Tag: interview

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Film Features Film/TV

A Conversation With Jamie Harmon

When the COVID-19 pandemic exploded in March 2020, photographer Jamie Harmon set out to document the unique moment by taking portraits of Memphians in their homes. Now, the Memphis Quarantine project is a massive new photography exhibition at the Crosstown Arts gallery.

I spoke with Harmon about his work, his history in Memphis, and the weight of bearing witness to history for WKNO-TV. “In Conversation With Jamie Harmon” will air on April 8, 2022 — but since that’s the same weekend the exhibit will be closing, WKNO has made the full interview available on its YouTube channel. You can watch the entire interview below, and check out the exhibit for free inside Crosstown Concourse.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis 2020: Q&A With Executive Director Ryan Watt

Ryan Watt, Executive Director of Indie Memphis

Tonight at Indie Memphis, Coming to Africa, the feature film by Anwar Jamison, which was rained out last Friday night, will screen at the Malco Summer Drive-In, along with the Hometowner Music Video Showcase, rain or shine. You can read about Jamison’s bi-continental production in my Indie Memphis cover story.

Last month, Ryan Watt, Indie Memphis’ executive director, announced he was leaving his post at the end of the year, setting off a national search for his replacement. Watt has presided over a major expansion of Indie Memphis from a cozy, fall festival into a national example for regional film organizations. While preparing my cover story about Indie Memphis 2020, I spoke at length with Watt, but I didn’t have room in that story to fit everything in. What follows is a Q&A with him taken from that interview, in which we spoke about the past, present, and future of the arts organization. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What can you say about your time at Indie Memphis?

I’ve loved working for a nonprofit. It’s not something I ever expected I would do. It just kind of happened. I joined the board of Indie Memphis in 2014, and then in 2015, we were looking for a new exec director, and I was asked to become the interim. I just kind of fell in love with the job during that time period. And so, over the last six years, I’ve just tried to keep building the organization one step at a time and grow new programs. Now, after six years, I feel like we’re in a really good place, and I think it’s time to find the next leader to take us forward.

What have you learned during the last five years?

I’ve learned there’s a huge amount of amazing creativity in Memphis and throughout the country. Our submissions and the work just keeps growing in number and quality every year. From my perspective, it’s no question that the Memphis film community, over the last six years that I’ve been watching every hometowner film, the quality just continues to get better. I feel really good about the work we’ve put in through our artist development programs, Indie Grants, and the youth program. Now a lot of these students are in college, and pretty soon some of the students who started in the youth program will be out of college. And so it’d be exciting to see what they create.

Why do you think artist development is an important part of Indie Memphis’ mission?

Perhaps in like a New York or Chicago or somewhere else, a film festival might be able to say that there’s plenty of other resources for filmmakers. In Memphis and other cities our size, I think there’s very few resources. That’s why we felt it was important to be proactive about finding support for filmmakers. We just keep growing it every year, but then you always feel like we wish we could do more. We always wish we could do more, or we wish we had more cash to give out as grants, and we had larger programs.

Especially when everyone’s been stuck in their homes, I think it’s clear that the arts are super important to our lives and well-being, and the enjoyment of our city and surroundings, and as communal experiences. But beyond that, if you want to look at it just from sort of an economic development perspective, you learn all these skills through filmmaking. It’s the most collaborative art there is. It involves a lot of teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills and meeting deadlines, and all of these things that translate into so many other jobs, whether you’re going into communications, to work for FedEx, or you’re working in media or all sorts of things.

One of the big accomplishments of your tenure has been a major push to diversify the festival, in terms of audience, filmmakers, and staff. How, and why, did you go about spearheading that? What have you learned from that experience?

I learned a lot. I can remember a few specific moments. I think it was the very first year when we did the narrative shorts screening, and I think there was only one Black filmmaker. A Black attendee raised his hand during the Q&A and asked, “Why is this mostly white filmmakers?” And my answer, which was technically true, was that these are the films that were submitted, you know? We were just picking the best of the films that were submitted. But what I learned over the years that I did not realize at all going into the job was that, even though I think Indie Memphis is very much like many other film festivals across the country that might try to put a spotlight on Black stories, Black communities, and Black artists, the audience and filmmakers in the city still saw essentially a white organization. There were filmmakers who didn’t even bother to submit because they didn’t think Indie Memphis was for them.

So that led to the hiring of Brandon Harris. who had a really strong programming vision to bring to the festival. That was how we wound up with The Invaders premiere and some other films my second year. But I continued to learn a lot, I’d say, over the years by having very blunt, frank conversations with Black artists in Memphis. There was one conversation in particular with The Collective when we reached out to partner with them. They really challenged me. They’ve spoken about this many times, that they had felt with some other white-led organizations that, especially during Black History Month and when MLK50 was going on, that they’re being asked to come in to fulfill this sudden need to make sure organizations are highlighting Black artists. Then they’re not feeling the partnership feels with these organizations at other times of the year.

And so, when I reached out to them, they thought of us in that same bucket. My immediate reaction was to be defensive. But I learned just so much from, I’ll just mention again, Victoria Jones and The Collective, and other people about what experiences they’ve had that they bring with them.

So, having said all of that, I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is just to put your defenses down and be willing to just sit back and listen and understand the needs of Black artists and the Black community. And then, bringing on Miriam Bale as artistic director and watching the Black Creators Forum get off the ground, I tried to just step away and allow other people to lead those initiatives. It’s been something I’m really glad we were able to put in place, and I think it has huge potential to keep growing in the future.

You’ve been in the unenviable position of trying to put together a film festival during a pandemic. How did that go?

We were lucky we were a fall festival. For the spring festivals like Oxford, I mean, the train had already left the station! The whole event was planned, and then they can’t do it. They had to, within weeks, throw together a virtual festival with no time to plan it. So we’re very lucky that was not the case. We had sort of the opposite, where we had all year to think about ideas. You can get to the point where there’s so many ideas that it’s hard to make the final decisions and narrow down what the event should be. Eventually, we keep saying online and outdoors. It’s just kind of the right balance of just enough stuff for Memphians to do, to get out of the house, to be outdoors in the hopefully nice October weather. Then also being online for anyone who understandably wants to stay at home. Also, there’s a huge opportunity now for people all over the country and all over the world to log in and be part of the festival.

Do you think these online innovations will last after the pandemic is over and we can have in-person festivals again?

I think there’s a great way those things can work together. It doesn’t have to be all one or the other. Clearly, the whole industry is going to shift a few steps in this direction, because now everyone’s had to put this whole format together. So I don’t think it all just gets thrown away and disappears overnight. Some of these virtual elements are going to remain even when the more traditional, in-person structure of the festival comes back.

What do you see as the future for Indie Memphis?

The important part is finding a new leader who also has a vision for what the future is, and that doesn’t need to be my vision. I feel like my vision has been for getting us to this point. And so now, I think finding the right leader who sees the path forward is what needs to happen.

What comes next for you?

In the near future, I’ll be announcing a business venture I’m going to be getting into. As I had mentioned in my announcement, I’m just returning to my entrepreneurial roots.

Categories
Art Exhibit M

Vid-O-belisk, I Never Knew You

CREDIT: Brooks Museum of Art

When news broke this week that Nam Jun Paik’s massive “Vid-O-belisk” is in the process of coming down, no longer to hold its traditional place in the center of the Brooks Museum of Art’s rotunda, I felt a mix of emotions. The first of these was relief, because I have long held a grudge against the “Vid-O-belisk” for being, IMHO, not a very good work of art from an otherwise great artist. The second emotion I felt was nostalgia for my stint working as a caterer at the Museum, because “Vid-O-belisk,” with its squiggly neon and antique video art, was a functional compass for us servers. “Go to the table nearest the red owl thinger,” we would instruct each other. 

With that in mind, I Facebook chatted local painter and my old catering co-worker, Dimitri Stevens, and we remembered the “Vid-O-belisk” in all its clunky glory. Here is what we recalled:

Brooks Museum of Art

Nam Jun Paik’s ‘Vid-O-belisk’ (2002)

Eileen: Hi, Dimitri! How are you on this day? A day when the “Vid-O-belisk” is no longer the first thing you see in Memphis’ biggest art Museum?

Dimitri: I’m doing fine Eileen. It’s a little hollow inside the Brooks now-a-days.

Eileen: Well, we’ll always have our memories of working catering events at the Brooks, trying to dodge the massive tower of antique TVs in the middle of the rotunda.

Dimitri: The neon will be remembered as well.

Eileen: You’re right. The best thing about the ol’ “Vid-O-belisk” were those little neon squigglies attached to the side of the TVS like a case of viral worms, which the catering staff affectionately named things like “Pineapple Parrot.” Can you remember any of the names?

Dimitri: No, I’m not too savvy on the names, but the squiggles seemed to range from stick figures to simplified architecture.

Eileen: There were definitely some music notes on there. And a weird eye. I’m partial to the Pi symbol and the lil neon buddha. What message do you think Nam Jun Paik was trying to send with this tower of junk TVs and random symbols?

Dimitri: I was thinking it’s about accumulated cultures through technology.

Eileen: That’s probably it. We used to cater a lot of weddings that happened around this monument to accumulated cultures through technology. In your honest opinion, would you invite the “Vid-O-belisk” to your wedding?

Dimitri: Definitely. I don’t have any big wedding plans yet, but it was an overall beautiful piece.

Eileen: It wasn’t my cup of tea, but I know it brought joy to many. Thank you for taking this moment to remember the “Vid-O-belisk” with me. And cheers to whatever comes next.

Categories
Calling the Bluff Music

Jeezy Talks “Seen It All” Album, Tour

CREDIT: 13th Witness

13th Witness

“Me and Goldmouth in his jeep, we on the road/All I seen was red and blue lights, I thought he told/ Butterflies as we going through this roadblock/Ask yourself questions like, ‘Is this where my road stops?’”

On the track “How I Did It (Perfection)” off his latest album, Seen It All: The Autobiography, Jeezy reflects on a highway drug run that almost earned him football numbers in prison. This is just one of many life stories the Platinum-selling artist shares on his seventh solo album.

Jeezy is currently embarked on a two-month, 35-city “Seen It All” tour to promote the project. And Memphis is among the cities he’s making a stop in. On Wednesday, November 12th, the Snowman will perform Seen It All live at Minglewood Hall.

Jeezy took time out to talk about his latest album and tour, Bishop T.D. Jakes’ issue with his “Holy Ghost (remix),” growing both musically and as a man, and why he prefers Avión over other brands of tequila.

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For tickets to his show at Minglewood, click here

You’ve been on tour for almost a month now. How has everything been so far?

It’s crazy, man. It’s real personable and it’s real intimate. It’s an experience more so than a concert or a show. Just telling the story and watching the way records relate to different individuals. It’s almost like being in a small church, honestly.

Would you say this tour is more monumental than previous ones you’ve embarked on?

It’s more for them. You know, when I get on stage, I tell them, ‘This is y’all night. Whatever y’all want me to do up here, I’m going to do it and some more.’ But it’s more so, like, it’s really having a good time. It’s almost like being a pastor at one of those churches that holds 10,000, and then you just say, ‘You know what, I’m going to go back to my roots. I’m going to go to the local neighborhood churches, and I’m going to talk to the people and give them the same Sunday but better.’ I’ve been on tour with Jay-Z. I’ve been on tour with [Lil] Wayne, with Wiz Khalifa. I’ve been on great tours, but at the same time, it’s like this is touching people.

Prior to undertaking your latest journey, you co-headlined Wiz Khalifa’s “Under the Influence of Music” tour. How was that experience?

It was a great tour. This one is personal, but that was a real tour. That was probably one of the best tours I’ve been on. There were a lot of different types of people that I had never heard and seen live. It’s crazy because almost every night I got a standing ovation.

I would like to congratulate you on Seen It All. I thought it was one of the best projects I’ve heard from you. Explain how you think this project differs from your previous efforts.

What I did differently, I was just more honest, more personable about it, and more straightforward about how I felt. And the G’s, we don’t really get into that. We heard Jay-Z write, ‘I can’t see it coming down my eyes, so I gotta make the song cry.’ It was his way of saying, ‘I know that I could never do it, but if this song feels that way to you, then go ahead.’ With me, when I say, ‘Seen it all,’ that’s what I seen — the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I still stood the test of time, but when you get into records like “Holy Ghost” and “No Tears,” those are really records that are real sincere. And I don’t think I would sit down and have that conversation with anybody, but through my music I can tell that story. But at the same time, I never made songs that was that vulnerable or honest like that. With Seen It All, I was real honest about everything. Even with the title track, I never really talked about exactly how I did it and how I pulled up at Magic City and what my view was like. At the same time, you take records like “1/4 Block,” that’s how I really felt my first day when I got on the block and I was hustling. I felt like I couldn’t be stopped. Those are real records. They weren’t made for the radio. They weren’t made for the clubs, necessarily. They were made for this tour because I wanted to go out and perform the record to people who really understand and know what it means to struggle and to hustle and to go through adversity.

  

So you actually created this album with the tour in mind?

Yep. I start it from the top, and I go all the way through it. That’s what I wanted. I didn’t do it for the radio and the clubs. I’ve done that so much, it’s like … you hear so many things on the radio and in the clubs, it’s not a place for real message music. And it’s just like, I’ve got radio hits, I’ve got club smashes, and it’s like, ‘You know what, let me take it back to the basics and go in these venues where I know these people really love me in and love this. And I’m going to do these records, and they’re going to sing along.’ They sing all the records word-for-word.

If nothing else, what do you hope listeners take away from the album?

I just hope they understand what it really means when somebody says, ‘I’ve seen it ll.’ It’s someone out there that’s seen the world, but when it comes to what we do and how we live, I think I’ve seen more than the average cat. I just hope they walk away with some type of gems, some type of jewels, understanding that, ‘Okay, when you get in situations in life, you can put this on and listen to it.’ I listen to Makaveli all the time. I listen to All Eyez on Me all the time because [2Pac is] pretty much the only person that understands where I came from. And he was ahead of his time when he was making those records. And I was just riding around listening to them. It was just cool, and I loved them because it sounded good. But now, I find myself picking up jewels and hymns out of his words, like, every other day. It’s like, ‘Damn, I just went through that. That just happened to me.’ So he was going through those things way before I was, but he was putting them in music form. So I hope that people can take what I’m saying and put them in music form, because it’s a different type of game out there now, a different type of hustle, and it’s a different type of world from when we came up, but the same rules always apply. That love and loyalty and that honor code, that G code. It don’t really apply because ain’t nobody really stressing it in their music and in their lifestyle.

You linked back up with Jay-Z on this project. Is it intimidating to go toe-to-toe on a song with one of the best to do it?

With me and Jay, it’s always been good. But I’ll tell you this, though, I feel like I’ve scrimmaged with him enough to be ready for that. Me and Jay got more songs than him and B.I.G. got. We’ve burned so many records and [rhymed] back-and-forth so many times, I feel like when it came around this time, I was ready for it. But it was perfect, though. We just performed it for the first time together in the Barclays for [Power 105.1’s Powerhouse 2014]. And to see that response, in front of 20,000, it was unreal. It was worth every minute of writing the record and waiting to perform it. 

Bishop T.D. Jakes recently expressed his disapproval of you placing an excerpt of a sermon he presented at the beginning of your “Holy Ghost” remix. What are your thoughts on the situation?

In all actuality, it wasn’t meant for that version of the record to come out, but I was actually incarcerated at the time, so I think it was a mistake on my engineer’s and my team’s part but nothing that was blatant. But I understand his position, so I wasn’t really tripping on it. I spoke to [Minister Louis] Farrakhan about it, and we both agreed that it is what it is. And we kind of let it go, but at the same time I can see him trying to separate hisself from what I do. But at the same time, it is what it is. I always say, ‘Give glory to God.’ And I really wanted him to know that his words reach people in all walks of life, too. And I really wanted them to hear that speech, because when I heard it, it touched me.

Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 served as your official introduction to the world. From that album up to this point, how would you say you’ve changed as an artist and as a person?

Thug Motivation, I feel like I’ve got that under my belt, so I would never try to recreate my first album, but I just think that’s a big platform to stand on. So with everything I do now, I just try to keep my message going. And I think now, I’m a lot wiser, I’m a lot smarter, I’m definitely a lot more calculated, and I’m evolving. If anything, I just feel like I’m evolving. When you think about B.I.G. and Pac, they weren’t in the position that they were five albums in and 10 years into the game, and they had to figure the dos and don’ts from a whole other perspective, because you’ve got to keep going with the times. I’m riding those waves and those currents and figuring it out as I go, and I just think that’s new. The only other person I ever saw do that was Jay. People don’t last 10 to 12 years in this game. It’s just like being on your shit and making sure you’re staying true to yourself and to the people that ride with you. But a lot of the people that was listening to me when Thug Motivation was out, they’re grown now, so they don’t wanna hear no ignorant shit. You gotta come with something with some sense.

In a recent interview, T.I. talked about you guys doing a joint-album titled Dope Boy Academy. What’s the current status of the project?

Right now, we’re just in conversation about it. We haven’t went farther than that. It’s just been some conversation back and forth, but we’re just going to see where that goes.

You’re the multicultural advisor for Avión tequila? How did that come about?

I’m sipping some right now. I’m at my favorite restaurant Spondivits sipping some right now. I’m a big tequila drinker. Right now, I’m drinking a margarita. That’s my favorite drink. But what it was, I was drinking Don Julio 1942, and one of my partners put me on Avión. And when I went over to Avión, I just talked to them about making my own version of 1942, and they were with it. And it just kind of started from there. And I really switched over brands. Instead of me drinking Don Julio, I just started drinking Avión tequila. And it went on to be a business venture. I met the owner, and we became friends. It just made sense for who I am, because that’s what I drink. Anybody [who] knows me, knows that I’m shots or some margaritas. Plus it’s good. It’s better than a lot of the other tequila brands that I’ve tasted.

What’s next for Jeezy?

I’m going to finish up this tour, and I’m going to get ready to hit these folks again. I’m ready for it.

A new album?

A new everything. A whole new look and everything. I’m ready.

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Categories
Cover Feature News

Brick By Brick

Muralist and sign painter James “Brick” Brigance sits with his head down, gripping the arms of his wheelchair in a small but comfortable room at the Willowbend convalescent center in Marion, Arkansas. “I miss them walls, man,” he laments. “I miss painting on them. I think about painting those walls every time before I go to sleep. I’m just like a football player, I tell you. I’m like a football player who’s been knocked down, but I’m gonna get back up. I am going to get back up.”

Brigance is 55 years old. That’s a good age for an artist, he says, because by the time a man’s 55, he’s done about everything there is to do. The wildness has worked its way out, and he can approach his work with skill and confidence.

“Maybe if I can get me some legs I can get back to painting before I’m too old,” he says, listing the indignities that have become a part of his daily routine.

“Fell off the commode two or three times,” he says, shaking his head in an un-self-conscious gesture of amusement and shame. “Busted my ass too.”

Two years ago, while riding his bicycle along Lamar Avenue, Brigance, whose ubiquitous signs and murals are woven into the fabric of life in Memphis, was struck by a car. Shortly thereafter his legs became infected and gangrenous, and they had to be removed.

“I ache a lot,” he says. “I’ve been through a lot of operations, but I’m going to be okay. I’ve been on a lot of pain medicine, but I’m going to get back up, you watch.”

Brick, one of seven children born and raised in a small house on Douglass Avenue near Airways in the Orange Mound community, earned his nickname on the job. “A lot of people can’t paint on brick walls, you see, because it’s really a challenge. But it just came natural to me, and I like doing it,” says Brigance, whose first artworks consisted of drawings he made in the dirt with a stick.

“I was drawing in the dirt before I went to paper, then I went from paper to watercolor painting, then oil paint, then chalks and pastels,” Brigance says. “My brother Charles taught me a lot too. He was good and went off to California and got work painting backgrounds for Disney.

“It was rough growing up on Douglass. But it was good too,” Brigance says, remembering the days when he and his friends would play football in the streets. “A lot of the guys in my neighborhood were smart, but they was into a lot of junk too — junk that got them in trouble. But all of us was like family on my street.”

As a teenager, Brigance joined a harmony-singing group called the Tennessee Playboys, which he compares to the Temptations. “We sang every week on WDIA, played at Bill’s Twilight Lounge and at the Rosewood over on Lauderdale,” he says. “Bubba, one of the guys who used to sing with us was 17 when he died in jail after an asthma attack. We broke up at about the time everybody started chasing girls. Like I said, it could be rough sometimes. And sometimes we didn’t get along, but the family stuck together when times got hard. We’d build our own bikes and go-carts. And we’d run. All the boys in my family was fast and could outrun anybody in the neighborhood. Sometimes we’d run around the block five times just for the hell of it. We’d wake up in the morning and run. Just run.”

Brigance studied art at Melrose High School. “I couldn’t read or write too good, but I could draw,” he says. “The teacher, Mr. Purvis, gave me a circle and a square to draw, but instead I drew him.”

His first professional work as an artist was to paint the exterior of Raiford’s Hollywood Disco, as well as a portrait of Robert Raiford who owned the storied dance club. “I used to paint Raiford’s name on the side of his cars too,” he says.

Although his hand-stenciled signs on businesses can be found all over Memphis, most of Brigance’s surviving murals are located in Orange Mound. “I didn’t have a car,” he explains. “And everywhere I went I was walking or riding my bike, so I’d just walk along until I saw a wall that didn’t have anything on it.

“I had my hangouts,” he says. “I used to stay on the street. I’d kick it with the winos, I didn’t care. I was having a good time.”

Eventually, Brigance made Pressure World, the Lamar Avenue club, garage, and car wash, his base of operations.

Works by James Brigance are commonplace in Orange Mound, including here at the Melrose Booster Club on Carnes, and a car wash on Spottswood (below).

“I stayed busy because people knew where to find me. They said, ‘We’ll catch him at the car wash.’ And I was good at detailing cars. People liked me because I could get on them cars and shine them up like nobody else. I had cars lined up waiting for me, because for $20, I’d paint your initials in the back window. I was making good money and reaching my peak, then all of a sudden — BOOM. I got messed up. But I’m going to come back. And when I come back, I’m going to come back strong because I’ve got a lot of stuff in me.

“I need to take a nap now,” Brigance eventually says, looking up at the large painting of an armed Japanese nobleman that he painted for his sister Doris 31 years ago. He shuffles through recent paper images of orange cats and yellow flowers, the first drawings he’s made in more than 15 years.

“I want to make a lot more drawings,” he says, getting ready for bed. “I just ain’t ready yet. I’ve been going through a process of healing and a lot of times I hurt. I hurt a lot. That kind of takes me away from wanting to draw. And I’m not about to do anything if I’m not good at it.

“I need to get some glasses so I can get all the details right,” Brigance says. “I need to get some legs. I need to get back on the walls before I get too old.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q&A: Kaywin Feldman

Kaywin Feldman was the youngest director ever hired to run the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Beginning January 2nd, Feldman will become the first female director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, one of the 10 largest museums in the country.

Though she’s not an artist herself, Feldman’s always been passionate about art. That led to studying art history and museum management at the University of London, where she received her master’s degree.

As director of the Brooks, Feldman was responsible for bringing in exhibits that would resonate with Memphis’ culturally diverse demographic. She also managed the museum’s staff, dealt with the business side of running the museum, and acquired pieces for the Brooks’ permanent collection. She’ll have similar duties at the Minneapolis Institute, but considering that the Brooks is much smaller than the Minneapolis museum, she’ll have her work cut out for her. — Bianca Phillips

Flyer: What do you anticipate your biggest challenges will be at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts (MIA)?

Feldman: I’ll be running a much larger institution. Our staff at the Brooks is about 50, and the staff at MIA is 300. Our budget’s $5 million. Their budget’s $25 million. We have a 90,000-square-foot building. They have a 400,000-square-foot building. Their collection is 10 times our size.

Any challenges with being the first female director?

I think everyone’s pretty excited to have a female director, so I don’t think there’ll be any problems there.

As the Brooks’ youngest director, did you ever face any age discrimination?

I certainly wouldn’t call it discrimination, but there was definitely a period of skepticism. There’s always a period of that with any new director, but I think it was a little stronger given my age.

How did you decide which exhibits to bring to Memphis?

Because the Brooks shows a little bit of everything, we try to balance out an old masters exhibition with a contemporary art exhibition. We’re very committed to being an inclusive art museum by representing work by other cultures and African-American artists. We have to make sure every exhibition here balances those things.

What was your favorite exhibition at the Brooks?

The exhibition we brought in last fall, which was “Masterpieces from the Fitzwilliam Collection.” It was an English private collection that started in the 17th century, so it included Anthony van Dyck, George Stubbs, and Joshua Reynolds.

Do your preferences affect what exhibits you show?

No, they really don’t. We have to think so much about what will bring people into the museum, and that’s not always necessarily what I like.

Before you began at the brooks, the museum was often criticized for attracting a mostly white audience. Do you feel like you got a more culturally diverse group into the museum?

It’s certainly been a priority for our organization since the day I arrived. I do think we’ve made a difference. We’ve brought in exhibitions that reflect the community. We’ve brought significant numbers of works of art by African Americans to the collection. We’ve increased our African-American programming. We’ve seen results in attendance, as well as membership of the museum.

Which acquisitions for the Brooks’ permanent collection are you most proud of?

We bought a Dutch still-life painting from the 17th century by an artist named Roelof Koets. That’s a very fine Dutch picture. I’m very proud of the Nam June Paik sculpture in the rotunda. In general, I’m pleased with the way we’ve added to the collection of work by African-American artists and the photography collection.

Who will head up the Brooks in the interim?

Al Lyons. He’s on the board of trustees. It usually takes a year from the time the director announces they’re leaving before a new person arrives.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q&A: Warren Lewis

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Seventy-five-year-old Warren Lewis made his reputation as a grassroots civil rights activist in the 1960s. He founded neighborhood organizations that distributed food to impoverished citizens in North Memphis, put street kids to work, and pushed elected officials to enforce equal rights for African Americans throughout the city.

Today, Lewis’ barbershop at 887 N. Thomas Street serves as a hub for local news that seldom reaches the paper and a stumping ground for politicians. Lewis offers a unique perspective on the local role of the National Civil Rights Museum in light of the December 8th demonstration against the current museum board of directors.

“I was involved with marches in the ’60s,” Lewis says, explaining his choice to sit this one out. “I don’t hardly go to marches anymore.” — Preston Lauterbach

Flyer: Are folks in North Memphis talking about the controversy over who controls the Civil Rights Museum?

Lewis: No, not much. They don’t know about the museum. They’re not informed. I’d like to see the museum open up to them and show them the things we’ve been through. Local people should be able to go through there for free to [learn about] the struggle. Maybe it would open their eyes to certain things. I talk to a lot of young people who aren’t informed about their history, and the museum might be able to help that.

Are you satisfied with the way the Civil Rights Museum tells the story of the movement?

I’m pretty satisfied with it. I had a flashback seeing pictures of the riots and the police siccing dogs on people.

How could the museum function as a civil rights organization?

If I was over there, I’d make contact with the people here in the ghetto and inform them about what’s going on. There should be more laymen involved with the museum [board of directors], people who have direct contact with what’s going on in the community. They’re not connected with the grassroots people. The civil rights movement included ordinary people. They can help the direction of the museum. It’s too top-heavy the way it is.

What do you think about Al Sharpton’s decision to protest the way the museum is run?

He opens the eyes of a lot of people, but I don’t see the [long-term] results.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Christmas Spirit

Jeff Guinn is a man who created a world around Santa Claus. Where most of us see a mythical gift-giving saint (or, for the more cynical, a way-overdone marketing scheme), Guinn saw an amazing story as well as a career path.

First, there was Guinn’s book The Autobiography of Santa Claus, which traces the reality of Saint Nicholas (born 280 AD) and the development of the legend surrounding him. Next up was How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, which fictionalizes actual events of 17th-century England, when peasants marched to save Christmas from the Puritans, who had deemed it sinfully pagan. In that tome, Guinn turns a great literary trick, combining the origins of the candy cane and Oliver Cromwell in the same book.

And finally there was The Great Santa Search, in which Saint Nick descends from the North Pole to defend Christmas from the tide of commercialism.

Guinn, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and author of several non-Christmas books, says that since food was always part of Christmas, his books always included some fabulous feasts — and readers wanted the recipes. This led Guinn on another research trip.

“It became obvious that to really understand Christmas history all over the world, you should look at the traditional foods people use to celebrate,” he says. The result is Santa’s North Pole Cookbook (Tacher), which Guinn will be touring to publicize this month. He’ll be at Davis-Kidd on Tuesday, December 11th.

Guinn confesses he had no idea what he was getting into with a cookbook.

“I started out wondering if I could find two dozen Christmas recipes from around the world,” he says. “I wound up with just under 400 of them. We had some huge tasting parties over the last two years.”

He settled on 75 recipes, and he’s brought the formula from his “Christmas Chronicles” into the kitchen: do the research then lay out stories and facts to expand your knowledge of Christmas. He says 85 percent of the recipes are taken straight from traditions of specific countries, while a chef friend, who appears as Santa’s private chef Lars, has created some “North Pole specialties.”

“I don’t claim to be in any sense a gourmet chef,” Guinn says, “but I am one of those people who enjoys getting into kitchen and trying to make things. We have a good mix of recipes to challenge world-class chefs and also to be fun for families to prepare together. I wanted to make sure everything in the book could be done at home.”

Among the five breakfasts, six breads, nine appetizers, 16 entrées, nine sides, six drinks, and over a dozen desserts, you’ll find little historical notes like where the word “Christmas” comes from and how turkeys get their name.

Some recipes didn’t make it. “Some things, after four or five tries, we finally decided that’s just the way it tastes,” Guinn admits.

Much of what made it won’t strike you as traditional Christmas fare, unless you’ve done Christmas in, say, Italy.

“In Italy, a lot of people were poor and seafood was readily available, so a lot of Christmas dishes feature some kind of seafood,” Guinn says. He’s given us a recipe for capitone fritto, or fried eel.

Can’t find eel in town? There’s also doro wat, an Ehtiopian chicken stew with cardamom, nutmeg, and ginger root. And there’s the Greek christopsomo (Christ’s bread), a raisin-walnut concoction that kids decorate. From Egypt, there are sweet cookies also enjoyed by Muslims.

There is — gasp! — a fruitcake recipe, as well as the story of fruitcake.

“Fruitcake was originally a road food for armies that would could keep forever,” Guinn explains. “Egyptian pharaohs loved it so much that for a while it was illegal for common people to eat it.”

His book has a recipe for “Black Christmas Fruitcake” from Trinidad and Tobago, whose complicated preparation is part of the festivities.

You’ll also find out that there are no plums in plum pudding; rather, the name comes from putting all the ingredients in a bag and boiling them until they expanded to “plum fill” the bag. Guinn’s recipe has 14 ingredients.

And you’ll learn that “palascinta,” or lemony Hungarian pancakes, were thought to be flown in by Jesus and a band of angels.

“I want to expand your Christmas knowledge while expanding your waistline,” Guinn jokes. “The most wonderful thing for me is realizing Christmas really is global. The means by which Saint Nick delivers his presents change, but everybody at some point sits down to the table and has a big feast.”

Jeff Guinn and “Lars” talk cooking, sign copies of Santa’s North Pole Cookbook, and offer baked goods at Davis-Kidd Booksellers on Tuesday, December 11th, at 5:30 p.m.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q & A: Bill Gibbons

New Orleans has made some recovery since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in 2005. The population is almost 70 percent of what it was before the hurricane. In some parts of the city, especially in the tourist-friendly French Quarter, the only evidence of the storm are T-shirts that say, “I survived Hurricane Katrina.”

But the Orleans Parish district attorney’s office has yet to bounce back. In the first half of this year, many felony cases were dismissed, due in part to inadequate staffing levels. In other cases, key witnesses never returned to the city after Katrina.

Then last month, after a federal judgment levied $3.7 million against the office for firing 42 white employees, New Orleans district attorney Eddie Jordan resigned.

Shelby County district attorney Bill Gibbons and four other D.A.’s from across the country spent November 12th to 16th in New Orleans evaluating the local office and meeting with judges, community leaders, and law enforcement. In the next 60 days, the group will recommend how to repair the Orleans Parish office.

— Bianca Phillips

Flyer: How did Katrina affect the Orleans Parish office?

Gibbons: In the first half of 2007, over half of their homicide cases were dismissed, as well as over half of their robbery cases. A lot of those were pre-Katrina cases.

[Missing witnesses] ranged from people who were on the scene and needed to testify about a particular crime, to former police officers no longer on the force. On the other hand, the office did not have the adequate staff and resources to locate witnesses who may still be in New Orleans.

Is crime on the rise in New Orleans?

They have a very high homicide rate and a fair amount of drug trafficking. The levee issue [people not returning because they aren’t sure the city is safe from storms] has been replaced by the crime issue as the major hurdle in persuading people to come back to New Orleans.

Was the D.A.’s physical office destroyed in Katrina?

The office was about six feet under water. Since then, it has been closed, and it’s my understanding that there’s a serious mold problem. It’s probably going to need to be gutted and totally redone.

For now, they’re in temporary office space. They don’t have an office-wide e-mail system. They have three to four employees sharing telephones. They don’t have enough computers for the office staff. The office is operating off of folding picnic tables.

On top of all that, the D.A. resigned.

[New Orleans D.A. Eddie Jordan] had been sued for race discrimination as a result of terminating a fairly large number of employees when he took office. They were primarily investigators and victims-service assistants, as well as support staff. The federal district court recently ruled that the assets of the office could be seized to satisfy that judgment.

Who’s running the office now?

An interim D.A. was appointed, Keva Landrum-Johnson. I’m pretty impressed with her. I think she’s smart, tough, and savvy. She faces more challenges than any D.A. in America right now.

A federal judge froze six of the office’s bank accounts this month as the first step in seizing the $3.7 million. Is that having any effect?

They had great difficulty making payroll last week. They’ll face the same problem at the end of this month. My guess is that they will end up securing a loan to pay off all or part of the judgment.

Why did you go to New Orleans?

The National District Attorneys Association was looking for D.A.’s from cities similar in size to New Orleans, as well as cities that may have something in common with New Orleans. In our case, we’re larger in city population than New Orleans, but our metropolitan area is about the same size. And Memphis has so many commercial and cultural ties with New Orleans.

What did you do?

We interviewed as many stakeholders as we could. We talked to the interim D.A. and to her key staff members. We talked to the police chief and other key people in the police department, Mayor Nagin, various judges, and representatives of the business community.

We’re not trying to come up with some five-year strategic plan for the D.A.’s office. We were more of a MASH unit that comes in and identifies some specific things that could be done in the immediate future.

Could New Orleans’ problems affect Memphis?

New Orleans is our sister city, so what happens down river affects us here. If New Orleans can make some headway on its crime problem, I think that will benefit us in the long run.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Thompson Takes On Fox News

From Huffington Post: In a heated exchange this morning on Fox News Sunday, former Sen. Fred Thompson took host Chris Wallace to task for what he claims is a “constant mantra” of attacks on Thompson from Fox News.

Thompson reacted to two clips from Fox News contributors Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes sharply criticizing Thompson’s candidacy.

“I don’t know if Fox has been going after you,” Wallace said, defending his network’s coverage.

But Thompson insisted — “From day one, they said I got in too late –” only to have Wallace interrupt. “Well, there are a lot of people besides Fox who said that.”

For more, check out HuffPost.