Month: July 2019

Tim Barker is chef/owner of Edge Alley, but he’s also a professional photographer. So, it only makes sense he included a gallery devoted to photography in his restaurant.

Shift + Gallery is “a legitimate art gallery that shows photography,” Barker says. “Mainly photography, with some other pieces that would support it.”

They might show an artist who works in photography, mixed media, and collage, Barker says. Or an artist frames his photography in unusual ways. Or a photographer might draw or paint on his photographs.

“Edge of Space, Apollo 11, Orbiter, and Viking I,” the gallery’s debut show, is a collection of vintage NASA photographs from the collection of Ryan Adams, who is a partner in Shift + Gallery. The show, which opened June 25 will run through Sept. 1.

“Photography’s under-represented in Memphis,” Barker says. “And undervalued. I think it’s a real problem photographers always have. I have this space and it’s an opportunity for us to do something different.

“But also, the other thing, it (the gallery) is very small. It’s 13 by 17 by 13. This can’t be a sculpture gallery. Not large-scale sculpture. We’d have one piece in here and people would walk around it. Two-dimensional work will show really well in here. The lighting was designed for two-dimensional work.”

In keeping with the outer space theme, Barker served Tang and moonshine cocktails. He also made a red (Mars) drink out of house-made mulberry liqueur, sweet vermouth, and champagne. And he served “green cheese” (sage derby), and Swiss cheese.

Uriah Mitchell was the guest of honor at a listening party, which was held June 25th at Royal Studios, for his No More Lullabies album, which will be released in September.

“That whole album is relationship and emotional stuff,” Mitchell says. “But it’s just like feeling stuff. Just real life scenario stuff.”

“Might B,” one of the songs, is about “having big dreams” and “putting in the work to get to the point to be successful,” Mitchell says. “So, it’s like I’m doing all this stuff for this girl, but she’s not really believing in me.”

Mitchell is the middle child of Royal Studios owner Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell. “Uriah wrote it, produced it, and did the engineering on it,” Boo says.

And, he says, “I think the sound of it is cutting edge, different from other music. And I think the subject matter is really good for the times.”

Guests also viewed the single’s video, which was directed by Waheed AlQawasmi from WAFILMS.

This year’s LGBT Legends Awards, which was held June 16th at The Haven, was a success, says event chair Larry Clark.

“The purpose of the LGBT Legends Awards is to shine the light on LGBT people in Memphis,” Clark says. “We celebrate and acknowledge those that give back to the LGBT community through awards and special recognition.”

Clark says he was in awe of this year’s event. “This was the third year and, again, I was surprised with the love and support the city showed. Everyone showed up and showed out representing Our True Colors. It was truly a major success and I’m looking forward to continuing with LGBT Legends Awards 2020. It’s going to be our biggest year yet!”

The “Loving Local” benefit, held June 13 at Carolina Watershed, was a success, says Kathleen Quinlen.

“It’s our annual fundraiser benefiting the Project Green Fork program, which is a restaurant sustainability program, says Quinlen, who is operations manager at Clean Memphis – the nonprofit that manages the Greenfork certification program.

About 250 people attended. “And that’s a little bit more than we were expecting.”

And, she says, “Through the generosity of our sponsors and supporters, we raised over $40,000 for Project Green Fork.”

As for the eats, Quinlen says, “We had enough food, so that was good.”

Ten restaurants participated in the event. Living Local showcases local chefs while supporting service industry businesses and their efforts to reduce waste, conserve energy and water, and prevent pollution.

Marcella Simien performed.