Artist Vero shows off the town (page

from B-Metro Nov 2022

Half Mile Farm (page

Seen in Birmingham

Artist Véro Vanblaere shows off the town.

A career in creative advertising originally brought Véronique (Véro) Vanblaere from Belgium to the United States in 1996. She soon founded and ran Naked Art, a gallery that allowed her to focus on her own non-traditional and functional art. Naked Art was a successful space that also served as a home for many local and regional independent artists over the years. Véro’s love for art once again took her from the gallery to the world as she closed the doors on the brick and mortar business after two decades to focus full time on her art.

Véro the Traveling Artist is a new journey that explores fibers and fabrics, revamped clothing, original drawings, paintings, murals and even puppetry. She constructs soft sculpture in the form of extravagant hats and luminaries which often become part of larger public and private art installations.

She also writes and directs animation films featuring the characters from her drawings or puppets that she conceives and builds. She and other locals started “Pardon My Puppet”, the Birmingham puppet guild, and creates shows for a variety of puppet mediums. The shows have been on hold since the pandemic.

She has also begun a new series (presented in these pages) of illustrations inspired by Birmingham.

Taking an imaginary ride back in time at the Leer Tower downtown (below).

You can’t talk about local gastronomy and impeccable service without mentioning Highlands Bar & Grill first. The pandemic unfortunately forced them to temporarily close their doors. The waiting list line will probably go around the planet by the time they reopen (opposite).

According to the legend, you can only find entrance of the Red Lion lounge in Homewood on a full moon. When you succeed, be ready for a time warp.

Date night at Chez Lulu (above). Sandwich at the Garage (at left). Coffee and old school selfies (at right).

The food truck that should exist (above). A real pharmacy in Crestwood (below).

The mail man’s favorite food at Post Office Pies in Avondale.

A Community of Song

Founded by Earl and Frances Clark and steered for many years by their daughter Bebe Clark Kok, The Alabama Civic Chorale celebrates the majesty of music this November with their 75th performance of Handel’s Messiah

Chorale conductor Bebe Clark Kok.

he Alabama Civic Chorale was founded by Earl and Frances Clark, following a trip with their high school and church choirs, to a music conference where they sang Messiah. Upon return from the trip, Mr. and Mrs. Clark’s groups began to practice together. They often found themselves going from home to home with a pump organ, and practicing many nights each week. The first presentation of Handel’s Messiah was during Christmas, 1947.

During the Christmas season of 1948, the choirs from South Highland Baptist Church and Mrs. Clark’s McAdory High School Chorus officially combined their voices. It was a successful beginning for the group. Although there were challenges as they grew, their determination and willingness were the foundation of each year’s success.

The size of the chorus grew. Presentations of Messiah and other great works were presented at various churches and cities, at Bessemer High School, and at The BJCC for a national convention. First UMC Bessemer then became the home of the chorale for many years.

The Chorale’s love for learning and sharing great music, brought people from all over our state, our country, and a few from around the globe. They presented music from many different great composers but there was always an annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah.

With the passing of the founders, Bebe Clark Kok, a daughter of the founders, took up the baton of the Alabama Civic Chorale. The community of the group, the fulfillment of bringing fine arts to the community and giving back to others, continued as the goal of this group. During this time the ACC moved to its present home at Riverchase UMC where the group continues to grow.

Daughter of the founder and conductor of the chorale remembers the early days. “When I was about 10, I thought I had arrived. We were on the stage at Bessemer High School. I had sung Messiah many times holding the score and sitting in front of our record player. I had also gone to rehearsals. (Perhaps Dad thought I would sit still if I were singing) He asked if I wanted to sing, and I did. I was on stage with the orchestra, sitting next to one of the best sopranos, and sang Messiah with the group for the first time. I was so serious. I wanted it to be the best. I held my book up and paid attention. I never came in before it was time to sing. It was the highlight of my life, at that point, to be a part of this group. I can still name about two-thirds of the people that sang in that group and if you see the picture you can see on the right, front row a little girl with bobby socks on. That was me,” Kok says.

In the spirit of Handel and his desire to give back, the group

Thas always had a desire to help and support the community in different ways. Handel gave the proceeds from many of his performances to the Foundling Hospital in London. The Foundling Hospital was established to educate and maintain children in need. In keeping with that, for the 75th presentation (Sunday Nov. 20 at 3 p.m. at Riverchase UMC church, this year the Chorale will ask that donations be brought to benefit children and infants. This can be anything from formula, diapers, books for small children, or new clothes for infants and young children. “The group has also sung at retirement homes. The concerts would be selections of choruses from Messiah or other anthems. During our visit we would have the residents sing along to familiar songs with us. These visits would be followed with a meet and greet time with the residents. It is community service for the chorale, but we feel a blessing from these visits also,” Kok says. In other community involvement the chorale has participated in singing with The Alabama Winds at the Alabama Theater. The admission was canned goods for The Jimmie Hale Mission. Beyond the wider community activities of the chorale, the group has forged a tight bond with the membership. “I think one thing that has always bound the group together is a sense of belonging to a family. At the first couple of rehearsals each year you can find us greeting each other and catching up on what has been going on. When they don’t see someone from the previous year or maybe two years, they want to know where that person is and they take it upon themselves to reach out to him/her. One time, Clarke Stallworth, a former reporter for The Birmingham News fine arts page, said Earl Clark has “a balm in his spirit that knits the group together.” I think this balm still pervades the group. Members take it upon themselves to make the group better and form friendships for a lifetime,” Kok says. Each year members volunteer in a variety of ways to help make the program possible and serve on different committees. The membership chair has more people than she can manage that want to either bring snacks or call people that are absent. Each year donations are given by chorale members to support a scholarship that is available to a student who sings with the

Above: The chorale at Bessemer First UMC in the 1990s. At right: The chorale in 1959 at Bessemer, and in 1980s. Opposite page: Earl Clark at Bessemer circa 1982. group and is pursuing music in college.

“When the pandemic started and we were afraid we could not sing, a member of the group took it upon herself to work with APT to get us a television date for presenting Messiah. It meant working with an outside company to come up with clips from past presentations and knit them together to make one performance. The member worked with APT and helped me to navigate the way to get it done. Without her, the appearance on APT would not have happened. When people in the group heard about it and knew it would cost money, they went to work and found donations. Our finance committee also worked to find the money,” Kok says.

“When our accompanist had extremely serious surgery this summer, members got in touch with him and were there to let him know we all cared. So many were praying the morning of his surgery and when the surgeon came out of the operating room he asked if the family were religious. He said he felt a real presence during surgery. The accompanist is doing well today.

“We work together every week on finding out the real intent of what Handel intended when he wrote each chorus and each solo and how he tied them together. As we sing you can feel the community of each section as they portray what Handel wrote.

The BHS String Quartet in 1953. The ACC Board serving. When the pandemic hit, the group could no longer sing together so they took it upon themselves to serve others. They served first responders at UAB, Hoover police stations and fire departments bringing them donuts and other treats to thank them for their service. Donations from the group have also been taken to First Light, Oak Mountain Missions, Olivia’s House, East Glen Nursing and Rehab Center and The Lovelady Center.

Hospitality, Magic City Style

Real estate pros Matthew and Rebekah Gregory took their love for downtown plus what they learned from two decades restoring houses and created beautiful lofts for AirBNB visitors to the city.

Exterior and rooftop terrace of the 216 Lofts. atthew and Rebekah M

Gregory have been in the real estate industry for over 20 years. They are passionate about this beautiful city and love the culture, community, and properties it provides.

Matthew and

Rebekah always knew they wanted to own a piece of Birmingham and when they stumbled across the O’Carrs building, they fell in love. The building had three great lofts and a restaurant on street level.

Soon after purchasing the building, they converted the O’Carrs restaurant into two additional lofts and began using them as short-term vacation rentals. Matthew and

Rebekah are committed to providing an excellent travel experience by ensuring luxury decor, clean spaces, more than 30 amenities, and quick customer service. Since 2018 more than 700 guests have enjoyed the

Gregory’s hospitality at 216 Lofts.