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Sayre-Inspired Chefs Create Fine Cuisine to Support Kids

October 4, 2011 By admin

By T.S. Donahue. Photos by Donn Young.

Chef Scott Crawford and NC artist Thomas Sayre

The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood has been serving children in the Triangle region for 22 years, and recently five renowned chefs served nearly 150 guests in support of the center. The benefit, held at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, NC, showcased a menu prepared by the Umstead’s executive chef Scott Crawford and was influenced by the works of North Carolina artist and sculpture Thomas Sayre. The dishes were accompanied by a select pairing of wines. Chef Steven Greene, of Heron’s at the Umstead Hotel and Spa, prepared reception hors d’oeuvres.

Sayre, known for his use, love and respect for natural materials, said that he was first skeptical about a dinner inspired by his works of art. That skepticism fell by the wayside after meeting with Crawford and his team of chefs. “My first response was ‘No,’ but after meeting with (the chefs) I started to see the possibilities and began wondering ‘How can we take this to a deeper place where something new might happen?’” said Sayre. “That’s really what the center is about – new beginnings; and the dinner needed to have the same inspiration.”

The preparation of Course One: Randomness.

The theme of the event was creative collaboration, said The Lucy Daniels Center board chair Dean McCord. “Creative collaboration is something that happens every day at The Lucy Daniels Center when our team of social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and educators work with children, their parents and members of the community who help make it all possible.”

The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood is the largest and most comprehensive nonprofit agency providing children’s mental health services in the Triangle region of North Carolina. Began in 1989 with a gift from Lucy Daniels, the center serves more than 750 children and their families every year.

McCord, who says the center hopes for the benefit to become an annual event, told attendees the center doesn’t “offer cookie-cutter, quick-fix solutions, instead our highly skilled staff takes the time to sort out what the best course of treatment is for each child, whether it takes five visits or 500,” he said. “We provide services for … a high percentage of children from low and moderate-income families. About 1 in 7 children are treated at no cost and more than 90 percent pay less than the actual cost of providing services.”

The serving of Refined Smoke.

That is why the benefit is so important, according to McCord. “Our Family Support Fund must annually make up the difference between what families pay for services and the actual cost of providing them,” he said. “The center is not just about numbers (volume). The center is committed to providing a very high level of quality and service to every child that we treat, as well as their parents.”

McCord added that future plans for the center include more than doubling the number of children and families it is able to assist in the next 10 years to 2,000 children and families.

Throughout the meal, Sayre and Crawford expressed their thoughts on the dishes served and the inspiration behind them. Sayre said that “the dishes were prepared very well and everything turned out better than I could have imagined.”

Course One: Randomness

Course One: Randomness – Chef Scott Crawford, The Umstead Hotel and Spa

This dish included the random accompaniment of white and green asparagus spears, topped with a crispy ham hock, capped by a quail egg, and accompanied by an herb salad, tomato and Parmesan cheese. A beautiful dish, the lightness of the quail egg truly accentuated the perfectly fried ham hock. A tangy mustard-based sauce brought everything together in well-balanced explosion of flavor.

Course Two: Refined Smoke

Course Two: Refined Smoke – Chef Matthew Medure, Matthew’s San Marco and Restaurant Medure

Served under covered lid, which was removed from guest’s plates tableside, a burst of smoke momentarily veiled flawlessly cooked Maine scallops in a light pastry resting in a smoked vegetable Nage and topped with a Perigord Truffle Duxelle. The dish wasn’t as visually appealing as the rest of the dishes, but the smoky presentation, depth of character of the accompanying vegetable Nage and overall taste was amazing. The scallops literally melted in your mouth; and serving a ‘to-the-minute’ smoked dish to 150 people was not only impressive, it was done flawlessly.

Main Course: Earth's Influence

Main Course: Earth’s Influence – Chef Colin Bedford, Fearrington House

The hibiscus-marinated venison, wild mushroom and sage Cumberland sauce, beet, cocoa, cipollini, and sunchoke truly expressed the earthiness of Sayre’s works. The venison was tender, without any hint if gaminess. Visually appealing, the combination of unique flavors punched your palette in the face and you loved every minute of the experience.

Dessert: Serendipity

Dessert: Serendipity – Chef Daniel Benjamin, The Umstead Hotel and Spa

Dessert was accentuated by what Chef Crawford called “a happy accident” of caramelized white chocolate. The accompanying cinnamon toast, roasted apples and crème fraiche had the aroma of fall and inspired the senses towards all the season brings. Served on the right side of the dish, the white space on the plate made one feel as though something was missing, but upon the first mouthful everything seemed to be exactly where it belonged.

Overall the dinner was superb and delightfully done. The crowd expressed those thoughts with a standing ovation as Crawford took the stage alongside his team of chefs for a question and answer session at the end of the meal. Sayre agreed with the crowd’s enthusiastic response.

If the benefit does become an annual event, artsee Magazine highly recommends your future attendance.

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraiser, Special Exhibit

Critique: Venezia, photographs by Michael Venna

September 23, 2011 By admin

by Dr. Karen A. Heid

"Six Gondolas, Giardini ex Reali, Venice Italy, 1980" gelatin silver print, 21/45. Photo courtesy of Columbia Museum of Art.

Venice is most certainly not sinking. At least that is how one may feel when he or she sees Michael Kenna’s photographs of Venezia. Venice, the aesthete’s ideal of Italy, has been photographed by Kenna in such a way that he captures this ancient and fragile city as if it were rising from the depths of the marshy peninsula on which it was first built, revealing secrets that can only be seen through a lens.

Luminous, mysterious, and somewhat eerie, Kenna’s photographs suggest a city that is steeped in tradition and gratified by its own unique and ancient legacy. One feels the ebb and flow of the tide in the canals, the rise and fall of the Gondolas moored on antiquated quays, and the solitude of the buildings having been baked in the sun for centuries. At first there is a sense of loneliness in the depiction of each of the photographs. After quiet analysis, the loneliness is replaced by the sense of aloneness. The former suggests angst and the latter solitude, stillness, oneness, and thought.

Known for it’s watery and boat-laden streets, carnival masks, and magnificent glass, Venice is instead portrayed through Kenna’s photographic lens as a city that is quiet, asleep, and on the verge of awakening from a long slumber. With his quiet and patient method of photographing a sense of place, Kenna captures his own idiosyncratic explanation of the meaning of this city. His long exposures, sometimes lasting many hours during the darkest part of the night, are symbolic of the resulting quiet and patient images.

By working at night Kenna relinquishes the need for the sun as a single source of light and opts for light from the stars, moon, and man-made bulbs that come from many different directions. He terms his work “theatrical” when this kind of direct and indirect lighting creates the high drama of conversely washed-out areas and deep shadows. Working with medium format cameras without light meters since the early 1980s, Kenna is not bothered by the advance of technology. He is content with the critical process of film and believes that printmaking is the central component of his gelatin silver prints. His relatively small prints, like the artist’s relationship with his subject, invite the viewer to look closely – to step forward and have an intimate relationship with the work.

Michael Kenna’s Venezia can be seen at the Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC through October 23, 2011. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday.

Filed Under: Blog, Critique, Museum Exhibit

Critique: Regardless of What You Think, paintings by Morag Charlton

September 23, 2011 By admin

by Chris Vitiello

"I absolutely love myself", 37" x 37" oil on linen. Image courtesy of Eno Gallery.

What can a single image do? What face do you present to the world? And what happens when your face proliferates throughout that world? Morag Charlton paints these questions large in Regardless of What You Think, a show of new portraiture—or perhaps it’s post-portraiture—now showing at the Eno Gallery in downtown Hillsborough.

Technically these are portraits of self-portraits. The subjects of Charlton’s large-scale oil paintings are the social networking profile pictures that late-teens and early 20-somethings have taken of themselves. Despite measuring more than a yard square, the linen surfaces are claustrophobic, cropped tight to faces. These giant thumbnails of young men and women capture their subject/object awkwardness in trying to photograph themselves with their laptop or phone cameras, simultaneously posing, framing, and clicking, always a little mistimed.

A serial artist who splits her time between studios in France and Raleigh, Charlton has taken a sharp turn from more traditional portraiture ranging from sketchy figure studies to allegorical portraits in classical poses that have located themselves stylistically between early Picasso and Leger. But recent cropped canvasses of wide-eyed sheep heads most directly inform the new paintings’ alignment with digital photography. And something in those animal eyes carries over into this new work: a simultaneous deadness and hunger that Charlton’s masterful brushstrokes do not temper.

The stakes are high for these young people, and Charlton’s transparent craft pays them a great amount of respect. These are their images, not hers. And if the sum of their images can be said to represent themselves to the world, what happens to that idea of self when half the gadgets they own have cameras in them, and hundreds or thousands of images can be taken and disseminated globally so easily and quickly?

These are desperate and conflicted lunges, as if these young people are trying to break through the screen to say they’re more than the pile of adjectives one might use to describe their expressions and poses. Charlton expresses her fascination with the strangeness of these zero-second performances in the weird, bluish fluorescent light of the screen. These are her children, friends, or strangers, abbreviated to a face and a flash, trying hard to be real in a virtual space. And Charlton refracts their spectrum of possibilities for identity through a prism-like intuition back into the realm of the real.

Regardless of What You Think at Eno Gallery in Hillsborough, NC, August 26 thru September 25, 2011. Visit Eno Gallery at www.enogallery.net for more information.

Filed Under: Blog, Critique, Gallery Exhibit

Sueños Americanos/American Dreams: The Art of Cornelio Campos

September 22, 2011 By Sean

by Sean Byrne, Publisher, artsee magazine

I attended the opening reception on September 8 for Sueños Americanos/American Dreams: The Art of Cornelio Campos at the FedEx Global Education Center at UNC. Unfamiliar with the work of Cornelio Campos, I was curious to see it. The Center’s website described it as “Modern yet traditional, and deeply personal, the paintings of Cornelio Campos illustrate complex realities of migrant life that are often concealed.”

Cornelio Campos in front of his work “Antorcha Guadalupana,” oil on canvas, 2007. Photo by Donn Young.

This is a large show, with works displayed throughout three floors of the Center. The paintings have a folkloric sensibility: lots of vivid color, highly illustrative, and compositions filled with complex symbology that create intriguing, if sometimes puzzling, narratives. The Statue of Liberty rises over an open field flanked by the Virgin Mary and a modern city under construction. Hovering over the field is a UFO, emitting a tractor beam, and buried below are human skulls and relics of Pre-Columbian art.

What does all this mean? They are stories, stories being told by Campos, about his unique set of experiences and observations. Some are about the history and culture of his native Mexico. Others are about cultural identity or current issues, such as immigration.

I was fortunate enough to meet Cornelio Campos at the reception. He greeted me with his limited English, we shook hands and he smiled. A quiet man, with a gentle gaze, I looked forward to hearing his remarks (delivered with a translator). I wanted to learn more about his work, and the artist himself.

Below is the transcript of Campos’s remarks. What struck me the most about what he said? The universality of our experiences as artists. In Campos’s own words:

“I remember as a child looking through the magazines and cartoons of my favorite superheroes. I admired the illustrations in encyclopedias—at the library, and especially in the one my father bought for our family… At age 12, a family friend invited me to the city to take drawing classes … in Guadalajara, Jalisco. This opportunity to leave the village for the first time exposed me to public places with murals by famous painters such as José Clemente Orozco.”

Whether in Mexico or the United States, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, don’t all of us who create art remember the fascination in childhood of discovering the beauty of visual communication? The magic of creating something with pictures that says so much more than words? Campos found these inspirations in magazines, comics and public murals. I found them in the illustrated storybooks, art museums, and yes—like Campos—in comic books and magazines, too (ahhh yes, Classics Illustrated and Cricket magazine…).

I am always fascinated to learn about different artists’ journeys, especially when coming from non-Western European traditions. I encourage you to read Cornelio Campos’s remarks below, and learn about his personal journey.

You may learn more about the FedEx Global Education Center at UNC here.

Sueños Americanos/American Dreams: The Art of Cornelio Campos will be on display until October 15, 2011.

At the opening of “Suenos Americanos/American Dreams” at the FedEx Global Education Center at the University of North Carolina, Sept. 8, 2011. Those who served on the committee to curate, install and plan the art exhibit and supplemental programs, from left to right: Gabriela Valdivia, assistant professor, UNC Department of Geography; Altha Cravey, associate professor, UNC Department of Geography; Cornelio Campos, artist; Joseph Palis, teaching assistant professor and advisor, NC State Interdisciplinary Studies; Laura Griest, manager of global events and exhibitions, UNC Global. Behind them, “Antorcha Guadalupana,” oil on canvas, 2007. Photo by Donn Young.

An Excerpt from the Remarks of Cornelio Campos

Delivered at the Opening Reception for Sueños Americanos/American Dreams at the FedEx Global Education Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Cornelio Campos resides in North Carolina. He is from the small mountain town of Cherán in Michoacan, Mexico. He is the third oldest from a family of nine children.

Painting has always been one of my passions, from an early age. I remember as a child looking through the magazines and cartoons of my favorite superheroes. I admired the illustrations in encyclopedias—at the library, and especially in the one my father bought for our family. Later I had the opportunity to attend art classes with the teacher Panfilo Macias. The classes were during the weekends in the municipal pergola, or garden, of the village. These classes were open to the public – for all children – without registration. The only requirements were to have a sketchbook and a pencil.

At age 12, a family friend invited me to the city to take drawing classes … in Guadalajara, Jalisco. This opportunity to leave the village for the first time exposed me to public places with murals by famous painters such as José Clemente Orozco. I visited frequently the paintings and murals of Cabañas Hospice during my stay in Guadalajara.

I remember one in particular entitled “Man of Fire.” This painting is of a man on fire walking or flying in the air. It is painted on the dome at the top of the building. I was very impressed by the way it looks from the bottom and the visual perspective, which gives the impression that this man is actually walking on air. Above all, I was struck by the themes of his paintings: politics, conquest, corruption and social differences.

The main foundation of my life as an artist was my teacher Panfilo Macias, in the traditional style, and in the political, murals such as those of Orozco.

During middle and high school, I did little with my drawings and paintings: small school projects or pictures of classmate profiles. My family was large and my parents did not have the economic means to continue supporting my education.

Without … the possibility to continue my schooling, I decided to migrate to the U.S. in 1989. For a year, family members in Los Angeles, California supported me. A few months later, a cousin invited me to work in the tobacco fields of Henderson, North Carolina …

Working in the fields was very hard for me physically and emotionally. The job required me to keep tobacco plants free of weeds, from planting until harvest time. This process takes several months. When [the plants] are ready to harvest, a day before they are sprayed with a chemical to accelerate the drying of the leaves. [This is complicated for those] who harvest tobacco since this chemical has side-effects: headache, nausea and vomiting. In addition, summer days are hot and the harvesting process requires good physical condition.

After working for several years in the country, I moved to Durham, where I [had] different jobs in landscaping, construction, home insulation, and as an electrician. Currently, to support myself, I install fire alarm systems.

But the most important thing is still inside of me: my dream of being a visual artist. After nearly 10 years of not painting, I decided to continue trying to realize my dream.
My dream has always been to study architecture, but without the possibilities, painting was my choice. I could practice at home after work. With dedication, effort, and with the help of many people, I have achieved my dream. And now I share it with you:
As a child I dreamed of having an exhibition in a public place and to share my drawings, but this never happened. But in recent years, I have had several opportunities here in North Carolina. Today is a dream come true. This is a very special show because it’s one of my biggest and has involved several people who have contributed to my career. And I feel I have reaped the fruit of my dedication and effort to painting. This exposes me to more people who are interested in my art. More than anything, to continue sharing what I like to paint: my culture, my roots and ideas. And also: to educate others with my experience about why migrants come to this country.

My parents in Mexico are very proud of what I have accomplished with my painting in this country, and particularly in this state that has given me the opportunity to achieve my dreams.

I want to thank my wife and son for their patience and the support they have given me.
I also want to thank you tonight:

Laura Griest for coordinating this event.

The FedEx Global Education Center and its administration for giving me the opportunity to present my art.

The UNC Department of Geography teachers — Gabriela Valdivia, Joseph Palis, Altha Cravey — for their great collaboration that made this exhibition possible. The coordination and translation of descriptions and titles of the paintings were by done by them.

The building manager Jim McHale and his assistant Holt Woodruff for helping to hang the paintings on the upper parts of the building.

For the translation tonight, Ana Beatriz Cabello.

And to all those people who I did not mention tonight, but I know that at some point they worked directly and indirectly in my career. Finally, thanks to the public for being here and for deciding to join me tonight.

Thank you very much.

Filed Under: Artist Profile, Blog

LAAFF Festival Features Diversity of Local Artists in Dowtown Asheville

September 13, 2011 By Amelia

Downtown Asheville’s main drag transformed into an all-out street fair over Labor Day weekend featuring local artists, performers and cuisine. The Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF) has grown to be the largest independent street festival in the Southeast. Only locally crafted good and services can be found at LAAFF, which gives a great sampling of the diverse art scene in downtown Asheville.

In addition to a wide variety of arts and crafts, LAAFF also features some unique activities including bicycle jousting, street performances and mobile art stations. Children and adults dressed up in costume to parade the streets searching for unique art pieces, tasty food and good music while others attended for the simple pleasure of people watching.

According to the LAAFF website, “interactive content at the festival helps participants realize that art and creativity are joys available to all. LAAFF intends to bring out the kindergartener in everyone: the hidden dancer, singer, painter, writer and director we all were when we were five, before we knew what was ‘good’.”

Arts2People, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in the Asheville community, has been presenting LAAFF for the past ten years. Arts2People also offers free arts classes, professional development training to artists, and supports public art pieces through the Asheville Mural Project. You can learn more by visiting their website at www.arts2people.org.

“Only locally crafted goods and services will ever be found at LAAFF, showing what potential for economic health exists when we use our money briskly within our community,” states the LAAFF website. “We believe that LAAFF itself, and outdoor cultural programming generally, provides financial opportunity and business incubation for creative professionals.”

If you missed it this year, don’t worry! You have plenty of time to get your costume ready for next year’s LAAFF Festival! For more information, visit the festival website at www.lexfestasheville.com.

Filed Under: Blog, Festivals

Durham Tech Commissions Mural to Commemorate 50th Anniversary

August 18, 2011 By James

by Amelia Turbyfill – artsee magazine blog writer

: Photo by Dave Otto – Emily Weinstein at work on the mural.

The student body of Durham Technical Community College has commissioned an on-campus mural to commemorate the school’s 50^thanniversary. The mural, to be painted by local artist Emily Eve Weinstein, will be located on the school’s main campus and will join 16 individual panels to form the massive 10×64 foot mural.

The students collaborated with Weinstein to create a design that will incorporate local landmarks and portraits famous leaders through history. The mural will depict a pastoral setting with a large tree, stream and boulders. In the bark of the tree there will be representations of the different courses offered at Durham Tech, and the portraits of influential leaders will appear to be carved into the boulders. The entire setting will be overlooking the city of Durham with students strolling through the landscape.

The students requested that the mural be portable, and not directly painted onto the brick wall. University Mall in Chapel Hill donated a large flexible space for Weinstein to paint the 16, 10 foot tall panels. The public is welcomed to view the mural in progress every second Friday at University Mall.

Photo by Dave Otto - Emily Weinstein with Tom Russo of DTCC.

Weinstein has painted several murals in the Triangle area including the Eno River Mural in Durham and the Bolin Creek Community Mural in Chapel Hill. The students of Durham Tech selected Weinstein to paint the anniversary mural because of her ability to integrate many different components into one cohesive piece. Weinstein began painting in February and is scheduled to complete the mural by the end of the summer.

Stop by University Mall in Chapel Hill to check out the progress of this monumental mural!

Filed Under: Blog

Black Mountain’s LEAF Festival Offers Unique Artistic and Musical Experience

June 16, 2011 By Amelia

Tents at the LEAF Festival

Every Spring a temporary village of tents pops up among the mountains in Black Mountain, NC where hundreds of people gather for four days of celebrating all things musical and artistic at the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF). Twice a year for the past 16 years the LEAF festival has united art and music traditions from a wide array of cultures with the goal of promoting community, diversity, and most of all, good times!

This Spring’s LEAF festival took place May 12-15 and featured an impressive line-up of performers and artists as well as a variety of activities. From zip lining to drum circles and yoga workshops to poetry slam competitions, the LEAF festival offers endless opportunities to engage in unique experiences throughout the weekend.

Enjoying the Scenery

More than 40 artisans were in attendance to sell original artwork, crafts, jewelry, instruments and clothing. Artists’ tents line the shore of Lake Eden where those in attendance can shop for unique treasures all within earshot of the Main Stage performers. Metal jewelry, woven baskets, original paintings and handmade leather goods are just a few of the unique creations you’ll find among the artist’s tents.

“When I first started LEAF, I looked around the local community at the variety of arts being offered,” said Jennifer Pickering, Executive Director and Founder of the LEAF festival. “At LEAF, we incorporated many of those various arts so people could come and have a sort of arts sampler of the larger Asheville community. At LEAF, there is a sweet blend of local, regional and national artists coming together.”

Field of Tents

In addition to the bi-annual festivals, LEAF is a non-profit organization with the goal of building community and enriching lives through the arts both locally and globally. Several outreach programs promotes LEAF’s mission – LEAF in Schools and Streets empowers youth through festive arts, and LEAF International empowers youth globally through cultural music traditions.

If you missed it this time, not to worry, LEAF’s fall festival is set for October 20-23, 2011! For more information check out www.theleaf.com.

Filed Under: Blog