Author: Abigail Morici

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Art Art Feature We Recommend We Recommend

Q&A with Metal Museum’s Master Metalsmith

Preston Jackson (American, b. 1944), Jolly and the Mississippi Flood, c. 2005. Cast Bronze. Courtesy of the artist.

In October 2024, the Metal Museum named Preston Jackson as its 38th Master Metalsmith. “A Hidden Culture,” the exhibition now on display in honor of Jackson’s achievement, features 16 freestanding sculptures and four paintings by the artist, who describes the show as revealing “history that has been buried, forgotten, or deemed unimportant by society.” The Flyer had a chance to speak with Jackson about the show for our “Winter Arts Guide,” published in December 2024. 

Memphis Flyer: What was your reaction to being named the Metal Museum’s Master Metalsmith?

Preston Jackson: When I got the call to get involved in this, especially being in Memphis, you know, where my ancestors are from, I jumped at that opportunity, and I took it on, even preparing new works for the show. So it was an uplift to do what you’re supposed to. 

Your work goes into history and wants to uncover hidden histories, right?

Yeah, things that people feel uncomfortable talking about. … I find that looking back and re-understanding, rethinking things that were only a hint in your past because you didn’t have the facilities to understand them or express them, it’s almost like admitting it’s good to be human.

Preston Jackson, Madame Fruitvale and Her Dog, c. 2003. Courtesy of the artist.

Did you always know that you wanted to tell stories of other people, or was this something that you developed? 

A lot of these traits that I have today were discovered, as my parents tell the story of my growing up, many years ago, right at the beginning of my little life as a young kid. Growing up in Decatur, Illinois, a product of the great migration that happened, my life is so much a part of that history. My exhibit gave me a chance to express my feelings about that.

And when you’re looking at these stories, are you doing a lot of research? 

Yeah, you don’t want to be wild in your thinking because of how important it is to tell the truth. Just look at our politics today. Truth is sought after, and it’s valuable. If we live a lie or believe in lies, we’re going to sort of destroy the entire civilization.  

Metal Museum, 374 Metal Museum Drive, “A Hidden Culture,” On display through January 26. 

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Scott Carter’s ‘Energy States’

Energy States, 2023 (Photo: Courtesy Scott Carter)

Scott A. Carter has worked in art installation for years. He’s worn the nitrile gloves to handle priceless works, like when he worked as a preparator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Shoboygan, Wisconsin. He’s hung framed photographs not to be touched on the walls of Christian Brothers University’s Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, which he runs as assistant professor of art. He’s placed pieces in tempered glass display cases at local museums as an occasional art handler. It’s a delicate practice, art installation — a practice that Carter was ready to disrupt. 

It started with the display cases. As a sculptor, Carter says, “I was interested in using the surface to add jacks and cut holes, and treat them as a material, not so much like it’s going to preserve something.”

So, without much of a plan, he took a display case, laser-cut a hole, inverted a corner, added guitar cables, electronic components with exposed wiring, a silk plant, and topped it with a beer bottle. Now, it works as an amplifier of sorts. “You can plug [your instrument] in, and there’s three different modes you can switch between, and it’ll distort [the sound],” Carter says. “I ended up adding a contact mic, too.” Even without an instrument plugged in, the piece will make a loud buzzing sound, disrupting the typically quiet gallery space. 

This piece, titled Energy States and made in 2023, would become the first of many semi-functional sculptures by Carter. For the first time, when he goes in to create a piece, he doesn’t have a plan; he just lets inspiration take over. “It’s a mashup of all the things that I like, furniture-ish design, electronics, engineering,” he says. “For years, I tried to combine my musical interests, interest in electronics with art, but they were always separate things.”

Most of these pieces now make up the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ “Energy States” exhibition, on display through January 19th. Like the first, many of the pieces have sound and interactive components built in, with their mechanics exposed to the viewer, wires and tubing looping through grids made by the artist. Carter evokes mid-century modern or art deco styles with clean lines and simple use of materials, like recycled Modelo beer bottles and hardware the artist 3-D printed himself. He wants viewers to get up close to his works to engage with the elements from all sides layered under plexiglass and in display cases. 

“I do get joy from looking at them and plugging them in a way that I haven’t gotten from other work I’ve made,” Carter says. “I think with this show, I finally got it to the point where I feel like, oh, everything together, I’m happy. Which is weird.”  

“Scott A. Carter: Energy States,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, on display through January 19, free. 

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Art Art Feature We Recommend We Recommend

Edge District Has Its First Art Crawl

The art crawl will go to four venues. (Photo: Holtermonster)

Before Covid postponed events or canceled them altogether, Marshall Arts hosted an open studio event each December, welcoming the public into makers’ creative spaces and boosting the artistic community’s spirits. But the gallery hasn’t hosted one since 2019 — a fact that wasn’t lost on Lauren Holtermann, aka Holtermonster, who started renting studio space from Marshall Arts post-pandemic.  

In fact, Holtermann didn’t even know about the previous open studio events until gallery manager Anthony D. Lee mentioned it one day. “I was like, ‘Let’s do that again,’” she says. “And then it turned into a whole thing.” 

By “whole thing,” she means the first-ever Edge District Art Crawl. With Holtermann’s excitement to motivate him, Lee wanted to make the usual open studio event bigger. “Now, it’s not just us, Marshall Arts,” he says. “We extended the invite to all the new guys [Sheet Cake, Ugly Art Co., and Solid Ground Studio]. So it takes it from us, an isolated venue, and now we kind of have a district. I always kind of knew that was coming because I’ve been here for 20 years, and Marshall Arts has been for 32 years.”

The “new guys,” as Lee calls them, have all opened their spots in the past year or so. Sheet Cake, owned by Lauren Kennedy, celebrated its first year with a party on December 14th, and Anderson Goin’s Ugly Art Co. opened this spring. Solid Ground Studio is artists Jodi Brewer, Pam McDonnell, Lisa Williamson, and Paul Behnke’s private studio that’ll be open to the public for the art crawl. These four artists just closed their show, “Something Solid,” on December 14th at Marshall Arts, the gallery’s first show since Covid.

For the art crawl, guests can expect special gallery hours as they take a self-guided tour of the four arts venues. Marshall Arts will have work on display by its artists, plus open studios by Lee, Holtermann, Emma Self, Wiley Bros Music, and others. Sheet Cake’s new exhibitions “Loose Ends” and “Back for Seconds” will be on display with work by Brittney Boyd Bullock, Roger Allan Cleaves, Melissa Dunn, Stephanie Howard, and Clare Torina. Meanwhile, Ugly Art Co. will have an exhibition by Sam Reeves Hill. 

“We want to let people know that the Edge is an active third space,” Lee says of his hopes for the art crawl. “The district’s still in its formation, but it’s a walkable locale with interesting things to do.”

“And it’s cool to show off that we have a blooming arts district popping up with some old heads, like Marshall Arts, and all these new bloods,” adds Holtermann. “It’s really exciting.” 

Edge District Art Crawl, Marshall Arts, 639 Marshall | Sheet Cake, 405 Monroe | Ugly Art Co., 635 Madison | Solid Ground Studio, 669 Monroe, Thursday, December 19, 5-8 p.m., free. 

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On the Fly: Week of 12/13/24

Memphis will be alight with holiday cheer at the annual Memphis Holiday Parade down Beale Street this Saturday. (Photo: Courtesy Beale Street)

Twelfth Night
Tennessee Shakespeare Company
Through December 22
A “holiday tradition.” “Shakespeare’s most charming comedy, cast in a topsy-turvy world of cross-dressing lovers, yellow cross-garters, and crossed identities.” Fine, yes, I’m quoting from Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s website and they might be trying to sell tickets to their latest production but they’ve never let anyone down. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through December 22nd. Tickets ($22-$44) can be purchased here. 

Fire Pit Friday
Tom Lee Park, Visionary Grove
Friday, December 13, 4:30-6:30 p.m. 
Get s’more time with the family on Fridays this December at Memphis River Parks Partnership’s Fire Pit Fridays. Each week features a fun new twist; this week is Salsa by the Fire! Enjoy a salsa lesson and lively performance beginning at 5:30 p.m., and Saqnta pics starting at 4:45 p.m. Limited free s’mores will be available at the first three events, so arrive early to enjoy this treat. Guests are welcome to bring (and share) their own s’more ingredients — skewers will be provided. On Friday, 13th, and 20th, Jasper Float & Spa brings the ultimate Dream Zone experience to the riverfront, featuring relaxing samples, sleep essentials, and a chance to win a 60-minute relaxation massage. 

South Main Songwriter Night
South Main Sounds
Friday, December 13, 7-9 p.m.
Kim Garmon-Hummel and Delta Joe Sanders return to South Main Sound’s stage and Lindsey Hinkle makes her long-awaited debut for South Main Songwriter Night.

Rachel Maxann’s Holiday Spirits: A Christmas Special with Friends
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.
Join singer-songwriter Rachel Maxann for a soulful Christmas celebration featuring heartfelt performances of holiday classics, original tunes, and special guests from the local music scene. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. 

The Nutcracker
Orpheum Theatre
Friday, December 13, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m. | Saturday, December 14, 7: 30 p.m. Sunday, December 15, 2 p.m.
As someone who takes beginner ballet classes at Ballet Memphis and is firmly a beginner as my mom likes to remind me whenever I show off my skillz, I might be a bit biased, but The Nutcracker sounds like a perfect way to spend an evening this weekend. This year’s production features the new costumes and Memphis-twist that debuted last season. Performances last approximately two hours, and tickets ($16-$91) can be purchased here. 

Christmas Fiesta
The Dixon Gallery and Gardens
Saturday, December 14, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Learn about Christmas traditions of Latin American and the Caribbean at the Christmas Fiesta, presented by Cazateatro Bilingual Theater Group, Opera Memphis, and Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Visitors will enjoy the Christmas traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and learn about parrandas, posadas, piñatas, and more. Enjoy traditional Christmas music in Spanish, Latin food, crafts, and activities. Admission is free!

2024 Memphis Tubachristmas
Crosstown Concourse
Saturday, December 14, 1 p.m.
Watch a bunch of tuba players come together in Christmas cheer. That’s what makes a Tubachristmas. (If you want to participate, find out more here.)

Memphis Holiday Parade
Beale Street
Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m.
Memphis will be alight with holiday cheer at the annual Memphis Holiday Parade down Beale Street, with marching bands, steppers, twirlers, floats, and all sorts of sights on Saturday afternoon. You can also get your picture taken with Santa Claus for free on Friday the 13th, 5 to 7 p.m. on Beale. The pictures will be available on Facebook the next day here.

Sheet Cake First Birthday
Sheet Cake
Saturday, December 14, 5-7:30 p.m.
Celebrate Sheet Cake’s first trip around the sun, with two new exhibitions openings, cake (of course), DJ Bizzle Bluebland, and more. The two exhibits are “Loose Ends” with work by Brittney Boyd Bullock and “Back for Seconds” with work by Roger Allan Cleaves, Melissa Dunn, Stephanie Howard, and Clare Torina. 

Time Warp Drive-In: Strange Christmas Vol. 11 – Holly Jolly Holiday Horror
Malco Summer 4 Drive-In
Saturday, December 14, 7 p.m.
Explore the demented side of the holidays with a thrilling and disturbing fright fest screening Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022) and Troll Hunter (2010). Tickets are $25 per carload. 

HoHoHo Burlesque Show & Silent Auction
Hi Tone
Saturday, December 14, 9:30 p.m.
Memphis Roller Derby presents its largest fundraiser of the year and so much fun. They’ll have burlesque performances, a silent auction (holiday shopping, anyone?), and a skate raffle. Admission to the amazing acts and local items is $15. 

Acoustic Sunday Live
First Congregational Church
Sunday, December 15, 7 p.m.
If you like music, you might want to check out the Acoustic Sunday Live concert, or you could just go for the sake of a good cause, that being to support Protect Our Aquifer. This year’s lineup features legendary folk singer Tom Rush, celebrated singer-songwriter Steve Forbert, acclaimed Canadian blues singer Shakura S’aida, and Nashville-based Americana songwriter Tim Easton, with special guests Memphis’ own Marcella Simien, as well as violinist Anne Harris, hailing from Chicago. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here. 

Steve-O: The Super Dummy Tour
Minglewood Hall
Sunday, December 15, 7 p.m.
Television personality and YouTuber Stephen Glover, popularly known as Steve O, will perform live. Tickets ($65-$80) can be purchased here. 18+. 

Drew & Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas
Orpheum Theatre
Wednesday, December 18, 7:30 p.m.
Catch a neighborly Christmas concert with Drew and Ellie Holcomb. Drew’s a Memphis native and Ellie’s from Nashville, and together they’ve achieved over 1 billion streams. Drew and Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas is a special engagement event, allowing the couple to collaborate. Tickets ($39.50-$99.50) can be purchased here. 

Lindsey Stirling – The Snow Waltz Tour
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts
Monday, December 16, 8 p.m.
Lindsey Stirling brings her Snow Waltz Tour to Memphis, complete with holiday staples and originals, dance and acrobatics, and more. Tickets ($52-$199) can be purchased here. 

Cookies and Caroling
Abe Goodman Golf Clubhouse
Tuesday, December 17, 5-7 p.m.
Join the Overton Park Conservancy and Opera Memphis for an evening of holiday cheer with a caroling singalong, delicious treats, and time with your loved ones. Beverages and bites will be from 5 to 6 p.m., and the singalong will start at 6 p.m. RSVP here.

There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.

Submit events here or by emailing calendar@memphisflyer.com.

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Art Art Feature

Greely Myatt’s Starry, Starry

Starry, Starry at the Brooks (Photo: Abigail Morici)

You don’t need to look too far in the sky to see the stars, not at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. That’s where Greely Myatt has installed his Starry, Starry starscape for the museum’s inaugural Winter Art Garden. Consisting of four sculptural elements — Big Star, Star Fall, Star Sprays, and Sirius (Dog Star and Pup) — the starscape, which opened at the end of November, is a constellation of Myatt’s own creation, stemming from the artist’s recent obsession with stars. 

It all started with a show last year for Eagle Gallery at Murray State in Kentucky. For each show, as with the Winter Garden, Myatt notes that “space is crucial,” meaning that he curates his pieces to suit the space they’re shown in, often creating pieces if he’s so inspired. And for “tool,” as the show was called, Myatt was inspired by the reflective black floor of Eagle Gallery. “I wanted to do something with neon,” he says. 

What exactly, he didn’t know yet. Myatt toyed with the idea of ripples in water, but after playing with a metric folding rule and shaping into a five-point star, he found his subject. “It was a form that wasn’t just erratic. It was fun, and relatively easy to make,” he says. “And so that happened.” And he happened to have an extra five pieces of traffic sign post leftover from another project, so he made a “massive” star and “put neon under it to reflect light and bounce it back up.”

Now that massive star — aptly titled Big Star, with a nod to the Memphis-based band — sits against the Brooks Museum. To the side of it, on the pedestals where statues Spring and Summer once stood, another star is propped up, this one made of charred wood. 

“It’s a fragmented star,” Myatt says of Star Fall as it’s called. “When I was making the other stars [for previous shows], I kind of became interested in, instead of the completeness of it, letting the mind mentally finish it. And I kind of like the incompleteness.”

Star Fall

The wood of this fragmented star comes from a pine tree Myatt grew himself, starting in the third grade. “It was kind of a common tradition that teachers would give students, or at least in Mississippi, a sapling that you would plant and nurture if you were a reasonably good student,” he says. “So I did that, and I planted it behind my mom’s house. And 55 years later, my twin sister called me and said, ‘Hey, I cut your tree. Do you want any of it?’ I said, ‘You did what!’ But my sister was nervous about the storms blowing through and the trees coming down. This was about eight years ago.”

Meanwhile, Sirius (Dog Star and Pup), which is suspended between two trees near the plaza, is made of broom handles, and Star Sprays, which spring up from the umbrella holes in the plaza’s tables like bouquets of sparklers, are made of traffic signs. “I like to have all these materials around because I will use them eventually,” Myatt says. “My mom was like that — some people would call us hoarders. I remember as a kid she taught us how to pull old nails out and straighten them because we had plenty of wood, but we didn’t have any nails and we didn’t have any money. It’s always stuck with me, you know, that kind of idea of reusing material and seeing the good in something old.”

Star Sprays

All in all, though, as he reflects on the use of stars in his work, Myatt says, “They’re abstract, but they’re real. It’s kind of like Dave Hickey once said, ‘A Pollock doesn’t mean anything, but it has meaning.’” 

The installation was made possible through the work of Kristin Pedrozo, Jon Hart, Chris Little, Jennifer Draffen, and more, Myatt adds. 

Starry, Starry, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through January 2025

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MadameFraankie’s ‘Intertwine’

A Love Supreme (Intertwined) 2024 (Photo: MadameFraankie)

Something was missing in MadameFraankie’s photography practice. At least, the artist thought so. She’d been able to capture stories of the Black community; she found that she preferred shooting in black-and-white and in film. “As soon as you are forced to have 36, 24 shots, or now 12 with the new camera I shoot with, you get real intentional,” she says. “I love a good black-and-white image; it stops the distraction.” But, so often behind the camera, she says, “I didn’t really have a way to bring in my own family or even myself.” 

Fraankie looked for inspiration in her mother and maternal grandmother, who use their own creative talents for commercial arts and sewing, respectively. Her mom even used to paint in acrylic; the family house still has a painting by her of Fraankie’s older cousin as a “grumpy baby” on a swing. “It’s like they have this thing, this gift,” Fraankie says of her mom and grandma, “and I have decided to accept the gifts that they have.”

With this mindset, Fraankie integrated their crafts into her photography, adding embroidery and painting watercolor elements onto her pictures. “It’s just my first iteration of the mediums sharing space with each other,” she says, “the intertwining of the mediums and the intertwining of the storylines.”

These are the pieces that make up her exhibition “Intertwine,” on display in the Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery at Christian Brothers University. The images she uses are a mixture of her own candid film photographs of her family and those from her family collection that she’s manipulated — the little moments, from relatives doing hair to family gatherings in the living room with pillows on the floor. 

“It just felt great to bring life back to them,” she says of the archived photos. “They’re not on anybody’s wall. They’re just kind of tucked away. So, to give a new purpose to the image, it was great.” Most of these have been transferred onto paper using a cyanotype process and toned with black tea. “I think having practices like this really lets you sit with the work,” Fraankie says. “It’s slow work.” 

Having spent so much time with the pieces herself, the photographer hopes viewers will do the same. “I hope they physically feel themselves slow down. I’m not asking you to do anything except notice these little moments in between. I’m aware how mundane this is, but it’s like, no, like your family is worthy of existing on a wall. You have a story to tell whether you think it’s slow or not.”

As for the photographer’s family, they’re delighted to be included in the gallery show, most of them traveling from out of town to see the exhibit. “They’re excited about the journey,” Fraankie says.  

MadameFraankie: “Intertwine,” Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, Christian Brothers University, 650 East Parkway South, on display through Friday, December 13. 

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Art Art Feature

DeMarcus Suggs Is Ready to Reframe Culture

DeMarcus Suggs (Photo: Amber N. Ford)

Back in October, the city of Memphis hired its first-ever director of creative and cultural economy: DeMarcus Suggs. The arts, it seems, have taken priority in the Young administration, and Suggs, and the newly established Office of Arts and Culture where he will find his home, will lead the way. 

Suggs describes his position as one of a centralized collaborator and convener, supporting artists and cultural organizations while boosting their economic impact. It’s about making sure the city’s ecosystem — businesses, restaurants, hotels, sports, and cultural policy — complements, welcomes, and retains the arts on a citywide scale. 

“There are things we don’t always assume that are deeply connected to the arts,” Suggs says. “And so the role of this office, I think, is going to be helping to coordinate some major initiatives that can’t happen independently, but that we can coordinate and put government support behind.”

After all, not only are the arts an integral part of the “cultural fabric of Memphis”; they’re also an economic driver. “The National Endowment for the Arts produced a report that underlined that artists actually are three times as likely as any other industry to be entrepreneurs,” Suggs points out. “Memphis has a lot of really talented artists. We also have some really grit-and-grind entrepreneurs that have a vision. They have a dream, and they’re willing to build it.”

With this in mind, Suggs is ready to listen. So far, he’s been in conversation with arts organizations and philanthropists, and now he’s ready to talk to individual artists in a town hall listening event on Monday, December 9th, where wants to hear the strengths and weaknesses of Memphis. More listening events like this are to come.

“I’m an optimist that loves to have the full picture, and so I don’t ignore the challenges,” Suggs says. “I’m really excited to dig into what makes Memphis just so beautiful and amazing, in terms of our talent, in our artists, so that we can have more of that, and then really tackle the issues that make it prohibitive to experience those more of the good that we have.” 

Once a performing artist himself, a dancer, Suggs understands the life of an artist and wants to create more community and equity in that space — especially in Memphis. “I love Memphis,” says Suggs, who, outside of the month or so he’s lived here since this position, spent a yearlong stint in Memphis for another job in 2021.

“My grandmother was from here,” he adds of his fondness for the city. “She was my first dance partner.”

This first year, Suggs says, will be about “reframing culture.” “That’s really us being able to use [and collect] data [from conversations and events like the listening session],” Suggs says. “We’re going to be framing what success looks like for us as a city, moving forward.”

The City of Memphis – Artist Listening Session, Madison Tavern, Monday, December 9, 5-7 p.m.

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On the Fly: Week of 12/6/24

Fire Pit Friday
Tom Lee Park, Visionary Grove
Friday, December 6, 4:30-6:30 p.m. 
Get s’more time with the family on Fridays this December at Memphis River Parks Partnership’s Fire Pit Fridays, starting this Friday (how many times can I say Friday in one sentence?). Each week will feature a fun new twist; this week is story time and photos with Santa! Limited free s’mores will be available at the first three events, so arrive early to enjoy this treat. Guests are welcome to bring (and share) their own s’more ingredients — skewers will be provided. On Friday, December 6th, 13th, and 20th, Jasper Float & Spa brings the ultimate Dream Zone experience to the riverfront, featuring relaxing samples, sleep essentials, and a chance to win a 60-minute relaxation massage. 

Season of Delight
Crosstown Concourse
Friday, December 6, 5-8 p.m.
Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! ’Tis the Season of Delight! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! Go we now to Crosstown Concourse! Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la! That’s right, you can kick off the holiday season at Crosstown with a night of festivities at the Crosstown Concourse’s annual atrium lighting complete with live music, hot chocolate, seasonal cocktails, holiday-themed games, crafts, family photos, and more. Plus Crosstown Arts will screen A Christmas Story for free and will open its residency studios for its Open Studio event. Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la! 

Cabaret Noel 9 
TheatreWorks @ The Square
Friday, December 6, 8 p.m. | Saturday, December 7, 8 p.m. | Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m. 
Life is a cabaret, old chum, so head to the Cabaret Noel 9, presented by Emerald Theatre Company. Expect an evening of classic and modern Christmas- and winter-themed songs, hilarious slapstick humor, and the bringing together some of Memphis’ finest entertainers. Get your tickets here. 

Holiday Sip + Shop
Metal Museum
Saturday, December 7, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Last Christmas I gave you my heart, and I’m afraid I can’t top that this year. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to find something at the Metal Museum’s Holiday Sip + Shop, where there’s a curated selection of handcrafted gifts and unique treasures from talented artisans. Even if I can’t find anything, I can enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbly cava and delicious cookies while I browse. (P.S. Don’t forget about the St. Jude Marathon that might affect your driving path. You’ll be able to access the museum via the highway and Crump Blvd.)

Raised by Sound Fest
Crosstown Concourse
Saturday, December 7, 1-11 p.m.
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. And there will be lots of singing — and just plain-old sound — at the Raised by Sound Fest this Saturday. Starting at 1 p.m., you can expect a lineup of free music from Blue Tom Records (revue), fosterfalls, HeartBreak Hill Trio, Cut Worms, and Hurray for the Riff Raff (solo). Then there’s the main event — J Spaceman & John Coxon of Spiritualized doing a live score to William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton — but it’s sold out, so unless you already have tickets, you snooze, you lose, baby. There is a ticketed after-party with a DJ set by the Black Keys and performances by Lil Noid and Tommy Wright III. You can still get tix ($65.87) here.

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live On Stage
Orpheum Theatre
Saturday, December 7, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Christmas time is here. … I’m singing the song from A Charlie Brown Christmas if you can’t tell, not just making a statement. It’s also the only part of the song that I know. I usually just mumble the other lyrics. I never bothered to learn the song, or really most Christmas songs. Oh well. That’s not the point. The point is that A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live On Stage is coming to Memphis, bringing my mom’s second-favorite animated Christmas movie to the stage. Tickets ($30-$60) can be purchased here.

It’s a Bestie Silent Book Club Pajama Party!
Novel
Saturday, December 7, 2-5 p.m. 
Already tired of holiday parties? Or, at the very least, tired of adding them to your calendar? Here’s one that just might relieve your stress because all it calls for is a book and silence (you don’t even have to bring a book; you can buy one at the store if you so please). And pajamas if you’re bold enough to wear them in public. This event is free — no registration required, with complimentary hot cocoa. 

Autumn Art Party
Urevbu Contemporary
Saturday, December 7, 4-8 p.m. 
Urevbu presents this evening filled with art, music, food, drinks, and connections. This is more than an event — it’s an experience. Expect an intimate evening surrounded by inspiring art and passionate people. Dress to impress and prepare for a night of memorable connections and culture. General admission (free) and VIP tickets ($25) are available online only.

Christmas Ghosts: A Victorian Tradition
Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum
Saturday, December 7, 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum welcomes ghosts of Christmas past — just past, no future and present; this isn’t A Christmas Carol (you can see that at Theatre Memphis now through December 23rd). In 19th century England, Christmas tradition was to huddle around the fire with the family and tell tales of spirits and spooks while celebrating the holiday season. Relive that tradition this weekend with Woodruff-Fontaine’s ghost experts. Refreshments, including warm cider and hot cocoa, will be served prior to storytelling and there will be a stroll through the mansion afterward to view all of her festive grandeur and trimmings of the season. 

Stumbling Santa Holiday Pub Crawl
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
Saturday, December 7, 7-11 p.m.
You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why: Stumbling Santas are comin’ Downtown. They’re donating toys, heading to bars, spreading lots of Christmas joy at all of their stops. Join the Stumbling Santas Downtown. All you have to do is bring an unwrapped toy donation appropriate for a preschool-age child under 5 or a cash donation for Porter-Leath, and dress in your best festive attire! Planned stops include Rum Boogie Café, King’s Palace Café Tap Room, Silky O’Sullivan’s, The Absinthe Room, Blues Hall Juke Joint, Alfred’s, Courtside Grill, and Tin Roof. Those who can’t make it to the Stumbling Santa event can still donate online or by dropping off toys at Poplar Plaza (corner of Highland and Poplar) on Thursday to Saturday, December 5th to 7th; WMC Action News 5 (1960 Union) on Friday to Saturday, December 13th to 14th; or IKEA (7900 IKEA Way) on Friday to Saturday, December 20th to 21st. For more information and to view Porter-Leath’s wish list, visit here. 

Medical District Holiday Market
Memphis Made Brewing & Flyway Brewing Company (formerly High Cotton Brewing Company) 
Sunday, December 8, noon-3 p.m. 
Shop, shop, shop till you drop at this holiday market, presented by Memphis Medical District Collaborative at BOTH Flyway Brewing Company (formerly High Cotton Brewing Company) and Memphis Made Brewing Co. (For reference, the two venues are a three-or-so-minute walk from each other.) The full vendor list is here. I am far too lazy to type it all out; I hope you’re not too lazy to click on the link. But also I don’t care as long as you’re not too lazy to support local artists and businesses. 

Sippin’ with Santa Paws benefiting Streetdog Foundation 
Loflin Yard
Sunday, December 8, noon-4 p.m. 
Santa Paws has made a list and all the good boys and girls are on it. They might not all know how to sit or stay. Some of them may lick you; some may drool; some may demand constant attention. But they’re all good boys and girls. That’s just how Streetdog Foundation rolls. Your $25 donation at this event will get you a picture with Santa Paws (featuring you and your 4-legged bestie and/or your human kiddos), a Santa Paws cup, access to the free dessert table, and a wristband to enjoy drinks discounted to $5 each. Plus, there will be live music, adoptable dogs, a silent auction, and a pup costume contest. Purchase tickets at the door (cash, card, or Venmo). 

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Art Art Feature News News Blog

Arrow Creative to Close, Brooks to Absorb Programming

(Photo: Arrow Creative | Facebook)

Earlier this week, Arrow Creative announced its closure following its Holiday Bazaar, which will conclude on December 22nd. The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will absorb the majority of the nonprofit’s programming, including workshops and camps, artist coworking spaces, and retail opportunities. 

“Our goal has always been to empower creatives,” said Abby Phillips, co-founder of Arrow Creative, in a press release announcing the closure. “We know that the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is already a very strong champion for this mission.”

The launch of Memphis Fashion Week, which sought to showcase Memphis’ fashion design industry, marked the beginning of Arrow Creative in 2012. In 2017, with the closure of Memphis College of Art (MCA), Arrow expanded its reach, outside of just fashion, to support creative entrepreneurs and engage artists of all skill levels in visual arts, hoping to fill the gap created by the school’s closure. 

In that mission, this weekend, for instance, Arrow will host a Macrame & Mimosas: Tree Wall Hanging workshop ($54.13) and a Winter Watercolor Workshop ($49.87). It will also continue its Holiday Bazaar, where you can shop more than 100 local artists and makers (Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) through December 22nd, which, as aforementioned, will be its last day of business.

(Photo: Arrow Creative | Facebook)

All programming added to the Brooks’ existing framework will be recognized under Arrow Creative’s name, with the transition taking place over the coming months. Expect a schedule in early 2025 at brooksmuseum.org. 

“By integrating Arrow Creative’s innovative programming into the city’s art museum, we can provide even greater opportunities for artists and creatives of all ages to make and learn while ensuring these resources remain accessible,” said Brooks Executive Director Zoe Kahr in the press release. 

Arrow had also purchased key equipment from MCA in 2019, including tools from the woodworking, ceramics, photography, illustration, painting, fashion design, sound lab, letterpress, paper-making, and print-making departments. Those pieces will be distributed to local and regional art organizations, schools, and individual artist groups. 

“Memphis has an indelible legacy of incredible creativity and collaboration,” said DeMarcus Suggs, director of creative and cultural economy at the city of Memphis. “I am excited to see these groups come together to support our artists and the creative community.”

“The board, staff, and I are incredibly proud of our work over the last 12 years,” said Phillips. “We look forward to what the next 12 will look like under the helm of Memphis’ art museum.”

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We Recommend We Recommend

Memphis Rox Gala and Auction

Memphis Rox Gala (Photo: Courtesy Memphis Rox)

Memphis Rox boasts itself as the largest nonprofit rock climbing gym in the world — but it’s not just about rock climbing. It’s about community, and rock climbing just happens to be a part of it. 

Located in South Memphis and founded in 2018, the gym operates on a pay-what-you-can model and houses space for fitness classes outside of climbing, like yoga, karate, and swing dance. “Then there’s all of the outreach and service programs that we do,” says Jon Hawk, director of operations. “We have a very sizable unhoused population that comes out in the mornings, and we offer them coffee. And we have a free lunch program. We provide the meals every weekday. We give them clothes whenever we see that they need it, but we also have a community closet, like a sundry store.”

Rox also is home to Juice Almighty, which offers those who cannot afford a meal to “pay” by volunteering at the gym, assisting with neighborhood cleanups, or serving at another nonprofit. The gym also partners with Sister Supply to offer free menstrual products to those who need them, and it offers an after-school program for 12- to 17-year-olds. 

Because of all these efforts, the nonprofit gym has garnered international attention, with news pieces and films centered around its story. “It just made people all over the world excited,” Hawk says.  

Now as the year comes to a close, Rox is preparing for its largest fundraising event of the year — its annual gala on December 11th and online auction — and it’s asking for Memphis’ support.

“The gala is going to be food, drinks, a little bit of music, telling a few stories, just talking about we’ve been up to this year, trying to inspire people,” Hawk says. The online auction, meanwhile, has lots of items and experiences that would appeal to Memphians in particular, like Memphis Grizzlies floor seats with a locker room tour, a recording session with Matt Ross-Spang, suite tickets to Ballet Memphis’ The Nutcracker, and much more. The auction (tinyurl.com/4vc8kz88) closes on December 11th at 7:30 p.m.

If you can’t support through the gala or the auction, Hawk says, “We always accept monthly donations, which is always huge, because that’s something we can count on every month, and then we have an end-of-the-year fundraiser campaign going on right now.”

For more information about Memphis Rox, visit memphisrox.org.  

Memphis Rox Gala, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse, Wednesday, December 11, 6-9 p.m., $500/seat.