This is a funny one - I have written this particular history many times over the years and one version is in the archives of the Short North Gazette (the publication where this latest version is also running). Two months ago they ran a profile of Spangler Cummings, one of the early gallery owners, and in the article they gave her more credit than she deserved. A lot more credit. Credit for stuff other people did. Credit for stuff I did (and am getting an award for in October). If they had checked the article in THEIR OWN ARCHIVE (http://www.shortnorth.com/Hops-Galloway.html) it would never have happened. Already the wrong article is being used for reference. Garg.
Anyway, I raised a stink with the editor. She finally promised me space for a retraction/correction/clarification (which ran last month) and space for an article about the 275th Gallery Hop. This is that article. Weird thing is I didn't even know if it would run - I got no acknowledgment at all when I submitted it. But, here it is. Intact, as far as I can tell. Not one of my best efforts, but I am happy to once again have gotten it out there.

275th Gallery Hop

We first discovered the soon to be called Short North back in 1979 when we were checking out cheap retail space for our gallery - pm gallery. At that time it was still called the Near Northside and was a place to avoid. Rundown buildings, bars and strip clubs were the norm. The small bit of viability was junk stops (wonderful junk stops - but junk stops none the less), dead or alive TV stores, and greasy spoon restaurants. And yet - there was a glimmer of something more. ArtReach, a non-profit avant garde gallery was set up in the Yukon Building, as was UNICEF, Glass Galaxy - a leaded and blown glass gallery run by Reynold Truitt, the Victorian Village General Store - a nice little grocery that was one of the few places at that time that had Breyer’s ice cream, and Functional Furnishings - the largest tenant in the building. Impressions of Third Edition was also there - although they never did quite get their doors open. Linda Apple Studios was a few buildings to the north. And the neighborhoods - Victorian Village to the west and Italian Village to the east - were buzzing with activity. The sound of hammers and power tools filled the air as wonderful but derelict old houses were brought back from the brink and once again turned into the showpieces and livable homes that their original owners intended.
This was a place with potential. Here were people working hard towards their own dreams and visions. And there was a business association on N. High St. that was beginning to awaken to the challenges. And traffic. North High Street is a busy street no matter what. My own first glimpse of the neighborhood was coming through on the bus from north of campus to my job in German Village. And I liked what I saw.
We opened in 1980 and set to work, having openings, expanding inventory, finding new artists. We hoped that the area would continue on its path as an arts district. Artists like cheap rent and a little grime (and even danger) will not dissuade them from a promising neighborhood. The wait was a bit longer than we had hoped, though.
In January of 1984 we were pretty involved with ArtReach - volunteering and serving on the board. We decided to try a tandem opening. In retrospect, January was not a good month for this, but it did test the waters. ArtReach was doing a participation show and we were doing Hot Pots For Cold Nights - and it was cold. That and the two block separation meant that we did not get the cross traffic that we had hoped for. Alas. The idea was back burnered.
Fast forward to September of 1984. ArtReach and UNICEF have been evicted from the Yukon Building as Functional Furnishings is expanding to fill the entire first floor. Sandy Wood has been renovating the Lincoln-High corner and both ArtReach and UNICEF end up finding new homes on E. Lincoln. They are joined by HandMotions - a custom hand painted t-shirt shop. Meanwhile on the High Street frontage, the Ohio National Coin Exchange has transformed and relocated a couple of doors south to become Ritchey’s at 714 - now a coin, precious metals, jewelry and curio shop with a bit of an Indiana Jones flair. Michael Allen Gallery joins the mix on High St. This is looking like critical mass!
Our first cooperative opening is in October of 1984 and is immediately successful! Attendance goes from 30 to 300 and we are ecstatic.
Flash forward again to summer of 1985. The big news is Spangler Cummings Gallery is opening in a large space on High Street, south of Lincoln, next door to Rigsby’s Cuisine Volatile (now Rigsby’s Kitchen). She inquires of me if there is one night when all the galleries have our opening reception. Yes, says I, the first Saturday of the month. Great, says she.
The next thing we know, something called the Gallery Hop is being promoted by Spangler and Maureen Whalen of the Short North Business Association. That August Spangler opens her space and our crowds go from 300 to 3000. Most importantly - the Hop has finally crossed the street and is no longer confined to one small corner!
Naming the Gallery Hop allowed us to focus energy and promote it properly. That is the anniversary we are celebrating this month - the 275th named Gallery Hop. An event that is still evolving, often copied and still welcomed in this city of ours. It is still a cheap date - that can get expensive in a hurry. It is still the best place to window shop, people watch, experience street theater, listen to music, buy art, educate yourself and open your eyes to the possibilities of our own small, big city.
So come and enjoy the Hop for the first time, the 275th time or even the 285th time - if you were one of the lucky ones who made it to the first Cooperative Opening. We are still here, still going strong, still always the first Saturday, still year round. As John Angelo, the executive director of the SNBA, says - "The Gallery Hop has become our signature. People come from all over the country to experience it. Ohio Magazine even dubbed it the best art event in the state. How many events are heralded as such after 275 times around the block. It's remarkable. Kudos to the Short North."

I think that article gives short shrift to the thankless services performed by Spangler Cummings. I know I read about her somewhere.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

And lest we forget, Linda Apple.

We did take her picture last month with all the other old broad founding mothers who are still around. It was fun!
Here is her web site: http://lindaapple.blogspot.com/

Must be nice to be published....I have thought about writing for our local paper....maybe one day.

You would be surprised how happy your local paper would be to see a well written piece of general interest. Put some stuff together and offer it to them. Profiles of interesting local people (especially characters - every town has them), historical stuff, and even op-ed are some places to start. Of course, go with what you know to start. Research can come later. I usually do personal remembrances, since I have seen (and participated) in so many changes in our neighborhood. And one of the things I like to do is give credit where credit is due. I know I have hit the right spot when the old timers and the newcomers both feel I got it right.

For you casual fans, this is a veiled shot at Spangler Cummings.

What is your award for Tuna?

I hate that Spangler woman already - what kind of a person over the age of sixteen allows herself to be called Spangler anyway ?!

Her name is really Brenda!

It is called a Luminary Award and is given by the Short North Business Association. Basically it means I am an asset to the neighborhood and a good egg who plays well with others. Coincidentally, I was interviewed by our local public TV station this morning. They are doing a documentary about the Short North neighborhoods. They are talking to all the old poops.

Local papers are always in need of material. Ours has a regular weekly library column, which I write. I provide titles and synopses of new books at the library and announce whatever needs announcing.

Local media websites are yearning for content as well. If any of you feel the need to have your work seen by the masses, offer your services to a local Newspaper, Magazine, TV station, or Radio station. They have buit-in audiences that they're driving to their websites, so you'll have more folks enjoying your work than what you usually would if you started your own website. They won't pay you, but you'd be the local comic book guy, or music critic, or book critic, or editorial cartoonist. After a while you could take that experience and get a paying gig. It's more exposure to be the book critic for NBC10.com than say Geocities.com/bookguy21.html

Local TV and radio stations may even need people for on the air. I've been on local radio several times promoting the library and the recent America Recycles Day. You just need something of potential local interest to talk about.

I used to do this kind of work for PLANET WEEKLY in Tuscaloosa, but I've never thought about such a broad array of possiblities in San Diego, 'cause the local Weeklies are short of space for someone new...until you have just the right story. But that's just print, and this is about a wide media array...I've put up art in an Art Crawl here in Downtown, but this isn't the part of town for such things. You ladies and gents did get me thinking...