So, I go on vacation for two weeks and Memphis lands a deal with Elon Musk — “the world’s richest man” — to build the largest supercomputer in the world in the former Electrolux plant. What?
From a BnB in upstate New York last week, I read a well-reported (if slightly breathless) story in the Daily Memphian, wherein reporter Sophia Surrett told the behind-the-scenes chronicle of how the Greater Memphis Chamber, led by CEO Ted Townsend, managed to convince Musk to bring his multi-billion-dollar project to the Bluff City. Selling points included our city’s ample water supply, cheap land costs, and the chamber’s willingness to work fast. Memphis was pitched in a zoom meeting with Musk and his associates in March, while Townsend was in Austin for SXSW. Musk apparently liked what he heard and over the next three months, the deal was consummated.
If things go according to plan, the former Electrolux facility will soon house a tech startup called xAI and will, according to an unnamed source in the Daily Memphian story, create “less than 200 jobs.” It will use approximately 1 million gallons of water per day, about 1 percent of the city’s current daily use. In addition, xAI will need up to 150 megawatts of electricity to run the facility — enough energy to power 100,000 homes.
Local environmental groups, including Protect Our Aquifer, issued a cautionary statement: “Before we welcome xAI with open arms, we must consider how an industry using such a tremendous amount of electricity will further impact communities already overwhelmed with pollution and a high energy burden, such as those around the xAI facility in Southwest Memphis. … Will xAI bear the cost of TVA’s fuel adjustment fee in times of high energy demand? … With our recent history of severe weather events and rolling blackouts, TVA and Memphis Light, Gas & Water must work closely with this facility to keep energy use off peak-demand hours. … During times of emergency, our utility providers must have a plan to ensure that residents receive the power and water they need ahead of corporate demand.”
Good points, all. There is some talk that xAI will get involved in building a system that will use wastewater or river water to handle its cooling needs, but it’s just talk at this point. However it goes, this appears to be a big deal. And Musk is a big deal, a guy who sends Space X rockets and Starlink satellites into space, builds futuristic Tesla cars (and goofy trucks), and owns X (formerly Twitter), the world’s largest news and social-messaging platform.
But that raises — or should — another concern: Musk, who says that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, has configured X’s algorithm to ensure that his voice is the most prominent on the platform, meaning he has 187 million followers who can see his posts. He is a mega-influencer.
He’s also an anti-vaxxer who recently posted a photo of Dr. Anthony Fauci under the caption: “You’re all beagles to me. Crimes Against Humanity.” Additionally, Musk is anti-trans, anti-DEI, pro-Trump, pro-Tucker Carlson, anti-Ukraine, pro-Russia, and has retweeted the “scientific” graphs of @eyeslasho, which claim to prove that “Black people in the US are overwhelmingly more criminally violent than whites.” Not a great look for a CEO looking to set up in a majority Black city. Musk has also retweeted some blatantly anti-semitic X posts. A real peach, this guy.
To put this in some sort of context, however strained, there is little doubt that other business and corporate leaders — in Memphis and elsewhere — share some of Musk’s beliefs and politics. The general attitude of those looking to expand their city’s economic base, i.e. political leaders and business types like those in the Greater Chamber, is to downplay (or ignore) such things as long as the greater good — jobs, investment, and a bump for the city’s reputation — is achieved. CEOs gonna CEO, the thinking goes.
By that measure, it appears that Memphis has landed a big fish, one that will maybe bring a few more fish in its wake and provide more good-paying jobs than the 200 initially surmised. But the bottom line on the xAI deal is yet to be determined. And how — or if — this transaction will benefit the Memphis economy or the average Memphian is unknown. Musk is a wild card, given to mercurial, offensive, and impulsive moves. Call him the X factor.
Daniel Parker, Jonathan White, Justin White, and Victoria Johnson (Photos: Michael Donhue)
Strangewaze Wednesdaze was held each Wednesday in May. But the final one was held June 5th because it was the rain date for the May 8th event. “There was a chance for tornadoes,” says event co-founder Emily Todd. “And, of course, that didn’t happen.”
Alex Turley and Jamie Harmonharnae Lee and Hasani MadlockZach El-Oglah and Magda Sakaan
Attendance reached 725. Guests dined on free food, listened to music from Yesse Yavis and Tennessee Screamers, and sipped Memphis Made Brewing Company’s Srangewaze pale ale.
Emily and her dad, Mike Todd, began the event, originally known as “Hump Day Happy Hour,” in 2021 as a way to revitalize The Edge and Medical District. “The Edge had a lot of development momentum and interest in the neighborhood prior to Covid. When Covid hit, it slowed down a lot of that momentum.”
Emily ToddMorgan Erdman and Chris Liberto
May events are geared toward people with money, Emily says. “Nothing is really accessible that is free and fun for the majority of residents of Memphis to do. We wanted an equitable, fun, community-activated experience. And we wanted to continue to grow in The Edge and the Medical District because of all the important growth that is happening there.”
Annabeth Parker and Kelly English (Photos: Michael Donahue)
This year’s Le Bon Appetit fundraiser was better than “bon.” It was “fabuleuse.”
More than 1,000 people attended the sold out Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital fundraiser, which was held June 8th at The Kent. About 33 chefs participated in the event, which featured tastings from local and out-of-town restaurants.
IMAKEMADBEATSLiz Nguyễn and Michael GulottaSarah Cai and Arturo Leighton
“The year was fantastic,” says Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital president Dr. Trey Eubanks. “I’ve been to most of these — I may have missed one year — and this was the best one yet.”
Chef Kelly English, whose restaurants include Restaurant Iris, and Le Bonheur Club hosted the event, which included a new addition, “Le Bon Appetit Late Night,” hosted by English and chef Phillip Dewayne of Park & Cherry.
Rebecca and Jason SeversVictoria and Gene Robinson
Music was by members of Unapologetic and Frances Berry Moreno.
English, a founder of the event, has “just been fabulous. And he’s always tweaking and thinking about what we need to do next time.”
Co-chair Phillip Dewayne “was also incredible in putting his spin on new changes,” Eubanks says, adding “to keep it new and fresh and fun.”
Summer solstice sunrise over Stonehenge (Photo: Andrew Dunn | Creative Commons | Wikimedia)
June 20th is the official start of summer, with the summer solstice happening at 3:50 p.m. that day. This solstice marks the longest day of the year — when the number of hours of daylight are at their maximum, and the number of hours of night are at their minimum.
The movement of celestial bodies has fascinated humans for millennia. Ancient cultures knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments, such as the ones at Stonehenge in England and at Machu Picchu in Peru, to follow the sun’s yearly progress. Newgrange in Ireland was constructed to align with the winter solstice and Angkor Wat in Cambodia aligns with the sun on the spring equinox.
Many ancient cultures created holy days and festivals to mark the movement of the heavens. Our ancient ancestors often celebrated the solstices and equinoxes, honored them as holy days, and set them aside for religious observances.
Today, we know the solstice is caused by Earth’s tilted axis and by its orbital motion around the sun. The Earth doesn’t orbit upright with respect to the plane of our orbit around the sun. Instead, our world is tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees. Through the year, this tilt causes Earth’s Northern and Southern hemispheres to trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly. It’s Earth’s tilt — not our distance from the sun — that causes winter and summer. In fact, our planet is closest to the sun in January and farthest from the sun in July, during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer.
But does understanding the science and reason behind the summer solstice (or any solstice or equinox) take away from the awe or reverence we have for these sacred times? For some people it may. Knowing the mechanics behind a phenomenon might make that occurrence less mystical for people. It may no longer seem special just because we understand what is happening and why.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. There can be something powerful in taking part in the same celebrations that our ancestors took part in. It doesn’t mean we are doing the same things our ancestors may have done to honor the solstice. But just continuing the practice of recognizing the day, or the moment, helps create a tradition that will continue to live and evolve through you and after you.
It’s the 21st century. We know that the Earth rotates around the sun in our solar system. And our solar system is just one of millions in our galaxy of the Milky Way. But does this knowledge make phenomena such as the summer solstice any less magical? Not to me. In fact, sometimes it makes it more magical.
Regardless of your spiritual beliefs or tradition, it is possible to the look at this intricate system that is our world and be amazed. Whether you believe a higher power created it or the Earth and humans are an accident of science and evolution, it is still amazing how well-balanced and special our world is. And it is just a fragment of dust in comparison to what’s out there beyond the stars. How is that not awe-inspiring?
In spiritual traditions, the summer solstice is often referred to as Midsummer. Although it is officially the start of summer, for most of us summer began months ago. It is starting to get hot, the kids only have a couple of months left before school starts back for the fall, and we’re likely looking forward to cooler weather. But the summer solstice is also the end of the light half of the year. Since the previous winter solstice, the days have been getting longer and the nights shorter. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year but going forward now, the sun will set a little earlier each night. From the summer solstice until the winter solstice, we are in the dark half of the year. Enjoy your summer with intention.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
A young Jedi, accompanied by his master, a middle-aged version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, asked the family seated in front of us for their row number. A moment or two later, the same young Jedi and his master, aka his father, settled in next to us, both smiling and satisfied to have found their place in the galaxy, or at least their reserved seats inside the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
Moments later, Darth Vader sat down directly behind Obi-Wan, causing a slight disturbance in the Force. The Vader look-a-like, sans that iconic black helmet, situated himself and then briefly looked at his phone. Vader’s sweaty blonde locks were partially stuck to the side of his head. Besieged by photo requests, a helmeted Lord Vader had been a good sport — even in his heavy dark getup — taking numerous pictures with fans and foes alike downstairs in the center’s lobby.
Now, I smiled and said to Vicki, “I thought we were going to the symphony, not a Star Wars convention.”
On May 4, 2024, a Star Wars convention, of sorts, took place at the Cannon Center as the Memphis Symphony Orchestra performed the music from the Star Wars movies and its current franchises. Children and adults donned masks, capes, and uniforms — with some wielding faux light sabers — to recreate their favorite Star Wars characters. May 4th has become synonymous with the famous quote, “May the force be with you,” and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, or MSO, made the most of the day’s festivities, kicked off with dramatic narration by Jeremy Orosz of the University of Memphis, which set the mood and tone for each piece, and ending with a costume contest won by a carpeted Jabba the Hutt.
The fact that I used the somewhat cliched phrase “going to the symphony” also made me smile. May 4th was my third MSO performance this spring and the fourth by Vicki, my better half. Emily, our daughter, loves classical music and has been a regular attendee of MSO concerts and events for the past several years.
In our household, going to the symphony has now become the norm, and for me, at least, a surprisingly refreshing experience. I’m a music lover at heart who appreciates just about any form of music out there. While I have my preferences, I have always enjoyed listening to musicians talk about their music, and, especially, how they learned from musical pioneers and innovators, regardless of genre. I know enough about classical music to know the names of those famous composers of old and to occasionally recognize famous pieces, but I certainly couldn’t tell you the difference — from simply listening to their music — between Bach and Beethoven, let alone the difference between a sonata versus a concerto or a movement.
Don’t let the MSO know, but I’m a rock-and-roll guy at heart.
My first performance during this past season was in February (for Emily’s birthday) at the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center on the University of Memphis campus. The orchestra performed Claude Debussy’s La Mer, along with Stravinsky’s The Firebird. I had not attended a classical music performance in a very long time, and it was my first time in the Scheidt Center, which is a beautiful facility. Watching the orchestra members play in unison, working together to create mesmerizing tones and precise elements was mind-boggling to an amateur like me. Even from Scheidt’s upper balcony, I could sense the orchestra member’s passion and feel the devotion to their craft in every note and movement.
The MSO was quickly capturing my heart.
Next up was something a little more in my wheelhouse, songs from Pink Floyd’s TheDark Side of the Moon along with Gustav Holst’s The Planets. As a teenager, I wore out my LP of Dark Side of the Moon, so the orchestra’s suite dedicated to one of rock’s most legendary albums brought a flood of fond memories. Once again, I was captivated by the orchestra’s love of playing, the imagination and innovation involved in performing such well-known numbers, and the fun the MSO had in doing so.
Two months later, fun took center stage as the Memphis Symphony Orchestra closed their Star Wars tribute with a rousing rendition of composer John Williams’ epic theme music, simply called “Main Title,” complete with conductor Robert Moody employing a glowing purple light saber as a baton.
Following the crowd’s standing ovation, this 1970s rock-and-roll guy was all in — ready for the MSO’s next season … Rachmaninoff … Handel’s Messiah … MSO’s Big Band at The Grove at GPAC … Amadeus … West Side Story. And in late February of 2025, a true rock star comes to the Cannon Center: Yo-Yo Ma.
Incredible!
Yeah, I’m with the band … I mean the orchestra.
Ken Billett is a freelance writer and short-story fiction author. He and his wife, Vicki, have called Memphis home for nearly 35 years. When not listening to blues music, Ken reads spy novels and tends to his flowers.
As we walked out of Inside Out 2, my wife turned to me and said, “They really nailed anxiety!”
The first Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter in 2015, is one of the crown jewels of American animation. It’s also one of the few films for kids (or anyone, really) that is explicitly about mental health. The premise, which it shares with the now-forgotten ’80s sitcom Herman’s Head, is that inside everyone is a committee of personified emotions whose deliberations and disputes determine behavior. Riley, voiced by Kaitlyn Dias, is an 11-year-old girl from Minnesota whose world is upended when her family moves to San Francisco. On the outside, she tries to put on a brave face. But on the inside, her young emotions are in turmoil. Joy (Amy Poehler) is the leader of the emotions, but when she and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) are thrown from Riley’s cerebral control room, Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) take over, and Riley tries to run away from home and return to Minnesota. Only when Joy and Sadness fight their way back to the control room, thus restoring emotional balance, can Riley come to terms with her new life.
Inside Out 2 picks up a couple of years later. Riley (now voiced by Kensington Tallman) is 13 years old, and despite her fears that no one plays hockey in San Francisco, she’s on a team with her two besties Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green). Next year, they’ll be headed for high school, where they want to skate for the Firehawks, the varsity hockey team led by star player Val (Lilimar). After a big win, the friends get invited to a summer skills camp run by the Firehawks’ hardass Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown). It’s Riley’s chance to prove she’s good enough to make the team, and she’s initially excited.
But the night before the camp starts, things start to spin out of control in her emotional world. The Puberty Alarm starts flashing on Riley’s control panel, and Minion-like Mind Workers bust in to start demolishing the place. “Pardon our dust! Puberty is messy!”
The workers are expanding to make space for a new set of emotions, courtesy of puberty: Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Nostalgia (June Squibb), and Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Also, Riley has acne now, just in time to meet the gaggle of older girls who rule the Firehawks roost.
After years of maintaining emotional equilibrium and cultivating a strong sense of self for Riley with only five emotions, Joy is thrown for loop when she tries to manage the newcomers. Anxiety is especially troublesome. After an early blunder by Joy leads to Riley getting yelled at by the coach, Anxiety takes over. Joy only reacts, but Anxiety is a planner, which seems like a prudent thing as Riley tries to navigate a fraught new social situation. Plus, Joy has been maintaining the status quo by putting all of Riley’s negative memories way in the back of the mind, where they are conveniently out of sight, but never dealt with. The fact that processing these bad memories will strengthen Riley’s sense of self never occurs to Joy, who only focuses on the positive. Soon, Anxiety banishes Joy’s hard-won sense of self to the same oblivion as Riley’s suppressed memories, and our young hero starts alienating her friends and trying on a new, fake identity she thinks will get her an in with the popular girls, and a spot on the team.
Anxiety is the breakout star of Inside Out 2, for good reason. We are living in an age of anxiety, brought on by the deteriorating climate, the specter of Trumpian fascism, pandemic malaise, addictive social media algos, and wars simmering in the background. Is it any wonder the kids are nervous all the time?
Kelsey Mann, who took over when Pete Docter was promoted to Pixar’s chief creative officer, puts his focus on Anxiety, and how it works to monopolize the imagination and blind you to the complexities of reality, all in a brisk 98 minutes. When Riley has a panic attack during the big game, the experience is downright harrowing for anyone who has been there themselves. Riley ultimately makes it through it all with a sense of self that is stronger because it is more complex. The kids (and the adults) who pay attention to the message behind the visual fireworks will come away with an easily understood example of how to process the confusing emotions of teen-dom. I wish I had Inside Out when I was young.
Elaine de Kooning, Black Mountain #6 (Photo: Courtesy Dixon Gallery & Gardens)
Memphis, it’s summer. Officially. June 20th marks the start of the season. So that means it’s time for the Flyer’s Summer Arts Guide, and never one to disappoint, the Flyer has it ready, not a moment too soon, and not a moment too late.
ON DISPLAY
“Memphis 2024”
Memphis 2024 celebrates artists working in Memphis today through more than 50 works.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through June 30
“It’s All Relative”
Morgan Lugo’s metal work examines how our unique perspectives shape our experiences.
Metal Museum, through July 7
“Progression”
Sowgand Sheikholeslami’s colorful paintings exist outside of realism.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through July 7
The WE Art Gallery
This year’s annual exhibit at the Woman’s Exchange features new works by established local and regional artists and a number of talented newcomers.
Woman’s Exchange, through July 31
“People Are People”
This exhibit honors famed American designer Christian Siriano’s electrifying contributions to fashion.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through August 4
“Branching Out”
Discover intricate connections between students, teachers, and casting communities, which branch out much like a family tree.
Metal Museum, through September 8
“Summer Art Garden: Creatures of Paradise”
Monstrous bugs and tiny Thumbelinas relax in a fantasy landscape in Banana Plastik’s installation.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through October 26
“Bracelets, Bangles & Cuffs: 1948–2024”
This collection of contemporary bracelets reveals the wide-ranging creativity of artists working in this jewelry form.
Metal Museum, through November 17
“2023 Wilson Fellowship: Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey”
The Dixon has partnered with the town of Wilson, Arkansas, to help bring cultural activity to the Arkansas Delta through an artist residency program. This exhibit features work by the inaugural cohort of Wilson Fellows, Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 14-September 29
“Health in Enamel”
Themes of health, healing, and spirituality crystallize with a survey of current enamel holdings in the Metal Museum’s permanent collection and a community-based quilt project.
Metal Museum, July 14-September 29
“Southern/Modern: 1913-1955”
This exhibit tells the tale of progressive visual art in the American South.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 14-September 29
“Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper”
This exhibit explores the shape-shifting quality of paper.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, September-December
“Roll Down Like Water”
Memphis-based Peruvian-American photographer Andrea Morales’ portrayal of the Delta South is deeply rooted in the communities she engages with.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, September-January
ON STAGE
Catch Me If You Can
This musical tells the thrilling adventure of a con artist who poses as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer, all while being pursued by the FBI.
Playhouse on the Square, through July 14
Josh Threlkeld at The Grove (Photo: Justin Fox Burks)
Concerts in the Grove
Enjoy music, food trucks, and corn hole. Scheduled to perform are Cyrena Wages (June 20), Alice Hasen and Josh Threlkeld (June 27), and MSO Big Band (September 19).
Germantown Performing Arts Center, select Thursdays
Orion Free Concert Series
The Orion Free Concert Series welcomes local, national, and international acts. Find the full lineup at overtonparkshell.org/freeconcertseries. Opera Memphis will give a special Opera Goes to Broadway performance on September 29, and Tennessee Shakespeare Company will perform a special production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors on October 20.
Overton Park Shell, select dates
Happy Hour in the Grove
Enjoy a free concert, drink specials, deals on local beer, and $5 wine. Scheduled to perform are Short in the Sleeve (June 21), Soulshine (June 28), Bedon (July 12), Alexis Jade and D Monet (July 19), and rising talent from the Circuit Music Seen (July 26).
Germantown Performing Arts Center, Fridays through July
Cinderella
The iconic saga of rags to romance comes to life in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway classic.
Theatre Memphis, through June 30
9 to 5: the Musical
Collierville Arts Council presents this fun musical, based on the titular film, with music by Dolly Parton.
Harrell Theatre, June 21-30
Come From Away
Residents of small town in Newfoundland open their homes to 7,000 stranded travelers on 9/11.
Orpheum Theatre, June 21-23
Coco Queens
Four women confront the deep and often painful challenges of love, forgiveness, and Black womanhood.
TheatreWorks@TheSquare, July 12-28
MAMMA MIA!
The characters, the story, and the timeless hits of ABBA are what make this the ultimate feel-good show.
Orpheum Theatre, July 23-28
Carmen Jones
Hattiloo Theatre puts on this World War II-era musical about a love that turns deadly.
Hattiloo Theatre, July 26-August 18
Coconut Cake
A woman moves to town and tempts Eddie and his retiree buddies with her mysterious ways.
Hattiloo Theatre, August 9-September 8
Bill Cherry … The Final Curtain
World-renowned Elvis Tribute Artist Bill Cherry returns to the Halloran Centre with special guest Ginger Alden.
Halloran Centre, August 14
Grease
Grease is the word in this iconic musical.
Theatre Memphis, August 16-September 8
Ride the Cyclone
Six high-school choir members have died on a faulty rollercoaster. A mechanical fortune teller offers one of them the chance to return to life.
Germantown Community Theatre, August 16-September 1
Waitress
Jenna, a skilled pie maker and waitress, is trapped in a loveless marriage with an unexpected pregnancy, but finds hope in a baking contest.
Playhouse on the Square, August 16-September 15
PJ Morton
The five-time Grammy-winning soul singer, songwriter, performer, producer, and Maroon 5’s full-time keyboardist for the past 12-plus years comes to Memphis.
Orpheum Theatre, August 18
Jazz in the Box: Alexa Tarantino Quartet
Get up close and personal with live jazz, including performances by the Alexa Tarantino Quartet on September 6 and Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman on September 27.
Germantown Performing Arts Center, September 6 and 27, 7 p.m.
Memphis Songwriters Series: Victoria Dowdy, JB Horrell, and Raneem Imam
Hear from three of Memphis’ own seasoned musicians.
Halloran Centre, September 12
Southern Heritage Classic Presents Patti Labelle
The Godmother of Soul brings her effortless ability to belt out classic rhythm and blues renditions, pop standards, and spiritual sonnets.
Orpheum Theatre, September 12
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Theatre Memphis puts on one of the Bard’s most popular comedies.
Theatre Memphis, September 13-29
Little Shop of Horrors
This deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical has devoured the hearts of theater-goers for over 30 years.
Harrell Theatre, September 13-22
What the Constitution Means to Me
Playwright Heidi Schreck skillfully breathes new life into the Constitution through her innovative play.
Playhouse on the Square, September 13-October 6
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Copland’s Third Symphony
Memphis Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 2024-2025 season with this performance.
Cannon Center, September 14, 7:30 p.m. | Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, September 15, 2:30 p.m.
Roman Banks as ‘MJ’ and the cast of the MJ First National Tour (Photo: Matthew Murphy, MurphyMade)
MJ
Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry comes to Memphis in MJ, the multi Tony Award-winning new musical centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour.
Orpheum Theatre, September 17-22
Patterns
Germantown Community Theatre presents emerging local playwright Michael Hoffman’s world premiere of Patterns.
Germantown Community Theatre, September 20-29
Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert
This captivating experience blends a live orchestral performance of the iconic series soundtrack with an immersive two-hour recap of the animated show’s three seasons on a full-size cinema screen.
Orpheum Theatre, September 25
AROUND TOWN
Super Saturday
The Brooks offers free admission and art-making during its monthly Super Saturdays.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Saturday of the month, 10 a.m.-noon
Stax Family Day
Join the Stax for a fun-filled afternoon with free admission, games, activities, and music.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturday of the month
Live In Studio A: Summer Series with 926
Join the Stax Museum of American Soul Music for live music by 926, the Stax Music Academy Alumni Band. Admission is free for all Shelby County residents.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Tuesdays, June and July, 2-4 p.m.
Munch and Learn
Grab lunch and enjoy a lecture presented by local artists, scholars, or Dixon staff, sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Wednesdays, noon-1 p.m.
Whet Thursday
The Metal Museum hosts a free after-hours event with demonstations, admission to the galleries, food, and drink.
Metal Museum, last Thursday through August, 5-8 p.m.
Wax & Wine: Soul Records + Southern Chefs + Global Wine
Wax & Wine is a fundraiser benefiting Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and celebrating the unmistakable character of southern soul and R&B music, food, and wine.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, June 28, 7 p.m.
Glam Rock Picnic: Fundraiser, Art Market, & Interactive Sculpture Party
Participate in the making of local artist Mike McCarthy’s newest sculpture, The Aladdin Sane Weathervane, a 9-foot tall statue honoring David Bowie. Featuring live music, art vendors, face painting, Eric’s food truck, and a David Bowie-themed bar, this event has something for everyone.
Off the Walls Arts, June 30, noon-5 p.m.
Exhibition Lecture: Hidden in Plain Sight: Reconsidering the South’s Role in Modern American Art
Exhibition curator Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman will discuss how “Southern/Modern” was conceived and organized, and introduce the key artists and themes found in the show.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 14, 2-4 p.m.
“Christian Siriano: People Are People” Inspired Pattern Making Workshop with Jayla Slater
Teaching artist Jayla Slater leads a hands-on fashion workshop and explore fashion as a designer.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, July 24, 5:30 p.m.
Christian Siriano’s “People Are People” (Photo: Courtesty Memphis Brooks Museum of Art)
A Fashion History Tour of “Christian Siriano: People Are People” with Ali Bush
Get an inside look at how fashion history informs contemporary designers like Christian Siriano from Ali Bush’s point of view, in the “People Are People” exhibit.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, August 1, 6-7 p.m.
Art on the Rocks: Garden Cocktails & Craft Beer (21+)
Art on the Rocks brings botanical cocktails, craft beer, wine, and more together in the gardens. Guests will enjoy a variety of drink tastings, bites from local restaurants, and live music.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, September 6, 6-9 p.m.
6×6 Art Show-Canvas for a Cause
Join the UrbanArt Commission for the 6×6 Art Show-Canvas for a Cause where artists showcase their talent on small canvases to support a great cause.
UrbanArt Commision, September 12,6-8 p.m.
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“It’s a Fine Line”
Since opening her Sheet Cake Gallery in December 2023, Lauren Kennedy has enjoyed pairing artists together in two-person exhibitions, making aesthetic connections that wouldn’t have been made otherwise. For the upcoming show, “It’s a Fine Line,” with Stephanie Howard (Greenville, SC) and Khara Woods (Memphis), Kennedy says both artists reflect on the passage of time — “feelings of impermanence and lack of control” — both through meticulous linework, repetition, and attention to detail.
“For Stephanie, in sitting down and really getting lost and meditating in the practice of making these really intricate detail drawings, she finds that she can suspend a moment in time in the work that is going to live on forever as that finished product,” Kennedy explains.
Meanwhile, the precise, geometric forms in Woods’ woodworking evoke her deep love for architecture and desire for structure in a chaotic world. “Specifically in this body of work for Sheet Cake, she’s gotten really fixated on thinking about the life cycles of stars,” Kennedy says. “And we use the stars and celestial bodies to mark time or to measure unimaginable distances, but at the same time, they’re so beyond our reach and so outside of our full comprehension. So there’s both this process of exerting her own control through the way that she is making the work, and being able to create these highly ordered and clean, precise woodcut panels, but also kind of honoring the universe in which we’re existing and in these things that are really beyond her control.”
“These are concepts that really can be very overwhelming and consuming,” Kennedy continues, “but then to take that and to make something really specific and just find their way through it by the process of creating art, I find it really poetic in a way.”
Yet when seeing the show, Kennedy encourages viewers to seek out whatever makes their “heart sing.” “It’s totally valid to have your own experience and understanding of it,” she says. “I would just want people to come in and feel moved by the work and to feel excited about the work.”
“It’s a Fine Line” Opening Reception, Sheet Cake Gallery, Saturday, June 29, 5-7:30 p.m.
On view through August 9.
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24 Hour Plays
In 24 hours, six playwrights will write six 10-minute plays, which six directors will then direct for 24 actors to then act in. It’s the ultimate challenge for any theater-lover, a beloved format founded in New York City back in 1995 and adopted by LoneTree Live for Memphis in 2022. This June marks Memphis’ third 24 Hour Plays.
On Friday, June 28th, the six writers will write overnight, says Julia Hinson, LoneTree’s executive director. “I almost think of it like a theater lock-in. Their plays are due at 6 a.m. and then we print all the plays. And then the directors come just a little bit later, and the actors, and then we rehearse all day. And then by seven o’clock the next night, we perform all six plays.”
Of the day, Hinson says, “It’s fun. It’s exhilarating. There’s usually a moment in the day for the actors, where they are like, ‘Why did I sign up for this?’ Because it can be pretty scary to think you’re gonna go on at the end of the night.”
Perfection is often unattainable for the performances, which actually can be creatively freeing in stages as early as the writing process. “At a certain point you just have to be done, yet you still get a production,” Hinson says. “In the world of theater, you’re not always guaranteed a production. We love to give local talent the opportunity to shine.”
The plays themselves range from comedy to drama. “Then, there’s always just a level of absurdity,” Hinson says. “I don’t know if it’s the late hours or just how quickly we have to do it, but there’s always kooky kookiness.” She adds, “It really is a celebration of the theater community.”
Before the production and in between plays, musician and composer Eileen Kuo will perform. There’ll also be donated beer from Hampline Brewery, popcorn, and cotton candy.
24 Hour Plays, TheatreWorks@Evergreen, Saturday, June 29, 7 p.m.
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Clandestine Creative Club
On any given Thursday evening, if you walk into the back of the Ink Therapy, you’ll find a group of artists — hobbyists and those looking to break into the scene professionally alike — working on their craft, whether it’s drawing, painting, graphic design, jewelry-making, or crochet. They call themselves the Clandestine Creative Club, and anyone’s welcome to join.
The founder of the club Noah Womack, who also goes by the artist name Braincrumbs, says he was inspired by a similar club called the Grind Shop that only lasted about a summer in Memphis a few years ago. “Artists would come together and work on projects,” he says. “After that ended, I think everybody was kind of missing that. And then after the pandemic, there was really a lack of community, and everybody felt very isolated and distanced. And I know, especially for a lot of my artist friends, especially after the pandemic, with a lot of their social anxiety, it was really hard to get out and meet people and get together after the pandemic. So after feeling that for several years, I wanted to put it back together.”
Photo: Courtesy Ink Therapy
So last summer as David Yancy’s Ink Therapy was still getting its licensing in order, the tattoo shop opened its doors to the club which held meetings there for a while until the business opened. “This January, [Yancy] had bought that additional back room and had built a little area for us in the back,” Womack says. “So he invited me to start it back up, and so we’ve been doing it ever since then.”
The weekly meetings are free and non-committal, with members so far ranging in ages 19 to 35. “I consider anybody who’s been to the club meeting at least once to be an official club member,” Womack says.
Recently, the club started having theme nights, such as a “Clay Day” and an “Everybody Draw Everybody” night. “People seem to be a lot more engaged during those nights,” Womack says. “So I think I’d like to do some of those more often.”
Clandestine Creative Club, Ink Therapy, 485 N. Hollywood, Thursdays, 7-9:30 p.m. Keep up with the club on Instagram (@clandestinecreativeclub).
You can trace the shifts in Chris Milam’s songwriting style through the type of guitar he’s opted to play over the course of his three albums. And music fans who’ve come to appreciate the more sparse Americana of his first two albums, Kids These Days and Meanwhile, will hear the change immediately when they play his latest album, Orchid South. The songs mine an anthemic, power pop vein that he’s hinted at before, but never embraced to this degree. And of course, with power pop comes the sound of electric guitars. In this case, the triple guitar team of Milam, Steve Selvidge, and Luke White.
Electric guitar has always been in Milam’s toolbox, but never in quite this way. “In the lead up to making Kids These Days, and then touring that album in 2017, I was playing solo electric. There’s a lot of acoustic guitar on there, too, but the main guitar you hear me playing on that album is a hollow body, Gibson-sounding, reverbed-out electric. So yeah, there was a couple years there where I was doing a fair amount of electric playing — in solo shows. But then I shifted to acoustic surrounding Meanwhile.”
Chris Milam (Photo: Lisa Mac)
That sophomore effort, released in 2020, was a sparse masterpiece of which Milam said at the time, “I inadvertently wrote a good album for quarantine, honestly. It’s basically 10 different versions of how we deal with loss, or survive being in limbo.” Along with that pensive mood came pensive music, with acoustic guitar at its foundation.
Now that’s all changed.
“For this one, I don’t know, maybe this is impolitic to say,” he says, “but I’ve just been bored to tears by so many singer-songwriter albums” with acoustic guitar at their heart. “I just was like, I think that you can discuss weighty topics and still make an album that is fun and dynamic and that people actually want to listen to.”
And that’s a fair description of Orchid South, which seems custom-made to burst from radio speakers while blasting down the highway on a hot summer night. “I’ve always been a big fan of power pop from the 1970s and alt-rock of the 1990s,” he says. “That was the stuff that I was listening to when I first picked up a guitar and when I first really fell in love with music. That was really the soundtrack of my adolescence.”
Yet it wasn’t until recently that Milam, now 40, felt he could address those years with the proper tone and voice. And the tone, he knew, would have to be full of jangle and crunch. Who better to bring that sound than Selvidge and White?
“Most of the lead guitar is Steve, and all the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is Luke, kind of on the left channel. With Steve on the right. I added rhythm guitar, for the most part.” Moreover, the album gains its immediacy and energy by virtue of having largely been tracked live, with the players all in the same room. “At the heart of the album, the core band was Shawn Zorn on drums, Mark Stuart on bass, and then me and Luke. And then Steve came in for an overdub day, and the horns [Art Edmaiston and Marc Franklin] did an overdub day. And that was pretty much it.”
The end product is a big, radio-friendly sound that conjures up the longings and impulsiveness of adolescence. And ironically, though Meanwhile came out during the onset of Covid, this album is even more of a product of that time. “A good chunk of the album was written during quarantine,” Milam says. “And I was probably going a little stir crazy and wanting to be loud and kick out the jams.”
Yet he was also applying his more finely-honed writerly chops to an earlier version of himself, the young man listening to alternative radio in the ’90s. “When I was a teenager, growing up in Memphis, I was listening to 96X [FM],” he recalls. ““Hey Jealousy’ was one of the first songs I learned on guitar, and there’s a lot of Gin Blossoms influence on this album.” But there was more to evoking his youth than turning his amp up to 11.
“My earlier stuff had been more in the Americana or folk realm, and so the lyrics were a little bit more of that narrative style,” reflects Milam. “But when I was a teenager, I didn’t really experience things in that way. It was all very heightened emotions, very amplified feelings, and everything was just evocative and impressionist. That was the type of writing I did when I was that age and I wanted to get back to that again, but hopefully do a better job on it. Instead of narrative lyrics, I wanted stuff that had more freshness, or was a little bit more evocative. That makes emotional sense, even though it doesn’t necessarily make literal sense.”
Chris Milam is in the midst of a national solo tour now, but will celebrate the release of Orchid South with a full band at Railgarten on Saturday, August 10th, with Alexis Grace opening.
On display at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (Photos: Abigail Morici)
In 2012, Mark Loughney committed a crime in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, and went to prison for 10 years for it. He hurt people, he knows and regrets as he looks back, but during his time, he rediscovered his humanity and that of the men incarcerated with him through drawing their portraits by the hundreds. To see those portraits side by side, even just 20 of them, “was really overwhelming to me. And I realized that people need to see that we are people still in prison. And that even though we’re somewhat voiceless, that we can still have a bit of a voice in a way,” Loughney said in an interview with Just City’s Permanent Record podcast.
Those portraits went on to be featured in galleries across the country, including MoMA, and in publications like The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Some of the portraits are on permanent display in Just City’s office here in Memphis.
“He uses his art to deliver the same kind of message that we are trying to deliver at Just City,” says Josh Spickler, Just City’s executive director. That message is one of accountability and one of reforming the justice system to be based in fairness. Since hearing Loughney’s story, Just City has kept in touch with the artist, who has been released and still works on justice-inspired art.
In fact, some of his work is now on display at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in his “Prison Buddies” exhibition. Unlike the realistic drawings that drew attention to him initially, most of these works are cartoonish portraits of those incarcerated, with a dark sense of humor. “They’re kind of like caricatures of people’s personalities,” Loughney said to Just City. “It kind of spread to people that I was in prison with, who saw them and asked me to do a version of them. And that’s how it all started. And I started to see this real value in them, that there’s such a relatability because they’re very childlike, but they hold such content that is otherwise hard to bridge with people, to talk about these issues like mass incarceration.”
“[Mark] is not alone,” Spickler adds, “in that there are people who are in prisons and they have talent and they have other people who love them. That’s the main reason why we wanted to bring his artwork here — because it helps us think more deeply about what we do as a community when one of us harms another. Mark harmed people, and he was held accountable for it. But he was able to maintain some of his humanity for his art. And we need to work really hard to make sure that that is possible way more often.”
You can listen to Spickler interview Loughney on the Permanent Record wherever you get your podcasts. Check out episodes 45 and 58.
“Prison Buddies,” Goodwyn Gallery at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar, on display through June 30.
Sen. Taylor and Rep. Gillespie on Monday (Photo: Jackson Baker)
District Attorney Steve Mulroy, a Democrat, announced on Monday that he was dropping plans to create a diversion program for previous nonviolent offenders accused of illegal possession of firearms.
But that didn’t stop Republican state Senator Brent Taylor from following through with detailing his previously indicated plan to seek Mulroy’s ouster through legislative means.
“He didn’t pull it because he didn’t think it would have the effect he wanted. He pulled it because I’m on his ass,” Taylor proclaimed bluntly.
There was a significant irony at the heart of Monday’s press conference, which Taylor conducted before a full battery of media at the Jefferson Avenue headquarters of the Memphis Police Association.
And that was that Senator Taylor had characterized the putative diversion program for gun-wielding felons as “the last straw” making his ouster resolution necessary but now insisted his demand for Mulroy’s ouster “was never about the diversion program but … about the DA’s attempt to redefine what crime-and-punishment is in this state.”
Asked by a reporter to detail what some of those other attempts in that regard by Mulroy might have been, Taylor declined, saying, “I’m not going to follow you into that rabbit hole.”
Taylor characterized his ouster effort as being the consequence of numerous conversations he’d had, not only with ordinary citizens and businesspeople but with such legislative eminences as state House Speaker Cameron Sexton and state Senate Speaker/Lt. Governor Randy McNally.
“I believe it’s a conversation, quite frankly, that people have been having in their own homes for a long time,” Taylor said. He described having brought down several legislative colleagues for a look-see, “and every one of them, without fail, have said that Memphis’ crime challenge is much greater than [I] said it was.”
Taylor’s ouster plan, which he vowed to introduce in the next regular session of the General Assembly in January, would require a two-thirds majority in both the state House and the state Senate to succeed. Mulroy, he said, would have full due process by way of defending himself.
Republican state Rep. John Gillespie, who is second only to Senator Taylor, perhaps, in the amount of legislation he has sponsored to impose state authority over law enforcement in Memphis, briefly addressed the press contingent at Taylor’s suggestion, saying the ouster process would be “a drastic measure, but the state has to step in.” He maintained that “until Memphis is safer, I’m going to continue to do everything I can legislatively and through avenues such as this [one] that Senator Taylor has proposed.”
(Though stopping short of endorsing outright Taylor’s ouster proposal, Police Association head Matt Cunningham said he was in general agreement with Senator Taylor’s sentiments on crime control and seemed to suggest that the MPA’s provision of a venue for Taylor on Monday spoke for itself.)
Mulroy would issue a statement later Monday that said of Taylor’s plan, “This is politics, pure and simple. We were No. 1 in the country for violent crime for years before I took office … Rather than disrespecting Shelby County voters by trying to overturn a local election, Sen. Taylor should focus on getting state funding for a local crime lab, raising penalties on ‘Glock switches,’ and letting Shelby County pass sensible gun regulations to stop the flood of guns threatening our safety.”
• After the press conference, Gillespie was asked about his motives in having acquiesced in his GOP colleagues’ carrying out a reapportionment process that many observers, including Jesse Huseth, a Democratic candidate this year for his seat, saw as making District 97 marginally more favorable to Democrats.
Gillespie, who acknowledged that he is considered by some to be a relative political moderate, said he felt comfortable with the district’s demographics. He noted that he has had a Republican primary opponent (the presumably more conservative Christina Oppenhuizen), but, as the year’s politics have developed, he is now more concerned about the threat from the more visibly active Huseth.
