A! JULY LAYOUT_Pages 1-16 - Arts Alliance Mountain Empire

July 2004
Volume 11
Number 7
NASCAR
Ballet
page 2
Memorial
Sculpture
page 3
Collectors
of Early
Regional Pottery
page 4
Arts Funding:
Come & Get It!
page 10
Architecture & Art
South of Tucson, AZ
page 12
What
What aa
Crock!
Crock!
2
Magazine
July 2004
TUNES @ NOON
Magazine for the Arts
Winner of the 2003 Tennessee Governor’s
Award for Arts Leadership
Juky 2004
Vol. 11
No. 7
A publication of
P.O. Box 94 • Bristol, TN 37621
518 State Street • Bristol, TN 37620
AAME Goals
• To support artists and arts organizations
throughout the Mountain Empire
• To promote collaboration among artists,
arts organizations, and the community
• To improve recognition of the aesthetic,
educational and economic value of the arts
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
ANN HOLLER, COMMITTEE CHAIR
(423) 652-7462 • aholler@naxs.com
BOB CASSELL
CARL CLARKE
STEVE FEY
ANN McIVER GOODPASTURE
BEN JENNINGS
JUDY MOORE
BARBARA-LYN MORRIS
ALAN PICKRELL
KALONN ROBERTS
DEE SPROLL
SEAN O’SULLIVAN
DIANE THOMAS
F. WILLIAM THOMAS
Will Bristol Host
NASCAR Ballet?
How do you get people in a small southern
town interested in the performing arts? You might
do what the Roanoke Ballet Theatre (RBT) did
and develop a NASCAR ballet, a show where modern
dancers who represent cars circle a 40-foot horseshoe
track that banks around the corners, complete with
break-away railings.
And how do you fund such an unusual project? You
follow NASCAR’s lead, of course. According to RBT’s
website, “As the dancers gracefully careen around the
track, collide and are rebuilt, logos of sponsoring
companies are displayed prominently all over their
bodies.”
Hoping to reach a wider audience, RBT’s artistic
director, Jenefer Davies Mansfield, has been attracting
national media attention with her daring choreography.
She has had dancers pirouette in Bluegrass Ballet to
live music by the Del McCoury Band. Then came Aerial
Ballet, with the RBT company prancing along the sides
of buildings, suspended 75 feet off the ground by ropes
and mountain-climbing harnesses. Her latest creation,
NASCAR Ballet, aims directly at attracting a potentially
huge audience that’s been especially reluctant to
patronize the theater. NASCAR Ballet premiered in April
in conjunction with a NASCAR-sanctioned stock car race
near Roanoke.
“Learning about NASCAR and applying it to dance
has been an adventure,” Mansfield says. “NASCAR is a
fascinating blending of sounds, sights, techniques, colors
and shapes that create an aesthetic particular to this
sport. The stimulating chaos of these blended elements
is at once vibrant and immediate, exciting in a way that
would seem quite different from traditional ballet. It is
within this discrepancy that inspiration awaits. The
process of taking two divergent forms of movement
and blending them in a new way has been frightening,
enlightening and tons of fun. Surprisingly, these two
ways of moving through space are not so different after
all. We both dance. We both seek artistry in motion at
the very edge of failure. We both inspire and celebrate
what it is to be human. And hopefully, we both make
others want to try what we do.”
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
ANN McIVER GOODPASTURE
(276) 608-4337 • jagoodpasture@comcast.net
WRITER / ART DIRECTOR
ANGELA WAMPLER
Tel/Fax (423) 538-5201 • aswampler@charter.net
Although every precaution is taken to ensure
accuracy, A! Magazine for the Arts cannot be
held responsible for opinions expressed or facts
supplied by its authors. We welcome photographs and other material accompanied by a
SASE, but we cannot guarantee their return. (c)
2004 Arts Alliance Mountain Empire. All rights
reserved. For permission to reprint articles,
contact Angela Wampler at (423) 538-5201 or
email: aswampler@charter.net.
She continues, “I was
drawn to NASCAR because I
am always looking for a way
to expand our traditional
audience. Though we
love to provide artistic
and
educational
opportunities for
those in the region
who adore ballet and
modern dance, I was
looking for ways to bring
dance to those who may
never have experienced it.
Roanoke’s
Aerial Ballet
By broadening our thematic
had dancers
interests, we open ourselves
suspended 75 feet
to a new segment of
off the ground.
potential dance lovers. We
need to keep experimenting, keep inventing. We have to be willing to take risks.
We cannot be scared into thinking small.”
NASCAR Ballet is anything but small. The production
blends 30 dancers, five scenic artists, four
videographers, media specialists, NASCAR personalities,
sponsorships, choreography and music. At the wave of
the starting flag, the company begins dancing to newage music punctuated with the sounds of revving
engines. Above, three giant TV screens show the action
from different camera angles while a sports anchor gives
a play-by-play.
Find out more about Mansfield’s ideas when Bristol
Ballet presents her and some of her dancers in a lecture/
demonstration Friday, July 30 for the Tunes @ Noon
series at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol.
Who knows? Maybe NASCAR Ballet will be coming to a
race track near you — perhaps Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Tunes @ Noon series also includes other events.
On July 2, Theatre Bristol will present a recital by
students from two art camps, “Broadway Guys & Dolls”
and “Shakespeare Goes Broadway.” On July 9, Charlotte
Anderson and Agnese Goin will perform Crazy, a
Broadway/jazz revue. On July 16, Fragment will play
bluegrass music from Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
On July 23, Young Artists will showcase Bristol Music
Club scholarship recipients, among others. A $5 donation
is suggested for all presentations. 423-274-8920.
A! Magazine for the Arts wishes to thank
the Bristol Herald Courier, our Community Partner
AAME member
DEADLINES for
AUGUST 2004
• July 1 for news items
• July 10 to reserve ad space
• July 14 for advertising copy
ON OUR COVER
Marcus King of Blountville, TN examines
an early 19th century storage jar.
He estimates its value
between $2,500 and $5,000.
Ivan Scott’s Photography
of Abingdon.
Magazine
David Spence puts final
touches on the sculpture.
Sculpture Memorializes
Young Girl
A larger-than-life sculpture dedicated to the
memory of a six-year-old girl is expected to be unveiled
in July in front of The Café at Barter Theatre’s Stage II.
The memorial sculpture of two girls playing — one
directing an imaginary play, and the other reading a
script — will be dedicated to Genevieve Ferreira as a
gift to Barter Theatre and the community.
Jim and Jennifer Ferreira initiated the idea
of the memorial soon after their
daughter Genevieve passed away
from a brain tumor in 1996. Funds
were gathered to
create a smaller
memorial in a
different location,
but over time the
July 2004
Plans 10th
Anniversary Issue
In November of 2004, A! Magazine
for the Arts will celebrate its 10th
Anniversary with a special celebratory
issue. In anticipation of that event, we
encourage you to give us your thoughts
on the following topics:
The Past 10 Years
• What have been the most
significant developments in the arts and
the arts community of our region?
• What has been the most significant
contribution made by A! Magazine?
project exceeded their original plans and budget. Now,
after seven years, the project is becoming a reality.
Sculptor David Spence was so interested in the
project that he temporarily moved to Abingdon to create
the work on location. Over the years Spence has
traveled back and forth from the US to Europe and
South America in the pursuit of his art. He worked in
art galleries in New York City and opened an antiques
business in Abingdon, as well as studios and foundries
in Virginia and Dallas, TX.
Donations may be made to the Genevieve Ferreira
Memorial in care of Barter Theatre’s Development
Department, P.O. Box 867, Abingdon, VA 24212, 276628-3991.
The Next 10 Years
• What would you like to see happen
in the world of the arts in our region?
• What role should A! Magazine play
in the arts in our region?
Please send your responses to:
A! Magazine for the Arts
c/o Angela Wampler
295 Essex Drive, Bluff City, TN 37618
Fax: 423-538-5201
Email: aswampler@charter.net
Here’s to Your Health!
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July 2004
Magazine
Collectors of Early Regional Pottery
by Carl Clarke
The most Klell Napps ever paid for a piece
of traditional pottery is $45, but he stopped
adding to his collection years ago, when prices
were still reasonable. Marcus King, on the
other hand, recently brokered a deal in which
the buyer paid $25,000 for a piece, a face jug
by C.F. Decker (d. 1915). The most John
Haynes ever paid for a piece is $2500, and the
most he ever sold a piece for is $7,200. “But if
I had it back today, I could easily get
$15,000,” he says.
These three, and others, collect the
traditional, utilitarian pottery of the region —
the butter churns, milk pitchers, whiskey jugs
and kraut crocks made during the 19th and
early 20th centuries.
While every county in the region had one
or two potters, Washington County, VA and
Greene and Sullivan Counties in Tennessee
became centers for the early utilitarian ware.
Mass production of metal and glass storage
vessels had put most of the traditional potters
out of business by the early 20th century.
“Early pottery represents the functional art
of our heritage,” says Betsy White, executive
director of the William King Regional Arts
Center (WKRAC) and director of its massive
Cultural Heritage Project. “It is fascinating to
see the stylistic differences from one potter to
the next — how the handles were fashioned,
the general form and shape, and how they
were decorated.
“These were artisan artists, not fine
artists, because the artistry is in the very
shape and structure of the piece. C.F. Decker,
for instance, used elaborate decoration. E.W.
Mort fashioned his pieces with very thin walls.
They were so well made, they ‘ping’ when you thump
them.”
She continues, “A collector of early pottery is not
dissimilar from the collector of paintings. A painting
collector might marvel at the colors the artist used,
the brush strokes, and how the painter handled light.
Crock collectors study the color and texture of the
clay used, the ingredients of the glaze, the incising
and the decoration.
“If an unsigned piece is exactly like a signed
piece, one may conclude that the unsigned piece
came from the same potter, or at least from the
same pottery. A signature enhances the value. Of
course, the other reason people collect these early
pieces is that they’re just not making them
anymore.”
What do collectors of regional pottery look for?
What pieces command prices in five figures? Many
factors contribute: the rarity of the piece, the name
of the potter, and the provenance (or line of
verifiable authenticity). Since many early potters
never signed or stamped their utilitarian wares,
crocks and jugs are identified often by the distinctive
glaze, shape, lip, or clay used.
A collection of crocks
belonging to Klell Napps,
seated, includes three
storage jars attributed to
E.W. Mort. Marcus King,
standing, appraised the
one on the right, which
is signed, between
$200-$300. The other two,
because they are unsigned,
would bring $50-100.
King once discovered by accident a very
rare piece of Greene County pottery by
Christopher Haun. It was signed and
decorated. “You could see the German
influence in it,” he says. “It had wide, extruded
handles, applied differently than those of other
local potters.”
He later sold the piece to someone who
had been pestering him for it, and later
regretted not having such a fine example of
Haun’s work. Later, in a shop, he saw
something similar on top of a cupboard. Taking
it down, he immediately saw it was another
fine Haun. Worried that the price would be
exorbitant, he approached the shop owner
with some trepidation, only to discover the
price was quite reasonable. As he left the
shop, he says, “My heart was leaping in my
chest.”
There is also the agony of disappointment.
“I will see a piece at an antique shop or in an
old barn that is wonderful, only to discover
that it is not for sale — at any price. I am
naturally attracted to not-for-sale pieces.”
Klell Napps of Abingdon started his 30piece collection just because he thought the
pottery was “beautiful.” His first local crock
was given to him by the grandson of the potter
James Miller. When he lived in North Carolina,
he collected some of the early Seagrove
potters. So it was a natural extension to be
interested in the potters of this region when
he moved here.
Ivan Scott’s
Soon after he came to Abingdon, he heard
Photography
stories told by descendents of the region’s
early potters, about how their grandfathers
made
pottery.
Concerned that this history would be
Marcus King of Blountville is not offended if
lost,
he
set
about
interviewing as many descendants
you say that every horizontal surface in his house —
as
he
could
contact
and researched period census
every bookshelf, hutch and table — is cluttered with
data
to
verify
dates.
Subsequently, he wrote one of
pottery. He has been a collector and dealer for 58
the
earliest
oral
history
accounts of the early potters
years. A certified appraiser specializing in folk art,
in
Washington
County,
VA
and Sullivan County, TN
furniture and pottery, King was the principal field
(Historical
Society
of
Washington
County
researcher for the Arts Center’s Culture Heritage
Publications,
Nov.
1972.)
His
study,
and others like it,
Project. He continues to consult for the project on an
helped
fuel
interest
in
collecting
the
early potters.
as-needed basis. Arguably, he may be the region’s
One
of
the
earliest
potteries
in
the
area, Napps
foremost collector, dealer and appraiser of traditional
learned,
was
the
Cain
Pottery,
and
there
is a
pottery.
collection
of
the
Cain
pottery
at
the
Rocky
Mount
How did he get started? His grandmother had an
Museum
in
Piney
Flats,
TN.
An
exhibit
of
C.F.
earthenware covered jar — not one of the modern
Decker’s pottery was mounted in 2003 at the
factory-produced cookie jars, but an old hand-turned
Jonesborough Visitor’s Center in conjunction with the
jar with a lid. Its distinctive glaze and shape
Jonesborough-Washington County History Museum.
intrigued him. In time his father, and then he,
inherited it.
John Haynes of Chuckey, TN collects the
“When I got into the business, there was no one
work
of Greene County potters almost exclusively. “I
to learn from. I had to learn it on my own, by talking
go
door-to-door
looking for the stuff,” he admits. The
with descendants, finding the few remaining
most
prolific
of
the
Greene County potters was M.P.
examples of the potter’s work,” King says.
Harmon.
However,
the
most famous is C.A. Haun.
“Collecting pottery is an obsession, an
Haynes
estimates
that
he has 50–75 pieces in his
investment, a hobby, an avocation, and a vocation,
collection.
How
did
he
get
started?
His grandmother
all rolled into one. You live for the thrill of discovery.”
Magazine
told him about a face jug that she had seen at a sale
in 1962, 10 years before he was born. Intrigued by
her story, at age 17, he began looking for a face jug.
Four years later, he found it and bought it for $500.
As much a dealer as a
collector, Haynes says that
he wakes up every
morning thinking that
“today is the day”
when he will find
another unique piece.
“I do not need to
own it to have
satisfaction. If I
have found a Haun or a
Decker, I may well sell it
so I can afford to continue
the search. Once I find it
and get it out to the world,
on exhibit somewhere, I
have the same satisfaction A face jug like this one
inspired John Haynes
as if I owned it.”
to begin collecting
He feels that his niche
regional pottery.
is in discovering previously
unknown or unappreciated potters. He believes he
has found the kiln site of a Thomas Ripley, near an
old house built in 1780. If the pottery was operated
soon after the house was built, Ripley would predate
the more famous Haun by 80 years. Until the
Tennessee Division of Archeology organizes an
excavation, Haynes has only some shards
that he attributes to Ripley.
through the shape, the color and style of his pieces.
A lot of collectors think of their pots as their
children.”
He started collecting when he was 15 and
remembers bringing his first piece home on his
bicycle. By age 18, he had 35 crocks, including many
made by E.W. Mort. Later he sold them all and later
still began to collect again. “Any collection can get
out of hand,” he admits.
In building his second collection of now 30
pieces, he tried to find the best pieces, all from
Washington County, and all signed or stamped by the
potter. He now has pieces by E.W. Mort, Jessee
Vestal, John B. McGee, J.W. Gardner, and James
Wooten. The most he ever paid for a traditional piece
of pottery was $1,100.
A collector by necessity becomes an historian,
researching the history of the potter, his family, and
other potters who were often close or extended
family members. Many of the early potters, he
learned, migrated to the Osceola community, off Rt.
58 toward Damascus in Washington County.
Collecting has many aspects, he concludes:
“First there is the visual aspect of it, the sheer
beauty and individuality of the piece. Then there is
the historical aspect, the fun of researching and
verifying a piece. Third, you become an advocate,
encouraging the preservation and display of all
crocks by the early potters. Finally, there are the
July 2004
5
friendships you form with other collectors with whom
you share stories and research and information.”
Pottery Lore
C.A. Haun’s pottery career ended tragically. He
and four friends, all potters and all Northern
sympathizers during the Civil War, burned a key
railroad bridge in 1862. The five made no secret of
their intentions, and had even invited James Lowe,
Haun’s apprentice and an avowed Southerner, to join
them. Lowe declined. The five were arrested, tried,
convicted and hanged by the Confederate
government. Lowe testified against them in court,
and tried to continue the business unsuccessfully.
Few of his wares remain, but crocks made by any of
the other five are now collected and known locally as
“bridge burner pottery.”
The early potter whose pieces command the
highest prices is “Slave Dave,” who made utilitarian
crocks as a slave at the Edgefield Pottery in South
Carolina. If you find one of his large pieces in your
barn, and you can verify its authenticity, it could
bring as much as $100,000 at auction.
Potters in North Carolina’s Seagrove area were
paid a “dime a gallon” for a piece of pottery, e.g. $1
for a 10 gallon crock. For that dollar, the potter had
to dig the clay, turn the pot, dry it, glaze it, cut
firewood, fire the pots in a kiln, and finally sell it.
Alan Long, of Clay Pond Pottery in Seagrove, jokes
that, “Sometimes, you couldn’t get eight gallons in
one of their 10 gallon pots.”
Primitive Pottery
Workshops Offered
An anonymous collector in
Washington County, VA collects “for the
sheer beauty and sinuous lines of early
pottery.” He loves the feel of the pieces,
and the way they fill their space. “While
they were utilitarian vessels, they were also
a form of art,” he
says. “The potter’s
creativity is shown
A two-part workshop featuring primitive
pottery will be offered July 31 and Aug. 14
from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Sycamore Shoals
State Historic Area in
Elizabethton, TN. $35
for both sessions.
423-543-5808.
Two pieces from a private collection include a whiskey jug
with handle and a lidded jar. The jug, signed by James
Vestal and dated 1882, is valued between $500-750. The
jar, by an unknown potter, is appraised at approximately
$3,000 because of the workmanship, glaze and decoration.
In the foreground is a basin by E.F. Decker,
which “slumped” before firing; estimated value:
$2,500-$3,500. Behind it, the water pitcher was
custom made and decorated by an unknown potter
for presentation on a special occasion; appraised
at $1,200-$1,500. The Mottern storage jar, center,
has an estimated value of $1,000-$1,500.The small
pedestal flower vase by an unidentified potter was
painted, not glazed; appraised value: $100-$200.
Together, these two pieces are valued at $17,000.
The decorated earthenware honey pot is circa 1825.
The stoneware whiskey jug is incised with the
maker’s name, James Vestal, and the date 1849.
IVAN SCOTT’S PHOTOGRAPHY.
IVAN SCOTT’S PHOTOGRAPHY.
WILLIAM KING REGIONAL ARTS CENTER PHOTOS.
6
Magazine
July 2004
The Queen of the Big Time
Adriana Trigiani Crafts
a Compelling Portrait
In a welcome return to the
cadences, small-town locales, and
crisply defined characters of her Big
Stone Gap trilogy, Adriana Trigiani has
crafted a compelling portrait of what it
means to live a complete life: to
experience, to examine and,
ultimately, to understand the intricate
web woven by background, desire,
choices, and relationships.
Nella Castelluci, the third of five
daughters born to Italian immigrant
parents, is a happy, industrious girl
who, because of her excellent grades,
is accepted as a student at the
Columbus School in nearby Roseta,
Pennsylvania. This will allow her to
complete high school, to exchange the
unrelenting chores of the farm for an
exciting new social and academic life
in town, and to achieve her aspiration
of becoming a teacher.
“As soon as I could read and saw
what life was like for other people in
other places, I began to judge where I
came from,” she writes in a note to
Renato Lanzara, the man who has
captured — and will break — her
youthful heart. Renato has gone to
college, is a poet, and is as elusive as
a dream. The thread of this first love
is woven inextricably through the
fabric of Nella’s entire life, binding its
events together and, in the end, tying
it off as a fully-developed and
satisfying human drama.
Nella learns early on that
sometimes “life gets in the way of
what we want to do.” When, at 15, an
accident injures her beloved Papa, she
must give up school and, instead,
along with one of her sisters and her
own best friend, she must go to work
in the local blouse factory. In so
doing, she transfers her ambition
“from books to productivity,” quickly
demonstrating her ability and
determination to succeed at work. Bad
news continues to”light” on Nella,
however, and she learns she must
accept the hard truth that “there is no
way to get through life without getting
hurt.” The hurt that defines her
emotional life is Renato’s abrupt
departure from Roseta, leaving only a
note expressing his need “to find his
purpose in life.” Nella’s youth, “like
sugar in the rain,” dissolves.
Eventually relinquishing the loss of
her first love, Nella is finally won over
by a charmingly persistent and
romantic co-worker, Franco Zollerano.
Their marriage is a strong one, able to
withstand even the unexpected return
of Renato whose “purpose,” it turns
out, was to become a priest and
whose parish is none other than
Roseta. Her husband’s devotion and
spontaneity are antidotes for the lack
of “whimsy” Nella wishes she
BOOK
REVIEW
by Anna Morgan
possessed. She would like “the abililty
to dance through life instead of trudge
like a farmer,” but her time and
energies are consumed by her
marriage to Franco, the birth of two
children, and her climb from forelady
of the blouse factory to executive, and
finally — with her husband — to
proprietor of an expanded and wildly
successful line of “knock-off” clothing.
Near the end of her story, which
takes place from the 1920s-1960s,
Nella sees a reflection of the person
she has become: “a profit-driven mill
owner” weeping for the loss of her
youth, the loss of closeness to her
children who suffered from her
passion for work, the loss of her
husband and their life together, and
the loss of the future they were so
close to sharing. Looking back at the
rich moments she missed, she
exclaims, “How I wish I could have
been young when I WAS young.”
Rather than becoming the “Queen of
the Big Time,” a distinction she never
achieved, Nella has “trudged” a steep
path, struggling with her faith and her
relationship with the church, often
wondering if God is really “listening.”
If the reader feels an occasional
twinge of deja-vu (strong-minded,
independent woman struggles with
impossible romance while married to a
proud, hardworking, and supportive
husband), the twinge can be ignored
by enjoying Trigiani’s delectable
descriptions of foods! Every
mouthwatering, flavorful, succulent
morsel she describes is a gastronomic
treat. Perhaps, with a little nudging,
Adriana Trigiani might consider
making her next book a culinary
journey from the hills of southwest
Virginia to the Blue Mountains of
Pennsylvania, with the obligatory if
soul-restoring trip to the Italian
countryside she so obviously loves.
The gift of capturing a reader’s
appetite is almost as special as finding
and exploring that place in everyone’s
heart where self-recognition lies,
waiting to be found.
The mirror she very deftly extends
offers a clear, undistorted image of
the truth — not only of who we are
but of the person we become. In
Nella, as in other of her protagonists,
we recognize ourselves, celebrate the
simple “ever-lasting” gifts that life
offers, and mourn the squandered
opportunities to dance, instead of
trudge, through life.
Anna Sevier Morgan is an
educator and author.
Editor’s Note: Queen of the
Big Time will be released July 13.
Trigiani’s Cooking With My
Sisters: Recipes from Bari to
Big Stone Gap will be published
this fall.
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Magazine
Festivals
Arts Trail in Northeast Tennessee
“Take a Walk on the Arts Trail” celebrates art and nature with events throughout
the region. The Jonesborough Storytellers Guild will tell tales July 10 at 7 p.m.
at Sycamore Shoals State Park, Elizabethton (423-543-5808) and Sept. 11 at 6
p.m. at Bays Mountain Park, Kingsport (423-229-9447). Each performance will
take you back to the days when our ancestors struggled to tame the wild and
beautiful land in which we live, as you hear humorous tall tales and spine-tingling
ghost stories. Arts in the Park will be held July 3 from 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. in Mill
Spring Park during Jonesborough Days. The highlight of the day will be a concert
by The Carter Family at 3 p.m., followed by other musicians who will take the stage
in the park’s gazebo. A Fourth of July Art Fence project will involve children and
local artists in the production of Independence
Day-themed paintings. 423-753-9580. Arts
Explosion will take place July 9 from 1-7 p.m.
on the Kingsport Greenbelt, across from the
historic Netherland Inn. The event will include
performances of music, dance and theatre;
workshops on Native American flutes, Celtic
After
July 24,
musical instruments, hands-on visual arts
tickets will
and ballroom dance; and demonstrations of
be
offered to
the
basket weaving and clay making. Booths will
public for
a
be available for local arts groups to promote
performan
ce
their programs. 423-224-2489. The Arts
of the Nor
th
Carolina
Trail series is a project of the Appalachian
Youth Tap
Resource Conservation and Development
Ensemble
at
Council in partnership with the Johnson
Barter Thea
tre.
City Area Arts Council with financial
support from the Cherokee National Forest
and the National Endowment for the Arts.
423-854-9621.
Virginia Highlands Festival-Abingdon
This two-week festival will take place July 31-Aug. 15. At the end of this month,
the following events will take place:
SILENT AUCTION. Proceeds from the sale of a framed and signed original
watercolor by Carole Farris Blevins, the 2004 Festival artist, will go toward a newly
established Virginia Highlands Festival Endowment Fund. The painting will be on
display during the Patrons’ Event (see DANCE below).
CONCERTS. Three performances are scheduled Saturday, July 31. Bonepony
will perform from Noon-2 p.m. The music of the Nashville trio has been described
Festivals . . .
LETTER
TO THE
EDITOR
July 2004
Thanks so much for A! Magazine.
I have been looking for a research
book on ancient flowers and was able
to find it after reading Barbara-lyn
Morris’s article entitled “Art-Related
Summer Reading.” I’m looking forward
to next month’s issue!
Henrietta Umberger
Glade Spring, VA
WHEN YOU WRITE...
We invite you to write letters to the editor on topics of general interest. Letters will be
edited. Preference will be given to those less than 300 words. No letter without the writer’s
name, full address and daytime telephone number will be published. Address: Letters to
the Editor, A! Magazine for the Arts, 295 Essex Drive, Bluff City, TN 37618, Fax: (423) 5385201, Email: aswampler@charter.net.
United Hair Designers
1109 Newton St.
Bristol, Virginia 24201
(276) 466-3003
DON’T WAIT!
Write the family history and value
of your antiques down NOW in
The Family Heirloom Record Book
Continued on page 13
During Abingdon’s Spirit Tour,
“Haint Mistress” Donnamarie
Emmert will tell where the
skeletons are buried — literally!
7
The Family Heirloom Record Book provides 50 forms to record
the history, value, size, markings and other data about your
heirlooms, including to whom the piece is “promised.” Record
your furniture, china, jewelry, paintings, special collections, etc.
The Family Heirloom Record Book
is available at the following locations:
Virginia Highlands Festival Antique Show & Sale
See dealer David Cline in Tent A
or from the publisher:
Oakland Press of Virginia
P. O. Box 428 • Abingdon, VA 24212
(276) 628-3719