Contributors

MARJORIE HODGES /

WRITER A creative professional with deep experience in marketing, public relations, development, art consulting and community engagement, Hodge’s most recent work has been with the North Carolina Museum of Art and CAM Raleigh. Her passion for arts, culture and community, as well as experience in contemporary art and exhibition planning, contribute to her effectiveness as an arts leader and community catalyst. This month, she shared her mindshaping experience with the art and environment at Burning Man.

JOSHUA STEADMAN /

PHOTOGRAPHER Says Steadman: “I try to bring the same transformative energy to all my work, whether it’s a doc on an Israeli athlete’s Olympic dreams or a television spot about a new Krispy Kreme doughnut. Before our shoot, I didn’t know much about this pay-what-you-can cafe in downtown Raleigh, and nothing at all about Maggie Kane, its founder and executive director. During our session at the café, she was stopped multiple times for hugs—from patrons, volunteers, co-workers and passersby—and handled it all with such a routine exuberance you could tell it was a daily, probably hourly, occurrence. Maggie has such an incredible drive to help, and to lift up, that it fuels everyone around her. She truly embodies that bit of script on her left wrist with grace.”

JULI LEONARD /

PHOTOGRAPHER Leonard has been a photojournalist for 19 years and has spent the majority of her career at The News & Observer. She resides in Raleigh with her daughter, partner and two naughty dogs. She believes that farmers markets are always a delight to photograph, with ample visual opportunities between the beautiful fresh food, farmers and diverse crowds.

CRAIG LEHOULLIER /

WRITER LeHoullier is a gardener known as NC Tomatoman, and the author of Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varities of All Time. He shared his thoughts on diverse tomato varieties just in time for the fruit’s peak season. “For me, tomatoes—or gardening techniques, or heirlooms—are vehicles that I utilize to excite my readers with the ultimate goal of simply growing gardeners. Writing about tomatoes puts me in such an energized mood, hopeful of the harvests, teachings and meals to come. Having grown so many different varieties of tomatoes, I just hope that my piece will inspire gardeners to try something new and different.”