Of art shops, Try-Centennials, and artists of the Wonderland Way.

Dave Thrasher offers the best New Albany bicentennial slogan yet:

"We're all here because we're not all there."

I may have to borrow this wonderful turn of phrase for affixing to NABC's forthcoming Try-Centennial Ale. Seeing as none of us were invited to it, we've elected to skip the 200 year party, cash in our leftover Crutchfields, and fast-forward to 2113. A century hence, will there be anything left of New Albany as we know it?

Should there be?

If all goes as planned, Try-Centennial will be released on or near June 1, with the unveiling to take place at a special gathering replete with history and elegance -- and if the former Little Chef isn't available, we'll make do somewhere else.

But seriously, arrangements are being made, and you'll know the details soon enough. Our resident graphics wunderkind Tony Beard is laboring to complete label art, as we hope to have a limited bottle run. You are encouraged to buy a bottle, hide it between drywall sheets in a crawl space, and hope someone stumbles across it in time for featuring on the front page of whatever non-local newspaper still exists a hundred years from now.

Meanwhile, an earnest recommendation: Go to the Carnegie Center and see the current exhibit, The Artists of the Wonderland Way. The exhibit tells the forgotten story of New Albanian artists during the decades prior to World War II, as loosely brought together at a "third space" of an establishment known as the Art Shop. It was located at 203 E. Market Street, precisely where Dave Thrasher's Art Store is ensconced now, and where we chatted yesterday.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. In New Albany, this tendency is a mixed blessing, indeed, but there are times when it makes sense in a pleasing way. Art synchronicity surely is one such occurrence.

(Photo credit: Carnegie Center and as inscribed)