Urban Scrawl

Where have I been for the last 9 or 10 years? It hasn't been at the Urban Scrawl Festival.This was my first time going. But it won't be my last. It's an easy 8 on the cool factor scale.Outside you'll see lots of young, and not so young, artists painting on huge canvases lined up to look like one big Wall. (best to come early to see them in action before piece is completed) I'll describe it as graffiti​ lite but that's disputable. Anyway, great to look at art, artists and appreciate eclectic art scene. They have food trucks, beer trucks and alcohol sales. OYO was doing good business. And with the DJ spinning tunes ...... It was picture perfect.If you want more, you can stroll through the artist warehouse and visit individual studios. This is a great time to shop and talk to interesting folks. Also, the junior scrawl is located here. Kids are having a blast. In fact, there were lots of kids. Some with parents and some without. Good for all age groups.It's a two day free event. They do accept donations. IDs are required for wristband if planning to drink alcohol. Speaking of drinking, the festival is directly behind Strongwater restaurant & bar. Land Grant brewery and Rehab bar are two other popular drinking spots across the street.All good reasons to stay awhile and plan to come back again to next year's festival.

Awaken the Artist in you!A wonderful interactive event good for the whole family, dates, or individuals looking to have a good time and support the local community. Over 50 artists participated in this 2 day long art expo and competition. Artists paint on Giant Canvases to tell stories of the past, present, and future. You can interact with the artists to get an in depth perspective of their work as wellThe event is FREE and money raised during the 2 days supports local charities. You can buy the artists' work as well which is awesome if you see something you like.Local Underground Art SceneLocal bands and dancersLocal breweries and distilleriesLocal Food trucksDiverse crowdGrassroots vibes

This was a fun event downtown on Rich street. There were several local artists who had completed works but there were a group of artists working on paintings. That was fun to watch the creativity in action. There were several buildings full of art studios, some were open and could talk to the artist. They had food vendors, live music, and adult beverages that could be purchased with drink tickets. A great time.

Urban Scrawl is a festival sponsored by the Franklinton Arts District and CD 101. Despite the relatively sparse attendance at the event when I was there, I thought the idea and the scene were pretty dead on. The artists were lined up along the river casually painting graffiti style art on giant wooden boards. This is an activity that rarely happens in the light of day, let alone at a leisurely pace. Hopefully this is the practice they needed. I'd love to see more graffiti around town. Overall, a great event that will hopefully give the Franklinton Arts District some more exposure in Columbus.A bunch of local shops and political organizations set up tables across from the artists as well. I envied them really. They sat and watched all the art develop over the course of the whole day. If no one thought to set up a camera on time-delay, then a sweet opportunity was definitely lost.The row of artists and booths led to a tent in the corner hosting some of the better local bands in Columbus. I liked the fact that there didn't seem to be a main event. Everything was given pretty much equal attention. The band played while the artists painted and the skaters skated (a skateboard contest was advertised, but I don't think it was happening when I was there).

Very cool event. Outside at 400 West Rich, they set up blank panels all across the courtyard wall and artists create a masterpiece over two days and YOU get to watch! They have music, food, beer, and good vibes. Artists are available to chat and usually have biz cards so you can get in touch and pictures of their progress available.I especially enjoyed getting to watch things come together. Sometimes you'd see them doing something that looked terrible or made no sense and 30 minutes later it was art. Pure amazing!This is a great expression of talent and creativity in our community!

Urban Scrawl is one amazing experience. It really goes to show the true undergroundness of Columbus. It is dirty and dusty and smelly in all the good ways, I leave there looking like I have been rolling around in dirty and I am a run away. This might be biased since I am one of the annual vendors there, but this is my favorite place to be a vendor at. Everyone that comes, helps, or is an artist are just happy fun people to be around. It is not a Huge event, but still brings in a great crowd. I usually end the weekend with a good amount of money in my pocket from all the sales.The location is perfect, you have this beat up warehouse, a train depot is on top, artist studios inside and a stage outside. What ever you fix was for that day you would find it there. If you want a good techno dance party that was there, or some amazing folk dancy music, live artist painting on 10 foot panels, people walking on stilts, yummy food carts, and fun little cute artsy fartsy people everywhere.The only 2 things I would request would be, It was so hot outside maybe having this event in September. Also the music would at points over lap each other. In one ear I hear techno, and in the other ear I hear folk, weird combo not a fan.Also a great place for kids, pets and drinking. :D

It's great fun watching all of the artwork progress as the warm summer day goes on with beer and food (vegan-friendly even) and good live music which all round out a nice relaxing day: probably one of the most under-rated local events, seeing as how there hasn't been a review since the first one. There's a skateboarding competition too. It took a few years for the old fogies at the City of Columbus government to notice that young folk were all ready to turn the neighborhood around and this year the neighborhood finally received a little bit of revitalization money to jump start it: too bad I would've been closer to 40 before I could've considered living there. Now, there's also the complimentary Go West! which takes place at the beginning of summer whereas Urban Scrawl is basically a summer send off. If you haven't gone to Urban Scrawl you're missing out and can at least catch the latter to get a taste of what you're missing so that you don't have to wait til summer's practically over.