Charlotte/Pineville,
Inever played with dolls much growing up — I remember one, with a pink polka-dot outfit that talked when you pulled a string in her back. And yes, I had a Barbie at some point. But really, I was more of a stuffed-animal girl.
I did, however, love my dollhouse. Not the kind for playing with actual dolls, but the kind you fill with diminutive, detailed replicas of actual furniture. Whenever I’d come across a gift shop selling little china sets, a mini brass bed or café chairs, I begged my parents for something to add to my collection. I decorated the rooms using wallpaper samples — and once my dad even bought balsa wood at the hobby store (remember those?) and together we attempted to make a tiny armoire.
Today, my collectibles are in a box somewhere, waiting to be discovered by a future generation, donated or (sheds a small tear) discarded. I thought my dollhouse was long gone, but I found it last year while cleaning out the attic of my childhood home. It was covered in dust, the shutters had fallen off and the wallpaper was peeling. It may or may not be salvageable, but for now, it’s taking up a small space in my garage until I can decide whether to keep it (where on Earth would I put it?) or part with it.
Over the last year, both my mother and my mother-in-law have moved out of their longtime homes, downsizing into smaller apartments in senior-living communities. I’m pretty sure neither
of them ever threw anything away. Though their homes were tidy, it turns out closets, attics and garages can hold a lot of memories.
Consequently, our garage has grown quite full of sentimental things we just don’t know what to do with. Isolating during the pandemic, we purged. Now, again, we are awash in stuff.
I’m not sure what I’ll do with that dusty old dollhouse that gave me so much joy as a child. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I could create a perfect, curated little world in there. And maybe that’s why I love rounding up our home and design stories, including the ones in this annual Home + Garden issue. Instead of collecting miniature furniture, we collect stories and photographs from homes around Charlotte and put them all in a neat little package.
In our pages, you mostly see the staged and styled versions of these lovely homes, decorated with carefully selected art and accessories. But chances are, some of the most cherished items are the ones you don’t see — tucked safely away in a closet, garage or basement. SP
CATHY MARTIN EDITOR editor@southparkmagazine.comIN THIS ISSUE:
1 – Style Editor Whitley Adkins visits Lupie’s Café (page 26)
2 – Chef Courtney Evans’ Collard Green Curry Mussels (page 38)
3 – A Myers Park garden designed by our columnist Jay Sifford (page 74)
4 – A pretty alcove in a Foxcroft home by Casey Maslanka Interiors (page 94)
24 | design
Bring spring indoors with home accents from North Carolina designers.
26 | icons
For more than 30 years, Lupie’s Cafe has been one of Charlotte’s most treasured eating establishments.
32 | food + drink
La Dolcekca’s sweet and savory treats bring global goodness to Montford.
38 | cuisine
Recipe: Courtney Evans’ Collard Green Curry Mussels
42 | music
Incoming CSO music director Kwame Ryan has a passion for mentoring youth and supporting living composers.
46 | history
At long last: How Mary Cardwell Dawson changed society and the opera world.
48 | around town
What’s new and coming soon in the Queen City
50 | happenings April calendar of events
57 | art of the state
North Carolina artist John Beerman deeply sees and paints the natural world.
61 | gardening
Sweet repeats: Pretty perennials to plant for reliable blooms year after year
65 | bookshelf
Notable new releases
69 | simple life
The ever-changing garden
109 | swirl
Parties, fundraisers and events around Charlotte 120 | gallery
Artist Rosalia Torres-Weiner adds color and bold design to CSO’s new mobile stage.
ABOUT THE COVER:
Rod Blair and Melissa Kimberly-Blair’s Myers Park garden. Photograph by Dustin and Susie Peck.
74 | Garden glory
byCathy Martin | photographs by Dustin and Susie Peck
A narrow, sloping lot in Myers Park is transformed into a lively, layered garden that’s a wildlife haven and an owner’s retreat.
84 | Contemporary colonial by Catherine Ruth Kelly | photographs by Laura Sumrak
A Connecticut family moves to Charlotte and brings a modern update to their traditional home.
94 | Fostering connections by Andrea Nordstrom Caughey photographs by Dustin and Susie Peck Designer Casey Maslanka keeps pace with the ever-changing needs of a family of five in their new Foxcroft home.
102 | Small wonder
by Cathy MartinRhode Island has ocean breezes, New England charm, abundant fresh seafood and an artsy flair.
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southparkmagazine.com
Ben Kinney Publisher publisher@southparkmagazine.com
Cathy Martin Editor editor@southparkmagazine.com
Sharon Smith Assistant Editor sharon@southparkmagazine.com
Andie Rose Creative Director
Alyssa Kennedy Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com
Miranda Glyder Graphic Designer
Whitley Adkins Style Editor
Contributing Editors
David Mildenberg, Michael J. Solender
Contributing Writers
Andrea Nordstrom Caughey, Jim Dodson, Asha Ellison, Vanessa Infanzon, Catherine Ruth Kelly, Liza Roberts, Jay Sifford
Contributing Photographers
Daniel Coston, Richard Israel, Dustin and Susie Peck, Laura Sumrak, Peter Taylor
Contributing Illustrator Gerry O’Neill
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Owners
Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, David
in memoriam Frank Daniels Jr.
David Woronoff President david@thepilot.com
Thursdays APRIL 18 – MAY 23 at Symphony Park
NEW STORES:
ALICE + OLIVIA
JENNI KAYNE
LA VIE STYLE HOUSE
RAG & BONE
RALPH LAUREN
VERONICA BEARD
DISCOVER WHAT’S NEW AT CHARLOTTE’S FINEST OPEN-AIR SHOPPING AND DINING DESTINATION
Debuting this month, a new exhibition at Mint Museum Randolph features works by Robert Ebendorf, a Kansas-born metalsmith-turned-artist who makes collages and jewelry using found objects, from broken glass and ceramics to found metal, buttons and bones. Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter • Price Collection opens April 27. For more of this month’s happenings, turn to page 50. SP
Robert W. Ebendorf (American, 1938−), Zachery Lechtenberg (American, 1989−). Untitled Necklace, 2016, copper, steel, wood, cat skull, plastic, silver, mixed media, 20 1/2 × 9 × 1 1/2 inches (52.1 × 22.9 × 3.8 cm)
This cheerful sparrow design from Elliston House is a vision of spring. The Greensboro-based textile and wallpaper brand by Ally Holderness and Morgan Hood debuted in 2023. The new Crafted collection includes five patterns available in Belgian linen or linen-cotton fabric or as a wallcovering. The designs — digitally printed in the U.S. — are sold through their website. Also pictured: Elliston House’s Laurel and Wentworth patterns. ellistonhouse.com
Updated hardware can give new life to old cabinets or furniture. Modern Matter’s popular Dogwood collection by Barrie Benson comes in two sizes with various finishes. New this season: a backplate in polished brass or polished nickel for a bolder impact. Butterfly Mother of Pearl knobs are available with a white or green-grey abalone inlay. modern-matter.com
Charlotte designer Natalie Papier of Home Ec. teamed with Mitzi on a lighting collection that’s fresh and fun. The petal-shaped Madeline pendant — aged brass with off-white linen shades — reminds us of a springtime bloom. mitzi.com SP
For more than 30 years, Lupie’s Cafe on Monroe Road has been one of Charlotte’s most treasured eating establishments. On a brisk but sunny afternoon, near the tail end of lunch service, we sat down with Larkin Duran, daughter of restaurant owner Lupie Duran, to learn about the history, ongoing charm and challenges facing one of the Queen City’s longest-running cafes.
Lupie was a single mom to 1-year-old Larkin when she founded the cafe in 1987. She learned how to cook while working in the kitchen at nearby Thompson’s Orphanage (now Thompson’s Children’s Home), where she grew up. After graduating from Independence High School, Lupie worked in restaurant kitchens and waited tables until she decided to open her own place.
Larkin grew up in the business. She started working in the summers when she was about 13 or 14, helping clear tables and refill drinks.
“We opened a second location in Huntersville, which I ran for about
13 years,” Larkin says. Lupie retired about seven years ago, but she still helps with the baking — Lupie’s homemade desserts include cookies, banana pudding, chocolate eclair pie and peach kuchen, a German cake. And while Larkin now handles the day-to-day restaurant operations, she says Lupie is still in charge. “My mom is still very much the boss.”
“We have a ton of regulars — they come in, and they always get the same thing,” Larkin says. Favorites include the chili, which comes in four styles — Texas (spicy), Cincinnati (sweeter), Southern (traditional) and vegetarian. Chicken and dumplings, a Thursday special, is another popular dish. “We also have really good veggies,” Larkin says. “And everybody loves the nachos.”
“Most of our clientele are regulars and locals,” Larkin says. “Jimmy with Repo Records eats in here all the time — back in
the day, we used to trade food for CDs.” Lettie from Lettie’s on Shamrock, Warren from Midwood Country Club — he and his wife eat here all the time. [Tipsy Burro owners] Brian and Mark have been the best neighbors since they opened up across the street.”
“The two guys in the back that have the mouths on them, Archie and Rod, have been here well over 20 years,” Larkin says. “We are a weird little family — we’ve all worked together so long. We get on each other’s nerves. You have to have thick skin to work here. We constantly yell at each other, but we get over it.”
Arthur Samuel Grier, a prominent Black civic leader, constructed the building as a grocery store in 1938. Later, it was an auto-repair shop. “It was never really meant to be a restaurant,” Larkin says. “Lupie’s used to only be the upper half of the current restaurant, and the lower half was a seedy nightclub for a while, back
when Mom was renting the space.” Today, Lupie owns the entire building. “Mom is a very smart woman. She’s made a lot of excellent decisions.”
Along the back wall and scattered around the restaurant are photos taken in the ’90s by local photographer Byron Baldwin. “There’s a photo by the men’s room of me and my mom that Byron took. The day that we did that, he was teaching [a class for older adults]. There were probably 15 people that came in with him — it was so fun.”
“There have been so many,” says Larkin, from an expansion in the ’90s to the Great Recession of 2007-09. “Through all the ups and downs, we’ve always managed to make it.” While Lupie had to make some tough decisions over the years, “she’s always tried to take care of everyone else first, before herself,” her daughter says. “I have seen children grow up here. I knew them when they were little, and now they are in college. We’ve had cars crash into this building — I think three times. The comedian, Carrot Top, came in here, I remember… It’s a special place for a lot of people, whether they come once a year, or if they come every day.”
“This industry has changed so much, just in the time that I’ve been doing this — especially since Covid,” Larkin says. “It’s definitely not easy. Even with the shortened hours (the restaurant phased out dinner service in recent years), when I leave here, this all comes with me. Everything is always changing, and we are just trying to keep up with it.” SP
If nature has taught us anything it’s that time is precious. Good thing Winston-Salem understood łhe assignment. Come join us — and spend the day touring our historic homes. Exploring our heirloom gardens. Or filling your soul and your senses with food so fresh it’d make James Beard blush. So grab your keys. Reserve your favorite hotel. And enjoy the magic of time well spent.
ART + ARTISANSDowntown Arts District
Shopping and Mural Walk
STORIES + SUNSHINE
Nine North Carolina
One of Karina Cooper’s greatest joys is generating smiles from the people who walk through the door at Montford’s La Dolcekca Bakery Café.
And while sweet and savory bites lay the foundation for happy patrons, it’s La Dolcekca’s inviting atmosphere illuminated with Cooper’s warm personal glow that have created a destination third space — a comfortable place away from home and the office — for a morning or midday break.
“This is not a job for me,” Cooper says. “This is my life. This is what I love to do, what I look forward to every single day. I love to watch how people experience the bakery… enjoy flavors and treats they often recall having as a child. I love to bring joy to people, especially those times when they aren’t having a good day and they come here and maybe it’s a word I
have with them, or after they enjoy a special cookie or slice of cake they ask, ‘Can I give you a hug?’ That’s what motivates me.”
Cooper’s dream of having her own European-style pastry shop and café has been decades in the making. As a child growing up in her native Dominican Republic, Cooper, 44, was captivated daily by the aroma of fresh baked goods coming from the bakery next to her home. Like the Dominican cakes that tempted her as a young girl, so did the notion that one day she’d be the baker behind the counter, a calling she held fiercely into adulthood, despite the obstacles that inevitably come with entrepreneurship.
She moved to New York City at age 21, then to Charlotte in 2009. Her dream for her own bakery moved right along with her. She held administrative jobs, and worked in the beauty industry as a cosmetics-counter manager. She started a side job baking out of her home. “I did a little bit of catering; birthdays and baby showers. People just loved my cakes.”
With a growing cottage baking business, Cooper felt the time was right coming out of the pandemic, and in 2022 she opened La Dolcekca in Montford — an area known for eclectic eateries like Luisa’s Brick Oven Pizzeria, Good Food and Moosehead Grill.
Cooper believes divine intervention led her to the site, a former pizza shop equipped with a built-in ventilation hood and walk-in cooler — two large expenses that would have constrained her opening budget. “It was a blessing for me to find this space.”
The bakery’s name is a riff on the Italian term la dolcezza, which means “sweetness.” The Italian influence comes from her mother’s Italian husband of 30 years who exposed Cooper to the language (she speaks Italian, in addition to her native Spanish and English), the culture and the food. Her unique spelling comes from replacing the “z”s with her initials to make the brand her own. Cooper’s daughter, Chanelle, helps run the bakery.
Visitors to La Dolcekca find a variety of pastry styles, from classic French macarons, eclairs and cream puffs — Cooper took a master class at Luma’s Cake International Academy in Paris — to American treats such as double-chocolate cookies, blondies and cinnamon rolls. Dominican flavors are found in her traditional flan and rice pudding.
What’s La Dolcekca’s specialty? Cake. Lots of luscious cakes representing a mash-up of cultural influences, techniques and flavors. Tres leches is a bestseller, though those looking for the traditional Mexican style may be surprised to find a pistachio or even a banana-pudding version. Rich, yet
not too sweet, the tres leches is served in a deep-dish pan with a healthy layer of whipped cream.
Cheesecakes are light and airy, and often feature tropical flavors like mango or passion fruit. Cooper’s buttery rich Dominican cake appeals to Caribbean natives and Charlotteans alike with its elegant simplicity. Her carrot cake recipe comes from France, with a caramel flavor that distinguishes it from ooey-gooey, southern confections.
Guests shouldn’t sleep on La Dolcekca’s savory offerings. Cooper tempts her guests with breakfast staples and a variety of panini-like grilled sandwiches, salads, pasta and empanadas.
“I decided to be a bakery and café, because when I go out, I don’t want to have limited items,” Cooper says. “If I try a sandwich, I want to add something sweet. Everything that I have on my menu are foods I love to eat.”
Cooper’s specialty chimi sandwich demonstrates her quirky style.
Slow-roasted pulled pork is piled high on a split crusty roll with tomato, pickles, onions, raw cabbage and American cheese, then pressed panini-style and served alongside crispy fries. A salmon chipotle sandwich has a similar preparation but with the distinctive heat and smokiness from roasted jalapenos in adobo sauce.
La Dolcekca’s funky dining room has a quiet energy with fuchsia walls, crystal chandeliers and a baker’s rack filled with a collection of mismatched teacups and tableware. The coffee bar offers hand-pulled espressos, lattes and Italian coffees as well as tea and fresh juices.
“I’m very blessed and happy with the journey I’ve been on with the bakery,” Cooper says. And the smiles from her customers? “They are the best part.” SP
La Dolcekca is located at 1607 Montford Dr., Suite C, ladolcekcabakerycafe.com
Some would say a good chef is one with impeccable technique, achieved through formal training and years of experience. Others might say a remarkable chef is one who can simply bring people to the table — someone who knows how to diligently plan and execute a menu and manage a crew, who is innovative, passionate and willing to learn beyond the classroom. Courtney Evans, chef de cuisine at Charlotte’s “modern juke joint,” Leah & Louise, is a unicorn in her own right — she’s a good mix of both.
The adventurous cook began her culinary career when she was 19 years old, moving up the ranks rapidly after graduating from Johnson & Wales University. Following an internship at The Sanctuary at Kiawah, Evans joined Leah & Louise as a line cook in 2020 working under chef Greg Collier, who was twice nominated for a James Beard Award. She quickly advanced to junior sous chef, then co-head chef, and into her current position as chef de cuisine in just three years.
Now 25, Evans doesn’t chalk up her success to luck — she recognizes her role as an apprentice under the leadership of other talented cooks, starting with those she admires most.
“I learned traditional cooking from my dad, but I learned the innovative, adventurous and creative flow from my mom,” Evans says. And as fond as Evans is of her flavorful foundation, she’s excited about the future she is cooking up for herself. She calls it a journey of self-discovery.
“I’m trying to find my food voice,” says Evans, who was born in Danville, Va., and raised in Columbia, S.C., and New York, where she was immersed in Caribbean culture. But she’s also a southern girl at heart. “My mom now lives in Sumter, S.C., so I’ve got roots all along the East Coast that I like to honor through my cooking.”
For Evans, creativity in the kitchen flows from nostalgia. She prefers to make food that feels familiar, like her collard green curry mussels with corn flour roti (a round flatbread). The dish reminds her of the robust jerk seasonings and curry spices she recalls from her early years in New York.
“My mom would make this curry dish two to three times a week,” Evans laughs. “She would pull out her deep silver pot with the gold handles, and I’d just be like ‘again?!’ But those are the things I didn’t appreciate until I moved away.”
And just as memories of dancing around the kitchen, card-playing and family fellowship feed chef Courtney’s spirit, she offers up a dish that warms the soul and fills the belly, like cornbread and collard greens, as fuel for the journey — both yours and hers.
with Corn Flour Roti serves 3-4
Ingredients:
2 pounds mussels
1 shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil for cooking
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Curry sauce
1 bunch collard greens, roughly chopped
2 Fresno or jalapeno peppers, roughly chopped with seeds
2 medium shallots, rough chopped
5 garlic cloves, whole
2 bunches of cilantro, rough chopped
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
1/8 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup blended oil
2 13.5-ounce cans coconut milk
Corn flour roti
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup melted butter
Directions:
Make the curry sauce:
Put all ingredients into a blender except coconut milk.
Blend in batches if needed, depending on blender size, until mixture starts to incorporate.
Add coconut milk and blend until smooth. The sauce should be loose to pour.
Make the roti:
Mix all dry ingredients into a bowl.
Add a tablespoon of the melted butter and slowly add in warm water until dough is formed. Dough should be soft and smooth. If the dough is too wet, add flour. If it’s too dry, adjust with water.
After dough is formed, cover with a damp towel and let dough rest for five to 10 minutes.
After rest, portion dough into 4-ounce balls and roll into discs. Brush melted butter on each disc, just enough to cover.
Cut the disc halfway down the middle and roll the dough up to form a cone-like shape. Take the cone, tip side up, and press dough into itself. You should be able to see little rings
Now, on the second roll out, dust your table with flour. Roll dough into a large disc.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and brush with oil. Take the roti and lay it into a pan. Cook the first side until golden for about 2 minutes, then flip for 2 minutes on the other side.
Place cooked roti on a cutting board. This is the most important part: take both hands and scrunch up the roti. This is how you see all the layers you rolled into the dough!
Prepare the mussels:
Heat a large saute pan over low medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pan.
Add cleaned mussels, shallots and garlic to the pan. Saute for 2-3 minutes, until the mussels just start to open, then add 2 cups green curry sauce. Saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Pour into a serving bowl and top with corn flour roti. SP
KWAMÉ RYAN, INCOMING MUSIC DIRECTOR AT CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, BRINGS EXPERIENCE AND TALENT WITH A PASSION FOR MENTORING YOUTH AND SUPPORTING LIVING COMPOSERS.
by Vanessa Infanzon
At just 6 years old, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s next music director Kwamé Ryan knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. At a performance of Porgy and Bess in Ontario, Canada, Ryan’s attention was captured by the man standing with his back to the audience. “I remember leaning over to my mom during the performance and saying, ‘Whatever the guy at the front is doing, I think I want to do that,’” says the Canada-born conductor. “I didn’t know what he was doing, but the sound blew me away. It felt like magic.”
Ryan returns to Charlotte this month as the music director designate for two CSO performances featuring Wang Jie’s Symphonic Overture “America, the Beautiful,” Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme on April 5 and 6. His four-year contract with CSO officially begins this fall with the 2024-25 season. Ryan, 54, will be CSO’s 12th music director since it was founded in 1932 and the first person of color in the role. He succeeds Christopher Warren-Green, who held the post for 12 years. As music director, Ryan will conduct the orchestra and guide the artistic vision and musical selections.
Ryan brings a variety of experiences with him to Charlotte. He served as the general music director of the Freiburg Opera in Germany and as musical and artistic director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine in France. He’s held dozens of guest conductor positions across the United States and all over the world, including a regular appearance at BBC Proms, an annual summer music festival in London.
His journey to Charlotte began in January 2023 when Ryan led the orchestra in Copland’s Symphony No. 3, John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” and Korngold’s Violin Concerto. He returned in November to conduct Verdi’s Requiem. “I was really
taken with the artistry of the musicians, but also how easy the relationship was, how natural the relationship was in rehearsal,” he explains. “We had such a wonderful time, and even after that first week in January, I was pretty sure that if I did have the opportunity to become the director of the orchestra, I would do it.”
After Ryan’s bold declaration during Porgy and Bess, his parents bought him an upright piano, which he played in Trinidad, the Caribbean Island where he was raised. He added singing and violin to his repertoire. At 15, he started at Oakham School, a boarding school in England, to further his music and academic studies. “My mom really believed in me,” Ryan says. “She never doubted it was something I could do. I asked her recently if she secretly had any doubts, and she said, ‘No, I never did.’”
Ryan began conducting an orchestra on the weekends within six months of arriving in England. Though he wanted to learn the cello, the head of the strings department told him they had enough cellists and suggested the double bass. What might have been a disappointment for the teen turned out to be an opportunity. Ryan played the double bass with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for three years, eventually conducting the orchestra in rehearsal. “It was the most incredible exposure, not only to top-notch orchestral playing but to conductors who became mentors to me.”
In the late 1980s, Ryan studied musicology at Cambridge University, where Péter Eötvös, a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher, introduced him to contemporary music. “He immerses all his students in the music of this time,” Ryan says, “and impresses the importance of being advocates for composers who deserve to be heard and need, what he calls, ‘test pilots,’ like us to take their works for an inaugural spin and give them advice and guidance.”
Ryan has big plans for CSO. He envisions expanding the nonprofit’s history of attracting diverse audiences through its discovery programs and range of music offerings with an infusion of Trinidad and Tobago’s eclectic music traditions: calypso, Caribbean creole, classic Indian and European. He’s enthusiastic about the CSO Roadshow, a new mobile stage rolling out this spring; Ryan likes the idea of music being played in the audience’s environment.
Following the teachings of his mentor, Eötvös, Ryan foresees developing relationships with contemporary composers, perhaps introducing a composer-in-residence program. “There are a lot of really great young composers who often find it difficult getting their music played,” he says.
bring what I’ve experienced to them,” says Ryan, who will divide his time between Charlotte and his home in Germany.
Supporting youth programs has been a constant throughout Ryan’s career. He anticipates continuing this within CSO’s Youth Orchestras and Project Harmony, a partnership between CSO and Arts+ for a tuition-free after-school music program in four Charlotte neighborhoods. “That is a really fertile terrain for me to
Looking ahead to 2026 when America turns 250 years old, Ryan hopes to use music to review the country’s past. “There’s an aspect of celebration that comes with an event like that,” he says. “But I’d love to look at where America has been historically, not only artistically, but culturally.” SP
Open Wide the Door, the Story of Mary Cardwell Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company is a new exhibit at Charlotte Museum of History that uncovers the backstory of a Carolina native who had an outsized influence on America’s opera infrastructure.
Dawson founded the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC) in Pittsburgh in 1941. The company went on to be the largest and longest-running Black opera company in the country, and one of the most storied.
It was the first Black opera company to take the stage at the famed Metropolitan Opera House. The NNOC furthered the career of notable Black performers such as future Broadway star Napoleon Reed, soprano Lillian Evanti and baritone Robert McFerrin Sr., the father of contemporary pop star Bobby McFerrin.
“We’re telling three stories with this exhibit,” says Terri White, Charlotte Museum of History president and CEO. “One is how many North Carolinians, including Dawson, are relatively unknown in their home state (Dawson was born in the Rockingham County town of Madison in 1894). Two, we [dispel the notion] that often accompanies an urban-rural divide in America and show that people don’t need to be from a large city to be talented and have their talent appreciated around the world. The final piece speaks to justice, equity, and equality and how many of the artists we are highlighting in this exhibit use their art form to fight for these principles.”
The NNOC would not perform for segregated audiences, White explains — Dawson insisted her company be integrated. She also fought to ensure access and strove to broaden the reach of this classical art form.
“Dawson wanted the company to not only appeal to established opera fans but to everyone, regardless of race or socioeconomic status,” White says. “To do so, she made sure all performances were in English and often added narrators at the start of acts to summarize what was about to happen. She also fought to keep ticket prices affordable and hosted fundraisers to provide free tickets for children.”
The exhibit opened in late March and runs through the end of December — access is included with regular admission to the museum.
Original costumes, rarely seen photos — including one of soprano La Julia Rhea wearing her Aida costume — and reproduction programs and ephemera are on loan from Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center, home to an extensive collection of National Negro Opera Company artifacts and the primary lending institution for this exhibit.
The museum telling is organized around an early performance of Verdi’s Aida. The exhibit shares narratives from the entire
production team to explore the story of segregation and the sheer will of a Black woman from North Carolina’s Piedmont to create a unique place within the elite world of opera.
White and her team are part of a contemporary museum movement uncovering Black American history that extends outside of slavery and civil rights.
“There’s this perception that black history is hidden in a vault guarded by a centurion guard,” White says. “This is one of those stories that no one’s really hiding. Dawson is not a secret. Much of this history is ‘hidden’ right in front of our faces. We simply must know where to look.” SP
For more information, visit charlottmuseum.org.
The Loyalist Market in Matthews has been sold, founder Chris Sottile shared on Instagram. Sottile opened the Matthews cheese shop, market and café nearly seven years ago and quickly amassed a devoted following. But the restaurant aspect of the business didn’t fit with Sottile’s long-term goals. “I saw us as a slowpaced cheese shop with a small team, with a handful of people coming in to eat,” Sottile wrote. “I was too naive in the beginning to realize we’d be a restaurant first, cheese shop second.” Optimist Hall announced Elizabeth neighborhood favorite Customshop will open a food stall between Village Juice and Boxcar Betty’s. Chef-owner Andres Kaifer and Managing Partner Alex Bridges are planning a Spanish-style tapas shop featuring bocadillos, croquettes, tortilla española, patatas bravas and Customshop’s popular flan. Leah & Louise is leaving Camp North End and plans to relocate to a larger
space in the historic West End. The restaurant will mark its last day of service at CNE on April 21 with a ticketed dinner. An exact location and reopening date were not available at press time. Fin & Fino opened at Birkdale Village in Huntersville in the former Dressler’s location.
The People’s Market ’s bright yellow chairs and light-filled windows are a fixture along Elizabeth Avenue, next to the Visulite Theatre. Now, owner Cory Duran plans to open two more locations in 2024, one in Myers Park and one in Lower South End, offering neighbors another spot to grab a quick coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Known for hearty sandwiches, customers can expect similar deli items, a coffee bar, handmade pastries, craft cocktails, wine by the glass, and specialty retail items at the new locations.
The Myers Park market will be situated in a prominent corner along Selwyn Avenue in the Tranquil Court development. It’s the space Mellow Mushroom occupied for several years. The design
for the all-day, indoor-outdoor market has an open floor plan and covered patio featuring the same bright yellow accents as the Elizabeth location. It’s expected to open in late summer.
For Duran, who always aspired to be an entrepreneur, it’s been a winding journey from opening the first market prepandemic. “For us, it’s about seeing the vision through. While our time in Dilworth was short, there was so much love and support from our customers. I had to re-focus, move forward, and finish the job that was started. Having the second chance to serve our customers in Elizabeth, and up next in the historic neighborhood of Myers Park is the icing on the cake.”
— Sharon SmithThoughtful Baking launched “farm-to-fridge” vending machines stocked with takeand-bake meals, snacks and desserts. The bakery is known for its scratch-made comfort food. Items include chicken and veggie pot pies, shepherd’s pie, quiche, black-eyed pea hummus and pimento cheese. The fridges are located at Birdsong Brewing in NoDa and Traditions at Park Road Shopping Center. SP
Charlotte StrEATs
various dates
Charlotte SHOUT!’s food festival kicks off April 3 with a wine and food tasting featuring North Carolina wineries. There’s a ticketed tasting event Sat., April 13 at Gateway Village with an appearance by New Orleans chef Aaron Sanchez, and a free festival on Sun., April 14 with cooking demos, an artisan market, food trucks and a cook-off among local chefs. cltstreatsfestival.com
Charlotte: Moving Forward, Looking Back now on view
This wide-ranging exhibition at Levine Museum of the New South highlights key industries, struggles for equality, the impact of immigration and Charlotte’s identity as part of the New South. Admission is free. 401 S. Tryon St., museumofthenewsouth.org
Yale University Whiffenpoofs
April 5 | 7:30
America’s oldest collegiate a cappella group will perform at uptown’s First United Methodist Church. The concert is a homecoming for baritone and emcee Luke Tillitski, a Charlotte Latin alum. The Whiffenpoofs, a Yale tradition since 1909, have performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House, the Kennedy Center and on national TV. General admission tickets are
$20; children and students are $10. 501 N. Tryon St. whiffenpoofs.com/concerts
Carolina BBQ Festival
April 5-6
This annual tasting event featuring top Carolinas pitmasters moves to Victoria Yards in uptown. The festivities kick off Friday with a live crawfish boil with Erica Roby, winner of the Food Network’s Master of ’Cue (tickets are $99). On Saturday, there’s a tasting with 15 pitmasters and live music. Tickets start at $75. carolinabbqfest.org
Superhero Stomp
April 6 | 8 - 10 a.m.
The 24 Foundation’s second annual 5K, 10K and kids fun run takes place at McAlpine Creek Park. Proceeds support pediatric cancer programs at Levine Children’s Hospital. 24foundation.org
Pet Palooza
April 6 I 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Hang out with your favorite pets and people during this annual fundraising walk at the Humane Society of Charlotte. There’s also live music, a beer garden and food trucks, a family fun zone, and pet-product vendors. Bring $5 or donate pet supplies for your entry fee. humanesocietyofcharlotte.org
Forage & Feast at North Corner Haven
April 13 | 3 - 8:30 p.m.
Learn how to forage and cultivate your own edible mushrooms at home. The event
includes a guided foraging experience, a mushroom log workshop and a “fungi-forward” four-course feast. Tickets are $195. northcornerhaven.com
Charlotte Wine + Food Week
April 16-21
This annual collaboration brings together Charlotte chefs and winemakers from around the globe. Events include vintner dinners, the Grand Tasting with more than 100 wines and gourmet bites, and a Rose Brunch. Proceeds benefit children’s charities. Prices vary. charlottewineandfood.org
An Evening with Cowboy Junkies at Booth Playhouse
April 17 | 7:30 p.m.
The alternative folk-rock band known for hits like “Sweet Jane” has never stopped making music, producing 26 albums since the late 1980s. Tickets start at $44.50. blumenthalarts.org
SouthPark After Five
Thursdays, April 18-May 23 | 5 - 9 p.m.
The weekly happy hour series at Symphony Park returns this spring with live music, food trucks, drinks and hands-on art activities. The family concerts are free to attend and dog-friendly. Bring a picnic blanket or chairs. 4400 Sharon Rd. southparkafter5.com
Puccini’s Turandot
April 18, 20 and 21
Puccini’s final opera is set in ancient
China, where a princess poses three riddles for her suitors — and those who fail will die. Ticket prices vary. operacarolina.org
Harlem Globetrotters World Tour
April 21 | 3 p.m.
The iconic exhibition basketball team brings their high-energy show to Bojangles Coliseum. Ticket prices vary. harlemglobetrotters.com
Gardeners’ Garden Tour
April 26-28
The 30th annual garden tour begins Friday evening with a wine tasting and live music at Wing Haven Garden & Bird Sanctuary. The tour on Saturday and Sunday includes access to four private gardens and Wing Haven. Sip and see tickets are $95; tour tickets are $30. Children under 10 are free. winghavengardens.org
Kenny Chesney
April 27
The country artist brings his Sun Goes Down tour to Bank of America Stadium, along with the Zac Brown Band. Ticket prices vary. ticketmaster.com
Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter Price Collection
April 27 - Feb. 16
More than 180 works in this exhibition at Mint Museum Randolph highlight the studio jewelry, metalwork and collages of Robert Ebendorf. The artist, who taught in the metal design program at East Carolina University for nearly 20 years, is known for using found pieces of sea glass, plastic, paper and industrial objects in his works. mintmuseum.org
Festival of India
April 27 | noon - 6 p.m.
This 3rd annual family-friendly event includes Indian dance, art and music, along with a food court and shopping bazaar at Stumptown Park in Matthews. Free to attend. facebook.com/festindiaCLT
Hope Floats Duck Race
April 28 | 2 - 5:30 p.m.
The 20th annual rubber duck race supporting Kindermourn takes place at the Whitewater Center. The nonprofit supports families impacted by the death of a child. Spectators can attend for free. Parking is $12. duckrace.com/charlotte SP
Scan the QR code on your mobile device to view our online events calendar — updated weekly — at southparkmagazine.com
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Before John Beerman paints a landscape, he studies the place that’s caught his eye and picks a particular day and time. Maybe it’s a low-lit evening in fall, or maybe it’s a morning hour that only exists over a span of days in spring, when the angle and energy of the sun provides a certain glow. And then he goes there, day after day, at that appointed hour, building his painting bit by bit until the moment is over — the hour has passed, the shape of light has changed, that bit of season is gone.
One spring morning not long ago, he arrived at a field at Chatwood, the Hillsborough estate owned at the time by his close friend, the author Frances Mayes. Beerman arrived well in advance of his chosen hour, because it takes some time to set up his easel. He has a wonky system of clamps and slats to hold boards in place that will serve as a perch for both his canvas and his paint. His paint is of his own making, too: it’s a homemade egg tempera, created with pigment and egg yolk that he keeps in an airtight jar.
To accompany him on one of these plein air excursions is to realize that Beerman doesn’t just look like Monet at Giverny, with his straw hat, wooden easel, linen shirt and leather shoes, but that he sees like Monet: He views the natural world with the same kind of reverence. Beerman studies the landscape as if it had a soul, character and moods. He learns its nuanced beauty out of a deep respect — and only then does he paint what only he can see.
“I have always found the natural world a gateway to the greater mysteries and meanings of life,” Beerman says. At a time when the world faces so many problems, he says, “it’s important to see the beauty in this world. It is a healing source.”
Beerman has often ventured to notably beautiful places around the world to find this gateway. To Tuscany in springtime, coastal Maine in summer, the glowing shores of Normandy or the estuaries of South Carolina. Recently, he is choosing to stay closer to his Hillsborough home. “Sometimes I feel rebellious against going to those beautiful places and painting those beautiful sights,” he says. “My appreciation and love of the North Carolina landscape continues to grow. I feel we are so fortunate to be here.”
This year, so far, he has been painting the views from his studio windows. “I am struck by the idea that every day the sun moves across the sky, the seasons change,” says Beerman. “I’m looking at one house in five different versions throughout the day.”
The particular house on his easel now is a millhouse currently under renovation. He has a bird’s-eye view of the millhouse from his second-story studio, but it constantly evolves with the men working on it and the light that suffuses it. What Beerman is painting, though, isn’t “a house portrait,” but an attempt to capture “the luminosity of that particular light.” Also compelling him is the energy of the project at hand: “The guys working on the house are just as
interesting to me,” he says, so he has begun to paint them into the scene, even though figures have rarely appeared in his landscapes.
The ability to revisit the subject of his fascination day after day as he completes a painting is a refreshing change, he says. Typically, he’d paint small oil sketches in the field, then bring them back to the studio to inspire and inform his large oil paintings. Here, he can continue to study parts of the house, the men and the project that elude him; he can “get more information” as he goes.
But if his proximity to his subject has changed, Beerman’s essential practice has not.
“I’ve always felt a little bit apart from the trend,” he says. “I love history. And one also needs to be in the world of this moment, I understand that. I’m inspired by other artists all the time, old ones and contemporary ones… Piero della Francesca, he’s part of my community. Beverly McIver, she’s part of my community. One of the things I love about my job is that I get to have that conversation with these folks in my studio, and that feeds me.” Beerman’s work keeps company with some of “these folks” and other greats in the permanent collections of some of the nation’s most prestigious museums as well, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and governor’s mansions in New York and North Carolina.
The paintings that have made his name include celebrated landscapes of New York’s Hudson River early in his career (he is a direct descendent of Henry Hudson, something he learned only after 25 years painting the river), of North Carolina in later years and of Tuscany, where he has spent stretches of time. They all share a sense of the sublime, a hyperreal unreality, a fascination with shape and volume, space and light, a restrained emphasis on color and an abiding spirituality.
“Edward Hopper said all he ever wanted to do was paint the sunlight on the side of a house,” Beerman says. “And I so concur with that. It’s as much about the light as it is about the subject.” A painting of the lighthouse at Nag’s Head includes only a looming fragment of that famous black-and-white tower, but it’s the glow of coastal sun Beerman has depicted on its surface that make it unmistakably what and where it is.
“With some paintings, I know what I want, and I try to achieve that. And other paintings start speaking back to me,” he says. Beerman’s talking about another painting, of a wide rolling ocean and a fisherman on a pier. As he painted it, childhood memories of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, came into play: “In this old rowboat, we’d go over the waves. And in doing this painting, that came in… ahh, maybe that’s where I am. Sometimes it bubbles up from memories that are right below the conscious.”
The rhythm of the work he has underway now suits him well, he says: “I’ve traveled a good bit, but I’m a homebody. I like cooking on the weekends, and making big pots of this or that. I love being able to walk to town, or ride my bike to town.”
And he’s eager to stick close to his chosen subject. “I love the long shadows of the winter light,” he says. “I want to capture it before the leaves come back on the trees. I have that incentive: to get in what I can before the leaves come back.”
Whatever he’s painting, Beerman says he’s always trying to evolve: “One hopes you’re getting closer to what is your core thing, right? And I don’t want to get too abstract about it, but to me, that’s an artist’s job, to find their voice. I’m still in search of that. And at this time in my life, I feel more free to express what I want to express, and how I want to express it. I don’t feel too constrained.” SP
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BECKY MCGRATH TEAM LEIGH C. CORSOFlowering annuals are overrated, at least in my opinion. They generally require copious amounts of water and fertilizer, only to be pulled and replaced twice a year. For those whose aesthetics lean toward more naturalistic plantings, most annuals appear too manicured or contrived. Fortunately, there are some perennial alternatives that generally require less care and resources and bloom reliably for much of the calendar year. Here’s a look at some of the easier to source, longer-blooming choices.
Homestead Purple verbena. Even though this easy-to-find perennial is a landscaper’s staple, its reliability as a star performer earns its place in both the front of the border and in planted containers. This low-growing, sun-loving perennial sports 3-inch clusters of dark purple flowers from May to November. Cutting the plant back after flushes of flowers will keep it tidy.
Firewitch dianthus. This low-growing perennial sports exquisite blue-gray foliage and vibrant pink flowers with the aroma of carnations. It blooms most heavily in mid- to late spring, continuing sporadically throughout the season. It is common to see flowers appear occasionally throughout the winter months if the weather is somewhat mild. This plant is equally at home in containers, in rock gardens, and at the front of the border in garden beds. Dianthus is prone to rotting if it stays too wet, so provide it with good drainage and full sun. You’ll thank me.
Stokesia. This hardy perennial, also known as Stoke’s Aster, is native to the southeast. Stokesia sports large flowers on foot-long stems in shades of blue, pink and white. In fact, one cultivar, ‘Color Wheel,’ exhibits flowers
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that start out white, then turn lavender, then blue. This species attracts butterflies and bees, an important fact in light of garden trends that lean more toward sustainability. Stokesia prefers full sun to light shade and consistently moist soil. Remove spent flowers to encourage reblooming. This deadheading will allow you to enjoy these vibrant flowers from May through October.
Rozanne hardy geranium. This perennial, also known as cranesbill, is a true gem in the garden. Not to be confused with
the common geranium (which isn’t a true geranium at all), it has won numerous awards for its ease of cultivation and prolific flowers. Rozanne starts out with a clumping habit, but by year two tends to become a bit more wiry, weaving its way through the garden bed in a spectacular manner. It covers itself with bright blue flowers from May to November. Rozanne is adaptable in its cultural requirements, preferring consistently moist soil and partial to light shade. Too much shade, however, will hinder its flower production.
Russian sage. Horticulturally known as Perovskia until recently when it was reclassified as a salvia, this woody perennial may be confused with lavender at first glance. It sports greenish-gray foliage topped by spires of light blue flowers. Russian sage is native to dry, sunny areas of eastern Europe. Replicating these conditions will cause this plant to flourish and repay you with blooms from May to November. Be warned that excessive water will cause this plant to rot.
Caradonna salvia. This aromatic and tidy perennial is one of my go-to plants. It reaches a mature size of 12-by-12 inches. In spring, it exhibits spires of small purple flowers that last up to a month. If the plant is cut back by two-thirds right after it finishes blooming, it will generally flower later in the summer. Plant Caradonna in full sun and average, well-drained soil. SP
Jay Sifford is a Charlotte-based landscape designer. His work has been featured in Southern Living, Country Gardens and Fine Gardening, as well as Houzz and several books.
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Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood. The New York stories consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself and others in a noirish tale that takes us through the movie sets, bungalows and dive bars of Los Angeles.
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter — a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself
wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town — and people — she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to return: A drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge … including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.
Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Now, for the first time, renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history. A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is not just the story of those ships, the people who sailed on them, and the cargo and treasure they carried, but also the story of the spread of people, religion and ideas around the world. It is a story of colonialism, migration, and the indomitable human spirit that continues today. From the glittering Bronze Age, to the world of Caesar’s Rome, through the era of the Vikings, to the exploration of the Arctic, Gibbins uses shipwrecks to tell all.
APRIL 27, 2024–FEBRUARY 16, 2025| MINT MUSEUM RANDOLPH
Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter • Price Collection is generously presented by Bank of America. Individual sponsorship is kindly provided by Posey and Mark Mealy, Staci and Jeff Mills, Emily and Bill Oliver, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Chrys and Ches Riley, and Ann and Michael Tarwater. The Mint Museum is supported, in part, by the Infusion Fund and its generous donors; the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources; the City of Charlotte; and its members. ABOVE: Robert W. Ebendorf (American, 1938−), various artists. ECU Charm Necklace (detail), 2017, silver, copper, brass, enamel, mixed media, found objects, 19 × 12 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. Collection of The Mint Museum. Gift of Porter • Price Collection. 2022.49.7
The spring gardening season officially got underway this year with the necessary removal of a 70-year-old red oak tree that threatened to fall on my garage office. Being a confirmed tree-hugger and septuagenarian myself, I felt for the old boy having to come down. But I’d probably have felt worse — perhaps permanently — had the old fella decided to fall on my office with me in it.
Such is the fate of an ever-changing garden, which is a redundant phrase since every garden everywhere is ever-changing, if only by a matter of degrees. Any gardener worth his mulch will tell you that the work is never finished. There’s always some new problem to contend with or a fresh inspiration incubated over dark winter days to finally put into motion. We are, as a result, forever incomplete gardeners, revising and learning as we go.
In my case, this year has been all the above — new problems, fresh inspiration and learning as I go. As the result of the daylong operation to remove “Big Red,” as I called the elderly oak, half a dozen young plants just awakening from their winter nap had to be dug up and set aside so the crane removing the tree could navigate a path across my backyard garden, churning the ground up as it went.
I took this as a sign that it was time to make several big changes in paradise. The first move came on the east side of our house, where a trio of formerly well-behaved crape myrtles were suddenly running amok and threatening to blot out the sun. The task of digging them out of the cold January ground proved the wisdom of Robert Frost’s elegant aphorism that the afternoon knows what the morning never
suspected — i.e. that some tasks that were easy in the morning of youth prove to be monstrously difficult in the afternoon of age.
Still, I’m nothing if not a committed bugger when it comes to getting my way in a garden. After several hours of intense work with pick and shovel, all under the watchful eye of Boo Radley, the cat who suns himself in that particular part of the estate on winter days, the monstrous shrubs finally came out and I went in for a much-needed lunch break, muddy but triumphant.
“My goodness,” said my wife, stirring soup. “Who won the fight?”
You see, back in the “morning” of my gardening years — that’s five different gardens ago, by my count — Dame Wendy always found it highly amusing that I treated garden work like a full-contact sport, where blood of some sort was inevitably shed. In those days, I was so into clearing trees and rebuilding the ancient stone walls of a vanished 19th-century homestead that once existed where our new post-and-beam house stood, I rarely noticed cuts, bruises or even gashes that needed a stitch or two. In those faraway days, all I needed was a long hot soak in our six-foot Portuguese clawfoot tub, plus a couple cold Sam Adams beers to put things right.
These days, in the metaphorical “afternoon” of life, the cuts and bruises are fewer and the cure for sore muscles comes via a hot shower, a change of clothes, and a nice afternoon nap with the dogs — though I have been known to wander outside just before the dinner guests arrive and get myself dirty all over again.
I think my sweet gardening obsession comes from a long and winding line of family farmers and gardeners, abetted by a childhood
Rosy Crumpton is a Duke Integrative Medicine Trained, National Board-certified Health & Wellness Coach. With professional experience in behavioral health since 2005, she’s knowledgeable on what it takes to guide people through behavior change. She owns Sophrosyne Wellness where she partners with individuals and organizations by working with people 1:1, in small groups, and leads wellness workshops and staff retreats.
Crumpton is a novelist with a 5-star award-winning book, titled All I Left Unsaid: A Latina’s Journey Toward Truth. It was translated and published into Spanish, and titled: Todo lo Que Callé: El Viaje de Una Latina Hacia La Verdad. Her most recent book is a guided journal, published in December 2023 titled, Healthy Me Journal: A Simple Guide to Begin Caring for My Whole Self.
Crumpton regularly contributes to various online and print publications that promote wellness, healing, mindfulness, and community. She is passionate about DEIA, all things wellness (physical, mental, and emotional). She supports causes that are loving and empowering.
To connect with Rosy, visit getwellnc.com or @rosycrumpton on Instagram.
spent in several small towns of the South where I stayed outside from dawn till dusk, building forts in the woods, climbing trees, damming creeks and digging earthworks under the porch for my toy armies. More than once, I had to be hauled out from under the porch for church with my “good” Sunday pants streaked with red clay.
My mother, poor woman, nicknamed me “Nature Boy” and “Angel with a Filthy Face.” Worse than death was having her spit on a handkerchief to wipe a smudge of soil off my cheek as we entered the sanctuary.
Despite the damage from removing Big Red and heavy winter kill in both my side and backyard gardens this spring, I’m always nicely surprised by the resiliency of my suburban patch. One day, I’m looking at a bare perennial bed and the next, dozens of green shoots are coming up. The daffodils never fail to ride nor the cherry trees bud. The hosta plants miraculously return. The dogwoods burst into bloom, and the azaleas erupt in technicolor glory.
This annual choreography of springtime is a nice reminder that we human beings do the very same thing. Nobody escapes hard winters, actual or metaphorical. The weather of life beats everyone down at some point or another. But slowly and surely, we reemerge as the days lengthen and the sun grows warmer. Soon, the sheer abundance of blossom and green makes a body forget the cold months of unseen struggle to get here.
Though I am an unapologetic fan of winter — my best season for writing, thinking and planning new adventures in the garden — the happiest time for this incomplete gardener comes when I see what managed to survive the winter and has come back with new vigor and surging optimism. Such sights make my old fingers itch to get gloriously dirty.
This spring, there will probably be a new garden shed surrounded by ferns where Big Red once stood, and old Boo Radley will have a new perennial garden full of flowers in which to sun himself on cool summer mornings. I may even finally finish the cobblestone pathway I started last year.
The job in a garden, you see, is never done. And that’s just the way I like it. SP
Jim Dodson is a New York Times bestselling author in Greensboro.
A NARROW, SLOPING LOT IN MYERS PARK IS TRANSFORMED INTO A LIVELY, LAYERED GARDEN THAT’S A WILDLIFE HAVEN AND AN OWNER’S RETREAT. by Cathy Martin photographs by Dustin and Susie Peck
There’s much to love about living in Southern California, where a Mediterranean-style climate offers plenty of sunshine and low humidity. So when Rod Blair and Melissa Kimberly-Blair relocated from Los Angeles to Charlotte 10 years ago, some things — like our hot, humid summers and the boisterous mating sounds of cicadas — took a little getting used to.
For Rod, an avid gardener, moving to Charlotte also presented an opportunity to experiment with new plant varieties.
“He wanted a garden that felt immersive and a space where he could grow all the things he wasn’t able to grow before,” says landscape designer Jay Sifford, who was brought
in to add layering and texture to the garden in a multiphase project spanning nearly a decade.
The house, an infill project in Myers Park by homebuilder Saussy Burbank, is located on a narrow, pie-shaped parcel on two lots encompassing about a third of an acre. The couple initially worked with local landscape architect J’Nell Bryson to install the hardscaping — including the brick walls, terrace and fountain — and to select and plant most of the large backyard trees.
Drawn to Sifford’s implementation of different shapes and textures in his landscaping projects, the couple reached out to him in 2015 to oversee the next phase of the design.
“Jay’s design and style is right up our alley,” Melissa says, adding that Rod particularly admired his use of Japanese maples and conifers.
“One of our challenges was to make it feel more like a garden and not so much like a stark space with big brick walls,” Sifford says. Privacy was also a concern. “They’re kind of in a fish bowl, because the houses behind them are all two-story and they’re more elevated.”
Bryson had planted a row of fast-growing conifers across the back of the lot, creating a strong foundation. “I took advantage of the large cryptomerias that [Bryson] had planted to give them a little bit of privacy, and then I added a lot of tricks of my own,” says Sifford.
The garden gate was designed with cutouts low to the ground for the couple’s three dogs to peer through.
Shorter shrubs and low-lying perennials were planted to draw the eye downward and away from the surrounding homes while the larger trees matured.
In the sloping front yard, Sifford created another optical illusion to make the space feel larger with the addition of stone-like fiberglass spheres. “I varied the heights of them so that the ones closer to you would be larger, and the ones farther away would be smaller.”
From the beginning, creating a dog-friendly space was another top priority. When Sifford began the project, the couple had three active dogs, who had turned a grassy area in the backyard into a muddy mess.
“We ended up taking out the turf and installing some pea gravel and bringing the beds in,” he says. While Melissa was skeptical at first, the dogs were unfazed and the resulting design brings balance to the garden,
Sifford says. “The pea gravel actually functions as negative space,” with the gravel area forming a 12-footwide path among the heavily planted beds.
Ultimately, with Sifford’s guidance, the couple decided to replace the turf in the front yard as well.
The designer added mass plantings of autumn ferns, azaleas, carex and more. It’s also a bird sanctuary.
“Melissa wanted an area where she could feed birds, so we installed some bird feeders and essentially made a wider gravel path in the front with wider beds,” Sifford says.
With a solid foundation in place, Rod began adding his own plants to the mix. Now, the couple enjoys their multilayered garden, which they share with Jack, their red merle cattle dog, along with frogs and a family of orioles that have nested near the garden gate.
Still, the garden is always evolving. A few years ago, after creating a conifer and vegetable garden at the highest point of the property, they changed course and installed a pool and cabana.
“It’s an ever-changing garden,” Melissa says. SP
When Dayna and Nick Sheehan and their two children relocated to Charlotte from Connecticut in 2021, they knew very little about the Queen City. They relied on recommendations from Nick’s business partner to check a few initial items off their list, including finding a house. The Sheehans felt very fortunate to have discovered an available home on one of the picturesque tree-lined streets of Myers Park.
“We now realize how lucky we were to get this house and be in this neighborhood, where a lot of homes are passed down within families,” Dayna Sheehan says. “Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming, and our kids
can run out the front door and find a dozen friends to play with on the weekends.”
The previous homeowners had lived in the whitewashed colonial-style house for more than 20 years. The home was in good condition, but the Sheehans knew they would need to make some updates.
“The prior owners raised three boys here and had taken care of this house so lovingly,” Sheehan says. “They kept meticulous records and kept the house in wonderful shape, but we needed to renovate some of the living spaces that hadn’t been updated in over 20 years.”
The Sheehans’ goal was to maintain the characteristics of the 1938 classic colonial architecture but refresh it with modern updates. Knight Residential Group
oversaw the construction, and Dayna called on neighbor Shadie Copeland, a local interior designer, to assist with the finishing touches.
“Our first house was shabby chic, our second one had a beachy blue-and-white vibe. With this house, I wanted to embrace black and white and add pops of my favorite color green and lots of bold art,” Sheehan says. “Shadie kept everything cohesive because I was all over the place with my ideas.”
Copeland, originally from Aiken, S.C., honed her interior design skills working at architectural lighting and interior design firms in New York City and Denver before returning to the southeast and settling in Charlotte with her family in 2018.
“Dayna is very decisive and knows what she likes, she just needed help putting it
all together,” Copeland says. “Once I fully grasped her design aesthetic, we clicked. She loves bold colors, so it was fun to bring these elements to the table.”
The black-and-white theme is most apparent in the freshly updated family room and kitchen. The black-and-white marble surround of the family-room fireplace, centered in the new built-in cabinetry, offers a commanding presence. Colorful pillows, art and accessories accent the communal space, which is where the family spends most of their time. The kitchen’s crisp white walls, black-and-white quartz countertops and black cabinetry are enhanced by sleek white pendants above the island and a pop of color via the raspberry Brunschwig & Fils fabric window shade.
Just around the corner, the dark, moody hues of the study and office are a striking contrast to the more exuberant palettes in the kitchen and family room. The walls are covered in a shimmering earthtoned grasscloth, accented by trim and cabinetry
painted a deep purple. Plush green velvet chairs provide comfortable seating in the intimate space.
“Dayna wanted this space to feel more sophisticated,” Copeland says. “The rich colors and varying textures that envelop the space create a cozy, swanky hideaway in the middle of their house.”
In the front of the house, the living room and dining room continue the vivid, polychromatic design theme that Sheehan had envisioned. Emerald green grasscloth swathes the dining room walls, complementing the green and pink jewel tones of the adjacent living-room furniture.
“It was a fun challenge to renovate this house and create a space that my family loves,” says Sheehan. “Shadie really embraced my ideas and let my personal style shine through.” SP
Black-and-white cushions offer a comfortable resting place on the back porch swing.
Old meets new in the dining room; chairs that previously belonged to the homeowner’s grandmother were refinished and reupholstered.
While fads come and go, Charlotte interior designer Casey Maslanka has piloted a course of timelessness in her craft. Her secret? “Using pieces that have a story or history behind them, that mean something,” says the designer, who established Casey Maslanka Interiors in 2023 after 17 years working with other local design firms. “Also, mixing color, pattern and texture, with new and old, adds character to a room, in lieu of new, pristine and trendy. I’m the daughter of an antique dealer, so I’ve grown up with an appreciation for the collected.”
In this new build in the Foxcroft neighborhood, Maslanka teamed early with architect Smith Slovik and builder DuBose Custom Homes, curating her third home for this family of five.
Armed with intimate knowledge from two prior home projects for the family, Maslanka embraced the homeowner’s plea for “connection and a sense of community” without creating an environment that is too precious. “While aesthetics are always important, we needed to be able to live in, enjoy and not be worried about wear and tear of the home,” the homeowner says. “We like to host gatherings and friends and have the kind of home where you don’t have to take off your shoes.”
Throughout all the moves, Maslanka has paid close attention to the family’s shifting priorities as their needs have evolved. “With kids at three levels, elementary, middle school and high school, the place is always bursting with people and activity,” she says. “Their former third-floor playroom in a past home has morphed into a teen-oriented game room here. And we reimagined the large front foyer as a periodic spot for overflow entertaining.”
A scullery behind the kitchen serves double-duty. “While it serves as a daily workhorse for things like making coffee, smoothies and baking, it also streamlines entertaining — a perfect space for caterers to prep, warm and clean up without cluttering the main kitchen,” with pocket doors to conceal the mess, Maslanka says.
In another creative twist, the designer scrapped original plans for a coat closet under the staircase. “We decided on a wine room instead,” Maslanka says. “Deep openings leading into the family room had space for the closet, but I didn’t want typical doors breaking up the hall’s clean lines. Instead, we used custom mirrors to disguise the storage.”
And cleverest of all: “Because the husband is an early-riser, we created a secret door in the primary closet for him to exit after he got ready in the morning, rather than through the bedroom.”
Planning paid off in other ways. Placement of prized artwork was determined before the home was complete, allowing time to accentuate pieces with paint color and wall coverings, especially patterns from Thibaut. ”These layers, wallpaper, the perfect accessories and throw rugs
SOURCES:
Interior Designer: Casey Maslanka Interiors
Builder: DuBose Custom Homes
Architect: Smith Slovik Residential Design
Surfaces: Art of Stone Charlotte
Tile: Palmetto Tile
Flooring: Curated Surfaces
Cabinets: Woodshop QC
Kravet wallpaper on the ceiling adds interest in the scullery, which is used daily for making coffee and smoothies. With pocket doors for privacy, the room is also useful for entertaining.
add dimension and warmth while elevating the space,” Maslanka notes.
Reuse of family heirlooms also personalized the spaces. Refinished and recovered dining chairs that previously belonged to the homeowner’s grandmother are accented with deep blue wallcoverings from Designers Guild.
Lighting decisions came early. “Lighting can be an investment, but it can make or break a design,” Maslanka says. In the kitchen, for example, Visual Comfort island pendants don’t distract from the fluted range wall, which was designed to be the focal point of the room.
“In the end, all of these choices separate a mere house from a home,” says Maslanka, “which is the biggest compliment of all.” SP
RHODE ISLAND HAS OCEAN BREEZES, NEW ENGLAND CHARM, ABUNDANT FRESH SEAFOOD AND AN ARTSY FLAIR.
by Cathy MartinFans of the HBO series The Gilded Age are familiar with Newport, Rhode Island’s rise to prominence in the late 1800s as a summer playground for New York’s wealthy elite.
“You need four outfits a day — at the minimum — decent jewels and a full dance card,” declares New York socialite Aurora Fane (played by Kelli O’Hara) as she prepares a family of newcomers for a visit to the posh coastal enclave.
Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. Today, instead of Astors and Vanderbilts playing lawn tennis at their enormous summer “cottages,” you’ll find locals and visitors from all walks of life strolling down Thames Street and the city’s bustling waterfront. Rhode Island still attracts plenty of high-profile celebs: Taylor Swift and Jay Leno have homes there, and Ocean State native Olivia Culpo (who was Miss Rhode Island before she became Miss Universe) and her beau, former Carolina Panther Christian McCaffrey, are getting married there, Culpo shared on TikTok. But you don’t have to be a superstar to enjoy Rhode Island’s enduring New England charm.
While Newport might be Rhode Island’s most iconic destination, the smallest U.S. state has more to offer beyond the picturesque coastal town, from a vibrant arts and culinary scene in the capital of Providence to wineries and outdoor adventure. At just 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, it’s easy to take it all in over a few short days.
Founded in 1636 and home to several colleges and universities (Brown, Johnson & Wales and Rhode Island School of Design among them), Providence has an artsy vibe and a diverse culinary scene amid a historic backdrop.
The Providence River flows through the heart of the city — to explore it on foot, follow the 2.4-mile riverwalk to view monuments, murals and sculptures and peruse local shops and restaurants. Public works of art abound thanks to a local initiative called The Avenue Concept. One of the most prominent is “Still Here,” a mural by Baltimore street artist Gaia depicting a contemporary Narragansett woman, Lynsea, that’s a nod to the resilience of the region’s indigenous communities — the Narragansetts were once the region’s largest tribe. Art enthusiasts will also want to pay a visit to the RISD Museum, with more than 2,000 works on view.
Stay downtown at The Beatrice, walkable to several restaurants and attractions. The 47-room hotel in a renovated historic bank
building has a modern, sophisticated design. Guest rooms have large windows, herringbone hardwood floors and luxury amenities like Mascioni linens, towel warmers and Dyson blow dryers. There’s a sleek Italian restaurant, Bellini, with an art deco flair, and a stylish rooftop bar — both part of the luxury global Cipriani brand — where you can sip namesake peach cocktails and nosh on impossibly thin tenderloin carpaccio, burrata and other Italian specialties.
Providence is known for its delicious Italian fare, and Federal Hill is the place to find it. The neighborhood settled by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s is now a bustling entertainment district. Il Massimo, a two-story trattoria and bar, serves classic Italian pizzas, pastas, seafood and more with Italian wine and well-crafted cocktails. Downstairs is casual and lively with checkerboard floors, leather banquettes and exposed brick; upstairs is slightly more subdued but still festive — and clearly a place where locals go to celebrate, if the succession of candle-lit desserts delivered tableside during my visit is any indication.
Despite its diminutive size, Rhode Island boasts an astonishing 400 miles of coastline, so fresh seafood is plentiful. Dune Brothers is a seasonal, pocket-sized takeout joint in a bright red building with picnic-table seating. On the menu: a soul-warming clam chowder (made New England-style with cream or with a clear broth — a Rhode Island specialty), clam cakes, fish sandwiches and crab rolls.
Other casual dining spots include Plant City, a meandering
two-story all-vegetarian food hall housing four restaurants, a speakeasy, coffee bar and market. Not a vegetarian? You won’t miss the meat at Plant City’s Double Zero woodfired pizza bar — the truffle pizza with cashew cream, wild mushrooms, charred kale and a lemon vinaigrette is bright, zesty and filling. If craft beer is your thing, The Malted Barley has dozens of mostly New England brews on tap and baked-to-order pretzels, from simply salted to Asiago and Parmesan, along with housemade dips like a sinful apricot butter. For coffee and a sweet treat, try Ellie’s, a French-inspired café with fresh-baked breads and delectable desserts from macarons to eclairs.
Just a 45-minute drive from Providence is Newport, a major 18th-century seaport that later emerged as an artists’ enclave and summer retreat.
Lodging here ranges from quaint bed-and-breakfasts to larger seaside inns. The Chanler at Cliff Walk is an elegant five-star hotel in a Gilded Age mansion on a bluff with sweeping ocean views and lush gardens. Located on a quiet side street a few blocks from the water is The Vanderbilt , an Auberge Resorts property in the former home of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. Near the epicenter of Newport’s waterfront dining and shopping district, Hammetts Hotel has a modern, nautical vibe overlooking a marina and a lively courtyard with shops and an open-air bar and restaurant. A more
budget-friendly option is Hotel Viking, a historic property with a large rooftop bar (open seasonally) that’s a pretty perch for enjoying sunset views.
Take in the sea air while strolling the Cliff Walk, a 3.5-mile public recreation trail that follows the coastline and passes stately historic mansions. Two of these magnificent homes — Marble House and The Breakers — are open to visitors year-round; others can be toured during the summer.
Downtown, brick and cobblestone sidewalks are lined with T-shirt shops with names like Nautical & Nice and a flagship Kiel James Patrick store stocked with preppy Fair Isle sweaters and braided, anchor-appliqued dog collars. Bowen’s Wharf, a commercial hub since the 17th century, and the adjacent Bannister’s Wharf are touristy but quaint. The waterfront district is filled with shops and restaurants, including Clarke Cooke House, a busy upscale restaurant in a circa-1780 building.
For a more casual bite, Midtown Oyster Bar is a lively tavern (with a quieter upstairs patio) adorned with colorful nautical flags and boasting a menu of familiar seafood dishes like fried calamari, tuna tacos, lobster rolls and an extensive raw bar, plus heartier entrees like pan-seared halibut and baked Atlantic cod.
The seafaring theme is strong in Newport, where kids often begin “learning the ropes” at an early age. To learn about Newport’s sailing history, The Sailing Museum, which opened in 2022, has
SPRING April marks the seasonal debut of WaterFire Providence (select dates through December), when more than 80 bonfires illuminate the downtown waterways from sunset till midnight. Volunteer “captains” tend the fires built in metal braziers lining the river, and the festivities are often accompanied by food and art vendors and live music.
SUMMER The Newport Folk Festival (July 26-28) and the Newport Jazz Festival (Aug. 2-4) at Fort Adams State Park have attracted music lovers for decades. The Newport Flower Show (June 21-23) takes place at Rosecliff, a waterfront Gilded Age mansion.
FALL Evenings from late September until Halloween, thousands of carved pumpkins are on view during the Jack O-Lantern Spectacular, a walkthrough exhibit at the city-owned Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. Proceeds support animal care and zoo programs.
WINTER During Holidays at the Newport Mansions (Nov. 23 - Jan. 1, 2025), three Gilded Age Newport homes — The Breakers, Marble House and The Elms — are decked with hundreds of poinsettias, fresh florals and other festive finery.
interactive exhibits, videos and artifacts, and is home to the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
Worth the 15-minute drive from downtown is Newport Vineyards, an expansive family-owned compound with a winery, on-site brewery and farm-totable restaurant with a hyper-seasonal menu showcasing ingredients grown on-site and at local farms. Tours and tastings (try the pinot gris — bright, crisp and not-toosweet) are offered daily.
In South County, you’ll find 100 miles of beaches, hiking and bike trails, and small towns to explore. For a spa day, the OH! Spa at The Preserve in Richmond offers everything from massage and facials to manicures and IV therapy in posh 12,000-square-foot digs with an outdoor infinity pool.
Dine on fresh-caught seafood with water views at The Coast Guard House, a former life-saving station built in 1888 overlooking Narragansett Bay that’s been a restaurant since the 1940s. Don’t miss the house-made stuffies — hardshell clams with a chorizo and red-bell-pepper stuffing, a Rhode Island specialty (if you’ve had deviled crab, you get the idea), and Point Judith calamari, sourced from the nearby cape known globally for its abundant supply of fresh-caught squid.
Getting there: The nonstop flight from Charlotte to Providence is about two hours. SP
With 11 waterfront communities and 85 miles of beaches, finding your own slice of paradise shouldn’t be too hard. Plan your summer getaway at CrystalCoastNC.org.
Crown Ballroom
Feb. 10
One of Charlotte’s longest-running galas, this year’s 66th annual Heart Ball celebrated 100 years of the American Heart Association. Patrons dined and danced with co-chairs Melany and Vicente Reynal leading the way, and the event raised $3 million to combat heart disease. photographs by Daniel Coston
A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas
benefiting Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The Revelry
Feb. 24
Notable Charlotteans and guest models hit the catwalk during this night of high fashion and fun aimed supporting the foundation’s work to find a cure for the genetic disorder that damages the lungs. photographs by Daniel Coston
A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas
Steak48
Feb. 26
Greg and Kara Olsen welcomed Panthers players past and present, as well as business, sports and community leaders for a fun night of dinner and conversation to help support families of children with congenital heart disease.
photographs by Daniel Coston
A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas
benefiting Make-A-Wish of Central & Western North Carolina Revelry at Camp North End March 1
This year’s Wish Ball had a carnival theme complete with dancers, jugglers and lots of entertainment. Wish Kid Dana also received her wish of performing with Cirque du Soleil. photographs by Daniel Coston
There’s a saying, “Let the music move you.” In this case, the Charlotte Symphony is moving the music — going mobile — so more people can experience it, free and in-person.
The CSO Roadshow concert series starts late April with performances scheduled through June and more to come this fall. About 25-30 musicians will take the stage on a 40-foot trailer with Resident Conductor Christopher James Lees leading the first few shows.
Artist Rosalía Torres-Weiner, who created digital art to wrap the trailer, calls it “a visual symphony on wheels.” The bright, whimsical design, inspired by Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” features a pianist, flutist and an array of instruments. Torres-Weiner says this “Road to Joy” illustrates the inclusivity and the transformative power of music.
Some concerts may have more of a walk-up street-fair vibe. Others will be more suited to bring a blanket and a picnic. Either
way, CSO Roadshow creates easier access to live music for everyone, which is part of the Symphony’s mission. “We want to balance our role as an anchor tenant of the Blumenthal venues uptown, where we contribute to the energy and vibrancy of the city center, with our desire to meet people where they are, in neighborhoods, parks and other public spaces across the city and the county,” says David Fisk, CEO and president of the symphony.
Fisk looked to the success of a similar program in Richmond, Va., and studied how symphonies across the country are connecting with new audiences through neighborhood concerts. He hopes CSO Roadshow adds energy and vitality to each neighborhood setting — and inspires kids to be music-makers, too.
CSO Roadshow presents its first concert on Sunday, April 28, at the Latin American Coalition in east Charlotte. Funding for the project was made possible through several grants. SP
