The announcement by The Key that it’s literary and visual arts magazine, The Scream, is now accepting submissions caused me to realize how much art is happening on the west side of the river. In my opinion, The Key is a major, and not properly appreciated, contributor to our Art Town.

Most people are at least aware of their concert series. Many regional favorites have performed at The Key over the years. Fewer people are probably aware of their visual arts programs, including button-making, pumpkin-carving, “Super Cool Melty Plastic Sculptures”, snow sculptures, t-shirt designing, ornament-crafting and, of course, their ever-changing murals. Finally, it is an even rarer person who follows their book club, which boasts as recent titles such heavyweights as Confederacy of Dunces, 1984, Breakfast of Champions, On the Road, and The Sun Also Rises.

I must admit, even I was not aware of their vigorous pursuit of the culinary arts. As many of you know, this medium in particular is close to my heart…or stomach. I’ll try to time my next visit with a performance piece in this area.

There is an effort underway to reinvigorate the Art Crawl. I’m hoping that The Key will join in. They have much to offer and we have much to gain from such collaboration.