Downtown's Contemporary Arts Center welcomes the new year with a program related to its current exhibition by Mexican artist Carlos Amorales, Discarded Spider. At 4 p.m. on Saturday, CAC Director/Chief Curator Raphaela Platow leads a tour and discussion of the show, which consists of giant-sized spiders and a spooky sound-video installation in addition to collages.  

On Monday at 6:30 p.m., the innovative historical/horror film series inspired by the Carlos Amorales: Discarded Spider exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center continues despite the departure of the man who helped organize it, Education Director Scott Boberg. The double-bill begins with Come and See, Elem Klimov's 1985 tale of a Byelorussian teen who gets lost in the nightmarish woods while fighting Nazis, then concludes with Roger Corman's 1964 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death.  

Kevin Muente, a landscape painter whose stated aim is to feed off the energy created by various forms of nature -- with a particular attraction to leaves, branches, ripples and stones -- has a new solo show at Collector's Art Group (225 E. Sixth St.) through Dec. 31. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.  

"Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms" at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus is surprising. It makes Warhol fresh again but also in some ways is far more exciting than the more prim-and-proper 2002 Los Angeles show, even though it has less of his classic artwork. It has important examples of his art but is vividly about his life and times. Through Feb. 15, 2009.  

Scott Boberg's new show at Semantics Gallery in Brighton is called Sign Song: Hobo Signs & Mixed Messages and borrows from hobo symbols used on houses during the Great Depression to inform fellow hoboes about what to expect from the occupant inside. The exhibition features as its centerpiece “Hobo Signs (Nos. 1-50),” consisting of 50 gouache and metallic acrylic paintings on paper arranged as a single grid of black-framed images. Among the symbols included are ones for “man with a gun lives here,” “hold your tongue” and “hit the road quick.” Other pieces in the show draw their inspiration from song titles and lyrics, text messages and personal writing. Boberg uses such materials as a classroom world map, sandwich boards, movie marquee letters and a full-length mirror. It all adds up to an observation/installation about the importance of signs in our art as well as our everyday life. The show is open Saturday nights from 7-10 p.m. through Nov. 29.  

When Tom Moon, author of the new 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, makes a personal appearance, as he does 7 p.m. Wednesday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, he expects people to come to argue. Moon spent three years working on this book. It is, in a sense, a follow-up to Patricia Schultz’s trend-setting 1,000 Places to See Before You Die books and calendars. It is from the same publisher, Workman, which is releasing it as a “‘1,000…Before You Die’ Book.”  

China Design Now, which just opened at Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) and will be there until Jan. 11, 2009, stands poised to be a high-profile exhibition for the museum.   

Jonathan Richman's career has proved so long-lasting -- more than 35 years now -- because he's seen as the eternally endearing manchild.  

With just a few hours to go before last week’s final presidential debate, Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters at Smokey Bones BBQ & Grill in West Chester were furiously busy. These Democratic volunteers, seated at tables and booths in a set-aside area with their cell phones out, were calling Butler County voters classified from previous research as “undecided” or “persuadable.” They were making calls as quickly and politely as possible before the debate began.   

A trip to the mall usually results in a new pair of shoes or maybe an Orange Julius and a pretzel. For singer/songwriter Maurice Mattei, a stroll through the Kenwood Towne Centre resulted in his new album, Kenwood Towne Center. Mattei, The Tempers and Lovely Crash, play a CD release show for Mattei’s new album at The Comet.