Author: Julie Ray

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Celebrate Pride with Drag N Drive at Malco Summer Drive-In

CREDIT: Facebook/Memphis Pride Fest

True story. Back in the heyday of Memphis gaydom — anyone here remember GDI on the River? — a friend organized a couples dance-off at a local disco. The winning couple had a wardrobe malfunction as they were accepting their standing ovation and awards. In front of God and everybody, a male bosom was exposed — from the Missus.

This caused a huge scandal in that the competition was supposed to be for man/woman couples only. Not that it was explicitly spelled out in the rules or anything. Turns out the Missus and Mister were really two Misters. Judges and sponsors lost their minds, and the couple was disqualified. That’s a big old “boo to you” for the Memphis mindset at the time regarding gay rights.

Facebook/Memphis Pride Fest

Memphis Pride Fest

What happened next only happens in John Waters’ movies — and Memphis in the early ’80s. The winning gal came back to the disco in full drag with a peashooter. Her chauffeur did donuts in the parking lot while she shot rounds in the air from the convertible’s boot, yelling a litany of expletives.

My friend, who shall remain anonymous to protect the guilty, said, “It was the most horrific, surreal, and hysterical thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It was great.”

You’ve come a long way, baby. These days, Memphis celebrates all kinds of diversity. Memphis Pride will kick off with a Drag N Drive double-feature. Join Memphis Pride at Malco’s Summer Drive-In. You’ll get a fantastic drag show sandwiched between screenings of Birdcage and Milk.

Wardrobe malfunctions encouraged.

Drag N Drive, Malco Summer Drive In, 5310 Summer, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 7 p.m., midsouthpride.com, $25 per carload.

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NCRM Hosts Webinar on Dismantling Racism

CREDIT: Courtesy of National Civil Rights Museum

The National Civil Rights Museum is hosting a webinar featuring Diane J. Goodman, Ed.D., educator, trainer, and consultant on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice issues.

Recently on The Dr. Pat Show, a talk radio program, Goodman spoke with guest host Dr. Mariangela Maguire discussing “The Challenges & Benefits committing to Equity & Inclusion.”

Goodman stated about current times, “It is hard for anyone to be watching the news and not to have a response. How do we not focus on the violence?”

Courtesy of National Civil Rights Museum

Diane J. Goodman

Of course, for members of different communities, watching the unrest in the news can create different responses. Goodman prefers to focus on the hopefulness of what society is trying to express, acknowledging that we have laws and remedies that didn’t exist before and people of color in power who haven’t been in power before.

Discussions of racism generally focus on the systemic disadvantages and harm to Black, indigenous, and people of color. The other side of the dynamic is how white people are systematically advantaged or privileged. Through historical and contemporary examples, Goodman will explain what white privilege is, how it operates, ways it is experienced in everyday life, and how it can be used to create more racial justice. This webinar particularly invites white people to examine white privilege in order to more effectively engage in dismantling racism.

“Understanding White Privilege: A Key to Dismantling Systemic Racism,” Wednesday, Sept. 16, 3-4 p.m.
civilrightsmuseum.org, free with registration.

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Exploring Art: Clough-Hanson Gallery Hosts Webinar Series

CREDIT: Courtesy of Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College

Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College is hosting a new series of webinar lectures, “Closer Than We Appear: Art and Sharing Space in a Time of Social Distance.” This series will look to art and artists to help us think in new ways about sharing space in communities large and small, distant and close.

First in the series is a look at the ways that Native artists have engaged with these issues for generations. Historian and co-founder of Native Rites, Amanda Lee Savage, will talk remotely about art and anticolonialism in the context of the exhibition “Native Voices, 1950s to Now: Art for a New Understanding,” on view through September 26th at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Courtesy of Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College

Amanda Lee Savage will discuss anticolonialism and art — remotely.

The origin story for the United States requires remembering and unremembering during a contentious time in our history, says Savage. “This selective remembering and forgetting of indigenous people is critical to how the United States imagined itself in the 19th century.”

Savage challenges that origin story. To hear her lecture, a link to this webinar will be emailed to registrants prior to the event and posted on the Clough-Hanson Gallery Facebook page.

In October, the conversation will continue with Cannupa Hanska Luger, whose Mirror Shield Project is on view in the “Native Voices” exhibition and has been used in resistance movements across the country, including Water Protectors in Standing Rock.

More details will be announced soon. Be sure to check the gallery’s Facebook page for the most up-to-date information, or email parsonsj@rhodes.edu.

Thursday, September 3, 6 p.m., rhodes.edu/gallery, Visit the Clough-Hanson Facebook page for more information and registration, Free.

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Southern Reins’ Jockeys & Juleps Fundraiser Goes Virtual

CREDIT: Facebook/Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy

The Kentucky Derby was rescheduled from May 2nd to September 5th. The annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party benefiting Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy has followed the lead with a virtual celebration.

Derby enthusiasts have come to expect big hats and minty bourbon drinks from Southern Reins’ annual premier fundraiser. This year, the organization was inspired by the people they serve at the center who face much greater challenges. Southern Reins approached obstacles head-on and explored them as opportunities that can kindle amazing achievement.

Facebook/Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy

The Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy adapts the Jockeys & Juleps fundraiser to fit a unique time.

The result is an online silent and live auction, as well as a wine and bourbon pull. There is also an opportunity to purchase a Watch Party Package for the Kentucky Derby, which will provide a celebration box to enjoy for the running of the last two races of the Triple Crown from the comfort of home.

The Southern Reins Center started in 2015, and Sara Beth Raab, the center’s development and communications manager, is able to track the growth. “We started with 12 participants, have grown to 250 participants, and trained 836 volunteers.”

Thanks to generous sponsors, this event normally raises over half the funding for the center to help people with disabilities and hardships. The goal for this year is to raise $250,000, which will directly fund the essential services that center participants look forward to and benefit greatly from with each visit to the Collierville center or Lynch Farms in DeSoto County.

Jockeys & Juleps, Saturday, September 5, 3-7 p.m., southernreins.org, $100.

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Ostrander Theatre Awards Go Virtual

CREDIT: Courtesy of Playhouse on the Square

Here we are at the usual time, all dressed up and ready to celebrate theater with the coveted Ostrander Awards. Yet this year, we’ll be celebrating at home — together.

Elizabeth Perkins, Memphis Ostrander Theatre Awards program director, says that she hopes theater enthusiasts and nominees will get dressed up with her to celebrate the winners. Though, she says, a few things will change with the switch to a virtual format.

“We won’t be selling tickets but asking for donations to cover expenses,” says Perkins. “Any funds raised over expenses will be donated back to the participating theaters as they sit out the rest of this intermission.”

Courtesy of Playhouse on the Square

Playhouse on the Square’s Book of Will among nominees

While the shortened theater season offered a little more than half the usual performances for the judges to consider, the show must go on. No one understands that more than Ann Marie Hall, who will be awarded the Eugart Yerian award for lifetime achievement honoring her many years of artistic contribution to the Memphis theater community.

All nominees in every category were announced on YouTube in July. Book of Will (Playhouse on the Square), Detroit 67 (Hattiloo Theatre), Eclipsed (Hattiloo Theatre), and Indecent (Circuit Playhouse) made the cut for Best Production of a Drama.

The nominees for Best Production in the collegiate division are A Raisin in the Sun (Southwest Tennessee Community College), Hissifit (McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College), and Inherit the Wind (University of Memphis).

Did your favorites get nominated? Join in virtually on Sunday to find out and celebrate excellence in collegiate, community, and professional theater in the Memphis area.

Sunday, August 30, 7 p.m., memphisostranders.com, join the award ceremony on the Ostrander Awards Facebook page and YouTube channel, donation-based.

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Celebrate 901 Day Virtually Via Exposure

CREDIT: Memphis River Parks/Facebook

Turn your love of Memphis into action on 901 Day, otherwise known as September 1st. New Memphis will host Exposure, a free celebration of all things Memphis.

The annual event offers opportunities to get involved and give back. This year, it’s virtual. Go online and meet 75+ local organizations and businesses. Commit to volunteering, joining a team, getting involved, and celebrating your city — from a proper social distance.

Memphis River Parks/Facebook

This year, 901 Day is going virtual, Tuesday, September 1, 4-7 p.m.

You’ll find Memphis magic around every virtual corner. Listen to live performances, watch live art demonstrations, and ask a panel of Memphis experts anything you want to know about the city. Post what you love about the 901 and tag your favorite organization to enter to win $500 for you and $500 to be donated to that organization.

“I love the 901,” says Cynthia Daniels, chief event strategist of Cynthia Daniel & Co. “My absolute favorite thing to do is to go and try the newest local restaurants in the city. We have the most amazing food here and the friendliest people.”

Visit the Exposure 901 website to learn more, register, and attend. And don’t forget to post some of your own amazing experiences in Memphis.

Tuesday, September 1, 4-7 p.m., exposurememphis.com, Visit the website to participate and learn more about the organizations and businesses that make up the 901.

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“Heed” at David Lusk Gallery Features Four Artists Grappling with Current Events

CREDIT: Courtesy of David Lusk Gallery

Four artists grapple with a particular issue facing humanity and our planet. In their careers — through study and persistence — they have developed pertinent and compelling art. The public is invited to experience how the artists think, work, and create.

Maysey Craddock’s work was highlighted the first week in August. Her work focuses on the diminishing wildernesses of Southern wetlands that change and shift with the tides. Selected works on paper reference the natural environment of the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Abstract drawings are rendered and transferred onto sewn-together fragments of found paper bags, mirroring the natural and geological processes. Twenty-five percent of all proceeds sold from this exhibition will go to the Southern Environmental Law Center (southernenvironment.org).

Courtesy of David Lusk Gallery

Work by Ashley Doggett

Ashley Doggett, highlighted in week two, considers her work as not only imagery but also history and education. Her pieces within “Heed” pay homage and speak to current events as the world confronts systemic racism and injustice. “Brutality against our bodies and its social politics can no longer stand in the same court in which they once had,” says Doggett. “We are fighting together and with allies to take a stance against social inequality.” Twenty-five percent of all proceeds sold from this exhibition will go to the NAACP (naacp.org).

Leslie Holt’s current work for week three of the exhibition explores the often-private states of extreme emotion caused by war, loss, or mental illness. In 2013, Holt shifted from paint to mixed-media work after discovering a deep connection to the meditative process of stitching. Her process includes staining raw canvas and stitching imagery on top with embroidery thread. This project has personal roots in her own experience with major depression as well as her mother’s battle with bipolar disorder. Twenty-five percent of proceeds sold from this exhibition will go to NAMI (namimd.org).

Rob Matthews will close the exhibition in week four with his hopeful, dreamlike Madonna paintings formally rooted in abstracting a single Byzantine Madonna icon panel. His work for “Heed” is connected to a lot of work previously made in relation to political events of the Middle East over the past 10 years. Twenty-five percent of proceeds sold from this exhibition will go to Water Is Basic (waterisbasic.org).

davidluskgallery.com, visit the gallery website, Instagram, or Facebook page to view work and artist interviews through August, free.

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Humane Society Hosts Paw Prints House PAWty Fundraiser August 22nd

CREDIT: Photo by Flickr user Alan Levine

Photo by Flickr user Alan Levine

The annual Paw Prints fundraiser for Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County (HSMSC) is putting a spin on the gala this year. You can sit, stay, and fetch dinner from home on August 22nd while you support lifesaving services at the Humane Society with the help of three local restaurants, Pete & Sam’s, Restaurant Iris, and Ecco.

This House PAWty is just like ordering takeout. Simply navigate to the order page, select the restaurant and menu of your choice, and order for the number of two-legged creatures in your household. Pick up or receive your food on the night of the event to enjoy with the people in your home. It’s your PAWty. You can do what you want. Hold a family game night, watch a movie, set up a formal dinner, or picnic in the backyard with lawn games.

Food options range from $50-$125 per person, with delivery included for Ecco and Restaurant Iris. Pete & Sam’s can be picked up from their Park Avenue location. Each restaurant is paid for the food and the rest goes to the Humane Society.

“Paw Prints House PAWty is a great way to put our paw print on the Memphis community by supporting local restaurants and the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County at the same time,” says HSMSC director of philanthropy Katherine Russell.

Besides great food from all the restaurants, Restaurant Iris has a vegetarian option and a Strawberry Lemonade Cocktail Kit (sans the alcohol) that is complementary with your meal choice.

Another PAWty perk is the Barks for Bling component. Raffle tickets will be available to purchase for a chance to “shop the case” of selected baubles from Mednikow Jewelers. Items range in value from $575 to $695. Visit mednikow.com to browse.

If you can’t participate but want to support, you can give the gift of a House PAWty pack to a local friend or you can make a donation to the Humane Society outright.

Saturday, August 22nd, memphishumane.org, visit the Humane Society website or Facebook page for full details, $50-$125 per person.

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Levitt Shell Offers Health and Wellness Series

The historic Levitt Shell has joined forces with Baptist Memorial Health Care to provide a health and wellness series. The online programming features yoga, Pilates, mental fitness, healthy recipes, and more offerings geared toward wellness, prevention, and community health.

While the partnership might seem unlikely at first glance, Levitt Shell executive director Natalie Wilson says the series fits perfectly with the organization’s mission to build community through music and education.

“We believe that as a public gathering space, we have an ethical responsibility to the health of our community, especially during a global pandemic,” says Wilson.

Sumits Yoga partners for health series

Ann Marie Wallace, senior community outreach coordinator for Baptist Memorial Health Care mirrors Wilson’s sentiments: “We are excited to partner with Levitt Shell on this free interactive health and wellness program for our community. Being able to stay active is more important than ever during this global pandemic.”

The healthy living programming is streamed through Facebook Live and other platforms to support ways to make a healthy lifestyle accessible for all. According to Wallace, the virtual aspect “can help reduce barriers to healthy living.”

The unique programming is suitable for the entire family and features other partners, including Sumits Yoga, Art of Living Foundation, and Edible Memphis. Times will vary. The full schedule can be found on the Levitt Shell website and Facebook page. This week’s programming will feature Morning Yoga and Pilates, in partnership with Sumits Yoga, on Saturday and Food Science 4 Kids, in partnership with Edible Memphis.

If you are interested in sponsoring an upcoming class or have another idea for programming, please contact Lauren Veline via email at lauren@levittshell.org.

levittshell.org, Visit the Levitt Shell website or Facebook page, full schedule offered every Saturday and Sunday through August, Free.

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Elvis Week 2020 Kicks Off August 8th

CREDIT: Facebook/Graceland

Elvis Week 2020 is the 43rd year fans will be rockin’ and rollin’ with the King — and this year’s festivities offer the first virtual option.

The gates to Graceland reopened in May, and it seemed Elvis Week would be like every other year. As the Graceland family re-evaluated the health crisis, plans were made to significantly modify Elvis Week by eliminating any potential high-risk activity, including live performances, live appearances, group parties or meals, autograph signings, and meet and greets.

“We are helping Memphis and Tennessee to get back to some sense of normality,” stated Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Graceland Holdings. “We’re doing this in a safe manner and in the best interest for our community, our employees, and our guests. Together, we will succeed.”

Facebook/Graceland

The modified schedule and virtual option will allow fans to participate in Elvis Week and celebrate the life and legacy of Elvis Presley in the way that feels right for them. Fans planning to attend will enjoy a series of daily screening events between August 8th and 16th that fully comply with recommended government protocols. The Candlelight Vigil on August 15th will be more limited than in past years and will require free advanced reservations, but the longstanding tradition will carry on with a socially distanced fan procession to the Meditation Garden.

Virtual passes are $39 and will include content in a closed Facebook group through the end of August. Fans planning to attend in person can purchase a $50 day pass that will include an Elvis Experience Tour with a mansion tour after 2 p.m., plus all-day access to Elvis Presley’s Memphis and a tour of Elvis’ airplanes. Access to two Elvis Week screenings scheduled for that day and priority access to Candlelight Vigil reservations will also be available.

Graceland, 3717 Elvis Presley, graceland.com, Visit the website for a schedule of events offered for both live and virtual options, August 8-16.