RSVP for the free event
This event is part of Spirit & Dust, an exhibition on death and dying curated by Diane Callahan and Michelle Burdine.
At a death café, attendees are encouraged to share what’s on their mind about death in a nonjudgmental, secular environment while enjoying complimentary coffee, tea, and cake. Death Café is an international nonprofit movement with the mission “to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” These conversations remove the stigma surrounding the topic of death and dying.
Using these discussions as inspiration, attendees will then be invited to participate in a zine-making workshop with local poet Ty Williams. We’ll reflect on questions like “What makes me feel most alive?” and “What do I want my life to look like?” to craft meaningful mini publications that reflect how we hope to make the most of our time on Earth.
The Death Café model was developed by Jon Underwood and Sue Barsky Reid, based on the ideas of Bernard Crettaz.
Ty J. Williams is a poet, essayist, zinemaker, musician, and educator living and working in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Creative Writing and History. In addition to Sad-Dad poems, Ty’s writing explores Indigenous history, social justice and mental health. His work has been published in Sonder Midwest, Black Bough Poetry, Columbus Alive, Common Ground, Mosaic Magazine, 68to05.com and more. Ty has judged yearly for the James Thurber Prize for American Humor since 2023. Ty was a finalist for the 2022 Arthur Rense Poetry Prize by the American Academy of Poets.
Promo Image Art by Diane Callahan. Promo Design by Nancy Hohl.
“Death is a Dialogue between / The Spirit and the Dust,” writes poet Emily Dickinson. Living is a daily conversation with death, and through art, we continue that dialogue with mortality, loss, and our own humanity. In Spirit & Dust, artists working across various disciplines—from photography and sculpture to poetry and dance—seek to create space for care and connection in confronting questions of death and dying. What do we gather from our grief? How is this knowledge embodied, and what can art provide for this relationship? What can death teach us about what it means to be alive?
The process of creating art serves as a mirror for thinking about dying as a verb, where time is experienced as cyclical rather than linear. Each artist’s medium of choice in Spirit & Dust experiments with how we can deepen our relationship with the process of dying, such as through abstraction in photography, blank space in poetry, the ephemerality of dance, and the fallibility of materials in sculpture.
Spirit & Dust is on view concurrently with Experiencing Veterans and Artists Collaborations (EVAC) in the corridor space, which pairs veterans’ stories with original printmaking.
Curated by Diane Callahan and Michelle Burdine
Participating Artists: Kristina Arnold, Mary Jo Bole, Michelle Burdine, Diane Callahan, Elvira Clayton, Barbara Fant, Ton’nea Green, Kari Gunter-Seymour, Dana Lynn Harper, Ian Hersko, Gee Horton, Laura Larson, Tracy Longley-Cook, Michael J. Morris, Christian O’Keeffe, Paul O’Keeffe, Chantal Wnuk, Melissa Vogley Woods
Support for this project comes from the Mellon Foundation through The Ohio State University Office of Academic Affairs.
Free Public Programming
We hope you’ll join us during our free public programs this fall! There will also be an audio guide for the full exhibition located at the Urban Arts Space front desk. You’re welcome to schedule a guided curator tour with Diane Callahan at quotidianwriter@gmail.com.
Events at Urban Arts Space
Opening Reception
featuring a durational performance from Michael J. Morris
Friday, October 16, 2026, 5–7 PM
Stories We Carry: A Storytelling Circle with The Grief Club
Thursday, October 22, 6–8 PM
Artist Commune: Death Café
Saturday, October 24, 2–5 PM
What We Talk About When We Talk About Dying
Thursday, November 5, 6–8 PM
Fathers Writing Through Grief with Just Dads
Saturday, November 7, 12–2 PM
Death Over Dinner
Thursday, November 12, 6:30–8:30 PM
Events in the Community
Buckeye Talks on Tap
“Our Bodies as Monsters: Reflecting on Mortality” with Professor Sara Crosby
Tuesday, October 6 at 5:30 PM
Bucci’s Italian Scratch Kitchen on Ohio State’s Marion Campus
Pickerington Death Café
Sunday, October 11, 1–2 PM
Pickerington Public Library
Mansfield Death Café
Monday, November 2, 12:30–1:30 PM
Pearl Conard Gallery
Visiting Urban Arts Space
50 W. Town St., Ste. 130
Columbus, OH 43215
Located in the historic Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus.
Admission to our exhibitions and programs is free!
View this map for parking garage options, with street parking on Rich, Front, and Wall Street, or go to our Accessibility page for bike or bus directions.
- Columbus Commons Parking Garage (Always has ample parking on the upper floors)
- Ohio Statehouse Parking Garage (Enter from westbound Broad Street or Third Street—we recommend this garage when accessibility is a concern)
- Riffe Center Parking Garage (Enter from Front Street)
Gallery Hours
Tuesday: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Wednesday: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Thursday: 11:00 AM–8:00 PM
Friday: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Saturday: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Open later for the events listed above!
