

Why Urban Scrawl? 

There were many reasons I chose to do Urban Scrawl. Franklinton is a huge art scene.  There are hundreds of artists that have attended this show over the years.  I wanted the opportunity to showcase my art; but, more importantly, I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself, the art community. A few people know who I am; but, many don’t know about me. God willing, one day, I will lease a studio at 400 Rich and further grow as an artist. 

The mural I chose to paint was from an original picture I drew in 2015, “Armored Lion”.  It depicts a soldier with a staff about to face the Armored Lion. The Armored Lion is my brand as an artist; so, what other way to help grow your brand, than to use it as an OSU reference. In the mural, the Columbus city skyline is in the background and the Armored Lion represents the OSU football team; and the Soldier represents our rival, Michigan. The Armored Lion protects us from anyone who tries to come for our city. 

Why Urban Scrawl? 

I have been a part of this organization and this event for the last 9 events. I spent 4 years on the administrative side where I was the artist curator, and the juror for the artist that participated. I started as a spectator for the first 3 years. Then, I decided that I wanted to be part of the board and help push this event. We try to step up the level of artists each year.  We want to have the best representation of Franklinton and Columbus.

What are you doing today?

I am a mixed media artist. I am doing a pour of watered-down acrylic and then using spray paint and enamel to get an effect of motion and adding depth. I’m an abstract artist by trade.

Anything else?

This event is put on by the Franklinton Arts District. This group has been monumental in bringing culture into the neighborhood. They have been pushing and fostering a good relationship between the artist and the community by creating grant programs to help the individuals in this neighborhood to create art. It is a big blessing to be a part of this group. The work created will be sold at an auction next year to fund the grants program. We started with nothing. The last fundraiser raised about $49,000 from the sale of these panels and that money is going back into the community. It’s a good thing.

Why Urban Scrawl? 

This is the twelfth year of Scrawl. We have 60 plus artists.hanging out, painting all day.  Then, how many people hanging out literally watching paint dry. You don’t get that every day. It’s a good cause. Everything that we do here is either donated to area businesses to have them displayed or they are sold at auction. All the money goes back into the neighborhood to our grants program. We give grants for education, public art, or programming.  For example, funding a bus for a school field trip. We just purchased a steel drum for one of the Charter Schools.

What are you doing today?

I am painting 4^th Street. This is going to be a little palace. I’m just painting with acrylic. There are 4 by 4 boards. We had about 140 people apply, and we ended up with 60 artists. Everyone here was juried in. Everyone had the option to pic a 4 by 4 or a 4 by 8 vertical or a 4 by 8 horizontal or a double 8 by 8. This is art to the extreme. Today you are dealing with rain. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 90 degrees. So, if it isn’t raining on it, I will be sweating on it. Plus, everyone wanting to talk and hang out, it is kind of difficult to get something this big done with quality. There is quality stuff going on here. I don’t want to be the “slub” that isn’t doing anything.

Anything else?

The artists are doing this for free. It’s not for exposure. They are doing it because it is for a good cause. This is for the kids. Kids don’t get an opportunity to see art created.

Why Urban Scrawl? 

I am on the board of Franklinton Arts District. We put on Urban Scrawl every year. This is our twelfth year. I have lived in the neighborhood for 64 years. I taught high school art in the neighborhood at Franklinton Prep Academy. This was a mural painting festival to give the artists a chance to showcase their work. Over the years as our organization has evolved (now a legitimate 501c3), we run a grant program for art education. About half of the panels that are being painted this weekend will go to auction in May. The money raised at auction is used to fund the grant program.

Anything else?

The arts have played a big part in the revitalization of the neighborhood. The arts play a big part in bringing people to the neighborhood who ordinarily wouldn’t make the trip down to this part of town.  It is a good experience for everybody. It is nice interaction with the neighborhood.

What is your process?

I use a lot of masking tape. I build up layers, peel off the tape and then I go back through. I have an index rubric for how each shape gets filled in. Now, its about filling everything in.

Why Urban Scrawl? 

They invited me.

Are you a local artist?

I live here in Franklinton.

What are you doing?

We are the Super Art League. We combine visual art and performance art to teach kids self confidence and leadership skills. We are here at Urban Scrawl to do a community art piece. Part of our mission is to reach out to the community. We wanted to make sure that there was a space for the Super Art League to do a giant 3D octopus. It was born and raised at the idea factory. Then, have all the kids in the community come and paint mini murals on the suction cups. There is a kid’s arts space inside. This is an opportunity for the kids to be a part of the adult art space. We will attach all their creations, 100 suction cups, to the octopus for the permanent piece.

Chris Pemberton

Anything you want to tell me.

I am doing a piece with Simon La Bozetta for the third year in a row. We have very different styles; but, we work similarly. The first year, we did a 4 by 8. The last two years, we have done an 8 by 8. We try to find something where it is like 50/50. I’m not sure we are quite there yet. I think it is still about 60/40 Simon; but, we are getting there.

What is your process?

We get something mapped out ahead of time. Once we get here things tend to change. I went to Ohio State for fine arts. He went to CCAD (Columbus College of Art and Design). We try to bring something unique to Urban Scrawl. This is not a knock on anyone. But you will see a lot of graphic art. We are trying to bring a pure abstract style to the event. We try to play off each other a little bit. We try not to let what we came up with before hand dictate too much. It’s a blueprint for what we want to do. We try to let things happen naturally as we progress throughout the weekend. Both of us have an abstract background. Simon has done a lot of realism. I have done a lot of realism in the past. Our current body of work would be purely abstract. This year, we thought we would go for it. We are about ¾ finished with this piece. We will probably spend a couple of hours tomorrow tightening things up.

My take on Urban Scrawl 2018:

Screaming I LOVED IT! I love that there is ample meter parking. I love that the artists are willing to talk while they work. I love that a person can sit back and watch the artistic process for several different media but just taking a few steps. This is an event that I plan to attend in years to come.