For the seventh time, Couchfire Collective held Agora at Junctionview Studios on May 22, 2010. After Agora 6th’s ambitious size, we decided to scale back and focus on putting on a quality event focused on the core of what the event has been about, art, music, and community. The event went off without a hitch and to the delight of the many people in attendance.
Look for it again next May.
I joke with myself sometimes about how I’d love to have some trophy handed to me someday. I can say with some certainty that I was inspired to watch Kent Rigsby awarded at the Short North Gala a few years back for his work in revitalizing the neighborhood. I don’t know Kent, but I’ve always thought of that as a neat thing, for a group of people to award you for doing something honorable. Honor is a lost benefit these days. I’d like to think that some of the things I do are for honor.. not money or fame. Honor to me is a sense of pride felt by using your desire to please your self by setting yourself aside for others.
It’s both funny and humbling to me that I was awarded “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” by the Young Professionals of Columbus. I rarely consider myself professional. I always consider myself young… probably too young. But to get a plaque from a bunch of people my age, recognizing that the things are doing are making an impact somewhere makes me want to travel back to my high school guidance councilor and say “See, being an artist does make difference. Thank you for being so nearsighted”.
Anyway, this group of people, decided to carve my name into a piece of metal on a piece of wood… and hand it to me in front of people at a baseball game. And though, when boiled down to simple terms like that it sounds silly, for me it was a big moment.. .where someone took the time to recognize in more than words that I’m doing something worthwhile. And so I will continue.