Metro Arts Feb 16

Usher's Super Bowl performance in Las Vegas was highly praised, with many saying it should have been Atlanta's halftime show. The performance included roller skating, pole dancing, and appearances by Atlanta rap legends. The previous year's halftime show in Atlanta with Maroon 5 was considered dull. Usher's show featured his hits, special guests like Alicia Keys and Jermaine Dupri, and received praise on Atlanta Twitter. The Love Y'all Book Fest in Atlanta brought together romance authors for panels, signings, and meet and greets. The festival aimed to create more space for romance in the Atlanta book scene and attracted over 600 ticketed attendees. The event included diverse stories and featured best-selling authors as keynote speakers. This program is intended for a print-impaired audience and is brought to you by the Georgia Radio Reading Service, GARS. Welcome to Metro Arts for Friday, February 16th. I am Kristen Moody for the Georgia Radio Reading Service. Metro Arts is brought to you by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. For our first articles, we go to the Atlanta magazine online for Usher's Super Bowl performance is the halftime show Atlanta should have had. On Sunday in Las Vegas, the R&B king delivered an electrifying performance with roller skating, pole dancing, and Atlanta rap legends by Myrrod Wells. For the rest of the world, this may have been Taylor Swift's Super Bowl, but here in Atlanta, we weren't watching the game for Taylor or Travis or Brock Purdy or Patrick Mahomes. Shout out to the Chiefs for that win in overtime, though. No, we were watching the game for Usher. And not only did he not disappoint, he gave us the Super Bowl halftime show we deserved five years ago. Remember back when we were planning for Atlanta's Super Bowl? That was underway, and we breathlessly imagined who among the Atlanta music pantheon might headline our halftime show. Would it be Luda, an outcast reunion, Migos? And then we found out we were getting Maroon 5 after Rihanna allegedly turned down an offer. Keep in mind, this announcement came in late 2018, a year after Colin Kaepernick wasn't offered a spot with any NFL team, and the same year the NFL enforced a rule that they later revoked requiring players stand during the national anthem. Playing the halftime show became controversial, and Maroon 5 allegedly struggled to find anyone to play with them. Ultimately, Atlanta legend Big Boy and Travis Scott appeared alongside the band, but it wasn't enough to save what was largely regarded as a very dull halftime show. So when Usher was announced as the performer for this year's Super Bowl in Vegas, where the R&B star recently held a year-and-a-half-long residency, I know I wasn't alone in thinking, Damn, that should have been Atlanta's show. And while watching the incredible 13-minute performance, I yelled those sentiments at my television, because it was, beautifully, Atlanta's show. Usher flawlessly ran through several of his hits, Caught Up, You Don't Have to Call, and Superstar, before Love in the Club, where Jackson State's marching band Sonic Boom of the South shined. Alicia Keys joined him for her hit, If I Ain't Got You, and they teamed up for their amazing 2004 duet, My Boo. Jermaine Dupri shouted out the 20th anniversary of Confessions, as Usher slid into Confessions Part 2, Burn and You Got It Bad, which featured her with a killer guitar solo. Skating dancers rolled out for Bad Girl, with a bedazzled skating Usher leading the turn into OMG, with guest Will.i.am. Lil Jon jumped in with a quick performance of Turn Down for What, and he and Ludacris joined Usher for Yeah, giving a shout-out to the city at the end. We had our Atlanta legend. There were pole dancers, a skating rink. I turned the world into the A. It was phenomenal. But don't take my word for it. Atlanta Twitter, sorry, Atlanta X, erupted with praise for Usher's performance. Here's a bit of what they had to say. What follows next are snapshots of ex-user. What follows next are images of ex-user posts. Aaron Hayes, at Aaron Hayes, writes, skates and strippers. I will be in the upper room if anyone needs me. P.S. Atlanta truly influences everything. Peach, peach, peach, peach, peach, peach, peach, peach. Trey Young, at the Trey Young, writes, I turned the world to the A. Fire, fire. Usher was reppin' F.R. Atlanta United FC, at A-T-L-U-T-D, writes, Atlanta really does influence everything. With the emoji of a settled face, exhaling smoke, and there's an image from the halftime show of Ludacris and Usher and Little John in front of all the stars and the dancers with the stars and lights behind them with the quote, I brought the world to the A. The next X is Atlanta Brave saying, I took the world to the A. The next X post is from Mike Jordan, at Michael B. Jordan. Usher's show was a W for A-T-L. The next X post is Jewel Wicker, at Jewel Wicker Show, pole dancing at the Super Bowl, Luda for the Afro out like it's early 2000s, A-Town stomping on stage, Atlanta is proud. The next image of an X post is Mike Conte, at Mike Conte 929. It took five years, but the NFL finally gave us the halftime show they should have held in Atlanta. The next X post is from Jason Dozier, at Jason Dozier. How is this not the Atlanta halftime show? The next X post image is Zach Klein, at Zach Klein WSB. I'll never forgive the NFL for having Maroon 5 do the halftime show in Atlanta in the 19th Super Bowl instead of Usher and other hip hop and R&B legends. The next X post image is Donnell Suggs, at Suggs Writer. This is the halftime show should have been in Atlanta a couple years ago, hashtag Super Bowl, and there is a still clip of a video image of an outcast video. The next screen grab of an X post is from Rachel Garbus, at Rachel underscore Garbus. I have literally never been prouder to be an Atlantan, crying face emoji, crying face emoji, crying face emoji, hashtag Usher, hashtag ludicrous, hashtag cascade. The next screen grab of an X post is from Atlanta Falcons, at Atlanta Falcons. This man put capital O, capital N for a town, and it's an image of Usher smiling into the distance wearing an Atlanta Falcons jersey. The next screen grab from an X post is from Kalundra, at piece of K. This is so Atlanta, and I love everything about it. The roller skates are amazing. The Lil Jon appearance is necessary, hashtag Usher, hashtag Super Bowl. The next X post is from Killer Mike, at Killer Mike. The A, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point. And within his post is a retweet from Andrea Woods, at Boss Lady Woods, between at Killer Mike winning three Grammys and at Usher killing the Super Bowl, what a time for the A. The next X post is from Ryan Cameron, at Ryan Cameron. Use this as like button, as at Usher, performance was the best ever, exclamation point, ATL ho, hashtag Super Bowl. The next screen grab of an X post is from J.D. Capilouto, at J.D. Capilouto. Atlanta, capital W, capital O, capital N, tonight, hashtag Super Bowl. The next grab is from Brian Floyd, at Brian M. Floyd. I just want to talk to whoever organized the Atlanta Super Bowl halftime show. The next image is from Brian Floyd, at Brian M. Floyd. In all caps, it says, they could have done this all and more in their hometown, but instead someone decided on Maroon 5, and he has reposted an image of Travis Kels yelling at his coach, which is an image that was captured from earlier in the Super Bowl game. The next X post is of the Atlanta voice, at the Atlanta voice. Please tell your lovers and friends that Usher, John, and Luda had to do it again, and it is a retweet of a video. We can see the still of Ludacris singing in the halftime show. Next X post is from Greg Blustein, at Blustein. The best Atlanta performance ever at a Super Bowl, and he has retweeted another X post from himself, Greg Blustein, at Blustein. The next X post is from Reverend Raphael Warnock, at Reverend Warnock. Atlanta representing, at hashtag SBL53. Congrats at Usher, at Ludacris, at Lil' John, at Jermaine Dupri on a great show, and he has retweeted the Hollywood Reporter at THR. Another X post, Usher, Lil' John, and Ludacris perform Yeah at the Apple Music hashtag Super Bowl halftime show, with a still image from the show of a group of dancers on the stage with the lights down low. That next X screen grab is the last one in this article, and it's from Santa, at Santa United. And we all agree that this is the halftime show that should have been in Atlanta, hashtag Super Bowl, hashtag Usher. That was Usher's Super Bowl performance is the halftime show Atlanta should have had, by Myrred Wells. Next up, Love Y'all Book Fest brings 67 romance authors to Atlanta. The three-day ticketed event has panels and signings by Tess Malone. Fake dating, enemies to lovers, second chance, these are just some of the romance tropes authors must defend in battle of the tropes. It's part of the first ever Love Y'all Book Fest, where hundreds of readers descend upon Decatur's Courtyard Marriott for romance author panels, signings, keynotes, and even exclusive meet and greets from February 16th through 18th. Atlanta has always had a bookish community with a strong book festival culture. Despite how romance-only book festivals are popping up across the country, like California's Steamy Lit Con, Atlanta didn't have its own. We saw a lack of opportunities for romance writers in Atlanta, says organizer Vania Stoyanova. Our desire is to have more space for romance in the Atlanta book scene. The festival is a collaboration between Stoyanova, the event coordinator at Brave and Kind, Hannah Teachout, a bookseller at Brave and Bookish Atlanta, and bookseller Chanpreet Singh of Eagle Eye Bookshop. The Atlanta community was ready for it. What started off as an event with 10 local authors blossomed into the weekend-long festival with 60-plus authors from all over the U.S. and more than 600 ticketed attendees. The romance community is so passionate, Stoyanova says, the dedication they have for their favorite authors and discovering new authors, they really come out and support the community. Despite stereotypes of who reads romance, every reader should feel welcome at the festival. Panels highlight stories with neurodiverse, queer, and body-diverse characters. But it should be noted, though, many young adult authors are on panels. The festival is mostly for those 17 and up. Two keynotes with best-selling authors anchor the event. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, dubbed the creator of The Sports Romance, and Mariana Zapata are in conversation Saturday. Sunday's closing keynote is from Tia Williams, whose book Seven Days in June is being adapted as a series for Prime by Atlanta producer Will Packer. Attendees have their pick of panels the rest of the weekend on everything from monster and paranormal romance to how-tos on the publishing process. Saturday night ends with Stoyanova's signature games like Truth or Dare, which readers should remember from the YATL events. And some lucky readers can meet their favorite authors for cocktails or karaoke as part of exclusive experiences. Throughout, books are for sale from local shops and industry partners. They hope this is just the first of many Love Y'all events. I just want people to have fun, and we're hoping people find authors and books they love and discover new books and authors to fall in love with, Stoyanova says. There's something romantic about doing this festival during the month of love. We're here to escape for a weekend. That was Love Y'all Book Fest Brings 67 Romance Authors to Atlanta by Tess Malone. Next, Dawana Thompson's Perfect Day in Birmingham, Alabama. The president and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute shares how she would spend an ideal 24 hours in her hometown by Jane Woolridge. As president and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Dawana Thompson's mission is to preserve the history of the civil rights movement in Birmingham. That brings nonstop days filled with staff meetings about programs and exhibits, as well as connecting with other city leaders. Here, she shares her ideal 24 hours in her hometown. Rise and Dine. I love the breakfast buffet at the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa. They have made-to-order omelets, and the grits are really good. I order the conicu sausage. I promise you, it is the best spicy smoked sausage that you can get, and it's made in Alabama. Bird's Eye View. If somebody wants to see the best view of Birmingham, I send them to Vulcan Park. You can see the entire city, literally the entire city, for miles and miles and miles. Street Art. We've got so much street art downtown and in some of our historic neighborhoods. I especially appreciate the mural of civil rights icon John Lewis on 4th Avenue North. He was not only a freedom fighter on every level, but also a mentor of mine and informed many of my views on advocacy. Power Lunch. Helen is a family-owned restaurant that I love. It's always packed, but you can be here talking about business without feeling like anyone is in your business. They have these things called angel biscuits. They're flaky and served with whipped cane syrup butter, and oh gosh, they are so good. The Pulse. 2nd Avenue North has every kind of restaurant you can think of. A great wine bar called Avene, and all these cool little tchotchke shops. One of my favorite places to buy clothes just moved there. It's called Ishi Boutique. Retail Therapy. I have spent way too many days at Nadal, a vintage furniture and restoration store. I love interesting furniture that has been repurposed. Going there reminds me that there can always be a different life for things that you think are no longer of use. That speaks to the way I think about a lot of things. Giving something a second look and not taking things immediately as they seem. Dinner Spot. I'm not a big seafood person, but Automatic Seafood & Oysters has a steak that is so good. It has a cool atmosphere, like a sunken living room with candles. It's very zen. They do a great mocktail version of everything on their cocktail list. I don't drink alcohol, so I get to be a cool kid and have a mocktail while others have cocktails. Grand Finale. I love the 88 Banana Bar. They have dueling pianos, and there's a jazz night and an R&B night. They typically host incredible local artists, giving them an opportunity to showcase their talent. That was Dawana Thompson's Perfect Day in Birmingham, Alabama, by Jane Woolridge. Next, we move to the Burnaway publication for Marie Bannereau-McGinnery, Trace Me Back at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, by Yashi Davalos. Marie Bannereau-McGinnery's Trace Me Back, curated by Alejo Benedetti and Victor Gomez, lives an allegorical reference to the Greek mythos love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The mythos describes Orpheus as a charming man who is gifted a lyre from Apollo and whose melodies could not be resisted by enemies or beasts. In a magnetic attraction, Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice, a woman of beauty and grace whom he marries and lives with happily for a short time. McGinnery's experiential site-specific installation creates a somatic response to this lore, featuring an acoustic, ambient sound with Bill Ryder alongside 67 silk organza panels and a concrete-coated textile centered on the wall, containing the shadow of the LED lights placed behind the center of the silk veils on the opposing wall. Bannereau's work creates a physical paradigm of time. Filippo Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism declares the splendor of the world has been enriched by the world of beauty, the beauty of speed. The will to see things to completion in this exhibition balances gender performance within this loop of the narrative, invoking beauty ad infinitum. Upon entering the long gallery, sound pushes the viewer to find its source through the convex arc. The ambiguity of the sound and the opacity of the panels create the illusion of the underworld described in the myth. Subsequently, I begin to question my relationship to time. The modularity of the organza panels subjects my body to pantomime in the reimagining of this narrative. The ambiguity of shadowed fingers interacting creates this mirage. Edges in the panels have asymmetrical hemming as the artist has chosen to tear the seams and reconstruct them, creating a feminist reversible density. The raw edges paradoxically suggest an estranged relationship between utility and impermanence. In the mythos, Orpheus loses his significant other and is tasked with retrieving Eurydice from the underworld with the condition that he may not look back to confirm her presence. Reimagining the mythos, the veils of organza alternate cool and warm light throughout the abstracted work. The stationary panels suspended by tension rods are juxtaposed to the body's movement within the installation. Vertical alignment of the suspended panels in the space create a grandiose feeling despite the path being physically narrow, further contributing the sense that the installation symbolizes a rite of passage. Passing through the veils, the ambient sound builds. When I move closer to the middle, the panels are placed closer and closer together. The movement represents time acceleration while I attempt to locate the source of the sound. Being subjected to these time shifts, the light source stands in for the sun. Centering the absence of the woman in the lore, the work questions if linear time ceases to exist without her. Time itself is seemingly broken as this is not the end of this exhibition. In this architectural time-based work, Orpheus must confront the karmic gravity of forever in the underworld without his significant other. The cautionary tale of Orpheus and Eurydice typically grapples with the presence of a woman. Time here, however, is only conveyed through one's own physical presence. Orpheus' inability to process his attachment to time results in his pause and looking back, which sentences Eurydice to the underworld for all eternity. This is reflected by the exhibit ending with the last of the panels returning to the same sequencing of the veils at the beginning of the journey. From the concluding perspective, the body's enduring performance is captured. That was Marie Vanereau-McHenry, Trace Me Back at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, by Yashi Davalos. Next, we move to Arts ATL for Q&A, Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr on how to be right here with the music, by Brenda Stepp. Atlanta's Charlie Starr and Blackberry Smoke are kicking off an extensive tour covering the United States and Europe to debut their new album, Be Right Here, releasing February 16th. Shining bright as ever, Starr is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist, and lead singer of a band that refuses to be stereotyped or pigeonholed. While from the South and arguably capable of rocking the foundation of any venue, Blackberry Smoke is not simply a Southern rock band. With a vast catalog of songs that swing from rock mixed with Delta blues to Chicago blues to jazz to country, it's hardly surprising that their varied audiences range across multiple generations and several continents. Days before the start of the tour, Starr took time out from his hectic schedule to talk to Arts ATL about the joys and challenges of parenting while raising his own generation of musicians. He also discussed the making of the new album, friendships, Brit Turner's recent health scares bringing the band close together, and the reminder to truly be right here. Arts ATL. Dave Cobb produced this album. How do you think his involvement affected the outcome? Starr. For starters, he happens to just be a wonderful human. He produced our last record and we're really comfortable with him. I can just look over at him and share a grin. He was extremely important to the way this record sounds because he is right here with us, just inside the songs with us. He's very hands on. And though he's not holding a string instrument, it's like he's in the band. His passion for it and the speed at which he works is fascinating. I loved every second of recording the record. It bummed me out when we were done. Arts ATL. The fifth track, Azalea, is accompanied by a distinctly nostalgic video. How involved were you and the band in the making of the video? Starr. Pretty much zero this time because we were all kind of spread out. It didn't lend itself to us filming. Our videographer, Andy Sapp, said he just had hours and hours of eight millimeter film reels of small towns across America, which he thought could work well for some of the songs, that one in particular. That was all him. Arts ATL. How much input does the band have in deciding your opening acts? Starr. That one we're more hands on with and have been for most of our career, really. We're fortunate that we have tons of friends and are also constantly meeting new friends who play great music, and we just love great music. We're lucky in that there are endless options. We generally say, who hasn't come out with us yet? I look at it like it's a good problem that there are so many musicians out there making great music. Arts ATL. Your upcoming tour is covering numerous cities in the United States, as well as many abroad. So what do you attribute the band's ability to have such vast appeal to such varied audiences? Starr. I truly have no idea. I wouldn't know where to begin to start second guessing what people might like. Joe Bonamassa is a great friend, and he also has a very varied audience. He was interviewing me for this podcast, and he asked me, do you tailor make your playlist for your audience for the situation? Or do you like the Blues Brothers and say, screw it, go for it? I told him that many years ago, I used to try to plan for the audience, but it was a massive failure every time. So now for the past 20 years or so, I just say, you know, this is what we do. You either like it or you don't. Arts ATL. I know you have an extensive vintage guitar collection, which you regularly rotate and play on the road. Might we see any new additions on your upcoming tour? Starr. Maybe. You'll just have to come out and see. Arts ATL. Speaking of vintage guitars, since its recovery, the owner of Dwayne Allman's 1957 Les Paul Gold Top has allowed the guitar to be played by a select few from time to time, rather than see it trapped behind glass. Except for players in the Allman Brothers camp, it's estimated this privilege has been bestowed upon you more than anybody else. How does that make you feel? Starr. I'm honored. Simply honored. Arts ATL. Blackberry Smoke has had to make some tough decisions regarding shows around Britt Turner's recent health. Could those experiences find expression on the new album, Be Right Here? Starr. Yeah, I think so. When we recorded the album, Britt was just coming off the heart attacks, and so I think it pulled us all closer together as friends because you don't really go around thinking about mortality. So it gave the proceedings a little different feel. I think it made the time we were spending together more precious. And regarding having to play shows without Britt, obviously, it's not something we wanted to do. But we didn't have a choice because we had to keep working to feed our families. And it's what Britt wanted. He said, get to work, continue to work. But to your point, it was indeed a very hard thing to do. Arts ATL. Your youngest son, Kanan, has joined you and Benji and sang alongside you. I know your dad was a major influence on you musically at an early age. When did Kanan get the bug? Starr. I think the same way it happened for me. When I was only about five years old and would hear my dad sing and play, I knew I wanted to do that, too. Kanan is 10 now, but even when he was just five or six and he started to sing songs, I would say to myself, well, he's singing in key. He understands pitch, even to the point where he'd say, dad, you're not singing in key. Early on when I put music on in the car, he latched onto a few bands, not because I said listen, but because he decided it was great. Arts ATL. Which bands did he love? Starr. The Rolling Stones, Oasis, and ACDC. I didn't say a word. He'd hear one song and say, dad, play that again, play that again, play that again. Arts ATL. Your eldest son, Christian, joined you on stage at Blackberry Smoke's annual Brothers and Sisters holiday homecoming show, as did Paul Jackson's son, Spencer. Has he also followed your footsteps into a career of music? Starr. Absolutely. Christian writes songs, sings, and plays guitar. He lives in Nashville and is making his way up there with the music. I can't get away from it. There's music everywhere in my family. Arts ATL. What kind of feelings are conjured up for you when you think of your boys being musicians? Starr. I'm proud, and I must say, I'd be disappointed if they didn't want to have music in their lives. It's a challenge. Arts ATL. For example, Starr. From time to time, Christian will ask about my opinion of how things are now, compared to when I was his age. And the only answer I can really give him is that I don't know which path I'd recommend taking because it's such a different ballgame now. And that reminds me of when I used to ask my own dad such questions. He'd always say, there's a disclaimer to the answer because we're living in a different time now. Arts ATL. 20 years from now, what would you like to see happen for yourself? Starr. In 20 years, I'd like to be healthy and still doing this. That was Q&A. Blackberry Smokes Charlie Starr on how to be right here with the music by Brenda Stepp. Next, SCAD TV Fest positions Atlanta as Center for Entertainment, History, Cuisine by Jim Farmer. With the likes of Kelsey Grammer, Matt Bomer, and George Lopez in tow, SCAD TV Fest, the Savannah College of Art and Design's annual Atlanta celebration of TV, returned last week for its 12th year. The event wasn't just an opportunity to catch sneak peeks of upcoming TV shows, but a high-profile introduction to SCAD Show's lavish new Midtown screening facility, erected last fall. Usually a three-day event, this year SCAD added an extra day of screenings and panel discussions. Awards were plentiful. Bomer received the Hollywood Reporter Trailblazer Award for his series, Fellow Travelers. Grammer was given a Legend of Television Award for the reboot of the comedy, Frasier. And George Lopez, in town for a screening of his Lopez vs. Lopez, earned the Lifetime Achievement Award. Other award recipients included Ken Watanabe, Joel Kim Booster, Sonequa Martin-Green, Charlotte Stout, and Josie Tota. TV Fest also recognized some of the SCAD alumni who have been creating successful TV and film careers in Georgia and beyond. One of the Atlanta-focused offerings was Chef ATL, a docuseries about Atlanta's culinary arts landscape. The first episode, featuring Steven Satterfield, James Beard Award-winning chef of Miller Union, made its world premiere at the event. Satterfield's work has earned him the nickname Vegetable Shaman by the New York Times. And in the series, he talks to host John Gidding about his cooking style and the Atlanta dining world. I think Atlanta's restaurant scene is very diverse, with a lot of styles of dining, from high to low to mid, and all kinds of culture and different points of view, said Satterfield. Just a lot of options. To highlight that and focus on the people behind the scenes making it happen is a really interesting project. The local dining city has evolved and changed over the years, he said, and it's gained more respect. The Michelin status obtained by local chefs last year was a game changer. Satterfield's Miller Union is 15 years old this fall. That is no small feat, he commented. And just as important as the restaurant's growth have been its values. We are very proud of how far we have come and that we still have a path in front of us. We have always been committed to locally and regionally sourcing our food and being sustainable. We wanted to buck some industry standards and have always composted, diverted food from land and fields, and recycled. Atlantan's Quinlan Arrear was one of the lead supervising professors of Chef Atlanta, which brought together more than 100 students across nine of SCAD's degree programs. He was excited not just to work with so many students but to shine a spotlight on the city. Atlanta is an international epicenter of business and the arts, he said. We hope this series helps people who are outside of and less familiar with Atlanta connect with the city by exploring its essence through its food. And for those who call Atlanta home, we hope the series serves as a point of pride. After the screening, it was announced that Chef ATL will have a full season. The second episode will be filmed in March, highlighting the work of Deborah Van Treese, who owns two Atlanta restaurants, Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Poors and Arisa's at the Point. Another TV fest highlight was the first episode of the fourth season of National Geographic's biographical anthology drama, Genius, MLKX, which parallels the stories of civil rights icons Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Malcolm X, played by Aaron Pierre. The series was filmed both in Atlanta and Macon, and Pierre loved filming in the area. Atlanta is a beautiful place, and I know that everyone in the cast, crew, and creative team share the sentiment. We felt loved by Atlanta, helped by Atlanta, and supported, he said. Jamie Lawson, who plays Malcolm's wife Betty Shabazz in the series, is no stranger to the city either, having filmed both last year's Till and the series The First Lady locally. I haven't ever filmed in Los Angeles, she said. My career is mainly in Atlanta. It feels like a second home at this point. It's no easy feat portraying a legend such as MLK, but Harrison is up for the task. Everyone knows who King is. I have played real people before, BB King, Fred Hampton, but King is the most famous. It's really challenging to not try and play the idea that everyone has. You want to honor people's relationships to a man who has allowed us to be who we are and live our dreams. The first thing I needed to do was ignore that part and look at him as a father, a son, a husband, and a friend. For Harrison, being able to shoot locally added another layer of significance in telling the story. Obviously, this is Dr. King's birthplace, and I was able to get the tour and some of the history, he said. Even the background actors had a sense of relationship with Dr. King in a different way. Watching them in the audience being so excited, telling stories about what they heard from their grandparents, that was special. It uplifted us all. That was SCAD TV Fest Positions Atlanta as Center for Entertainment, History, Cuisine by Jim Farmer. Next, What to See, Do, and Hear, Black Music and Poetry, Jewish Film, Chanel on Stage, and More by Arts ATL staff. Art and Design. Sonia Clark, We Are Each Other at the High Museum of Art closes on Sunday. Arts ATL writer, Angela Oliver, describes the multidisciplinary show as an homage to black women, a fight against hate, and a reminder about the strength of community. Clark's materials include hair, flags, and found objects. It's an introspection-inducing journey through the reality of unceasing oppression, the collective responsibility of society to dismantle it, and the equally unceasing spirit of a people who were never expected to survive, Oliver writes. There will be a closing reception and artist talk this weekend for Collective Telling, Southern Rooted Perspectives on Place, History, and Emergence, and Interconnect, both at Echo Contemporary Art. Arts ATL critic, Jerry Cullum, says Collective Telling features an extraordinary collection of 19 southern-born or southern-rooted artists. By curatorial design, most of them are based in or have roots in New Orleans and Atlanta. He also writes about Interconnect, which the gallery says is positioned to articulate nuanced dialogues about our relationships with nature, society, and the spaces we inhabit. Saturday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Art of the New South, Kylan Art's annual juried works on paper exhibit features 57 creators from across the southeast. The gallery is holding a Meet the Artists event on Saturday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit closes March 1st. Theater, Georgia Tech's Drama Tech Theater announces its spring production of Animals Out of Paper, a one-act play by Pulitzer Prize winner Jirajiv Joseph. Designed and run entirely by Georgia Tech students, the show is headed by stage manager and freshman Ellie Koo, and masterfully filled with origami by junior props designer Dhruv Kulkarni. Drama Tech Theater is open to the public. Tickets are $15. The 2024 winning play for the Alliance Theater, Candida National Graduate Playwriting Competition is Furlough's Paradise, running through March 4th on the Hertz stage. Written by A.K. Payne, the play focuses on former best friends and cousins, Sade, Kai Heath, and Nina, Asha Basha Danai, who grow apart after watching middle school and reunite at Sade's mother's funeral. Arts ATL writer Alexis Hawk describes, watching the play's two actors, Kai Heath and Asha Basha Danai, ride through waves of humor, joy, sadness, and regret in concert with one another for 80 minutes straight, like witnessing the world's most beautiful and riveting chess match. It's a feat. Tickets average $45 and depend on seating. Remember This! The Lesson of Jan Karski concludes this week at Theatrical Outfit. A one-man show performed by Andrew Benetor, Remember This! is based on the story of how Karski, a Polish diplomat who attempted to spread the news of the Holocaust during World War II. In his recent review, Arts ATL writer Benjamin Carr praises Benetor's work as a storyteller as well as his impressive range and emotional depth as Karski. Carr adds that the script by Clark Young and Derek Goldman is layered and verbose. Tickets start at $50 with discounts available. Film and TV. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival continues through March 7th, offering opportunities to view films both in person and at area theaters, now including the Terra, as well as streaming from home. In his festival preview of 10 films, Arts ATL writer Steve Murray says that the majority are rooted in historic record. These films remind us that the human world we live in is one of constant struggle. At its best, the festival helps us understand that world through the filmmaker's art and the sense of community that draws movie lovers together every winter for this Atlanta tradition. Prices and times vary. Music. Betray Clegg Singers, Atlanta's premier multicultural chorus, is inviting area music lovers to join them for the 8th annual concert celebrating Black History Month on Sunday at Atlanta's historic First Congregational Church. The concert is entitled Bomb and Gilead, both a religious and cultural reference to African Americans' reliance on faith in confronting racial injustice over hundreds of years. In keeping with the group's reputation for diverse musical programs, the concert will present classical choral works by African American composers, a cappella spirituals and freedom songs, as well as musical theater, jazz, and gospel, 3 p.m. free. Next Wednesday, February 21st, a live streamed concert from the Indigo Girls on the duo's website will benefit the Emory University School of Nursing's Lillian Carter Center. Donations will support the center's global health initiatives, specifically by providing essential health care services in urban and rural clinics in the Dominican Republic. That concert is 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. on their website. Dance. Beacon Dance is celebrating Black History Month with a community screening and discussion about the documentary Uprooted, the Journey of Jazz Dance, a film that emphasizes the impact on and importance of jazz to American culture. The B Complex Beacon Dance Studio, Sunday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. free. Atlanta Ballet's much marketed and much anticipated Coco Chanel, the life of a fashion icon, had its North American premiere last weekend at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. Arts ATL dance critic Cynthia Bond Perry had mixed feelings about the production. She found it entertaining and intoxicatingly beautiful, but the choreography often lacks emotional depth, so it's less like literature and more like the glossy perfumed pages of Vogue magazine. The dancers look technically strong, she wrote, and Jerome Kaplan's sets and costumes are inspired. The final two performances are on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $26. Books. Major Jackson, an award-winning poet and host of the podcast The Slowdown, will give a public reading on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Emory University's Atlanta campus. Jackson's books will be on sale at the reading with a signing immediately following the event. Shannon Marie Tovey interviewed Jackson for Arts ATL and described him as an intellectual among intellectuals who also believes that poetry is for everyone, seating is limited, and attendees are urged to register. That was What to See, Do, and Hear, Black Music and Poetry, Jewish Film, Chanel on Stage, and more by the Arts ATL staff. Next up, new contemporary art museum, The Warehouse, to open in Atlanta in April by Katherine Fox. Big news! Atlanta will soon boast an impressive new contemporary art museum. John Weiland, founder and chairman of John Weiland Homes and Neighborhoods, and his staff are readying The Warehouse for its public opening on April 13 on the burgeoning West Side. The museum contains the fruits of a passionate 30-year journey. Weiland's holdings encompass more than 400 contemporary works across media, including video dating from the 1970s to the present. The artist list is stocked with familiar and respected names, most of whom are represented in major museums here and abroad. They range from Simone Lee, who represented the United States in the 2022 Venice Biennale, to British star David Hockney, to Georgia visionary artist Howard Finster and performative photographer Cindy Sherman. But as visitors will quickly realize, this is no cookie-cutter collection. It is unique in that all the works reflect in some way the theme of the house. And this has turned out to be a remarkably elastic and resonant subject. One of the pleasures of wandering around the 37,000-square-foot space is discovering the endless variety of ways that artists have made use of the house, its image, and its multiple meanings. When Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, for instance, makes Marble Door, 2006, the cast of a door from one of the many hutongs, or traditional homes that the government has destroyed to make way for progress, it represents memory, change, real estate, politics. Joel Sternberg's 1983 photo, Domestic Workers Waiting for a Bus, Atlanta, Georgia, suggests issues of race, socioeconomics, real estate. This unusual collection evolved from rather pedestrian beginnings. In the early 80s, his company constructed its first purpose-built headquarters, a 60,000-square-foot building in College Park. As he explains, we needed to put something on the walls. We wanted something relevant to the staff. The house was the natural default. Weiland recalls selecting his first purchases from a truckload of art that Joe Perrin, the late artist and founding chairman of the Georgia State University School of Design, brought to the office and laid out around a conference room. It was essentially decorative, he says, and the parameters were literally that every piece had to have a house in it. But Weiland, who already had a serious interest in art and had begun his own collection with his late wife, Sue, soon started thinking differently about the art in the office. We had a desire to do something meaningful within our financial and discerning capacity, he says. With guidance and help from two Atlanta dealers, Fay Gold and the late David Heath, Weiland started collecting in earnest. He considers his first Syriads piece to be Bad Dream House II by Vito Acconci. Definitely serious. It is a surreal, 18-foot-long assemblage of three topsy-turvy houses, and it comes with a story. We bought it straight out of his show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1988, he says. Ronna Hoffman, Acconci's Chicago dealer, called to ask if I was buying it. When I told her I was still thinking about it, she said, make up your mind. It is sitting in a truck by the side of the New Jersey turnpike. If it doesn't come south, the truck is going to turn right and go to Chicago. He laughs. Artists create beauty. Colors have a way of focusing your attention. Art became a way of life. He and Sue frequented galleries and auctions. He became involved in the museum world, notably as a board member at the High Museum of Art and the Heershorn Museum of Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. The relationships and experiences gained through service deepened his knowledge. It was soon clear that the growing scale of the collection required management. That was supplied first by then art consultant Annette Kohn-Skelton, who served as curator from 1978 to 1987. Kohn-Skelton later founded and still runs the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, MOCA Georgia. Curator Rebecca Dimling-Cochran came aboard in 2003 and managed the collection and its installation and conceived its first catalog during her 15 years there. It took the 2008 recession for Weiland to understand the magnitude of what he and Sue had achieved. As the company downsized its office space, Cochran gathered all the artworks in one place and organized them by medium. When he walked in and saw them all together, he was flabbergasted. Oh my gosh, we own all this, he recalls thinking. We have a collection. In 2010, he bought the warehouse and brought together the works not only from the offices, but also his home. That was a tipping point in terms of thinking holistically about the collection, Cochran says. We could see its strengths and weaknesses, she says. We could see we were heavy in photos and should diversify more. We could also see the conversations between the works. Weiland had a serious collector's appetite for acquisition. Fortunately, there was never any shortage of choices. We discovered that almost every artist had made use of the theme, Cochran says. It is embedded in our psyche. Along the way, the parameters have broadened. Themes such as fantasy, domesticity, what goes on in a home, emerged. Now the imagery need only to be related to the house theme. As Weiland points out, the newest piece, Dylan Mixing Slip, 2023, by Carolyn Walker, is a painting of a figure mixing a concrete concoction. The house she is building is not visible at all. Weiland's ambitions for the collection have grown, as have the requirements of art and building maintenance. In 2021, former High Museum COO Philip Verne became the museum's director. Sarah Tanner is the collection manager, and Weiland's son, Jack, is the curator. The building underwent a renovation last year, including the addition of 2,000 square feet of exhibition space and a video theater, of which Weiland is especially proud. Jack Speer headed the expansion and reinstallation of the collection and is working with his father to source future acquisitions. The next big step is opening the museum to the public, which brings additional concerns such as security, crowd management, and docents. Nevertheless, Weiland, a Cleveland native who considers his school trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art a formative experience, is excited to share the collection with the public. I hope our collection will introduce children comfortably to art. The theme is something anyone can relate to. At present, the museum will be open the second Saturday of the month by reservation only. Catherine Fox, an award-winning art critic, co-founded Arts ATL and served as its executive director and executive editor for five years. Fox was the art critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1981 to 2009. That was New Contemporary Art Museum, the Warehouse, to open in Atlanta in April by Catherine Fox from the Arts ATL publication. That concludes today's Metro Arts program, which is brought to you by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. This has been Kristen Moody for GARS, the Georgia Radio Reading Service. Thank you for listening to GARS.