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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Like Caged Birds

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
— Maya Angelou

I recently stopped at Petco to pick up some treats for my three pups. I usually go straight to the shelf, grab the package, and head right to the checkout counter. But on this particular day, I was called, quite literally, to the other side of the store.

As the doors swung open, the cheeps and chirps of the birds kept in the corner hit my ears, and, as if pulled by some homing device, I floated over to them. Normally, I steer clear of that area; seeing the feathered beauties behind bars brings me down. How many of them make their way to new homes? How many spend their entire existence under harsh fluorescents in the back of a pet shop? And even if they’re bought, they’re forever in captivity. It just doesn’t sit well with me.

Anyhow, I was particularly drawn to the parakeets, their vibrant blues and greens and yellows, lovely creatures — like paintings come to life. As I stood simultaneously admiring and mourning them, an older gentleman walked up. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” he asked. I agreed, of course. He started telling me about his new puppy. How he works long hours and wishes he could make more time for it. How cute and fluffy and rambunctious it is. How he came to get some flea powder, but figured it’d probably be expensive, like everything else these days. He didn’t say so, but I sensed his loneliness, his urge to speak to a stranger in Petco just to make a small connection.

We pointed out which birds were our favorites. The pale peach one, the one with the bright teal hue — we’d never even seen such rich color before. We agreed it was sad to see them there, perched in a line like unpicked fruit, yet living, breathing, stretching out their wings with nowhere to go. Before we parted, he said, “What’s that saying about the caged bird? It makes you think, if they can still sing like this, what are we worried about?”

All in all, it was maybe a four- or five-minute encounter, but it left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Because amid all the noise in the news — from underground (the Earth’s core may have reversed rotation; what does it mean?), outer space (a solar polar vortex; is that a big deal?), nearer skies (spy balloons and UFOs), the nation (the toxic train derailment in Ohio), the city (another shooting spree last weekend; a separate shooting which claimed the life of a local beloved bartender) — the impression is that there’s a lot we could worry about. And that’s just scratching the surface. It’s enough to make you feel boxed in, caged without much reason to sing.

The curious part of that brief meeting was that after we talked, I made my way to the treats and then got in line to pay, but that nice gentleman who’d come for flea meds didn’t get anything at all. He walked away from the birds, and instead of browsing the aisles, went straight for the door. Maybe he forgot his wallet. Perhaps he changed his mind. Or maybe he got exactly what he was looking for: a moment of human connection, however fleeting; a small escape from his own lonesome cage.

We are all tired, weary of the worry. Not unlike those birds, wings clipped, clustered in cages built by the world, our government, our own minds — longing for freedom.

Consider, though, that the cage door is open. You’re not alone in this lonesome mess. We need only to sing — and fly.

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CannaBeat News News Blog News Feature

New Bill Would Decriminalize Cannabis Across Tennessee

A new bill would decriminalize cannabis across the state.

The bill would lower simple posession to a $25 fine or three hours of community service. It would raise the felony amount for manufacture, delivery, or sale from a half ounce to one ounce.

It removes references of “marijuana, marijuana concentrates, and marijuana oil from the definition of drug paraphernalia.” It renames items used to ingest, inhale, prepare, or store cannabis as a “marijuana accessory.”

The wide-ranging bill would lower costs on local governments by nearly $15 million per year, according to a financial review of the bill conducted by the Tennessee General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee.

The committee said the figure is based on removing the roughly 17,101 annual simple-possession cannabis convictions across the state. The committee multiplied that number by 15, the average days of stay for those charged, by $58.21, the average daily cost of jailing such a person.

The math is more complicated to calculate how much money would be saved from lowering charges on manufacture, sale, and delivery. But the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) told the review office the state averages 137.8 admissions a year based on these charges. The office calculated the new legislation would lower that figure to an average of 20.76 prison admissions of these kinds annually.

The bill would increase state spending by $100,000 to create a new drug awareness program and by $30,000 each year to support the program.

The new simple possession definition would allow Tennesseans to carry up to one ounce of cannabis, up to five grams of resin extracted from cannabis, and infused products containing up to 1,000 milligrams of THC. Simple possession would become a civil violation and would not subject an offender to arrest. Offenders could pay a $25 fine or serve three hours of community service. Minor offenders would have to serve up to five hours of community service.

The bill also limits probable cause.

“This bill specifies that the odor of marijuana generally does not constitute reasonable suspicion or probable cause but a law enforcement officer may test for impairment based on the odor of marijuana if the officer reasonably suspects the operator of a motor vehicle or boat to be under the influence of marijuana,” reads the bill.

The bill will not allow officials to revoke someone’s bail, parole, probation, or suspended sentence based solely on a positive drug test for cannabis. The review committee said TDOC told them doing this would not have any significant fiscal impact.

The bill would also prohibit officials from removing someone from public assistance programs just for having a positive cannabis test. According to the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS), doing this would not significantly impact the total number of those eligible for programs like Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). TennCare said the legislation would have no fiscal impact on any TennCare programs.

Under the legislation, a positive test would also not be grounds for any adverse employment action against a government employee.

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News News Blog News Feature

State Bill Threatens LGBTQ Marriage Here, Opponents Say

A bill that some say threatens LGBTQ marriage rights passed a Tennessee House committee Tuesday. 

The bill says that a person would not be required to solemnize (or officiate or conduct) a marriage if that person has a conscientious or religious objection to it. The bill is backed by Republican Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) and Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon).

Tennessee law does not now require anyone to conduct any marriage they don’t want to. But Fritts, the House bill sponsor, told the Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee Tuesday that a “big reason” he brought the bill was to help block elder abuse.

“When you look at some of the research that we have found on this, that … young folks are trying to marry older folks to get to their financial accounts,” Fritts said. “I think there are other things that we need to do.”

Rep. Jason Power (D-Nashville) disagreed, saying the bill does not get to any problem concerning elder abuse. He called it a “solution looking for a problem” and “government overreach.” 

“I think it’s actually just the opposite of overreach,” Fritts returned. “I think it’s a protection of the rights that we have to the rights of conscience that our Constitution guarantees.” 

While lawmakers wrangled over some of the bill’s details, one Tennessean said the bill has broader effects. Michael Rady, who described himself as a Nashville resident and voter, asked the committee if they wanted a headline to read, “Tennessee lawmakers make marriage white-only and straights-only in 2023.”

Rady explained the bill would apply not only to religious leaders but to county clerks who certify marriage licenses. He said it would be a “jumbo-sized green light for any county clerk to deny a marriage license to a couple based on their race, gender, or religion.” 

He said he and his partner are planning a Tennessee wedding this fall. The couple is gay and Rady said he is Jewish, while his partner is not. While their save-the-date cards have already been mailed, he said the bill would jeopardize his marriage and those of all LGBTQ couples here. 

”No spiritual leader is compelled under any law to officiate a wedding they disagree with,” Rady said. “As someone planning a gay, interfaith wedding here in Tennessee, I’m here to tell you that I can’t imagine anyone like me wanting to have their wedding officiated by someone who is against it.”

The conservative Tennessee Stands group is asking its followers to support the bill by asking their state members to vote for it. 

“Our religious beliefs are sacred, and the exercise of those beliefs is a right that has been given to us by God and is protected by our Constitution,” reads a form letter Tennessee Stands has provided for its followers. “Therefore, all those who perform marriage ceremonies in the state of Tennessee should not be forced by law to perform a ceremony that falls outside of their religious beliefs. They should have the ability to object to participating, without fear of reprisal.” 

The bill passed on a voice vote in the House panel Tuesday. 

However, Rady reminded committee members that some conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court, including Chief Justice John Roberts, voted to preserve LGBTQ marriage rights in the landmark Bostock v. Clayton County case. So, should the bill become law, it would likely face and uphill and costly legal fight, he said.

A 2019 state law banned weddings by those ordained online. Breaking the law came with felony charges that could result in up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine. However, the Universal Life Church, an online ordination website, sued the state over the bill. Online-ordained officiants have been able to continue to conduct weddings in Tennessee as the suit continues through the legal process. 

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We Recommend We Saw You

WE SAW YOU: Works of Heart Returns

I think I covered the first Works of Heart art show 31 years ago. If I’m not mistaken, that was when the artists strictly had to use the wooden heart they were given. They could do anything with them to make something for the heart-themed art auction.

Now, artists have the option of using the 12-by-12-inch wooden heart, but they can also use anything else they want to create a work of “heart” for the longtime fundraiser.

The event, which originally benefited the old Mental Health Association, now raises money for Memphis Child Advocacy Center (MCAC).  “When they closed down, the committee was looking for another charity to benefit and they found us,” says Beryl Wight, MCAC communications and grants manager.

A retrospective was held in 2007. “And then we took over from there.”

Nancy Hart at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Rita and James Kelly at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Natalie Brashear and Colin Hill at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Demetri Kampourogiannis and Jessica Van Eyck at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)

It felt a bit strange at first, knowing the event wasn’t going to be at the old Memphis College of Art, where it was held for years. Earlier locations included Oak Court Mall and WMC studios.

This year, the Works of Heart party and online auction was held February 11th at Memphis Botanic Garden. It was the first in-person Works of Heart in two years. I felt right at home at the event’s roomy new home. And I wasn’t the only one. “I thought it was wonderful,” Wight says. “I thought it was a perfect place for it to happen, coming back after two years and being in this environment. It was spacious. It’s a perfect backdrop for the art. I think it was a very successful and a good choice.”

I also felt right at home seeing some of the long-time Works of Heart artists.

Jay Etkin at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Phyllis Boger at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Art and Nancy Graesser and Murray Riss at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Wayne Edge, Ed Rainey, and Karen Edge at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)

All bidding was done online at this year’s event. Heart Hawkers wearing red boas assisted guests with bidding as well as information on artists.

Gloria Dodds, Laura Alexander-Dodds, and Allison Becksfort at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Gabe McGaha at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Lucas Skinner at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)

The Big Heart Lounge VIP section was back, too. Those who bought a ticket for the lounge got upgraded food choices, comfy sofas, a full bar with specialty cocktails and a Works of Heart T-shirt.

Kerry Jackson, Tyler Malkey, Kelly and Kathy Fish at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Gabe and Comelia Franceschi at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Alice Higdon and Daniel Reid at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Mike and Sharon Goldstein at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Donna Wolf, Donna Staub, and Rice Drewry at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)

About 400 people attended this year’s event, which featured Joe Birch as emcee, Wight says. Some $93,000 was raised for MCAC. Those are some big-hearted people.

Trey Carter at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Garret Hartline at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Donna and Bill Wolf at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Carlos Valverde at Works of Heart (Credit: Michael Donahue)
We Saw You
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News News Blog News Feature

Feud Has GOP Lawmakers Targeted By Anti-Abortion Groups

State lawmakers are defending themselves against attacks from anti-abortion groups accusing them of trying to derail Tennessee’s new restrictions.

Tennessee Right to Life and Tennessee Stands are targeting members of the Population Health Subcommittee, mainly Republicans, and urging people to call and email them after they approved legislation designed to change the “affirmative defense” provision in state law in an effort to stop the “criminalization” of physicians who save the lives of women involved in deadly pregnancies. 

Under current law, a doctor could be charged with a felony and forced to prove in court that an abortion was necessary to save a woman’s life. The law prohibiting abortions in Tennessee, without clear protection for physicians and exceptions for rape and incest, took effect in August 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The subcommittee voted in favor of the bill last week after House Speaker Cameron Sexton joined the fray and criticized Right to Life counsel Will Brewer for threatening negative scores against legislators who supported the bill.

“Saving the mother’s life isn’t an elective abortion – it is an emergency.”

Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville

State Rep. Andrew Farmer, a Sevierville Republican who supported the legislation, said Monday he can accept scoring by lobbying groups. Nevertheless, Farmer said he is “very disappointed” in Tennessee Right to Life.

“I never expected them to stoop to the level of misinformation. It’s like the next thing I know I’m going to see Will Brewer standing beside (President) Joe Biden arguing the country’s in the best shape it’s ever been in,” Farmer said. “They’re just saying anything they can say to make us look bad, and that’s just not professional.”

Tennessee Right to Life sent form letters to its members late last week saying House Bill 883 is being presented as a “clarification” with an exception to save the life of the mother, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages, but that it will almost completely rewrite the law.

“While well-intentioned, in reality this bill, if enacted, would offer cover for those who abort children in our state and would delete large sections of pro-life measures in Tennessee code,” the mailer says.

Sexton, a Crossville Republican, pointed out the “trigger” law makes saving the life of the mother a Class C felony that requires the physician to prove their innocence, “meaning they are automatically considered guilty.” The Tennessee Medical Association supports the legislation. “What kind of Republicans vote for legislation to weaken abortion laws in Tennessee?” asked Gary Humble of Tennessee Stands in a video message to his supporters.

The Speaker also noted the current law is “silent” on “lethal fetal anomalies,” which aren’t genetic anomalies or birth defects, including situations in which a fetus is diagnosed with anencephaly, a type of neural tube defect in which an unborn child lacks parts of the brain and skull.

“Saving the mother’s life isn’t an elective abortion – it is an emergency,” Sexton said Monday. “If the intent of the ‘trigger’ bill is to not save the life of the mother, then no clarification is needed. I believe it was the intent of the bill, and therefore, it needs clarification.”

The Right to Life mailer also contends the legislation would allow portions of “pro-life laws” to be removed, enable physicians to “abort children if they believe there is a ‘lethal fetal anomaly’ or if they think a baby has a condition that is ‘incompatible with life,’” require physicians accused of an illegal abortion to explain their actions to a state medical board, and allow physicians “to end the life of a baby if they claim it is to prevent or treat a medical emergency.”

“So a baby could be aborted to prevent a condition that may never happen,” the mailer says. 

In addition, Gary Humble, leader of the advocacy group Tennessee Stands, sent out a video link saying, “What kind of Republicans vote for legislation to weaken abortion laws in Tennessee?” One of his messages points out Farmer voted for the bill.

Brewer told the subcommittee last week his group doesn’t consider the bill a piece of “pro-life” legislation and said it would allow “quasi-elective” abortions. Farmer, in contrast, argued that it is designed to save women and babies by allowing physicians to make life-saving decisions. Tennessee Right to Life sent a mailer to members last week saying a bill to provide exceptions to the state’s abortion ban to save a pregnant woman’s life would “rewrite the law,” a statement  Republican Rep. Andrew Farmer described as misinformation.

Only one member of the subcommittee, Rep. Bryan Terry, R-Murfreesboro, voted against the bill. It is to be heard Wednesday by the Health Committee, which he chairs.

Rep. Caleb Hemmer, a Nashville Democrat who voted for the legislation last week, said he welcomes groups and advocates to express their concerns but believes those sending out these messages are “misguided” about the bill.

“It actually helps clarify a lot of things in the law and has been carefully negotiated with legislative leaders, physician and hospital groups, advocates, as well as the Attorney General’s Office,” Hemmer said.

Despite Tennessee Right to Life’s stance, Hemmer said he is “comfortable” with the legislation’s language, including “protections for physicians to do their jobs and fulfill their Hippocratic Oath and protect the lives of mothers and babies.”

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

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Music Record Reviews

The Secret Weapon: Big Scarr’s Posthumous Release Dazzles

It was just back in November when Memphis rapper Big Scarr, whose releases on Gucci Mane’s The New 1017 Records had already been making major chart waves, announced that he’d be extending his tour into 2023. “I am adding more dates so I can hit every city and pull up on the whole Grim Reaper Gang … Love, Big Scarr aka Big Frozone, aka Big Grim Reaper aka The Secret Weapon. P.S. This just the warm up. I’m in album mode now. 2023 is mine.”

Those words ring bittersweet now. On December 22, the 22 year-old rapper, born Alexander Woods, died of a prescription pain medication overdose. But his words may yet ring true, as the album he mentioned has just been released.

The Secret Weapon was clearly aiming for the stratosphere, continuing the move to bigger sounds signaled by Scarr’s full length debut on the 1017 imprint, 2021’s Big Grim Reaper. That album offered three full versions of a single tune, “SoIcyBoyz,” which, taken in succession, track the changes Big Scarr was undergoing as he ramped up to the big time.

The song’s first version, featuring his cousin Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano, was a masterpiece of hip hop invention, pairing hazy acoustic guitar chords with relaxed rhymes touching on the joys of swigging cough syrup and Fanta in the yard with one’s steady mobbin’ crew of choice. Its sound is a standout in the trap music roster by virtue of its almost folksy ambiance, yet is practically stamped with the phrase “Memphis AF.”

As he noted in a statement after his debut album, “It’s rough out here. What I’m rapping about is what’s going on where I’m from. It’s the slums. It’s the trenches. It’s the hood. It’s tough. It’s real.”

With Version 2 of the song, producer Tay Keith, also from Memphis, was brought on, and the track took on a more percussive atmosphere, while retaining a certain lightness. With Version 3, which added Gucci Mane to the mix, the soundscape seemed to grow even more cinematic, and more in keeping with the horror-film aesthetic of Three 6 Mafia.

Cut to last week, when the The Secret Weapon revealed Big Scarr’s first full album since his debut (not counting 2022’s deluxe mixtape, Big Grim Reaper: The Return). And the soundscape somehow splits the difference between all those versions of “SoIcyBoyz,” invoking cinematic spaces even as the vocals and assorted jangled sounds stay perched on the edge of your ear.

Take track 2, for instance: “Trappin n Rappin (feat. Gucci Mane),” begins with orchestral sounds seemingly run through a broken tape player that nonetheless lend an epic sweep to (Gucci Mane’s?) invocation, “Long live the legend, my secret weapon.” The otherworldly swirl of sound is an effective contrast with Big Scarr’s dry, laconic delivery, surely the most Southern of the diverse dialects in today’s hip hop world.

Yet, in his own gruff way, Big Scarr’s rhymes are mighty nimble as well, as he reveals later in “SKRT SKRT,” the title signifying the song’s hook, sung in falsetto. “That’s what ya hear when I come through …” he sings in between rapid-fire verses that deftly paint a portrait of the neighborhood life.

It turns out such throw-away choruses, thrown out as if afterthoughts, are a specialty of Big Scarr. “Toe Tag (feat. Key Glock)” also features the two title words, evoking the morgue, in a brief quip of a “chorus” that’s over before you know it. The offhand delivery is almost maniacal in it’s casual glee.

Perhaps cutting a track like “I’m Him” was Big Scarr’s subtle shout out to the mega-platinum world of Kevin Gates’ smash album of the same name. In any case, the Memphis rapper is sure-footed in defining a new sound for himself, equal parts cinematic gloom and toy-instrument lightness. Now that Memphis — and the Magnolia community of South Memphis where he grew up — mourns his loss, that sound still stands, and may yet be New 1017’s secret weapon.

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Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” by Tina Turner

With Memphis still buzzing from Tina: The Musical at the Orpheum Theatre (Read Alex Greene’s cover story), Music Video Monday is revisiting one of the strangest, and coolest, moments of Tina Turner’s career.

Tina Turner grew up in Nutbush, Tennessee, and found fame alongside rock and R&B pioneer Ike Turner. But her career didn’t fully flourish until after she left that abusive relationship and struck out on her own. Her single “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” was a massive hit in 1984. Tina’s comeback coincided with the golden age of MTV, but the song’s music video was, for the era, fairly subdued. It just featured the singer strolling around New York City, but Tina’s electric charisma is on full display, and that’s more than enough.

The video for the album’s title track, “Private Dancer,” is much more representative of the era’s visual excesses.

With her star in ascendance, Tina took a radical turn. Director George Miller was working on the third Mad Max movie, and after seeing Turner as The Acid Queen in the mid-70s film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy decided to write a part for her. Auntie Entity is the leader of Bartertown, the wasteland outpost where desperate survivors of the apocalypse have tried to re-create something like civilization. Turner, who had never done this kind of acting before, makes Auntie Entity one of the greatest sci-fi villains of all time. (In fact, I would argue that she’s not the real villain of the story. She’s just playing a bad hand the best way she can. The NAACP seemed to agree with me, because they awarded Turner the Image Award for Outstanding Actress for the role.) Watch as she asserts dominance at The Thunderdome.

Turner had two songs in the film. “One of the Living” was the first single from the soundtrack. The video, which premiered in 1985, plays up Turner’s rock star image, and cuts in altered clips from the movie. Say what you will about the filmmaking of the ’80s, but they knew how to use smoke and a klieg light.

The second video was for the theme, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome),” and here we get Tina in her full Auntie Entity glory. The chainmail dress reportedly weighed more than 100 pounds. Watch for the cameo by saxophone hero Tim Capello.

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News News Blog News Feature

Accessibility At The Root Of Memphis Performing Arts Groups

Ladia Yates is the founder of the Ladia Yates Entertainment Academy (L.Y.E. Academy,) which was founded in 2014. L.Y.E Academy, located at 4780 Riverdale Road, offers a number of classes such as competitive hip-hop and majorette, Memphis Jookin’, tumbling, praise dancing, and boxing.

This focus on Memphis-centric dancing, while also incorporating modern and contemporary styles, is unique, and according to Yates, it only makes sense. L.Y.E.’s distinctive approach to the arts has been noted, as their social media accounts have garnered over 600,000 followers, reaching more than six-million people in the last 28 days. 

L.Y.E’s dancers have been involved with projects with Nike, Lil Baby, NLE Choppa, Duke Deuce, and more.

“We’re not in L.A., we’re not in New York, so they just find us on social media,” said Yates. “You gotta represent.You don’t want to be too commercial or watered down, you want to stick to your roots.”

Yates’ business represents one that is both Black- and woman-owned, which is important to note when examining businesses in the arts and entertainment industry. A research brief by Bonnie Nichols, senior analyst from the National Endowment for the Arts, said that “members of racial/ethnic minority groups own arts businesses at a lower rate than they own businesses in general.”

Not only did the brief assess that “Hispanics and non-whites own 9 percent of all ‘arts, entertainment, and recreation’ businesses,” but it also said that these groups also own only 11 percent of performing arts companies. The same study also said one in five performing arts companies are owned by women.

While Yates exists in both minority groups, she also realizes that she possessed a level of privilege and accessibility that she wanted to bring to Memphis’ youth.

Yates is originally from California, and moved to Memphis when she was 16 years old. Yates said that while California has its own industry and opportunities, she felt that Memphis lacked that.

“With me being from California and working in the industry, I have the resources to help the underprivileged kids out there [Memphis],” Yates said. “I just wanted to be a stepping stone and prove a point that you don’t have to move to Los Angeles, or Atlanta, or New York to be successful. Just work hard at whatever you do, wherever you are and you can make it.”

The idea of wanting to bring resources from bigger cities to Memphis is a sentiment shared by many creatives in the community. Chrysti Chandler recalls coming back to Memphis in 1991 after seeing there were many children who didn’t participate in after-school activities. She was shocked to find out that the reason for this was because students couldn’t afford it.

Chandler set out to start an organization that would allow for students to have affordable performing arts experience, which resulted in the founding of the Young Actors Guild (YAG).

Accessibility is very important when it comes to the performing arts, especially when it comes to location. YAG recently celebrated the re-grand opening of the Harriet Performing Arts Center, located at 2788 Lamar Avenue, in Orange Mound.

While they were able to purchase this space for only $1 from the city, one of the main reasons they chose to procure this location was so that they could bring the arts back into the community, and make them accessible for young children.

“If they have to walk, it’s right there in their community,” said Sabrina Norwood, executive director for YAG. “It’s a quick drop off, but it’s also an opportunity for students to have a positive space that they can call their own, where they can grow, they can develop, they can train within the arts. They can build leadership and character development.”

Young Actors Guild (Credit: Craig Thompson)

Lack of resources, whether they be local or industry-related, should not prevent students from accessing arts education. This is an idea that the three creatives agree upon, with them all expanding on how vital the arts are in enriching the lives of children in the Memphis community.

“Arts truly is a tool that saves lives in the community,” said Norwood. “There opportunities for young people to have arts accessibility in each community now, which is really great because it provides them the opportunity to dance away negativity, act out the things they’re seeing, and provide positive feedback of ways that we can provide solutions to some of the problems that we see currently going on in our community.”

This approach to the arts has also been exemplified  by L.Y.E. academy.

In December of 2021, Juanita Washington, the head administrator of L.Y.E. Academy, was murdered at Walgreens off of South Perkins. This birthed L.Y.E.’s newest series of events that fall under the title of “Stop The Violence,” and is sponsored by Red Bull and Nike.

Yates believes that everyone is impacted by the arts, whether it be through singing, acting, or painting, which is why she chose to take a stance against violence, all while juxtaposing it with entertainment.

“You have to get people’s attention in a way you know they’ll pay attention to it. Events such as ‘Stop The Violence’ talent shows and concerts will hopefully inspire people to go another route,” said Yates.

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Art Art Feature

When Arrows Meet

When asked why he became an artist, Nick Canterucci laughs. “Well, about that,” he says, “I wanted to meet girls. When I was a young guy, up in [Detroit,] Michigan, there was this beatnik artist who lived next door to us and he always seemed to have some kind of bitching babe on his arm. He smoked unfiltered Camels, wore a beret, and had a cool little sports car. I thought, man, this is right up my alley.”

Despite his ambitions, Canterucci never had any formal art training, going to school for mathematics and later moving from Detroit to Memphis to work at Channel 5 and with FedEx. Yet, throughout his career, he stuck with his art, finding that his passion for creating drove him more than wooing the ladies ever did. “My wife would say, ‘You’re a good boy now,’” he says, before quipping, “But I’m wilder and busier than I’ve ever been. I just haven’t gotten the email that I’m old. My brain is 25 and my body’s 70.” And the amount of work he has produced over the past few years since retirement would agree. In fact, even though his 18th show is currently on display at the Medicine Factory, he is already halfway through creating his next show, slated for 2024. 

Sunday in Detroit

For now, Canterucci speaks of his current exhibition “When Arrows Meet,” which consists of paintings done in his “outsider art” style. With bold colors and collage elements, the 20 abstract pieces demand the viewer examine every inch of the canvas, with the eye drawn to each individual element — from a set of numbers floating in the background to a tiny British flag pasted on a breast. The compositions are purposely chaotic, with one piece even titled Cacophony, leaving observers to decipher patterns for themselves, as if Canterucci has left behind a code without a key — and that’s not far from Canterucci’s method. 

He says, “There’s a lot of secret information in my paintings. If you know how to translate my visual parameters, I’m telling you exactly everything that’s going on in my life or my friend’s life or my wife’s life.” For some of his pieces, Canterucci cites the exact moment of inspiration — a friend expressing feelings of isolation, a friend’s break-up, or the opening credits of a movie he fell asleep while watching. Painting, he explains, allows him to process his experiences, mundane and extraordinary alike.

As he created the pieces for this show, Covid was at the forefront of his mind. “I feel sensitive, and there was a lot of weird energy in the air sometimes, and I can’t explain it. I can’t tell you exactly what it is, but sometimes, it kind of makes your hand stand up, and so I’ll work through it by painting.” That sense of urgency to get his thoughts onto the canvas, in turn, reveals itself in enthusiastic, stark brush strokes and self-assured outlines of figures, with little need for perfection. 

If This Is It

Canterucci embraces abstraction, finding solace in the “offbeat” German and Russian artists of the 1920s and 1930s who existed outside the mainstream. He himself has often felt like an outsider, understanding the world differently than those around him. “I see the world in ones and zeros. Kind of like the Matrix,” he says. “I just have a stream of numbers. I see everything in mathematical sequences and stuff.”

Abstraction, the artist continues, “appeals to the mathematical thing in my brain, and it allows me to work through issues. … Art can be very therapeutic at times. It can really help you get over some issues. Same thing with music. I can’t tell you how many cool records got me out of Pity City. So it goes both directions [between the artist and the consumer].”

As such, Canterucci hopes his paintings can stir something within his audience. “Maybe it helps them take stock of where they’re at in their life, or maybe I can bring a smile to their face, or maybe, they can go, ‘Oh God, this is terrible,’ and give them something to talk about.”

No matter the response, Canterucci thrives on feedback and often seeks knowledge and inspiration from other artists to improve his craft. “Each show seems to be a little bit better. You could obviously see an evolution of progress from my early shows up to this one, which is my 18th,” he says. “And then again, for every successful painting I’ve had multiple failures. Sometimes what you see in your head and what ends up in the canvas are two different things. And then you have those rare occurrences where you’re firing on all cylinders. And then boom, bingo, you nailed it.”

Cacophony

In the meantime, between being in his punk band The Underwear Heads and making his fanzine, Canterucci shows no sign of stopping painting. And when he’s painting, nothing can stop him. “ I don’t care if the house is on fire,” he says. “I don’t care if giant bat spiders from Jupiter are coming down the street grabbing people. Don’t bother me.”

The last day to see “When Arrows Meet” at the Medicine Factory is Saturday, February 18th.  

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Now Playing in Memphis: Let’s Get Small

The big release in movie theaters this week is the latest Marvel contraption, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Reluctant Avenger Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who usually gets just kinda small, gets super-tiny. We’re talking seething quantum foam of semi-imaginary particles small. His variably sized partner Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and their daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who also sports a super-small suit, also get tiny, along with legendary super-scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). There they meet Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who will apparently be important in the next hundred or so Marvel movies.

If you’re not into getting quantum-realm small, how about a small indie romance from Australia? Of An Age is writer/director Goran Stolevski’s second feature film. Ebony (Hattie Hook) is a late-teen party girl whose bestie Kol (Elias Anton) is also her ballroom dance partner. When Kol has to pull Ebony out of a bad situation, he enlists her brother Adam (Thom Green) as a driver, and sparks fly.

But maybe you’re looking for a different kind of small. Short films are often the highlight of film festivals, but rarely get screen time in commercial theaters. There’s a great opportunity to watch the Oscar-nominated short films in the animation, documentary, and narrative categories at the Malco Ridgeway Cinema Grill this week. These films won awards at qualifying festivals, and now the up-and-coming filmmakers have a chance at Oscar glory. And who knows, maybe one of them will get slapped by Will Smith!

Speaking of Oscar contenders, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Indie Memphis brings the nominated documentary All the Beauty And the Bloodshed to Studio on the Square. Directed by CitizenFour helmer Laura Poitras, it tells the story of legendary photographer Nan Goldin and her crusade against the Sackler family, pharmaceutical oligarchs who also happen to be big patrons of the arts. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed became only the second documentary in history to win the Golden Lion at Cannes, and it’s probably the frontrunner for the Oscar, too.