A&E

NURTURING THE CREATIVE FLAME

Haywood County Arts Council holds steady during pandemic

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD S TAFF WRITER

Back in January, the Haywood County Arts Council was setting itself up for another year of growth, creatively and financially. With artisan membership numbers on the rise, the nonprofit organization had high hopes for its May 24 Americana concert featuring Balsam Range & The Atlanta Pops Orchestra.

“We were hoping the concert would be a fundraiser that would bring in somewhere around $18,000. But, having to cancel it due to the pandemic has really left a huge hole in our budget,” said Leigh Forrester, executive director of the HCAC. “And with our gallery sales extremely low because of the shutdown, it’s difficult to go forward and make plans for the future when you’re not quite sure what the future holds.”

Located at 86 North Main Street in Waynesville, the HCAC headquarters and Gallery & Gifts showroom remains a cultural beehive for the community and greater Western North Carolina. With around 125 members in its wheelhouse, the council is trying to keep a balance in finding ways for its artists to sell their wares and be able to keep the gallery open.

“It’s been bittersweet for our artists because they were able to have all this time to create during the shelter-in-place order, but they also weren’t able to sell their work in our gallery,” Forrester said. “But, we’ve learned to evolve in our practices, where we have included an extensive online store on our website, which is now filled with new works from our members.”

For 2020, the HCAC was also gearing up to make big strides in hosting more onsite workshops, gallery opening receptions and live demonstrations. But, with the current protocols for social distancing and sanitization in public spaces, the HCAC has to limit the number of class attendees and people allowed into the showroom at a given time.

A marquee event for the HCAC, the Art After Dark gathering has also had to shift with the times. Featuring an array of downtown Waynesville art galleries, restaurants, cafes and breweries, the businesses are opened later for locals and visitors alike.

Normally, Art After Dark would be held on the first Friday of every month from May through December. But, due to the pandemic, the HCAC held its first one this month, with the rest of the scheduled events up in the air at the moment.

“Usually during Art After Dark, our gallery would host around 200 people passing through to listen to some live music, have some wine or appetizers, maybe purchase a work on the wall,” Forrester said. “But, it’s been a real challenge right now with having to limit the number of people we let in and what the we could actually do in our space. We’re going ahead with the July After After Dark, but it’s a whole new ballgame moving forward.”

Aside from its regular events and extensive youth programs, the HCAC is also a vital resource for artist grants that extend into seemingly every aspect of the community. Through its Grassroots Grant Program, the HCAC is able to provide financial support to other local organizations that aim to promote

The Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. Acclaimed painter Jo Ridge Kelley (above, left).

Want to go?

The Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville will be hosting a wide range of upcoming art classes, workshops and demonstrations, which include the following: • 6 to 8 p.m. June 26 – “Auction for the

Arts!” reception at Cedar Hill Gallery. • July 3 – Opening day of the exhibition

“Glass, Light & the Works of Jo Ridge

Kelley.” • 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. July 4 – Artist demonstration with Jo Ridge Kelley. • 2 to 4 p.m. July 11 – Comic book class with James Lyle. • 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 12 – “Critters, Creatures & Creativity in Class” with Jan Kolenda.

As well, the next installment of Art After Dark will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 3, in downtown Waynesville. www.haywoodarts.org. and perpetuate the arts in Haywood County.

“There are all kinds of things behind the scenes that we’re involved in. We provide grants to the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, Haywood Community Band and Voices in the Laurel, to name a few,” Forrester said. “And we also administer several regional artist grants each year, where an artist can use the money to purchase a loom, pay for supplies or take a workshop in their specific art medium.”

And though the HCAC is still navigating choppy financial waters, Forrester remains hopeful and optimistic in the recovery and long-term vision of the organization.

“With all of our inexpensive art classes and with Art After Dark being free and open to the public, we’re trying to reach as many people and as many ages as possible,” Forrester said. “An active arts community is what makes Waynesville and Haywood County a much more attractive place to not only live, but move to — an investment in the arts council is an investment in our community.”

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Hayford Road. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)

Acadian driftwood gypsy tailwind, they call my home the land of snow

It’s been a wild and wondrous thing to be able to wander around my native North Country right now: to see old friends and family, and actually be able to sit and make time with them.

Usually, I only find myself back home in Upstate New York when it’s 20 below zero and there are presents under the brightly-lit tree in my parents’ farmhouse. But, with the current pandemic and shutdown, I was able to (safely) head home and be with family over the last few weeks.

This time of the year in the Champlain Valley and greater Adirondack Mountains is filled with the grandiose splendor of Mother Nature: swimming in Lake Champlain and soaking in that summer sunshine, heading into the depths of the northern woods to hike or run, surrounded by the newly blossomed vegetation.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of cruising around Clinton County. With many of us finding more time on our hands these days, I’ve been able to figure out a pretty steady schedule: write and work on assignments for the newspaper in the morning, find a place for a hike or run midday, only to then just simply jump into my truck and slide down old roads and by familiar places not seen or remembered in years.

Last Saturday, it was my niece’s kindergarten graduation party at my little sister’s house in my hometown of Rouses Point. Located on the border of Quebec, Canada, and Alburgh, Vermont, it’s a tiny lakeside community, a downtown of once prosperous businesses now abandoned and forgotten by the sands of time.

Leaving my parents’ farmhouse in Plattsburgh for the party, it’s up the Haynes Road past the Beekmantown Central School, by the gymnasium where I ran up and down the basketball court in middle/high school, that signature three-point of mine still in my arsenal whenever I shoot hoops at the Waynesville Rec Center. From the Haynes Road to the Spellman Road along the backside of the school, by the outdoor track around the football field where I ran to victory with my teammates. It’s also where I cheered on my high school sweetheart as she once again made her way to the state championships.

Spellman Road to Interstate 87 North. Vast tree lines and stone walls, wide open cornfields that will be as “high as an elephant’s eye” by Labor Day: ready for harvest and to provide for the countless family farms that have struggled and fought to survive each year since their hardscrabble ancestors first put down roots in this landscape those many generations ago.

Exit 41 off-ramp to the town of Chazy. The welcome sign for the community makes note of numerous state soccer titles. The years noted on the sign represent a slew of old friends who I remember cheering on from the sidelines, the old stone school nearby that many of us waltzed into for spring formals or drama club stage productions.

Take a left at the intersection and merge onto Route 9. Past that brick farmhouse that was the site of the most infamous house party of my senior year of high school. Though I forget the kid’s name, his parents were away for the weekend while we drank foaming beers and ran amuck throughout the 19th century abode filled with antique furniture and irreplaceable heirlooms.

Route 9 to the intersection with Route 9B. The house that sits at that exact juncture is still owned by the parents of my ex-girlfriend from 11th grade. And it was in the living room of that home on Sept. 11, 2001, where I stood with her, holding her hand as we both watched the towers fall on the TV and wondering if this was truly the end of the world.

Route 9B into Rouses Point, the welcome sign right when you hit the Lake Champlain shoreline that is the eastern border of the town. At that sign, you have Smith Street to the left and Stony Point Road to the right.

At the top of Smith sits my childhood home, which my parents sold when I graduated from college in 2007. Halfway down Stony Point resides two camps that were formerly owned by my family, endless summers spent on the deck and dock, blood relatives not encountered in years who I once saw every single day.

Lake Street to Pearl Street and my little sister’s house. A late lunch with my immediate family as we celebrate our favorite 6-yearold and her recent accomplishments. Within the whirlwind of noise and conversation, I step outside and sip my cold adult beverage on the sidewalk.

Across the street is the former home of my old high school cross-country teammate and fellow music freak. Gaze up to the thirdfloor attic window where we’d blast classic rock after-school, discovering the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Grateful Dead.

Goodbye to my niece and the rest of my family. Onward back to the farmhouse in Plattsburgh. But, not before a routine driveby past the childhood home. Back down Lake Street to Smith Street.

Mosey along Smith, by the homes of all my youthful cronies: Ryan, Sean, Bobbi, Bryce, etc. I glance at the buildings, the front yards and driveways, wondering how my old friends who no longer live there are holding up these days. Are they happy?

The end of Smith, last house on the left. The sturdy 1820 limestone structure that I called “home” for the first 22 years of my existence. The big maple tree I used play on is long gone, so is part of the old barn where our horse was kept and spent many years running around the fields behind the house (as did I).

With the old limestone structure in the rearview mirror, turn down the Hayford Road, pavement transitioning to dirt. I used to run this road for cross-country and track training, only to circle back for a sunset cruise with those old cronies or my high school sweetheart.

Looking down at the dashboard, just enough gas left to get back to the farmhouse, just enough money in the bank to find my way back to Western North Carolina in due time. But, for now, silence save for the wheels pushing down the dirt road, a slight grin of nothing and everything across my face, eyes aimed forward.

Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all. We are open

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BearWaters welcomes Grey Eagle Taqueria to Canton

BearWaters Brewing in Canton.

The Get Right Band will perform on Aug. 21 in Sylva.

Concerts on the Creek

The 11th annual summer music series, Concerts on the Creek, will return with Terri Lynn Queen, Tim Queen & Scott Baker (classic hits) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 26, to Bridge Park in Sylva.

Concerts on the Creek are held from 7 to 9 p.m. every Friday night through Labor Day. The series is organized and put on by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Sylva, and the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.

The performances are free, with donations encouraged. Patrons should bring a chair or blanket and prepare to be “Covid safe.” Food trucks are expected to be at some of the performances.

The next installment will feature The Rewind House Band (classic rock) on July 3. For a complete lineup schedule of Concerts on the Creek, visit www.mountainlovers.com or go to the Concerts on the Creek Facebook page. These sites will be updated with any changes going forward.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

BearWaters Brewing in Canton has announced a new partnership with longstanding Asheville taqueria and music hall The Grey Eagle this month.

The flagship restaurant, located inside of the nationally-touted Grey Eagle Music Hall in Asheville’s River Arts District, is slated to expand to three new locations across Western North Carolina this summer.

Both BearWaters Brewing, which opened a second brick and mortar establishment in Maggie Valley on May 29 and Big Pillow Brewing in Hot Springs have revealed plans to offer The Grey Eagle’s Latin-inspired menu from their respective kitchens.

Co-owner of The Grey Eagle Taqueria, Sarah Keith and her crew have been hard at work refining new dishes so that every taqueria location has something distinct to offer.

“We are excited about introducing The Grey Eagle Taqueria’s Latin inspired cuisine to the Canton, Maggie Valley and Madison County communities,” Keith said. “Our head chefs, Janelle Koelling and Maxwell Baker, have thoughtfully created individual menus to offer a unique experience to each location.”

“We couldn’t be more excited about

extending our collaboration with The Grey Eagle Taqueria to the kitchen in our main brewery in Canton,” said Mark Cervero, director of operations at BearWaters. “Their tacos and entrees are the perfect fusion of traditional authentic Mexican fare coupled with a beautifully health-conscious contemporary spin.”

BearWaters in Maggie Valley also saw the launch of their Creekside taproom and production brewery last month which included the official reveal of their Grey Eagle Taqueria kitchen, complete with carefullyspaced indoor and outdoor seating arrangements and masked wait staff.

BearWaters has also started manufacturing their own hand sanitizer, which is available to customers at both locations. The brewery will continue to practice rigorous health and safety measures.

For more information, visit www.bearwatersbrewing.com, www.greyeagleyaqueria.com or www.bigpillowbrewing.com. As well, The Grey Eagle Taqueria will be hiring at both Haywood County locations. For more information on possible employment, email greyeagletaqueria@gmail.com.

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” at its Calaboose location with Robert Ferguson June 26, Blue Revue June 27, ALSO: Woolybooger June 28, Andrew Chastain July 1, John Emil July 2, Darren

Nicholson July 3, The Gnarly Fingers July 4 and Scott Stambaugh July 5. All shows are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com. • Elevated Mountain Distilling Co. (Maggie

Valley) will host Bohemian Jean (classic rock/Americana) at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 27.

• The next “Dillsboro After Five: Wonderful

Wednesdays” will be held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. July 1 in downtown. Start with a visit to the Jackson County Farmers Market located in the Innovation Station parking lot. Stay for dinner and take advantage of late-hour shopping. Bring the family and enjoy small town hospitality at its best. “Dillsboro After

Five” will be held every Wednesday through

July 29. 828.586.2155 or visit www.mountainlovers.com.