Sunday, December 29, 2013

My Year in Review for ArtsATL.com

Click to Year in Review: A photo scrapbook from ubiquitous Architecture Tourist for ArtsATL.com then come right back here. I want to introduce you to some nice people.

Atlanta is small enough that it's not a chore to do new things if you can find out about them. And there is so much to do. The best part is the people, there's just no stopping them.

If you follow ArtsATL.com and Burnaway.org, you'll be in the know. Use email, websites, Twitter, FaceBook, or all them. That's what I do.

Here is a mini field guide to some ArtATL folks. Get out there in introduce yourself; tell them Terry sent you.


I worked with Cathy Fox (right) on my review and what a pleasure. She's executive director, editor, and  chief art critic at ArtsATL.com. She knows stuff and knows how to put it into words. Here she is picking up the 2013 Creative Loafing readers picks award for Best Local Arts Website.


It fun spotting Atlanta's arts writers. Here is Andrew Alexander at the gloATL performance at the Rhodes Theater. Andrew writes about theater, dance and art.


Mark Gresham is an Atlanta composer who writes about music for ArtsATL. Here's Mark at Tim Whitehead's piano recital at the restored and acoustically renovated Druid Hills Presbyterian Church.


Faith McClure writes about visual arts. She's an artist, curator, and more, working in the Visual Arts Department and Gallery at Emory. Here she is with Louis Corrigan at a gloATL performance in the pool at Maddox Park.


Jerry Cullum goes nearly everywhere, writes nearly everything. Tip for spotting Jerry in the wild: Find a crowd of ladies and Jerry will usually be in the center. Here he is at whitespace with Mimi Hart Silver.


Ed Hall is a literature guy who goes nearly everywhere. Right now he curates the ArtATL to-do list. Here's Ed with Maggie Ginestra and Rachel Herrick when "Something In Particular" spilled out of the Telephone Factory onto the BeltLine. Tip for spotting Ed in the wild: See "Jerry Cullum" above.

Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

I Regret This Teardown

We talked about Ansley Park carriage houses this week, one of Atlanta's greatest neighborhoods is denser that you think. Morningside too but it's getting less so.

Replacing multi-family with single-family is gentrification on steroids. Fewer students, singles, starter families, and empty nesters can live around here anymore. We won't get them back.



This multi-unit wasn't in sparkling condition.


There were 3 multi-families in a row built in the mid-30's according the property tax records.


They were so well integrated I didn't pay much attention. I got this picture from Google.


The replacement house (not shown) is just fine but you can't do this mix anymore.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Guest Curating: I Blogged a Week on the Burnaway Tumblr

Merry Christmas.

Today ends my week as guest curator on the Burnaway Blog. I'd be grateful if you went over and had a look. If you do Tumblr, maybe you can do some reblogging. If you've never seen Tumblr - well - this is your chance.

I did 28 little Tumblr posts over there, go see.



Burnaway is an online arts magazine here in Atlanta. The Burnaway folks help make Atlanta a more interesting place. It's where I go for my to-do list.

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"BURNAWAY is an Atlanta-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing critical coverage and dialogue about arts in Atlanta and the Southeast since 2008."

Monday, December 9, 2013

Elegant Virginia-Highland Design by Pak Heydt

The first time I met Yung Pak I asked him how we could get architects like him to design small(er) houses. He'd obviously thought about it. He told me he'd love to do small houses, he'd work extra hard on them. But the economics rarely favor it.

We're lucky once is a while get one like this.


He said you have to concentrate on prefect proportions rather than elaborate geegaws and luxury materials. I call that elegance.

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You should have seen it before. It was from the 20's, a simple box with pleasing proportions fronted by a portico, a Georgian revival entrance. This was high-quality, elegant design, a classy little house.

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Pak Heydt reused the portico. Your guests enter through a little temple. See the fan above the door?

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The hip roof got a gable too with curvy brackets under the returns.

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It makes it's neighbors look better.

Bravo to owners, designers, and craftsmen.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Lori's East Atlanta Pottery Studio is "Out in the Country"

It feels rural just south of East Atlanta Village.

At Lori's there's a nice pre-Depression era house on a half acre, a gravel and grass drive, and an outbuilding workshop. Our southern grandparents, aunts and uncles lived in places like this. They worked in the city but preferred living in the country. Many still do.

I went to Lori Buff's Future Relics Gallery yesterday. Lori is a clayworker. She's having her holiday sale. I was already charmed by Lori and her work, We have one of her raku horsehair pieces. Yesterday I got to see the studio.

You can keep up with her on Facebook and Twitter @FutureRelicsGal.

 
Who doesn't love a crisp sign, a grass drive, and a perky outbuilding.
 
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Three bloggers, two clayworkers: Left is Linda Starr, also a clayworker and blogger at Blue Starr Gallery. Right is Lori Buff, the one-person total package at Future Relics. If you go out much, go out to where the artists, artisans, crafterers are, you'll run into her. Lori blogs at Future Relics Pottery.

Now I'll just show you.

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It feels country but she has neighbors and this great yard sink.

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This is so cool.

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These round things are "bats."  You put the bat on the wheel, the clay on the bat, then you throw, like on Ghost.

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You take the bat off the wheel and let the pot harden just enough. Then you use a cut-off string with handles to cut the pot off the bat.

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Depending on how you pull the cut-off string, you get very cool patterns like this.

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Handles have their own production line.

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There a wheel with a metal pedal.

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There's a kick-wheel with a collection of clay tailings.

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There's orangestone clay.

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Phoenix clay in clay lingo: "... It has a good amount of tooth without being rough on beginners hands. Fine mullite grog has excellent thermal shock properties ..."

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Loafer's clay is just my style.

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Straightforward tools everywhere, You'll need this to make sure your lids fit.

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I'm rather ham-handed but I love the tools.

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For big curves and striations.

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There will be mud but not today.

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Humble sponges.

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A stick for every season.

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I like the lamp a lot.

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Do the clayworkers bond like the printmakers? I think so.

Time to go.

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This is a rural scene.

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Some of Lori's handmades.

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A neighbor took a picture of us. You can just see the back of the house.

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A look at the seconds table, they look like firsts to me.

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Bye.

Linda Starr blogged it too at "Lori Buff Open Studio."

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

gloATL Re-opened the Rhodes Theater for a Little While

Atlanta seemed so full of theaters then.

"The (gloATL) tour concluded Friday and Saturday in the organizations’ home city of Atlanta, where the artists repeated similar activities, centering on photographic murals and a performative installation at the historic Rhodes Theater."  - ArtsATL by Andrew Alexander

I grew up with two theaters. In Atlanta I could see everything, movies I never heard of. There were six theaters in Midtown close to Georgia Tech.

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You can still see movies at the Fox once in a while. The Rhodes is the only other one standing. It's still standing but hollowed out, in the shadow of an I-75 entrance ramp.

I saw the Atlanta premier of Woodstock at the Rhodes. I saw Cries and Whispers there too. I preferred Woodstock.


In 1975 I saw Bergman's Magic Flute at the Rhodes. I thought that would be the last time.

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"It was a beloved Atlanta landmark single-screen cinema, the flagship of the Storey chain, before closing in 1985." - ArtsATL by Andrew Alexander

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The gloATL folks performed in the Rhodes November 8-10, 2013.

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You can't tell it was a theater. It looks 1-story yet seems colossal, clever design by Ivey and Crook.

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Everything "theater" is gone.

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The screen was down there. Was there a stage? I don't remember.

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The lobby was on the other side of that wall. There wasn't a balcony,

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The arches are still there.

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The cornice is still there.

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gloATL performed inside.

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Music, dance by gloATL, projections by Living Walls, photographic murals by Dustin Chambers.

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I'm a gloATL fan and I like this sort of thing. I'm fidgety and at glo performances I don't have to stay put.

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The dancers danced everywhere, the music sounded great everywhere.

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The babies enjoyed it.

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I couldn't take it all in.

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This was probably my last look and last listen at the Rhodes, but who knows?


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