WWE brought Smackdown to town last week and Memphis Memphises pretty hard where wrestling is concerned, especially when Dwayne The Rock Johnson is involved. Johnson’s in-character musical performance at the event poked fun at Ja Morant, according to CBS Sports.
“You’re simply an embarrassment, son,” Johnson sang of a rival. “Just like Ja Morant when he’s waving a gun (I love you Ja).”
Johnson also did an in-store event at the Wolfchase Target, where he talked about his new skin care products.
This is correct.
Posted to Facebook by Memphis Memes 901
Peak Tulip
Posted to Reddit by u/BandidoCoyote
It’s “peak tulip” time at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, reported Reddit user BandidoCoyote. The garden is free. So, hit it up if you need an extra shot of spring.
While creating this Winter Arts Guide, compiling this long (yet not even comprehensive) list of exhibitions, shows, and various other arts events, I had the pleasure to speak with Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ director, whose interview you’ll find in this guide. At the end of our conversation, he remarked, “Some things are worth leaving the house for.” And indeed, whether it’s an Opera Memphis show or an artist talk at the Dixon, this arts guide is here to remind you that some things are worth leaving the house for.
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Marquita Richardson will perform in January’s concert. (Photo: Courtesy Opera Memphis)
Opera Memphis’ Variations on a Theme
This year, Opera Memphis introduced a new concert series to bridge between the gap the opera-curious and the opera-enthusiast. Called Variations on a Theme, the series explores “all kinds of vocal music, not just opera,” says Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ general director. “The goal is to move beyond [opera] into other genres of music and … to look at connections between, say, jazz and opera, blues and opera, hip-hop and opera — all of those things, which we’ve historically either done as one-offs or as online things. The idea here is to now kind of graduate to doing them live.”
Each concert, Canty says, revolves around a different theme, complementing concurrent programming by other local arts organizations. In October, Opera Memphis’ first Variations on a Theme incorporated musical pieces inspired by Shakespeare’s AMidsummer Night’s Dream to coincide with Ballet Memphis’ run of the ballet version. The organization also partnered with Memphis Symphony Orchestra in November and will partner with Theatre Memphis in April. “We’re trying to rebuild some of these connections that were so robust before the pandemic that I think we almost took them for granted,” says Canty.
For January’s Variations on a Theme, Opera Memphis will partner with TONE for an “In the Words of Langston Hughes”-themed performance, which will include spoken word and Hughes’ poems set to music. Unlike Opera Memphis’ collaborations with the aforementioned arts organizations which focus on coinciding programming, this concert will look to a future project with TONE. The objective, Canty says, is for Opera Memphis’ January show to inspire TONE artists to create new music. “We have some money and we will choose the number of artists who are part of TONE’s mission and pay them to create new works, new sort of short songs, that reflect their experiences and the experiences of Memphis.” The hope is for Opera Memphis to then use these new works in future performances, such as its 30 Days of Opera.
Overall, Variations on a Theme, Canty says, is “a compact, enjoyable experience to maybe meet some new music, maybe hear some old favorites, maybe meet some new people. Having an intimate musical experience that you’re sharing with other people, that really is, at its base, what we’re trying to remind people of and how special that is.”
Variations on a Theme: In the Words of Langston Hughes, Opera Memphis Headquarters, 216 S. Cooper St., Saturday, January 27, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, January 28, 3 p.m., $25.
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A NewWorks winner,Don’t Hydroplaneopened Playhouse’s season. (Photo: Courtesy Playhouse on the Square)
NewWorks@TheWorks:Greater Illinois
In January, Memphis will be treated to the world premiere of Greater Illinois, thanks to Playhouse on the Square’s NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition. The play, written by Steven Strafford, is set in a near future Chicago. “In theory, it’s dystopian,” says Savannah Miller, director of NewWorks. “It’s a play basically about what happens if we turn a blind eye to injustices, and how far those justices can go.”
Strafford’s play was one of two winners of 2022’s competition, with Bryan Curtis’ comedy Don’t Hydroplane being the other, having premiered in July. Both of them received a prize of $750 and premieres in Playhouse’s season. “And they’re billed in our season right next to the regional premieres of Catch Me if You Can and Your Arm’s Too Short to Box with God,” Miller says, “so that’s kind of special in and of itself.”
For the NewWorks competition, established in 2013, Playhouse solicits submissions beginning in January, and a “panel of local directors, actors, and designers carefully select six plays to be part of a staged reading series. Of those six plays, two are chosen to be fully produced as part of an upcoming season to be presented onstage and streamed nationwide,” reads the submission guidelines.
“It’s pretty open compared to other playwriting competitions,” Miller says, “so it kind of gives a lot of newer playwrights a chance to get their work out there. … A lot of times once you’ve had that first production you can apply for publishing and for other opportunities, as well.”
Already, Playhouse has announced the two winners of 2023’s competition: LaDarrion Williams’ Coco Queens and Dianne Nora’s Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin. This year saw a historic number of submissions, with over 500 works entered for consideration.
Yet, the playwrights aren’t the only ones who benefit from the competition. Memphis does, too. “It’s great to have something like this in Memphis, in the Mid-South,” says Miller. “We’re bringing these cutting-edge plays that have stories that people need to hear and narratives that people may not always get exposed to, especially in the South.”
For the competition, Miller says, “We try to choose scripts that are important narratives and that uplift historically underrepresented narratives. Memphis is a very diverse city. We want works that speak to that and speak to the Memphis experience.”
The upcoming play Greater Illinois, for instance, touches on themes of gentrification, sexuality, race, and intersectionality. “I think that’s a very good question for folks nowadays to be thinking, so I hope people learn a lot from it or leave the theater with questions.”
Greater Illinois, TheatreWorks@TheSquare, 2085 Monroe, January 12-28, $25.
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Kaylyn Webster,Light Show in July, 2023; Oil on canvas; Courtesy of the artist
“Kaylyn Webster: Commune (verb)”
Just a year after earning her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, Kaylyn Webster has celebrated her first solo exhibition at a museum. Her show, titled “Commune (verb),” opened in October at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens.
“I remember like it was just yesterday, coming to field trips here,” she says. “I went to Overton High School and Colonial Middle, and we would come up here all the time and look at other people’s work, and now it’s mine up here. It’s insane to me.”
The pieces in the show, Webster explains, are portraits of her family members and close friends. “I want to humanize the figures that I painted and hopefully to also humanize people of color in general,” she says. “I want [viewers] to want to know more about these people and their stories.”
For her paintings, Webster shares intimate moments with her loved ones, from the jubilant with her nephews playing horns, clad in Nikes and Jordans, to the more vulnerable with her mother recovering from Covid at the height of the pandemic. The paintings themselves are large in scale, practically larger than the artist herself. “I really want you to feel like you’re a part of these intimate moments,” Webster says.
In composing her works, Webster channels the styles and techniques of the art she learned about in her Western art courses, the very art that historically excluded Black men and women. “I love the style of it, the realism,” she says. “I love the symbolism and the deep narratives and the scale of it. I just wanted to represent people of color using those techniques.”
Yet she adds, “I always want at least one figure looking out at viewers to engage them more in the piece, and to challenge that trend that I saw in art history of Black servants and maids just not being able to look out. It’s almost like a tool to dehumanize them, so I want the stares to re-humanize the figures.”
Only one painting in the show features a person Webster does not know, a woman who upon meeting her in her studio space at Arrow Creative handed Webster a photograph of herself. “She wasn’t going to do anything with the photo, so she allowed me to paint it,” Webster says. “I feel like you can get to know her through her smile, the wrinkles in her face, her hands. I don’t know this woman, but I was able to connect with her. I guess that’s an example of myself participating in the effect that I want to have on other people as they see the show. … I just hope people can feel the emotions for these figures that I feel for them in real life and take that empathy and respect that they have from this exhibition and extend it to people they encounter in everyday life.”
“Kaylyn Webster: Commune (verb),” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, on display through January 7.
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ON DISPLAY
“Welcome In” Sheet Cake’s inaugural exhibition. Sheet Cake, on display through January 6
“Black American Portraits” The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture to envision themselves. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, on display through January 7
“Black Artists in America: From Civil Rights to the Bicentennial” The exhibition considers the ways in which Black American artists responded to the issues of the 1950s to 1970s. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, on display through January 14
“The Molasses Man & Other Delta Tales” An anthology of stories based on Ahmad George’s life and experiences. Crosstown Arts, on display through January 21
“Days” Exhibition of Noah Thomas Miller’s work. Crosstown Arts, on display through January 21
“Hued” Exhibition of Rachelle Thiewes’ vibrant jewelry. Metal Museum, on display through January 28
“China Blues: The World of Blue & White Ceramics” Spectacular works of Chinese art, including jades, paintings, textiles, and ceramics. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, on display through May 2024
“Marking Time” Bold landscapes by Remy Miller and sensitive and introspective paintings by Joe Morzuch. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, January 14-April 14
“It’s a Memphis Thang” New works by Anna Kelly and Calvin Farrar. Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, January 19-March 7
“Everyday People: Snapshots of the Black Experience” Exhibition showcasing Memphis artist Eric Echols’ photo collection of twentieth-century African Americans. Museum of Science & History, January 20-July 14
Paul Wonner, Model Drinking Coffee, 1964; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.
“Breaking the Rules” Paintings, watercolors, and drawings by Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, January 28-March 31
Curtis Arima’s Shifting Hierarchy Royal Blue Brooch (Photo: Radical Jewelry Makeover)
“Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project” Ethical Metalsmiths’ innovative community mining project repurposes jewelry to create sustainable art. Metal Museum, February 4-April 14
ON STAGE
Company Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s groundbreaking musical comedy. Orpheum Theatre, January 2-7
Viva Elvis Birthday Pops Concert The Memphis Symphony Orchestra presents their annual concert featuring the King’s music. Graceland Soundstage, January 6, 7 p.m.
ABBA Revisited Kick off 2024 with the music of ABBA. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, January 13, 3 p.m., 7 p.m.
A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play. Theatre Memphis, January 19-February 4
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Journey through Willy Wonka’s factory in this fantastical musical. Playhouse on the Square, January 19-February 18
Iris Collective: Small Business Series Music Box instructors and Iris musicians present a lively evening fusing classical and popular music. Music Box, January 19, 6:30 p.m.
The Children Lucy Kirkwood’s play presents a very real, post-nuclear world. Germantown Community Theatre, January 19-February 4
Guitar Ninja Trace Bundy Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, January 26, 7 p.m.
The Lehman Trilogy The rise and fall of one of the most influential families in modern finance. The Circuit Playhouse, January 26-February 11
A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams’ postwar drama. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, February 1-18
Confederates Dominique Morisseau’s exacting new play explores the reins that racial and gender bias still hold over American educational systems today. Hattiloo Theatre, February 2-25
Les Miserables One of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. Orpheum Theatre, February 2-11
Rise Collage Dance’s hallmark ballet. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, February 3-4
The Glass Menagerie A Southern classic favorite. Theatre Memphis, February 9-25
Memphis Songwriters Series Discover your next favorite local artist. Halloran Centre, February 15, 7 p.m.
A Bite of Memphis Lone Tree Live delves into the heart and soul of Memphis by exploring the vibrant food culture of our city. Evergreen Theatre, February 16-March 3
The Squirrels A boundary-pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality. New Moon Theatre Company, February 16-March 3
Orchestra Unplugged: Mozart’s The Magic Flute A 45-minute version of Mozart’s most fun and fantastical opera with Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Memphis. Halloran Centre, February 22, 7:30 p.m.
Afro-Latino Night Fiesta Las Bompleneras Unplugged will showcase Afro-Puertorican Bomba and Plena music. Memphis Music Room, February 23, 6:30 p.m.
Succession Succession explores the world of Black theater. Hattiloo Theatre, February 23-March 24
Winter Mix Ballet Memphis’ repertoire production. Playhouse on the Square, February 23-25
Trinity Irish Dance Company A performance that will redefine what is possible for Irish music and dance. Germantown Performing Arts Center, February 24, 8 p.m.
The Sound Inside This play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another. Quark Theatre, March 1-17
Awadagin Pratt: Piano Prowess An unforgettable evening with the renowned pianist. Germantown Performing Arts Center, March 2, 7:30 p.m.
There’s plenty of summer and animal fun to be had at the Memphis Zoo. (Photo: Courtesy Memphis Zoo)
It sure feels like summer! The hot, humid days have moved in with full force, but that doesn’t scare us. Yet as we all sit inside next to our struggling AC units, it’s easy to forget all the cool things going on in Memphis. The city attracted more than 11 million visitors last year, and for good reason: Memphis is a place people want to see. So get outside and re-familiarize yourself with all the great places and people that make Bluff City unique. Whether it’s restaurants, museums, or a night out on the town, there are plenty of reasons why here at home remains a great option for remaining summer plans.
Free Art and Museums
A staycation saves money, right? Save even more with these free attractions.
• The Dixon Gallery & Gardens is free through the end of 2024 with 2,000 objects in its collection and a glorious spread of botanic brilliance.
• The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is free Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, and also for family-oriented Community Day events.
• The National Civil Rights Museum is free for Tennessee residents with state-issued ID Mondays from 3 p.m. until closing.
• The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is free for kids 6 and under. Shelby County residents with ID get in free on Tuesdays from 1 to 5 p.m. And it’s free for everyone from 1 to 5 p.m. on Family Day, the second Saturday of each month.
The Memphis Zoo (Photo: Courtesy Memphis Zoo)
• The Memphis Zoo is free for wee ones under 2 years old. Tennessee residents get in free on Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to close.
• Access to the Metal Museum grounds, including its sculpture garden and gift shop, is always free.
• Walking and driving tours of Elmwood Cemetery are free, and it’s pretty quiet as well.
As always, you should check with the venues first before you go. And as you visit these places, you might be tempted to buy a membership. Go ahead. Find the level that works for you and enjoy it year-round. — Jon W. Sparks
Hit the Town
A night at home curled up under a blanket to watch a movie or read a book is probably my ideal night. In fact, I’d say it’s so ideal that I do that practically every night, but, apparently, it’s good to shake things up a little every now and then. So this homebody did just that and dragged herself out of bed for a night out on the town. Sure, it was for a writing assignment, but I got out of the bed and that’s a start.
With a friend in tow, the night started at Bardog Tavern for dinner and drinks. I ordered something with rum that our server recommended — couldn’t really tell you what else was in it because I heard the word “rum” and that was enough for me. Turns out the name of the drink is James’ Cock, and I sucked it down like a Coca-Cola, so do with that what you will.
After that we headed to Blind Bear, a speakeasy I’d never heard about before, mostly because I rarely leave the house after 7 p.m. Then it was time for the Flying Saucer and, like, Beale and stuff. (I had a bit to drink at this point.) I think we headed to Paula & Raiford’s Disco after, waited in line for about 10 minutes, and then gave up and ordered a Lyft. But, yeah, it was nice to shake things up a bit for a bit of a “staycation,” but the best part was being able to fall asleep in my own bed. — Abigail Morici
Be a Tourist For a Day
More than 11 million people came to Memphis on vacation — on vacation! — last year. That’s roughly the population of Belgium. Why?! The crime! The heat! The potholes!
Daily Memphians might miss the mystique of the city’s cultural treasure trove that draws all those tourists each year. The Pyramid’s funny. Barbecue is routine. Beale is for tourists. Don’t get us started on Graceland.
But if you’re staycating this year, try (at least) vacating your house or your neighborhood. Go find out what makes Memphis a destination. Go reconnect with that everyday magic. Do it all while staying within your staycation budget, too.
Here’s a brief list of classic (and free!) tourist spots to hit for your Memphis staycation:
• Graceland — Brag that you’ve never been? Go. See what you think. Free walk-up admission to the Meditation Garden daily.
• Beale Street — Go for the people-watching. Stay for the music and a Big Ass Beer. Are your feet 10 feet off?
• Big River Crossing — A one-of-a-kind walk with Insta-worthy views of the river and the city. Free daily.
• Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid — Fish pond, gator pit, and massive aquarium? Check. The place is a tourist magnet for a reason. Free daily. — Toby Sells
Be a Homebody
Staycate means staycate. No need to go figuring out car trips to some semi-distant place or to rush out to some favorite or fetchingly rumored juke joint in the evenings just because you’ve got some spare time.
Stay home. Sleep late. Alternatively, get up early in the morning when it’s still cool enough and take long walks on your property or in your neighborhood.
Give yourself at least one good substantial grocery visit. Then put it to use. Cook something new, for yourself or guests. And back in that fridge somewhere is an item you bought backaways with some purpose in mind you haven’t got to yet. Do it now before the food goes bad.
Fix up that spare room you’ve been using as a warehouse space. Change those worn-out bulbs. Take care of those overlooked potted plants. They’re thirstier than you are!
Homebody starter kit (Photo: Jackson Baker)
You bought those books. Now read them. Ditto with those magazines that are lying around. Forget about social media for a while. If you’ve got to turn on the computer, then use it to catch up on news you missed.
Look at yourself in the mirror and take inventory. I don’t need to tell you that you’ll see something that needs changing. Change it. Or at least start the process.
For a little while, everything is in your hands. Enjoy the fact. — Jackson Baker
The Memphis International Restaurant Tour
Eating out at a great restaurant is my favorite thing to do on a vacation.
Eating out at a great restaurant is also my favorite thing to do on a staycation.
You can experience other countries by staying home and visiting Memphis restaurants that specialize in various types of food from across the globe. Sort of “Around the World in 901 Days.” Maybe choose cuisine from a particular country each day of your staycation. Some places serve lunch, which usually is cheaper. And if you don’t know what to order at these places, ask your servers what they’d recommend. Here are some restaurant ideas:
Taking a trip around town to try exotic food is less expensive than airfare to exotic places. Not to mention lodging. You can go home to your own bed. And you don’t have to worry about passports. — Michael Donahue
A Night at the Shell
There are a lot of places to see live music in Memphis: the Beale Street club packed with tourists, the Orpheum Theatre’s Gilded Age grandeur, the Green Room’s intimate sounds. But the best place in Memphis for a night of music is the Overton Park Shell.
Built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project designed to help workers during the Great Depression, it is one of a handful of band shells from that era still standing.
PreauXX at the Shell (Photo: Chris McCoy)
I was recently reminded of how lucky we are to have a place like the Shell when I saw PreauXX play there on July 1st. It was one of the super hot days we’ve been having this year, so I was expecting to be uncomfortable, at least until well after the sun had set. But the towering trees of Overton Park provided enough shade that a steady breeze made it quite pleasant, especially after a couple of days spent indoors hiding from the heat. We found a spot near the front of the stage and set up our camp chairs next to a young mom corralling her toddler.
My wife LJ stayed with the chairs as I checked out the food trucks, which were parked next to the new, greatly improved bar facilities.
We were chowing down on some barbecue tacos when PreauXX hit the stage, backed by his friends from the Unapologetic crew. The young mother was joined by her partner, and, after ignoring the music in favor of rolling on the lawn, the toddler threw his energy into dancing. (Really, it was more of a body-wide twitch, but he was trying his best.) When AWFM joined in for “Slide,” folks were streaming down the hill to do the title dance. This stage has hosted everyone from Elvis to Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, but for this night, PreauXX was the king. — Chris McCoy
Drag Shows at the Atomic Rose
Thanks to the phenomenon known as RuPaul’s Drag Race, we’re able to appreciate the art of drag without leaving our homes. And while watching hours of Snatch Game makes for the perfect staycation activity, so does supporting your local drag performers and artists.
Voted as the number-one best drag bar in the South by Time Out, Atomic Rose is the top destination for your staycation entertainment fix. The club recently went viral, at the height of Tennessee’s anti-drag controversy, when local drag queen and activist Bella DuBalle informed the audience of the severity of the bill and what it meant for the drag community. But the clip that circulated around TikTok only gave viewers a tidbit of the magic the nightclub possesses.
Drag at the Atomic Rose (Photo: Drew Parker)
DuBalle is known as Slade Kyle outside of drag and says one of the things that makes the club so special is that it is a true melting pot, inclusive in multiple ways encompassing all genders, races, and sexuality. This diversity is showcased in one of their most iconic events known as the “War Of The Roses,” which Kyle describes as an eight-week drag competition, featuring a large and diverse pool of performers.
And if you happen to swing by after War season, the club also offers Friday and Saturday shows, as well as a drag brunch on Sunday. Friday and Saturday shows start at 10:30 p.m., and Sunday brunch service starts at 11 a.m., with the show starting at 12:30 p.m. — Kailynn Johnson
SPORTS!
We can never get enough Grizz action at the FedExForum. But they’re out of season (unless you’ve made the pilgrimage to the Las Vegas Summer League to watch Kenny Lofton Jr. hoop). Luckily, there’s another pleasant Downtown destination to get your fix of ’ball. AutoZone Park is home to the Redbirds and 901 FC, but it’s sometimes apparent that Memphians take the stadium for granted, evidenced by the quite noticeable number of empty seats during baseball and soccer games. It’s still hot outside, but an afternoon or night out at the ballpark is an excellent way to shake up a routine and try out a new experience in town.
Even if you’re not into sports all that much, there are plenty of additional perks that come tacked on to a game. A personal favorite of mine is an all-you-can-eat series at Redbirds games, which, for just a few extra bucks, gets you a pass into a roped-off section that provides drinks, snacks, hot dogs, and an endless supply of the featured entrée (anything from brisket, to nachos, to my personal favorite: hot wings).
901 FC’s Bluff City Mafia (Photo: Memphis 901 FC)
Other enticements include specialty nights for $1 hot dogs or $2 beers. And when those nights line up, oh man. Kicking back with a few brews in what can either be a pleasant or a raucous atmosphere, depending on the matchup, is a reliable recipe for a fun night out. And if there’s a fireworks show afterward, well, all the better. Don’t sleep on it, Memphians! — Samuel X. Cicci
Tend Your Garden
If you time your work hours right and stay hydrated, summer gardening can be a breeze — and yield delicious rewards. Why else would the University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture host its Summer Celebration of ag workshops and activities in Jackson only last week? The summer means heat to some, but for others it’s known as peak growing season. While that might sound dangerously like work, once your garden is up and running, tending it can be the perfect break from both screen time and chair time.
Early mornings can be sublime even in July, especially with an eyeful of blooms and fruits of the vine. It’s also a good time to water those roots before the blazing sun can bake the water droplets off the leaves. And yet, assuming you’ve done your homework and have a little mulched, irrigated, squirrel-protected paradise outside your door, there’s still more awaiting the horticultural staycationer: a world of garden clubs and nonprofits to liven up the typically solitary pursuit of the perfect bloom.
Take a break from the screen and tend your garden. (Photo: Alex Greene)
You don’t have to be a master of the pursuit to join the Memphis Area Master Gardeners, and it can be a great way to learn from expert volunteers who offer classes, working closely with the local UT extension service. There are also long-established neighborhood garden clubs, like the Cooper-Young Garden Club with their annual garden walk, and even community gardens if you prefer your plant-tending to be more sociable. Check out memphiscitybeautiful.org for a registry of every community garden in the city. — Alex Greene
Photo: “Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt”
by Tangela Mathis at Crosstown Arts
If you’re looking for a retreat from the heat this summer, the Memphis art scene has you covered — with cool exhibitions, cool performances, and very cool experiences. Just take a look through our 2023 Summer Arts Guide, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Art For All will celebrate its inaugural Art for All Festival this weekend. (Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)
From Downtown to Whitehaven to Collierville and back, Shelby County’s government wants to make the arts inclusive and accessible to everyone countywide. Earlier this year, the Arts and Culture Nonprofit Subcommittee announced its “Art For All” campaign, a series of free arts and culture experiences. This Sunday, June 25th, marks its flagship Art For All Festival.
The festival will highlight a sample of what Memphis arts and culture organizations have to offer, with a variety of performances, installations, experiences, and more. Attendees can expect an interactive pop-up art gallery from TONE, demonstrations by the Mini Mobile Metal Museum, dance movement therapy from Image Builders Memphis, activities with Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, art activations from Orpheum Theatre and Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and performances by Opera Memphis and Hattiloo Theatre. The Museum of Science & History, the festival venue, will also offer activities linking art and science.
“Art For All [stems from] the fact that we have a multitude of organizations within Memphis and Shelby County with a variety of wonderful offerings that we want to bring awareness to and uplift,” says Nykesha Cole, Shelby County’s arts and culture liaison. “And we want everybody to have the opportunity to have access to arts and culture ’cause, truly, when you look at it, that is one of the most vibrant things in society.”
Museum of Science & History, Sunday, June 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free
This September, Collage Dance Collective will host its third Memphis Dance Festival, and already, the organization has confirmed top-notch talent for the day — Memphis’ own Lil Buck, dancers from New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (NYC), Alonzo King LINES Ballet (San Francisco), SOLE Defined tap company (DC), Nashville Ballet, of course Collage Dance Collective, and many more local dance organizations.
“We are really trying to curate something very special so that our community can experience these world-class national artists in their own backyard,” says Marcellus Harper, Collage’s executive director. “That’s meant to really get the community excited about dance and to elevate dance as a powerful transformative art in our community and our city.
“One of the taglines [of the festival] is, ‘Dance is for everyone,’” Harper continues. “So we’re hoping that really resonates throughout the festival, but also this focus on physical well-being, emotional well-being, how we prioritize those things. Whether it’s a physical wellness program or an emotional wellness program, movement is always a big part of that practice, so dance can really be great for the soul and the spirit, too.”
Collage Dance Center, September 16, free
Andrew Thornton’s Many Faces metalwork (Photo: Courtesy Andrew Thornton)
This month, the Metal Museum opened a juried exhibition of 40 works of art from 26 queer-identifying metal artists from across the country. For the exhibition, three jurors — matt lambert, Al Murray, and Memphian Lawrence Matthews — selected pieces they felt spoke to the intersectional spectrum of what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ community.
“Rather than the typical ‘the work looks like it’s queer,’ I think this show also really highlights that there are people from these backgrounds in all areas,” says lambert. “We’re making space for a lot of types of identity that include queerness, but it’s not just that. [The artists in the exhibit] place themselves [along] those spectrums, but for some it was an option to just be themselves, and maybe they don’t want to stress that part of them. Just applying [for the exhibition] already implies that they see themselves as part of this community.”
“[The exhibit] feels like it’s a celebration of LGBTQIA+ people,” adds one of the artists, Funlola Coker, “but it also feels poignant right now, especially given what’s happening not just in Tennessee but around America and the world, and how queer people are being oppressed. It feels really important to keep showing work like this and talking about it and supporting artists who talk about these issues because it’s a more nuanced expression of who we are.”
“We Are Here: LGBTQIA+ Voices in the Contemporary Metals Community” is on display at the Metal Museum through September 10th.
Zao Wou-Ki’s “Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. (Photo: Abigail Morici)
In 2018, Zao Wou-Ki became the world’s third best-selling artist, after Picasso and Monet, with auctions of the late French-Chinese painter’s work generating $327 million, according to Forbes. Now, he sits at a comfortable 23rd ranking, above names as recognizable as Botticelli, Degas, Renoir, Banksy, O’Keeffe, Manet, Pollock, and Matisse. Yet, as Julie Pierotti, a curator at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, says, he’s not a household name in the United States. Even so, with its latest exhibit, “Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics,” the Dixon is hoping to change that, with an impressive display of 80 works in watercolor and on ceramics, all drawn exclusively from European private collections.
Throughout his prolific and successful career, Zao channeled Chinese calligraphy in his abstract expressionist work on canvas, ink on paper, lithography, and engraving, and watercolor, bridging the artistic traditions of the East and the West. However, for the first time, his watercolors will be taking center stage in a museum setting at the Dixon.
“Watercolor [was] a kind of a constant medium for him,” says Pierotti. “He explored watercolor throughout his career, but with a lot of vigor in the last years of his life. He was known really for his oil painting, but these works really are authentic to who he was and what his artistic vision was.”
“For an artist who worked in a variety of media but has this kind of little-known dedication to watercolor, we feel like we’re showing, for those people who knew Zao Wou-Ki before, a different side to his career,” Pierotti adds, “and for those who didn’t know him, it’s a great time to get to know him.”
“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens through July 16th. Accompanying the exhibit is “Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment,” on display through July 9th. Admission to the museum is always free.
Harmonia Rosales’ Beyond the Peonies (Photo: Courtesy Harmonia Rosales)
At a young age, Harmonia Rosales fell in love with the Renaissance masters who wove tales from Greco-Roman mythology and Christianity in their paintings, but years later when she showed these paintings to her daughter, her daughter didn’t fall in love with them. “She was like, ‘They don’t look like me,’” says Rosales, “It just hit me that I didn’t want her to feel like her hair wasn’t beautiful, her skin wasn’t beautiful.”
And so Rosales took to the canvas to give her daughter the representation she was missing in the Western Renaissance paintings that have been celebrated for centuries. As an Afro-Cuban American, she turned to the Lucumí religion of her ancestors and wove those tales into her paintings, made in the style of the Renaissance paintings that once filled her imagination.
At first, her peers discouraged her from painting these stories centered around African and Black figures in the Renaissance style. Her advisors told her she wouldn’t be able to sell them, but Rosales didn’t care. This work made her happy. “To see us in there, our ancestors, our history in a format where it’s just as time-consuming, looks just like the Renaissance paintings — the priceless paintings, the most beautiful paintings of the world, can’t touch ’em, can’t buy ’em — I wanted to do that in order to empower us and see our history in the same light,” she says. “Inclusion, it’s all about inclusion. Seeing this is what I want for my children.”
Rosales intended these pieces to be public-facing, wanting to reach as broad of an audience as possible, just like the Renaissance masters she reimagines and reinvents. And thanks to the Brooks, she is one step closer to that goal as her first solo museum exhibition, outside of her home state California, opened this spring. Titled “Master Narrative,” the exhibition contains more than 20 breathtaking paintings completed over the past few years and closes this weekend.
“Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative” is on display at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art through June 25th.
“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues” This group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits, but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis. Art Museum at the University of Memphis (AMUM), through June 24
(Photo: Courtesy Frederick Asbury)
Art at Artvision Witness over 100 years of combined experience from artists E.P. Simon and Frederick Asbury, featuring works in realism, impressionism, expressionism in painting, drawing, photography, and computer-driven image-making. Guest artist Missy Isely-Poltrock (Kenosha, WI) will show her work through July 4th. Artvision Fine Art Gallery, 484 N. Hollywood
“Passenger Pigeons and Ecological Tipping Points” Experience the powerful collage art of local artist Jennalyn Speer, exploring the extinction of passenger pigeons and currently endangered bird species. Morton Museum of Collierville History, through July 8
“Reimagining the Real: Ana M. Lopez & Natalie Macellaio” These artists take everyday objects — air-conditioning fixtures, fences, road signs, and construction debris — and transform them into unique works of art as statements about power, privilege, and the environment. Metal Museum, through July 9
“Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment” Susan Maakestad highlights the marginal spaces of the urban landscape in her watercolors. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through July 9
Ed Hall’s Dancing in the Sky at L Ross Gallery (Photo: Courtesy Ed Hall | L Ross Gallery)
“Paper Palooza” L Ross Gallery presents a group show of works on paper, featuring work by special guest artists Brantley Ellzey and Ed Hall. L Ross Gallery, through July 22
“RE(de)FINED” Johnson Uwadinma’s exhibition reflects on the fraught but integral relationship between humans and nature. Urevbu Contemporary, through July 31
“Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Seas” McLean Fahnestock presents videos from his “Stratagem” series, where the sea and sky flip and merge to generate a new, seductive yet false horizon. Crosstown Arts, through August 6
“Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt” Tangela Mathis presents contrasting aspects of personality, showcasing the yin and yang of pneuma. Crosstown Arts, through August 6
“Echoes of Home: Memory and Belonging” Yangbin Park reflects on his memories of home in this exhibition of prints on hanji paper. Porch Window Gallery, Studiohouse on Malvern, through August
“Rich Soil” Created by American artist Kristine Mays, the 29 sculptures in this exhibit are inspired by the movements and gestures of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Memphis Botanic Garden, through October 1
MoSH celebrates the guitar with two new exhibitions. (Photo: Collins Dillard)
“Grind City Picks: The Music That Made Memphis” Learn about the evolution of notable music genres in Memphis through an impressive display of instruments, band merchandise, and photographs. Museum of Science & History, through October 22
“Tommy Kha: Eye Is Another” Photographer Tommy Kha explores themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place in this site-specific installation for the Brooks’ Rotunda. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through October 29
2022 Accessions to the Permanent Collection Take a look at the 24 objects the Metal Museum welcomed into its permanent collection last year. Metal Museum, through November 12
“The World in Pieces” Beth Edwards showcases her contemporary still-life paintings, referencing and reinventing historical vanitas paintings with sensuous, metaphorical realism. David Lusk Gallery, June 27-July 29
“Mud Huts to Paper” Collierville artist Amruta Bhat offers a contemporary interpretation of the centuries-old practice of Madhubani painting, an ancient Indian folk-art technique. Morton Museum of Collierville History, July 11-September 9
“Sally Smith: Adrenaline Rush” Sally Smith’s canvases demonstrate her careful observation of the natural world and deft handling of oil paint. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 11-October 1
“To See With New Eyes, Richard Carr” Blacksmith Richard Carr uses salvaged local materials to share his love of architecture, organic forms, and the Memphis community in this exhibition. Metal Museum, July 16-September 24
“Black American Portraits” The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture from 19th-century studio photography to today. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, August 17-January 7, 2024
“Mary Sims” David Lusk Gallery presents an exhibition of work by Mary Sims, who was celebrated for her extraordinary, stylized oil paintings based on both real and invented environments. David Lusk Gallery, September 5-September 30
ON STAGE
Mary Poppins The arrival of Mary Poppins brings whimsical imagination and a bit of magic to the Banks family of London. Theatre Memphis, through July 2
Jersey Boys The Broadway smash hit, chronicling the rise and eventual breakup of the legendary doo-wop group Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, makes its regional premiere in the Bluff City. Playhouse on the Square, through July 16
Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen (Photo: Deen van Meer)
Frozen An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical. Orpheum Theatre, June 22-July 2
24 Hour Plays: Memphis Witness this electrifying theatrical event as six new plays are written, rehearsed, and performed within a thrilling 24-hour time frame. TheatreWorks@The Evergreen, June 24, 7 p.m.
Don’t Hydroplane Winner of the 2022 NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition, Don’t Hydroplane follows a family as they navigate the difficult task of finding a final resting place for their loved one. TheatreWorks@The Square, July 7-July 23
The Color Purple The musical adaptation of The Color Purple features awe-inspiring soul, gospel, jazz, and blues vocals underpinned by raw dialogue and a masterful plot. Hattiloo Theatre, July 28-August 28
(Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)
Karlous Miller: At the End of the Day Karlous Miller is an American comedian, actor, writer, host, and co-founder of the 85 South Show. He began his comedy career in Atlanta, Georgia, and is widely known for his star roles in MTV’s Wild ’N Out, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, and BET’s ComicView. Orpheum Theatre, August 5, 7 p.m.
Billy Cherry … The Final Curtain Bill Cherry pays tribute to CBS’s Elvis in Concert, the posthumous 1977 television special. Halloran Centre, August 12, 2:45 p.m.
Sister Act When a disco nightclub singer witnesses a crime, she is relocated to a convent for her protection. Her stay with the nuns helps her and the sisters, quite literally, find their true voices. Theatre Memphis, August 18-September 10
The Prom A group of Broadway stars comes to the rescue when a student is refused the opportunity to bring her girlfriend to the prom. Playhouse on the Square, August 18-September 17
A Raisin in the Sun Set on Chicago’s South Side, Lorraine Hansberry’s celebrated play concerns the divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the Younger family. Hattiloo Theatre, August 25-September 24
Fat Ham In a deliciously funny retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in the American South, William returns home after his father’s death and must confront corruption and betrayal. The Circuit Playhouse, September 15-October 8
The Crucible Based on events which took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, this tragedy tells the story of a village that becomes embroiled in a witch hunt. Theatre Memphis, September 15-October 1
Father Comes Home from the Wars An explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love. Hattiloo Theatre, September 29-October 22
Pictures at an Exhibition & Chris Brubeck Guitar Concerto Memphis Symphony Orchestra brings you the world premiere of Chris Brubeck’s double guitar concerto, featuring both classical and blues guitar. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, September 30, 7:30 p.m.; Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, October 1, 2:30 p.m.
AROUND TOWN
First Wednesdays at the Brooks Every first Wednesday the Brooks will have incredible live music. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Wednesdays of the month, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Munch and Learn Every Wednesday during lunchtime, join the Dixon for presentations by local artists, scholars, and Dixon staff sharing on a variety of topics. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Wednesdays, noon-1 p.m.
Super Saturdays at the Brooks The first Saturday of every month, the Brooks will have free admission from 10 a.m.-noon and art-making led by art educator Mrs. Rose. (PS: Every Saturday, admission is free from 10 a.m.-noon.) Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Saturdays of the month, 10 a.m.-noon
Free Family Day On the second Saturday of each month, the Stax Museum offers free admission for everyone. There will also be food trucks, games and activities, arts and crafts for children, bouncy houses, face painting, balloon artists, and live music. Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturdays of the month, 1-5 p.m.
Oil Painting with Glynnis In this class, students will paint a still life composition using oil paints. Arrow Creative, June 25, 11 a.m.
Rich Sounds at the Garden Join the Memphis Botanic Garden on the last Sunday of each month to enjoy performances and demonstrations from local arts and culture organizations. Memphis Botanic Garden, June 25, July 30, August 27, September 24, 2-5 p.m.
Whet Thursdays Enjoy a free after-hours event held at the Metal Museum on the last Thursday of the month with games on the lawn, food truck fare, live music, metalsmithing demos, and more. Metal Museum, June 29, July 27, August 31, 5-7 p.m.
Public Art Yoga UrbanArt Commission will offer free 45-minute outdoor public art yoga sessions this summer. Various locations, July 8, August 12, September 9
Art Club with Joi Purvy Decorate and take home your own terra-cotta pot with acrylic paint and gold foil! Arrow Creative, July 10, 6 p.m.
Fairy Garden Planting Party (21+) Put together your own unique fairy garden! All supplies will be provided, including plants, pots, soil, and decorations. Bring your own drinks and snacks to enjoy while you’re creating. This event is for adults only 21+. Memphis Botanic Garden, July 21, 6:30 p.m.
Crown Me Royal Film Fest This noncompetitive film festival showcases panels, workshops, and independent films from BIPOC behind-the-scenes filmmakers and creatives from all media platforms. Various locations, August 4-6
Night at the Museum Explore the Dixon galleries like never before as works step out of the canvas for an evening of special performances and music, activities, and much more. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, August 12, 5-8 p.m.
Marketplace in Motion Shop colorful new prints, creative cards, and fun stickers to throw onto your new notebooks. Stop by Friday night to grab a cold drink while you shop, or bring your kids through on Saturday for them to pick out their own decorative school starter pack. Arrow Creative, August 18-August 19
Art on the Rocks: Garden Cocktails & Craft Beer (21+) Enjoy botanical cocktails, craft beer, and wine in the Dixon Gardens. Each admission ticket includes all drink tastings and bites from local restaurants along with live entertainment. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, September 8, 6-9 p.m.
Marketplace in Motion Shop from local makers, grab a drink, and catch a football game with some friends. Loflin Yard, September 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
This will be the third Women in the Arts. (Photo: Courtesy Dixon Gallery & Gardens)
For a third time, the Dixon Gallery & Gardens and Theatre Memphis will cohost the annual Women in the Arts, a day dedicated to, as you may have ascertained, women in the arts, with panels, demonstrations, classes, performances, and more.
“We have such a rich arts community in Memphis,” says Karen Strachan, youth programs coordinator at the Dixon, “and while women are fortunately starting to get more of a nod in other industries from engineering to business to medicine, the case isn’t the same for women who are creatives.” In turn, this event hopes to rectify that gap by supporting and highlighting the women makers, arts administrators, actors, singers, writers, musicians, dancers, florists — basically any kind of artist you can think of.
Split between the Dixon and Theatre Memphis, with shuttles going back and forth between locations, the day will cater to all ages, artists and art lovers alike. The schedule for the day is truly packed, so choosing which bits to attend will be the hardest part of the day, says Kristen Rambo, the Dixon’s communications associate. “We try to cover all the things, but you can participate as much or as little as you like.”
At the Dixon, attendees can chat with several visual artists and perhaps even get a chance of some hands-on experience during artist demonstrations. Plus, guests can check out the make-and-take stations, hosted by Hutchison School teens, who will also facilitate a poetry corner. The galleries inside will also be open, with Jeanne Seagle’s “Of This Place” and “American Made,” a survey of American art curated by Diane DeMell Jacobsen, on display.
Also on display is “What Is That Artist?” with art by Johana Moscoso, Karla Sanchez, and Danielle Sierra — all of whom will be present at the event on Saturday. Sierra will be part of the artist demonstrations, Sanchez will facilitate a large-scale collaborative mural activity, and Moscoso will be a part of a panel, titled “Made In,” which will feature women who are artists and immigrants speaking on their experiences.
Meanwhile, at Theatre Memphis, there will be a panel featuring women directors as well as an artist market. Theatre Memphis will also host various performances and drop-in dancing, acting, and yoga classes.
All in all, the event, Strachan says, hopes to “connect new artists and performers with the community because there is certainly no shortage of talent here. You may see some familiar faces but also some new ones. You might even be introduced to a new art form.”
Rambo adds, “I am a woman in the arts and have been working here for a long time, and every year I am amazed how many people I meet. … So we hope a lot of people will come out and see something that might be out of your comfort zone.”
Women in the Arts, Dixon Gallery & Gardens and Theatre Memphis, Saturday, March 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., free. A full schedule of the day’s events can be found here.
In the wake of the recent tragedies impacting our city, our feeling of safety, and our wellbeing, Memphis’ community spaces are doing what they do best — being there for us. Whether you need to meditate in a serene garden or watch penguins be penguins so you don’t have to think, the organizations you support are here to support you.
♥️ Memphis Botanic Garden is offering free regular admission on Friday, September 9th, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., to help Memphis heal and to offer a safe outdoor space for all to enjoy and find comfort and light in.
♥️ MoSH recognizes that Memphis needs some love and is offering free admission to all exhibits, movies, shows, and to the Lichterman Nature Center on Friday, September 9th, 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
♥️ Friday, September 9th, Memphis Zoo is offering free general admission to the community to reflect and relax and just exist with the animals. The zoo’s hours are 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., last admission at 5 p.m.
♥️ The Dixon Gallery & Gardens always has free admission and wants to remind us to take advantage of the oasis of safety, calm, and beauty there.
♥️ Memphis Rox will offer free admission on Friday, September 9th. No reservation or special equipment needed.
♥️ The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will offer free admission Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so that people may reflect, find constancy, and experience the beautiful possibilities of humanity.
We have included all the local sites we know are offering free admission tomorrow, but we may have missed a few. If you are associated with or know of another venue that should be included, please email calendar@memphisflyer.com.
Cinderella had her glass slippers, and Ramona Sonin had her white go-go boots. “I was about 5 years old, and my mom got me my first pair of white go-go boots,” she says, “and it was over. I wore those boots everywhere and everything became about those boots. Magic happened, I think, with a 5-year-old ready to take on the world walking in her go-go boots.”
It was from that moment — if she had to choose a moment — she discovered her love of fashion. “It’s just kind of something you’re born with.”
Today, Sonin channels her passion into designing couture dresses with sculptured bodices and tulle that pours, almost floats, out of the skirt in her latest exhibition of gowns at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. “There’s no machine involved,” she says. “Everything you see is completely hand-stitched, and so each gown and each couture piece you see is at least 300 hours of work a piece.”
Though Sonin starts with a sketch outlining her general idea, once she approaches the dress form, improv and intuition take over, and the piece takes on a life of its own, thirsting for the artist’s creativity to feed and care for it. “I just kind of sculpt it on the body and on the form, … and all of a sudden I’m breathing life into these things,” she says, before referencing a quote from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that goes: “With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.”
What lays at Sonin’s feet are the pieces of fabric already in her studio, which she upcycles into a fabric of her own to piece together and make three-dimensional appliques. For one gown in the show, Ophelia, she even uses fabric from her own wedding dress, showing that though the histories of her materials may come from vulnerable, some even forgotten, moments, these moments came together in support of this new creation, in support of the potential wearer. “The history of the material, there’s power and strength in that,” she says.
At first glance, the dresses may seem overly delicate with their muted colors, tulle, sequins, and the embellishments that seem to have fallen in the perfect place, but they have a bit of “edge” to them, an ephemeral quality that’s haunting and intimidating. The gowns’ fragility is an armor in itself; it’s untouchable. As Sonin says, her gowns are a blend of “Viking shields and Brigitte Bardot.”
Sonin also takes inspiration from other recognizable women, specifically Shakespearean women after whom she titles her gowns. “In what Shakespeare did,” she says, “many of the women were notable and very strong and powerful and free-thinking in a time where society actually commanded them to be delicate. Shakespeare’s women played both of those, that struggle between power and femininity.”
And yet Shakespeare’s women, just like Sonin’s dresses, find power in the feminine.
“Flowerful: Fashioning the Armored Feminine,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, on display through October 23.
James Little, Legacy of Thieves and Pundits (Photo: James Little/Courtesy Dixon Gallery & Gardens)
If you never had a Sweet 16 party or never got invited to one and you’re still just a bit bitter, my advice, other than to get over it, would be to swing by the Dixon Gallery & Gardens for its “Sweet 16,” where you will be most welcome.
This “Sweet 16” is, of course, a bit different than what Molly Ringwald would’ve wanted when her parents forgot her 16th. Sure, you won’t find Jake Ryan, but you will be treated to 16 independent exhibitions, one for each of the Dixon’s 16 galleries. From mid-19th century portraits from a Memphis family collection to Hattiloo Theatre’s collection of commissioned portraits, the Dixon offers a sampling of different art forms across centuries and geographical boundaries.
The decision to include such a variety was intentional since, as Dixon’s director Kevin Sharp says, “Art has this tremendous capacity to speak to the plurality of the human condition, to our diversity, to the multiplicity of ideas that drive our existence.”
One of the many highlights of this show is “James Little: Homecoming.” Little was born and raised in Memphis, having attended Hamilton High School and the Memphis College of Art before relocating for his MFA program in 1976 to New York, where he’s since lived. “He’s an amazing artist,” Sharp says. “He does these geometric abstractions that are very carefully lineated. He goes so far as to make his own paint. They’re really, really powerful works of art. … He’s had a very important career in New York for the last 40 years. He’s about to be in the next installment of the Whitney Biennial — it’s a recognition of a lifetime of brilliant, brilliant work.
“It’s just satisfying for us to reintroduce him to the community he came from,” Sharp adds. “I think it’s nice for any artist to have a major museum show in their own town.”
“Sweet 16,” which opens April 17th, will be on display through July 10th. Admission to the Dixon is free through the end of 2024.
With March as Women’s History Month, The Dixon Gallery & Gardens and Theatre Memphis are bringing together dynamic Memphis women in the arts for a day of performances, demonstrations, and discussions.
“The Dixon and Theatre Memphis are two very established organizations,” says Claire Rutkauskas, Theatre Memphis’ director of outreach and engagement. “We have access to a lot. Part of our mission with this is to make sure we are reaching artists who are trying to get started and provide them with a network and a way to celebrate their work and to be seen and be heard.”
This will be the second time the two organizations have hosted this event, called Women in the Arts, with the first time being in March of 2020 right before lockdown. “Our objective is to have it every first weekend in March moving forward,” Rutkauskas says. Unlike its inaugural year, which, due to renovations at Theatre Memphis, was hosted solely at the Dixon, this year Women in the Arts will be celebrated at both campuses. Admission to the family-friendly event is free, and shuttles will be available to travel to and from the locations.
At Theatre Memphis, guests can view a costume design exhibit; sample lunch and treats from Good Groceries Mobile Dining, Dim Sum Mem, Cousins Maine Lobster, El Mero Taco, and MemPops; and shop from local artists and makers at the artist market (the list of vendor booths can be found here). At 11:30 a.m., Marianne Bell from the Hot Foot Honeys will lead an all-levels tap class (no tap shoes required), and throughout the day, local women filmmakers will screen shorts, with most presenting a Q&A following their film. (A schedule for film screenings can be found here.) Plus, the members of the technical team at Theatre Memphis will have a half-hour panel discussion about the intersection between technical theater and gender. “Most of our technical team is women and that’s not usual for theater,” Rutkauskas explains.
Meanwhile, throughout the day, the Dixon will have pop-up performances throughout its galleries and artist demonstrations in its education building, and guests can get a little creative, too, at the Make and Take Art station. At 10:30 a.m., Mia Henley, the executive director of Creative Aging, will moderate a panel discussion celebrating women in the arts, during which Amanda Willoughby from Indie Memphis, Bethania Baray from Opera Memphis, sculptor Brittney Boyd Bullock, and artist/actor/dancer/youth Harper Steinmetz will speak about the tools they’ve used to navigate the arts world in Memphis.
“We just wanted to make sure we were providing a visible platform for women in the arts,” Rutkauskas says. “A lot of what we believe in is collaboration. We’re definitely stronger in numbers.”
A full schedule of Women in the Arts can be found here.
Women in the Arts, Saturday, March 5th, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., free.The Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue | Theatre Memphis, 630 Perkins Extd.
Watermelon and Knife by Wayne Thiebaud (Photo: Artist Rights Society)
The Dixon Gallery & Gardens teases your sweet tooth with its most recent exhibitions: “Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings” and “Piece of Cake: Confectious Sculptures by Greely Myatt.”
The former features 100 works by Wayne Thiebaud in honor of his 100th birthday, which he celebrated in November 2020. The exhibition looks at the entirety of the artist’s career, starting with his earliest works right after World War II and ending with his latest series from 2016 to 2020.
Thiebaud’s subjects vary from landscapes to figure paintings, but he is most known for his 1960s paintings of cakes, pies, and other sweet treats. “A lot of times his paintings are inspired by the food displays you might’ve seen at a typical American diner in the middle of the 20th century,” says Julie Pierotti, the Martha R. Robinson curator at the Dixon. “So they have this kind of nostalgia to them for us looking at them today — nostalgia for the diner culture of decades ago.” Critics of the time referred to Thiebaud as the “Walt Whitman of the Delicatessen.”
“You don’t have to have any art history knowledge to come in and look at his work, appreciate it, enjoy it, and learn something,” Pierotti adds. “These are subjects like two ice cream cones that are so a part of our life and our culture that anyone can look at them and smile.
“The humor in them is so deadpan, yet it’s quietly dramatic,” she continues. “They speak to something inside of us that is like a guilty pleasure; you have this bodily reaction to it, in your heart and in your gut.” Thiebaud painted in the same manner a baker would frost a cake, with thick coats of paint that make the viewer want to scrape off a bit with their fingers.
Greely Myatt wanted to capture this kind of bodily reaction in his sculptures for the “Piece of Cake” exhibition, also at the Dixon. Just as Thiebaud applied thick layers of paint, Myatt applied layers of brown caulking as the chocolate icing on top of cakes made of wood. The caulking oozes between the layers and drips down the sides. “It’s really gooey and rich,” he says. “You wanna make it look lush, so people wanna lick it rather than just look at it.”
Myatt made his first cake sculpture with 54 layers to celebrate his 54th birthday in 2006. After that, he began making cakes and other sweet treats as gifts to celebrate his friends’ milestones and birthdays — gifts that friends like gallery-owner David Lusk and Metal Museum executive director Carissa Hussong have loaned to the Dixon for this exhibition. “I never thought I’d put these pieces in a show,” he says. “I made them because it was my birthday or David’s birthday, and I thought it was funny to make these things you couldn’t eat.”
When asked if Thiebaud inspired his confectious sculptures, Myatt says that, as an art professor at University of Memphis for 30 years, he was aware of Thiebaud, but Thiebaud was not why he made these pieces. Rather, the connection between the two occurred serendipitously. “A lot of my work references other art,” he says. “I grew up in Mississippi, where there weren’t a whole lot of art museums or galleries. So my connection with art was not with the high art — modernism — until I went to school. It was sort of a collision between the vernacular art that I grew up with and the art with historical references.”
But for one cake in this exhibition, the connection between the two artists was intentional. In honor of the Thiebaud exhibit and his 100th birthday, Myatt sculpted a 100-layer cake that towers 8 feet and sits right next to Myatt’s 54-layer cake — “Wayne and I,” he titles it.
The two exhibitions are playful and clever. But as Myatt says, “Humor is a serious form of art. It’s a skill.” And it’s a skill that both Wayne Thiebaud and Greely Myatt possess.
“Piece of Cake: Confectious Sculptures by Greely Myatt” is on view at the Dixon until September 26th. “Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings” is on view until October 3rd.
