NORTHWEST ALABAMA ARTS COUNCIL
Airport hangar possible new location for JBAF
New officers elected
By KATHRYN HIRSCHFELD
Staff Writer

HAMILTON - The announcement of a possible new location for the Jerry Brown Arts Festival (JBAF) highlighted the Monday, Aug. 9, Northwest Alabama Arts Council (NWAAC) meeting, where new officers were also elected.

Publicity officer Marla Minter said that the arts council was in preliminary discussions with city officials and the Marion County Commission regarding the use of the large airplane hangar (the former Commodore building) located at the Marion County-Rankin Fite Airport in Hamilton. Recently, Tractor Supply Company moved into the old Walmart building, the festival’s former location for the last two years.

The 30,000 square-foot airport hangar, located at 465 Airport Road, recently underwent a $500,000 renovation that was completed in summer of 2009.
“It looks like we have a home,” said Minter. “The county commission will have to formally approve it. There will be arrangements that will have to be made to temporarily relocate airplanes that are leasing space in the hangar and, of course, if a large industry were to come in, the commission reserves the right to decline the offer.”
Minter explained that arts council members had toured the building with their logistics person, Buell Harris, and by walking it off, he had estimated that space was available for 150 artists.

“It has plenty of power outlets, so electricity is no problem and it has good lighting, too. We feel like it would suit our purposes well.
“This is the earliest that we’ve had a home since we used the rec center (E.T. Sims Neighborhood Facilities Building). We’re four months ahead of where we usually are. We’re good to go,” she noted.

Minter also said that the space has a small stage area, a loading zone in back for easy access and plenty of parking. The arts council will have a Plan B and Plan C in place, just in case an industry wishes to move into the location that they are planning to use.  The Marion County Commission seemed agreeable during an Aug. 5 work session to allowing the arts council to have the hangar.  County engineer Mike Shaw told the commission that he feels planes now in the hangar can be relocated temporarily with the permission of their owners, although he has not contacted them all yet. The arts council will need the hangar from Thursday through Monday, and will buy insurance and rent portable toilets. They will also clean up the hangar afterward, according to Shaw. Last year, the JBAF, which is hosted by the arts council, drew 5,000 attendees from 16 states. The ninth annual JBAF is scheduled for March 5-6, 2011.

New officers
The executive board for the arts council for 2010-2011 was selected by the voting members as follows:
• President - Tyna Pyburn;
• Vice-president - Carrie Bolton;
• Secretary - John Boyett;
• Treasurer - Ed Minter;
• At-large board members - Skip Addison and Zach Wiginton; and
• Serving as immediate past president - Deb Cochran.

“Welcome to our new secretary, John Boyett, and board member, Zach Wiginton,” said Minter. “We know you will bring new ideas and unique skills to our council.
“The arts council would also like to say a very special thank you to Missy Miles and Buell Harris, who have served for the past two years as secretary and at-large board member, respectively.”

In other business, the council:

• Heard from arts council member Rachel Craig regarding a recent showing of her photography at the “Top Choice 2010” juried arts exhibition in Knoxville, Tenn.
  Craig had two works selected for the show, one voted in by jurors and the public, and the other voted in by people’s choice.
• Voted unanimously to co-host a second photography seminar with the Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce featuring John Dersham.
  The two-day event is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 5-6, with beginner and advanced seminars on Friday and a photo shoot on Saturday morning.
• Noted that plans are being made for the arts and crafts show section at the Hamilton Buttahatchee River Fall Fest.
  Each year, the arts council  hosts the arts and crafts section of the festival for the Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce, with all proceeds going toward arts programs at Hamilton schools.
  “Please be thinking of ideas for our kids’ art station,” said Minter. “We will need lots of help that day to work that station and our arts and crafts section.”
  The festival will be held Oct. 30 and the deadline for applications is Oct. 15.
  Interested persons may find more information at www.hamiltonfallfest.org or at www.NorthwestAlabamaArts.org.
• Heard from Amanda Clement regarding her new position as director of continuing education at Bevill State Community College-Hamilton.
  The arts council has previously worked with BSCC, funding several arts programs at area schools and purchasing supplies for art students in Marion County.
  Artist Belinda McRae, who worked for four years with the council, has been commended for her tireless efforts on behalf of arts education.
  “I enjoyed every bit of it,” said McRae in a followup phone call.
  The council asked Clement to do an inventory of art supplies to see what is available and what would be needed in the future for arts education.
  “We’ll be growing in a lot of directions,” said Clement, who will also lead continuing education efforts at Bevill’s other campuses.
  “I will be teaching a series of arts classes for kids and I can teach a variety of things in schools.”
  Clement also noted that she welcomes the community’s input on what interests they have and classes that they would like to see offered.
  Interested persons may contact Clement at 921-3177, ext. 5323.
• Heard from Linda Addison that a quilt show would be held in Winfield during Mule Day festivities on Sept. 24-25.
• Heard from artist Missy Miles about her recent trip on the Arts and Crafts Trail in Gatlinburg, Tenn., which showcases 120 artists.
  The NWAAC also has a growing arts trail, the Marion County Arts Trail, with six artists spotlighted and many more stops being planned.
  More information on the arts trail can be found at the NWAAC website.
• Arts council member Kimmy Vinson noted that downtown Hamilton revitalization efforts were still in the early stages and that the revitalization committee welcomes input from townspeople.
  “If you travel, take snapshots. Write your ideas down and submit them to the mayor’s office at city hall. We want everybody to share their ideas,” she said.
• Arts council treasurer Ed Minter said that he and Marla really enjoyed a recent visit to the Pastime Theatre in Winfield.
  “They’ve spent a lot of money on the theatre. It’s better now than when it was new,” he said.
  Minter noted that different activities are always being staged at the theatre that are of interest to our area and “it provides wholesome family entertainment, too.”
  Prospective members are welcome to attend NWAAC meetings, held on the second Monday each month at city hall in Hamilton at 5:30 p.m.
  (Staff writer Ed Howell contributed to this story.)

 

COURTESY MARLA MINTER
New arts council officers
The Northwest Alabama Arts Council’s new executive board for 2010-2011 was elected on Monday,
Aug. 9. Shown are (standing, from left) treasurer Ed Minter, president Tyna Pyburn, past
president Deb Cochran, at-large board member Zach Wiginton, and (seated, from left)
at-large board member Skip Addison and secretary John Boyett.
Not shown is vice-president Carrie Bolton.

 

 

COURTESY ZACH WIGINTON
Craig’s work selected for Knoxville show

Northwest Alabama Arts Council member Rachel Craig recently had two of her photographs selected for the “Top Choice 2010” juried arts exhibition in Knoxville, Tenn. Craig is shown on Aug. 6 in Knoxville in front of one of the photographs. “This is one of my favorite photos and the first large print I ever bought for myself to keep,” she said. Craig said that she’d spotted an old Chevy in front of the Bevill Building in Hamilton and stopped to take a picture, “when all these girls in fancy dresses started showing up.” Craig noted, “In a girl’s mind, getting the perfect dress and the perfect shoes are crucial for attending the prom. Carrington Rye’s dress had stunning patterns that flowed so effortlessly with the movement of the fabric.” Interested persons may go to http://picasaweb.google.com/knoxalliance/TopChoice# to view selections. Craig’s two photos, “Stones Unturned” and “Grace,” are in the second row, far right.

KATHRYN HIRSCHFELD/STAFF
Hangar may be new JBAF location

The large airplane hangar at the Marion County-Rankin Fite Airport may be the new location for the Jerry Brown Arts Festival, held the first weekend in March. The hangar was refurbished in 2009, with a $500,000 grant obtained by Sen. Roger Bedford, and the remaining $36,000 in funds coming from the Marion County Commission. The 120 feet by 230 feet hangar is currently home to four airplanes, which will be temporarily located elsewhere during the arts festival.

There is plenty of space, good lighting and ample electrical outlets for approximately 150 artists to display their work inside the large airplane hangar.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Lindale donates 100 scarves to Ethiopian women

Northwest Alabama Arts Council member Linda Lindale recently donated 100 scarves to women in Ethiopia through a friend who is in a ministry there. Lindale, shown with her work, said that the project required 51,507 stitches, 43,167 feet of yarn (8.17 miles), and more than two 24-hour days of labor. “I cried the day that this photo was taken,” she said. “The scarves have all been prayed over and I feel they are a wonderful, beautiful garden of our heavenly Father’s love for people of all kinds.”

COURTESY/MARLA MINTER
Some good reading!

Hamilton’s ninth-generation potter, Jerry Brown, and his wife, Sandra, are shown enjoying the Summer/Fall 2010 edition of Jubilation magazine, which celebrates the arts, events and places to see in West Alabama. The cover photo, by Porfirio Solorzano, shows one of Jerry’s famous face pitchers and the magazine also features a nine-page article by Margaret Clevenger on the March 2010 Jerry Brown Arts Festival. The article focuses on the festival’s participating artists and the Northwest Alabama Arts Council’s focus on art education in the Marion County area.

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The Summer/Fall 2010 edition of Jubilation magazine was released Friday, June 18, by the Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa County, and featured on the cover was a photograph entitled “Jerry Brown’s Face Jug” promoting the magazine’s nine-page article on the March 2010 Jerry Brown Arts Festival (JBAF).

 Pam Penick, editor of the magazine and executive director of the Tuscaloosa-based arts organization, presented officers of the Northwest Alabama Arts Council with copies at an impromptu luncheon on Friday in Hamilton.  It was Penick’s first face-to-face meeting with arts council officials, and at the meeting she was given details and broader insight into the activities and functions of the arts council beyond hosting the annual JBAF.

 The article features the photography of Porfirio Solorzano and the writings of editorial contributor Margaret Clevenger.  The article focuses on the festival’s participating artists and the arts council’s focus on art education in the Marion County area.  A limited number of magazines are available at First National Bank of Hamilton, Boyett Health Services, PeoplesTrust Bank of Hamilton, Organic Vessels, Listerhill Credit Union of Hamilton, and Funky Ladies Studio in Amory, Miss.

 The Northwest Alabama Arts Council is a member organization of the Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa County, having joined late last year to network with west and northwest Alabama arts-related groups and organizations.  

JUBILATION COVER.pdf (655.13 kb)

HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL
Jerry Brown Arts Festival needs home
Minter: Wandering  could hurt future of event
By ED HOWELL Staff Writer, Journal Record

HAMILTON - In advance to suggesting a new civic center in the area, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Alabama Arts Council said the Jerry Brown Arts Festival could be in peril if it does not find a permanent home that a civic center could provide.
Marla Minter, in addressing the Hamilton City Council at its Monday, March 15, formal session, gave a report on the March 6-7 festival, noting that it appeared to go well.
As for the old Walmart building, which housed the festival, Minter said the organizers enjoy using it but wished for the building’s owner, Regi Klement, and the community that he is able to sell the facility to create jobs.
Minter said the festival has come “from crawling to walking” in eight years, hopefully with impacting the local economy.
“Going from that point, we need a permanent home,” she said. 
“The one thing that would really hurts us as a permanent festival is to not have a place.”
In eight years, the festival has had three homes: the Bevill Center, the E.T. Sims Jr. Neighborhood Facilities Building (recreation
center) and the old Walmart building.
Minter said one of the keys to the success of the festival is that it is one of the first arts festivals of the year in the nation, thus getting some of the finest artists.
“But, as you well know, on the first weekend in March you can have beautiful weather like we had last weekend, or you can have snow or hail or tornadoes or wind. The weather can be 30 degrees or it can be 83. You just don’t know,” she said.
“We, as an arts council, would like to work with the city, the county and the state and even to the federal level to start a civic center,” she said. “I think this is something our community needs desperately.”
She said that tourism is the second-largest industry in the state economy, behind agriculture. Besides the arts festival, there are many other community events that can be held in such a facility.
She pointed out that with this year’s Jerry Brown Arts Festival,  a total of 5,000 people from 16 states attended the festival, an increase from 14 states.
The overall attendance decreased from 6,000 last year, although with the economy she said organizers were still well pleased.
People as far away as Texas, Idaho, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Oregon and Pennsylvania attended the event, she said.
“The sky’s the limit,” she said. “People will come to Hamilton, Alabama. People will come to Marion County. Look how many people Mule Day draws.”
Minter said there are many things in the community to promote.
“If we don’t toot our own horn, it’s not going to get tooted,” she said. “I know economically, it is a difficult time, but at some point we need to commit to taking the next step.
“If we are going to continue to solicit top-flight artists from outside the area, going to Memphis to Atlanta to Nashville and places like that, we need to have a home for our festival to bring them to,” Minter said.
Minter said that this year 67 artists from five states participated in the festival, which she said was very successful. This year a record number of corporate sponsors (55) and volunteers (30) signed up to help.
The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourism Association put ads in two Lexington, Ky., magazines on behalf of the festival. A billboard was seen promoting the event in the busy mall area in Tupelo, Miss.
On Friday, March 26, Minter reiterated in an e-mail that the lack of a permanent home for the festival--which had to make a last-minute decision on where to hold this year’s show--“will eventually harm its growth and reputation and have a negative impact on the quality of artists we are able to get to participate in the festival.”