Black women in textile arts reimagine the art form as a means of storytelling, identity, and entrepreneurship. P12
Brew Bites
PHOTO: KID KARDIAC
Memphis breweries launch kitchens to satisfy patrons that are both thirsty and hungry. p24
PHOTO: TOBY SELLS
Walking the Greensward
We can and should help to keep our green spaces clean. p31
PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI
- 17 AFTER DARK - 19
THE fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
KROGER DEMANDS
Chef Kelly
English gave a list of demands for Kroger in an Instagram Reel. (Yes, it was two weeks ago, but it’s still relevant.)
Chief among them: “I’m not stopping for your security guard if you make me ring up my own groceries.” (See? Still relevant.)
CUTE
100 Days of Blues kicked o Sunday with a rousing version of “Walkin’ in Memphis” by Marcus Scott and the Tennessee Mass Choir at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street. Events and performances will roll here through September 16th, B.B. King’s birthday.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Tax Rebates, The BLVD, & Crosswalks
About 60,000 businesses get money back, a $310M plan unveiled, and paint to hit Midtown intersection.
TAX REBATES
Some of the world’s largest companies and the governor’s family business received Tennessee’s biggest new business tax rebate, according to a listing released last week by the Department of Revenue.
Rebates were given to Memphisbased FedEx, International Paper, AutoZone, and a score of smaller businesses. In all, about 60,000 companies received three-year refunds ranging from less than $750 to between $750 and $10,000.
e Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church unveiled a $310-million project to redevelop its
e estimated $1.5 billion in refunds and tax cuts appear to be having an immediate impact on the state budget. Tennessee’s business tax collections on property and earnings are $335 million short of projections through the rst four months of the year, according to the Department of Finance and Administration. e tax cut amounts to more than $400 million annually.
$310M PLAN FOR THE BLVD
Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church ( e BLVD) unveiled a $310-million master plan to transform its “23acre Midtown campus into a thriving hub for education, entertainment, and healthy urban living.”
e project includes 603 multi-family housing units, a 125-key hotel, spaces for medical o ces, tness centers, and other health-focused amenities. It also includes retail space for the possibility of co ee shops, restaurants, a full-service grocery store, and a 1,000-space parking facility.
e BLVD project will also bring a new 73,000-squarefoot sanctuary “right-sized for 21st century worship and located at the corners of Poplar and Montgomery streets.”
FISHING RODEO FOR STREET ORGS
e Community Unity Council (CUC) organized a shing rodeo last weekend to bridge the gap between the community and “street organizations,” what many call gangs.
CROSSWALK MURAL SET FOR MIDTOWN
Memphis artist Khara Woods was recently commissioned by the Urban Art Commission and the city of Memphis
to paint new crosswalks in Midtown, according to MidtownMemphis.org. at group is also supporting the project. e $14,000 project will transform the intersection of Avalon and Madison close to Cash Saver Midtown, Murphy’s, and Memphis Renaissance.
BBB ON VALABASAS
e Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a consumer alert late last month on Valabasas, a Collierville-based clothing company. In three years, consumers led 35 complaints with the BBB against the company. Most centered around delayed shipments, poor communication, and incomplete orders.
TRANS HOUSING THREAT
Changes to the federal Equal Access Rule could greatly impact transgender and gender-nonconforming people in Memphis, Kayla Gore, executive director of My Sistah’s House, said last week.
In February, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ceased enforcement of the rule. HUD secretary Scott Turner said this was an extension of President Donald Trump’s mission to “restore biological truth to the federal government.”
e changes have not been made yet. Gore said her group continues to educate the LGBTQ community on the changes in the interim.
Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report.
Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
100 DAYS OF BLUES
PHOTO: COURTESY THE BLVD
Midtown campus.
NAACP on xAI {
CITY REPORTER
By Kailynn Johnson
e group asked the health department, MLGW to shut down xAI; a public tussle ensued.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked the Shelby County Health Department (SCDH) and Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) to stop xAI’s operations last week.
In a letter to former SCHD director and health o cer Michelle Taylor and the MLGW board of commissioners, the advocacy organization criticized both agencies for allowing the data center to operate, while also leaving community members out of important conversations.
Kermit Moore, president of the Memphis Branch of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP; Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee State Conference; and Abre’ Conner, director of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, signed the letter.
The NAACP asked the agencies to dive deeper into xAI’s impact on public health, fully track the emissions of the site and its air turbines, and issue an emergency order for xAI to “stop operations completely.”
MLGW said the claims were “baseless and inflammatory.”
“Members of the community have been le in the dark at all phases of this process, and the public agencies, appointed and elected o cials, and companies who they appealed to for help have responded with no sense of urgency to address their
concerns,” the letter said. “We are urging you again to ensure that xAI stops operating its un-permitted turbines in violation of clean air and open meeting act laws and to order xAI to pay penalties for operating in violation of the law.”
xAI’s location in Southwest Memphis has been lambasted by community members and elected o cials due to its disproportionate e ect on a marginalized neighborhood. e NAACP said the project continues the trend of environmental racism in a historically Black community, and emphasized how the health department should be protecting these individuals.
e organization held both the SCHD and MLGW responsible for allowing xAI to operate 35 gas turbines without air permits. While the Greater Memphis Chamber announced that the temporary gas turbines would be removed in the coming months as the project enters Phase II, the NAACP criticized SCHD and MLGW for allowing xAI to “sidestep the law and clean air
standards.”
MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen responded on June 2nd in a letter where he acknowledged the group’s concern and said they received their letter “only a er it was released to national media outlets.” He called their claims “baseless and in ammatory,” saying they were “unnecessary and frankly beneath [the] organization.”
“ e baseless claims against MLGW in your letter re ect a complete lack of understanding of MLGW processes and the laws implicated,” McGowen said in the letter.
McGowen said they have no role in monitoring or regulating xAI’s gas turbines and refuted the NAACP’s claims that they “allow customers to operate without constraints or with a lackadaisical approach.”
“MLGW does not control the use of natural gas turbines,” McGowen said. “ at responsibility lies with other agencies such as the Shelby County Health Department, Tennessee Department
SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER ermal imagery shows heat from xAI’s gas turbines.
of Environment and Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.”
e NAACP pushed back on these claims and cited MLGW’s charter and policy manual which they said gives the board the authority in deciding how MLGW “will add or improve infrastructure.” Section 683 allows commissioners to govern the distribution of the utilities “as they deem proper in the operation of said light, gas, and water division.”
McGowen’s letter also said the company has been transparent about their role in xAI’s operations and they’ve made “great e orts to educate the public.” ey referenced a public conversation they co-facilitated with the Memphis City Council in August 2024 and a webpage that de nes their role with xAI.
Despite this, the NAACP still criticized MLGW’s role in providing public updates.
The Hot Tamale Capital of the World invites you to enjoy an eclectic collection of events and entertaining stops.
» MAY « Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Festival, including Frog Fest and Leland Craw sh Festival LelandChamber.com
Future Tour Golf Championship
» JUNE « Delta Soul & Celebrity Golf Event facebook.com/DeltaSoulGolf
Lake Washington’s “Straight O The Lake” Music Festival
» AUGUST « MS Delta Duck Boat Races at Lake Washington
» SEPTEMBER « Delta Blues & Heritage Festival deltabluesms.org
Gumbo Nationals greenvillespeedway.net
Sam Chatmon Blues Fest facebook.com/SamChatmonBlues
Stephone Hughes Old Time Gospel Fest
» OCTOBER « Delta Hot Tamale Fest facebook.com/ DeltaHotTamaleFestival
Highway 61 Blues Festival highway61blues.com
Monuments on Main Street Historic Greenville Cemetery Tour facebook.com/Monuments-on-Main-Street
YMCA Cotton Classic 10K/5K Run racesonline.com/ymca-cotton-classic
» NOVEMBER « Roll’n on the River Car Show facebook.com/redwinecarshow
» DECEMBER « Christmas on Deer Creek LelandChamber.com
POLITICS By Jackson Baker
Storm-Chased
One way or another, Mayor Young is up against the elements.
e one thing we know for sure about this year’s Pride celebration is that the weather was not kind to it.
There is no question that the thunder and lightning and torrential downpour of early Saturday morning did not augur well for the 2025 parade and festival, scheduled for later that day.
at was one cruel joke played by the elements. A second cruel joke was the rapid and virtually complete clearing of the skies by late morning, by which time, however, the day’s events had been canceled.
A statement from Mid-South Pride, the sponsoring organization, announcing the cancellation, put things this way: “In the hours leading up to the event, we were in continuous contact with emergency management o cials and other city departments. … Combined with 50 mph wind gusts, ooding, and unstable conditions for temporary staging and infrastructure, the decision was no longer ours to make — it became a public safety directive.”
chose to participate.” e weather forecast, she said, had posed “a serious safety risk to our sta , our residents, and our mayor —who was genuinely excited to march alongside our community.” She maintained that “the city did not cancel Pride. e mayor did not cancel Pride.”
A thought: e administration of Mayor Paul Young seems intent on acquiring an evermore selfscapegoating status.
And on that point, Young is becoming a magnet for intensifying community concerns regarding the xAI project.
e mayor is very much in the crosshairs of a signi cant environmental protest led by the irrepressible state Senator Justin J. Pearson, who held a press conference on the subject of xAI on Monday in conjunction with various NAACP chapters in Tennessee and Mississippi.
e statement attempted to be reassuring, promising that “the celebration will be rescheduled.”
Late Monday evening, a press release announced the event would now take place June 21st.
And in the meantime, another kind of foul weather — the metaphorical kind, represented by gossip and social media — had rained on the parade, which has become an annual xture of the Memphis timeline.
Word was getting around that the o ce of Mayor Paul Young was to blame for having called things o .
Renee Parker Sekander, the o ce’s liaison for the event, put out her own statement, which said in part: “Today, I had to make the tough decision to halt our participation in today’s Pride Parade for those city employees who
Pearson et al want local political leaders, including both Young and his county mayor counterpart Lee Harris, to join with the Environmental Protection Agency in blocking xAI’s current and future applications to operate methane gas turbines at the Shelby County industrial sites where it is now operating.
Harris’ position toward the xAI project, brought here by megaentrepreneur Elon Musk, might best be described as cautiously ambivalent, whereas Young has declared forthrightly his hope of “exploiting” Musk’s Colossus project in the interests of Memphis’ tax base and the area’s economic future.
Pearson’s response to that has been that “the paltry money xAI has dangled in front of our short-sighted leaders is not worth the cost of breathing dirty, and in some cases, deadly air.”
As for Young’s goal of “exploiting” xAI for Memphis’ bene t, Pearson regards the idea as “ignorant,” suggesting instead that “you can’t exploit the exploiter” and that “Mayor Young should know better.”
PHOTO: PAUL YOUNG | FACEBOOK Paul Young
AT LARGE
By
Bruce VanWyngarden
We Are Stardust
On getting back to the garden.
By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong And everywhere was a song And a celebration.
Mary sits on a bench in a small pocket park on Tinker Street, strumming a scratched and worn Guild guitar, singing her original songs for an audience of three. She is as weathered as her old guitar, dark from the sun, wearing a black dress and a oppy hat. A motorcycle cruises past, its sound system blaring “Sweet Home Alabama,” momentarily drowning out the street musician plying her trade. Mary keeps singing, undeterred. She’s a warrior.
time there eventually, though I’ll still be in Memphis a lot, and still writing for the Flyer and Memphis Magazine
Anyway, as we pull out of the Home Depot lot, I’m looking at the map on my phone and notice something.
“Hey, did you know we’re only eight miles from Woodstock?” I say. “Why don’t we just run over there and take a look at it?”
And so we take the short and winding road upward, over a couple of crystalline mountain streams and through the woods and into the town whose name became shorthand for an entire generation.
My rst reaction, as we cruise along the village’s main drag looking for parking, is that the place has avoided by the merest of white whisker hairs becoming Myrtle Beach for old hippies. ere are shops of all kinds catering to granola-tourists — you can buy owing dresses, T-shirts, beads, candles, guitars, and herbs of all kinds, including cannabis. You can get a massage, a facial, some incense, a pair of earthy shoes or sandals. ere are lots of cool-looking small restaurants and outdoor venues of every variety imaginable.
A couple approaches — a man and woman holding hands, both with long white pony tails. ey stop and listen for a minute, then the man drops a bill into Mary’s guitar case and the woman pantomimes a photo-taking gesture, silently asking if it’s okay. Mary nods yes and keeps strumming. A phone-picture is duly snapped, and the couple wanders on down the sidewalk, past the Herbal Dispensary, Candlestock Gi s, Strawberry Fields, the Tiny Woodstock Shop, and countless other quaint-ish stores along the town’s central thoroughfare.
And I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes, Riding shotgun in the sky Turning into butter ies Above our nation.
So, yeah, I did go to Woodstock. Not the festival in 1969; the town, in 2025. It was last week, actually, a er my wife and I had made a run to the Home Depot in Kingston, New York. We have a little house in the country up in the Hudson Valley now, where Tatine has a job as an attorney, working with unaccompanied immigrant minors, a Trump-endangered species of young humans. I’ll be spending a lot more
And there are a ton of people walking around, many of them old. Which isn’t surprising. A er all, if by some chance you were one of the 500,000 people who went to Yasgur’s Farm for the Woodstock festival in 1969, you’re at least in your 70s now. Judging from the crowd on this Saturday a ernoon, visiting Woodstock is still an appealing pilgrimage for many folks, young and old.
Me, I decide to take a break and enjoy the street music while my wife hits some more shops. I watch as two women approach the singer. One drops a bill in her case, and the other says something to her that I can’t hear. ere’s a brief silence, then, a tad wearily, Mary begins the Joni Mitchell song she probably gets asked to play a dozen times a day — the one with this chorus:
We are stardust, we are golden We are billion-year-old carbon And we’ve got to get ourselves Back to the garden.
Okay, yes, right, we’re golden. Woodstock. I get it. But hey, we’re not a billion years old, even though our grandchildren may think so. I stand and wave goodbye to Mary, who smiles slyly, and I wander o , thinking, I’ve got to get myself back to my garden.
PHOTO: BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Mary on her bench
VIEWPOINT By Brad Wolf
How Will We Respond?
Americans have been here before. How we respond today matters.
Aperson escapes slave labor, torture, rape, and murder, and illegally crosses a border to a land where such crimes are outlawed, to a land where people have the right to work for wages and are protected by the law. Anyone in this “Free Land” who harbors or aids such an escapee is subject to federal prosecution, fines, and imprisonment. Yet to turn them over to federal authorities returns these people to a life of wanton violence and suffering.
This was the United States in 1850 when Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, legislation requiring that all escaped slaves be returned to the slave-owner and that officials and citizens in free states must cooperate. Aiding or harboring a slave meant prison and steep fines. Habeas corpus was suspended under this law. Citizens were required to return a runaway slave to the chains of bondage or face the wrath of the federal courts.
Americans in 1850 had to decide where they stood, with the newly passed federal law or with their conscience. The risk was great, for both the runaway slaves and those Americans who might help them.
Today, the Republican Party, the very party which grew from the outrage over the wickedness of the Fugitive Slave Act, seeks to criminalize every aspect of helping a person who has fled a life of torture, violence, and suffering. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 has been updated and amended for the fleeing refugees of 2025.
On April 25, 2025, U.S. officials arrested Hannah Dugan, a Wisconsin judge, and charged her with helping a man in her court evade immigration authorities. It is alleged she hindered immigration agents who appeared in the courthouse to arrest the man without a judicial warrant. She faces numerous federal charges.
We are only four months into Trump’s Second Term of Cruelty. Where will we be a year from now? Two years from now? How draconian will the laws be then?
Americans living in the border states of the 1850s were called upon to answer the question of what they would do when a runaway slave appeared in their community. Would they violate federal law and help, or would they turn the desperate families back over to the slaveholders, to the “manstealers,” as the bounty hunters were then called?
Many in the border state of Pennsylvania — Quakers, Amish, Brethren — followed their faith and funneled these runaways to freedom. In Lancaster County, Republican Congressman Thaddeus
Stevens allegedly hid slaves in a cistern in his backyard as he facilitated their road to freedom. He was an oath-bound member of Congress violating U.S. law to save lives.
In retrospect, it is easy to know what the right thing to do was in the case of slavery and the Underground Railroad. That issue today is clear for us. We know where we would stand: for freedom, for those fleeing slavery. But back then the issue was not so clear. Our choice on such a momentous issue determines not just our place on the right or wrong side of history but determines the fate of people impacted by our decision. Will we help or hinder a person in need? Will we violate immoral law to save a life? Will we risk fines and imprisonment? These questions were asked and answered by many Americans in 1850. How will we answer them today?
So often we wish to be part of a moment of great historical importance, a moment when we have to take a risk to save another, to take a stand when others wouldn’t. We feel certain we would know the right thing to do. If only such a moment would come our way.
Today, that moment comes not in the form of storming a beachhead or taking a hill in battle. It is not marching for civil rights in Birmingham or Selma. And it is not hiding a runaway slave in your attic, though the similarities to that particular act of conscience are striking. Today it is whether to provide shelter and safety to a refugee fleeing violence in their home country, a person illegally in the United States.
How will we respond this time? In this century? In this historic moment?
Is a refugee illegally entering this country to flee institutional violence different than a slave illegally entering a free state to escape slavery? Especially when that institutional violence has been precipitated by the U.S. repeatedly intervening and destabilizing the home country of the refugee?
In 1958, legendary peace activist Philip Berrigan asked a youth retreat group the following question: “What’s it going to be with you? Are you going to go through life playing both ends against the middle, playing cozy, not committing yourself, sitting on the fence?”
That question is as potent, and as dangerous, today as it was then. For us, and for the victims in the breach.
Brad Wolf, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a former prosecutor, director of Peace Action Network of Lancaster, PA, and cocoordinates the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal.
PHOTOS:
Whit Washington’s Pile of reads centers her embroidery business around the Black experience.
But then and now Black textile and ber artists remain under-shown and underrepresented, forgotten in the weeds of intersectionality.
Dream Weavers
In Memphis, artists and institutions alike are seeking to correct that narrative and highlight Black women artists and artistry in ber and textiles — from hosting exhibits to continuing, reviving, and reimagining art forms that have nearly been lost.
Black women in textile arts reimagine the art form as a means of storytelling, identity, and entrepreneurship.
COVER STORY By Abigail Morici
The noise drew Whit Washington to the chain stitch machine that would drive her course into entrepreneurship: a hum, a gentle, rhythmic drum of the push and pull of the thread through the fabric.
“It’s very cozy, homey, like you feel like you’re sitting by the replace,” she says. “And you know something’s being made. e noise makes me feel nostalgic and cozy in a way.”
It’s a noise that once lled the homes of her grandmother and her Cousin Minnie — “my mom’s great aunt or cousin or close friend, family, you know.”
“Me and my mom used to drive down to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, when I was a little kid … to visit her in her kind of little shack home, but just like the cutest little home. We’d always bring fried chicken down there and eat with her and she had her turnip greens going and growing in the back.
“And in the back room, she had this whole quilting room someone made for her out of wood, and she would handsew all of these quilts and these beautiful
patterns and use whatever scrap fabric that she had.
“She was quilting until she was like 100 … elaborate, beautiful, handmade quilts, and looking at them, you can just see the little stitches and her hand in it.”
ese quilts captivated and in uenced a young Washington, yet work like this done by Black women like Cousin Minnie o en goes unnoticed by many, relegated to the background, le for memory boxes. Yet grandmothers and mothers will teach their grandchildren and children to sew, knit, crochet, cross-stitch, quilt, patch — examples of textile or ber arts, those utilitarian practices that are needed to keep us warm and clothed for millenia.
Over the years, textile arts have been cra ed primarily by women, and mostly by women of color, and so have been neglected from mainstream art narratives. While speaking to the website Artsy, April Bey, a California-based multimedia artist whose work explores themes of Afrofuturism, feminism, post-colonialism, and more, said, “Historically, there’s a perception that, because women have been
denied easy access to academia, when [domestic labor] is involved, their work doesn’t hold intellectual value. Sewing and textiles, weaving and cra -based disciplines tend to carry a feminine nature that has been seen as maternal and thereby not as intellectual or serious as the praised painter.”
Yet on the verge of the feminist art movement of the 1970s, artists sought to ip that narrative and use textiles to question the world and their position in it.
Woven Stories
April Bey is somewhat of a celebrity when it comes to textile and ber arts — at least to Jayla Slater, a professor of fashion and apparel design at the University of Memphis and curator of “Unraveled,” now on display at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis. “Unraveled” opens with Bey’s work, I Was Just An Alien at Came Down From the Sky to Save Your Dumb Behind, which hangs at the entrance against a bright green wall.
In the 82-by-60-inch woven blanket, the gure of a woman peers through overlapping panels. She overlooks her shoulder, her gaze staring directly at the viewer, as if she’s inviting us into her world, the blanket becoming some kind of portal into the world Bey has called Atlantica. Atlantica is “a glittering, imagined utopia where Black queer excellence thrives unbothered,” reads the wall text.
e portrait happens to be of Jessi Ujazi, a Memphis native, on Juneteenth — “a day that holds ancestral weight, radical joy, and future-facing liberation.”
“It was just so tting,” Slater says of the coincidence.
“Unraveled” is a sort of Atlantica, a place where Black women can share their joy, their stories, unencumbered. “It was really special to be able to bring this show to Memphis because we’ve not had anything like this,” Slater says of her solo curatorial debut. “I really wanted to celebrate Black women creating work with textiles.”
Textiles, in particular, hold a special space in Black heritage and culture. “A lot
of rst experiences that anybody has with relics of their culture is tactile things — especially for Black people and for Black people who are members of the diaspora outside of the continent, who are descendants of enslaved people,” Slater says.
“A lot of written history doesn’t exist, and so a lot of the relics of culture are physical items and a lot of times that comes in the form of textiles, quilts, old pieces of clothing, and furniture or pillows that have been saved. So there’s a cultural component for this show because all of these people are doing their thing, connecting with their people, creative work, just having fun with the medium. It’s really special.”
For an artist like Memphis-based Felicia Rachelle Wheeler, for instance, that looks like using the peyote stitch, a beading technique used in historic and contemporary Native American cultures, to recreate a childhood photo in Way Up ere. is was the rst time she’d used the peyote stitch, and it took her more than 100 hours and 10,000 beads.
e piece, completed in 2024, combines this peyote stitch with crochet. “Because she’s of mixed cultural heritage and her Native American side used the peyote stitch to create beadwork, she is mixing together all these forms that she’s learned from the matriarchs and her family,” Slater says.
Signi cantly, Wheeler isn’t the only artist exploring memories and family in the show, nor is she the only Memphis artist among national and even international artists in “Unraveled.” “It was a no-brainer [to include Memphis],” Slater says, “especially connecting to my own roots through the curation. I mean, my roots are here, and these women are telling the story of Memphis.”
Traditions Broken
For Janessa Ladson, Memphis has been a place of artistic rebirth. When she graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with her bachelor of ne arts in 2023, she fell into a bit of a creative drought. “I felt stuck. I didn’t know how to exist outside academia,” she says.
But when Ladson and her ancée moved back to Memphis in 2024, “I felt this sense of urgency come back to me,” she says. “I think also being back in a place where I saw myself and the di erent parts of my person and identity re ected more in my community felt as if there was this great igniting of my creative view.”
She found herself turning — or rather, returning — to a language that rst fascinated her as an undergrad: weaving. “When I rst started, I de nitely was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be an abstract girly. I’m going to sit in that.’ And not from a fear of representational work or anything like that; I think that I didn’t have any sense of personhood. But because I sat in abstrac-
“[Tufting] is almost like a calming thing for me. It feels like therapy in a way.
tion, I used all of this collected hair and I decided to build this little language.”
Hair, to Ladson, has always represented herself. “It’s such a large piece of me, in the way that people see me,” she says. “Lots of people pay attention to my hair, and so then I pay attention to my hair. And I think going to predominantly white schools, I am con ned literally into everything that existed in those schools. I was a Black girl with bushy, curly hair, and all of my friends were really cutesy white girls with beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. So I became more aware that it’s almost my personhood. … I think because people see me as my hair, that felt like another way to paint myself.”
And so hair became her paint, her medium; she buys bundles of it at beauty shops to weave around cyanotypes of old family photographs she’s carried with her everywhere she’s moved in a Ziploc bag. “I’m not exceptionally close with my Black family, and most of the people on my
April Bey’s I Was Just An Alien at Came Down From the Sky to Save Your Dumb Behind in “Unraveled”
mother’s side have passed away,” Ladson says. “I don’t remember a lot of things, but I have this photo and I have evidence of a relationship. And so it’s like putting myself back into the narrative.”
ese portraits that mingle hair weavings and family photos have nally allowed Ladson to see herself represented in media — something she’s longed for since she
was young. “I wanted to take up a lot of space,” she says. “So when I discovered weaving, I realized that no matter the size, it’s still time-intensive, it’s still laborious, and it still lasts as long.”
By and large, Ladson’s self-taught in her weaving, resorting to library books
continued on page 14
PHOTO: (ABOVE) COURTESY THE ARTIST
PHOTOS: (TOP) ABIGAIL MORICI; (LEFT) COURTESY THE ARTIST
Kid Kardiac’s tu ed pieces in “Unraveled”
and asking for advice here and there from a weaving group that meets at Crosstown Arts. “ ings of fabrication and stu like that, I feel like a lot of that is passed down. It’s this thing that you learn from your mom who learned from her mom, who learned from her mom. I didn’t have any of that,” Ladson says. “My relationship to weaving is very untraditional in a sense that feels really tting, though, because my relationship with my family or lack thereof is very untraditional and dysfunctional.”
For “Unraveled,” where she has a few of her signature weavings displayed, she created e Greater Part Has Been Removed, as part of her creative rebirth in Memphis. “To be with other Black women is amazing,” Ladson says. “I think it goes back to the idea of me being super inquisitive about other Black women’s experience and me being a baby in terms of knowing and not knowing the things. It’s just super magical. I love to see other Black women who are working in the same textile, ber arts.”
In a few weeks, Ladson leaves for New York University for her master’s in arts administration. “ ere’s like no data showing Black women in managerial positions within the arts infrastructure,” she says. “I wanted to make room for myself, and when I make room for myself, I make room for everyone else.”
Purpose in Nostalgia “ is is the biggest show I’ve done,” says Kid Kardiac. “I wanted an opportunity to show my range in a place where it made sense. A lot of my pieces have been put out on Instagram, on my website, just for people to see from inside my house.”
Kardiac is mostly known for tu ing rugs and wall-hangings, but for “Unraveled,” the native Memphian ventured into incorporating other elements, like a frame, a punching bag, and carpentry. As always though, she turned to those who inspire her for her subjects — typically Black artists, musicians, and sports gures, and in this case, Muhammad Ali, André 3000, and Skateboard P.
“My art is about capturing moments,” Kardiac says. “With a fast-paced society, things get forgotten very quickly.” Tu ing allows her to bring a moment beyond a photo, to stretch its lifetime and to bring a new experience to it — in the consumption and in the creation.
e process is laborious and time-intensive, considering planning and editing and the physicality of it all. But, to Kardiac, “It’s almost like a calming thing for me. It feels like therapy in a way.”
She tu ed for the rst time during the Covid lockdown simply because she couldn’t nd a rug she liked. She’d never experimented in visual arts before, her prior creative pursuits being in music. She’d never really drawn, but she was con dent she could learn this new skill and that she could improve until she was satis ed. “ ere wasn’t anything to look up
[for tu ing],” Cardiac re ects. “I was just nding really old videos of people using the technique.”
But soon Kardiac was posting her creations to Instagram and she started receiving commissions. “It really was a blessing in disguise,” she says. “I didn’t really have a sense of direction as far as what I wanted to do, and so it kind of gave me purpose.
“And then I shi ed my focus on work to create my own pieces, and people would buy those as well.”
ese days, Kardiac’s not using her tu ed pieces as rugs; she’s hanging them on the walls of her home or exploring new ways to make use of the material — like in “Unraveled.” But even as she dives into new mediums, Kardiac says she doesn’t want to stray from her roots, her tu ing. ere’s something about it, she says — the sensory element, a sense of nostalgia, coziness. “I want to bring it to another level.”
Embracing the Culture
Whit Washington found her calling with the chain stitch machine, the one that made all the noise. She had been working various jobs in New York City while at Parsons School of Design. One of them — her job customizing clothing at Nike — had a chain stitch embroiderer. “I was like, ‘ at’s it. at’s what I’m gonna do.’”
It took her six or maybe eight months of searching, but she found a chain stitch machine of her own from some guy who got it from Egypt. “Apparently, I really like to learn how to do tedious di cult things,” Washington says. “When I got the machine, I only saw one other Black woman on Instagram doing it, so I reached out to her and I was like, ‘Can you teach me how to use this machine?’”
From there, she took her new-found skill to new jobs, and when she came back home to Memphis during the pandemic, she hit the ground running with an embroidery business that would become Pile of reads, with wholesale and customizable products.
Mostly, her work centers around the Black experience and embracing Black womanhood. “I’m really enjoying making things for Juneteententh,” she says, as an example. For Memphis Fashion Week at the Memphis Brooks Museum, she also embroidered pieces celebrating and remembering the Historic Clayborn Temple and the sanitation strike of 1968.
Washington also does pop-ups, where she demonstrates her cra , customizing pieces on the spot, monogramming bandanas or stitching upcycled caps with ash icons. “I don’t mind being on display,” Washington says. “So embroidery is utilitarian, and it can even be performative.”
For these events, she uses her vintage machine. “I’ve always been really nostalgic,” she says. “ ere’s a feel to it where it’s like, ‘Wow, this is a 100 years old. Who used this before me? What were they making?’
“It’s almost reviving an art because it did kind of lose favor with digital machines. It’s just like, ‘Okay, this is faster,
quicker for business.’”
Because of this, the vintage machines have been hard to nd for Washington, and getting them repaired is even more di cult. “ ere’s this lone Facebook group where I would put a video in there and they would answer pretty immediately. But I learned how to become my own mechanic on the machine.”
In Tennessee, at least as far as Washington is aware, there are only two other comparable chain stitch embroidery businesses: RangerStitch in Nashville and Kait Makes in Chattanooga. “Eventually I wanna have a band of stitchers,” Washington hopes. “I’m kind of bringing the energy to Memphis, and it’s trying to carve out new paths and new lanes for artists.” ese days, Washington has also been in school for welding, a cra she hopes to one day intersect with her chain stitch. “ ere’s not a lot of women in welding, or in the trades period, so I’m like, ‘Come on, let’s be a trailblazer in another way.’”
And as her welding instructor at Moore Tech told her, “Welding is like sewing with the sun.”
Making Connections
In October, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will open its own exhibit honoring Black textile artists, speci cally Black Southern quilters. Having originated at the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) in Jackson, Mississippi, “Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South” will feature highlights from MMA’s and American photographer and collector Roland L. Freeman’s collections of handmade and machine-stitched quilts. “Our iteration of this exhibition will … [also] tie it back to our Memphis community,” says Kristin Pedrozo, Art Bridges Fellow at the Brooks. “Memphis is de nitely no stranger to [the quilting] tradition.”
“Many of these women are from rural areas, folks you would see every day, but individuals that folks may not perceive as artists,” Sharbreon Plummer, “Of Salt and Spirit” curator, said to the Mississippi Free Press when it rst opened in Jackson. “It’s important for me to celebrate the contributions of these women as artists, as everyday archivists and individuals who
inspire so many.”
Pedrozo admits, “Quilts aren’t typically shown as o en as the traditional style of paintings or sculptures are in the museum setting. It is a cra form, and it is one of those cra forms that are extremely laborintensive and have a lot of intentionality behind them, and on all levels, is a form of artistry. A lot of people around the area have grown up seeing a quilt, either in their home or family homes, so it’s something that we really like about it. It’s a very accessible art form.
“And I do think, in this moment of the museum world, there’s been a lot of resurgence with showing o cra as an artistry and appreciating it a little bit more.”
For this show, each maker or each community that’s made a quilt has been accounted for. “It’s very common for a lot of old historical textiles to have very little information about its maker,” Pedrozo says. “It’s hard to separate the quilts from their makers, so we placed a lot of importance on the people who are making them.”
Quilts, a er all, are personal items, made for personal use, made with care and attention — as are most textile arts. ese are slow processes, where the maker’s hand is o en shown through their stitches, weaves, and knots.
“ ere’s a certain intimacy in it,” Ladson says. “[Art-making] takes away how I want to be perceived and I don’t censure myself. And so when I take away the responsibility and that burden to be accepted, I practice vulnerability and intimacy with myself, which is something I’ve always run from my entire life. … When I’m making, it’s like self-care.” is burden of perception is particularly sharp for the Black woman’s experience. “Black women are the most forgotten in history,” Ladson says. “ ey’re always overlooked and misrepresented. ere’s so much distrust in Black women. In the way they are painted, sort of culturally, socially, politically, they’re very othered.
“Maybe that’s also why I’m always in awe when I nd that there is this whole world of Black women creating and successfully creating.”
From Washington’s Pile of reads, to the quilters in the Brooks’ “Of Salt and Spirit,” to AMUM’s “Unraveled,” to ber artist Brittney Boyd Bullock, to tailor Cari’s Closet, to crocheter Hooked by Candice, Black women in Memphis are succeeding in the textile arts. “A lot of textile artists in Memphis y under their radar,” Slater says, “because our scene is cra . ere’s a quilter practically on every corner or somebody that’s xing up clothes or doing these elaborate wigs for the drag queens.
“I hope people come away [from ‘Unraveled’] feeling really good. e show is a celebration, and so I hope people can feel that for one, and for two, maybe go pick up some textiles.”
“Unraveled” at AMUM closes August 16th. Admission is free. “Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South” opens at the Brooks on Wednesday, October 1st.
PHOTO: COURTESY THE ARTIST Felicia Wheeler’s Sarah Lou in Pink is on display in “Unraveled.”
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Juneteenth in Cordova
June is an eventful month every year with the start of summer, vacations, the warm weather, and the celebration of Juneteenth.
e history of Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865, when the Union soldiers arrived in Galveston to announce the freedom of slaves in Texas. While the Emancipation Proclamation was established in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln, it wasn’t fully enforced in Texas yet. e rst celebration happened the following year on June 19, 1866. ese celebrations involved church gatherings, parades, and community fests. Juneteenth was o cially recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.
Juneteenth has been celebrated in Memphis for over three decades with festivals, concerts, food, and artistic expression, and Juneteenth Fest at the Cordova Library is one of the many celebrations happening here in the next two weeks. is will be the library’s fourth year hosting the fest, and, according to the library’s manager, Francis Mathews, there’s always a good turnout.
Mathews says, “ e fest celebrates local artists and creatives with entertainment, poetry readings, cooking instructors, and choirs from Cordova High School.” ere will be festivities for people of all ages like performances by African drummers and jookin’ dancers, Juneteenth-themed story time with the children, making Juneteenth quilts, and decorating Juneteenth ags. e fest will also be selling food like hot dogs, chips, drinks, snow cones, and other desserts. Accessories and home décor will be sold as well.
e fest will be on Saturday, June 14th, at the Cordova Library from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. is celebration is all about the community coming together and supporting all aspects of African-American culture.
FEST,
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES June 12th - 18th
Woodru -Fontaine House Museum, 680 Adams Avenue, Friday, June 13, 7-9 p.m., $30, 18+
If you’re looking for an intriguing way to spend Friday the 13th, join the evening tour and “ghost chat” at the Woodru -Fontaine mansion.
Tour the darkened halls and listen to rst-hand accounts of those who have experienced what it’s like to work in one of the most haunted historical properties in Memphis. ere will also be a brief Q & A session for those who are exceptionally curious. Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/2v29ayse.
Shadowcast Absent Friends is returning to bring you the 1975
By Morgan Thomas
cult classic. See them do it like it’s supposed to be. Costumes, props, callbacks, they have it all.
For you virgins out there, the classic lm, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Meat Loaf, and Barry Bostwick, is the longest-running theatrical release in lm history.
e evening starts with a live pre-show and surprises, including a costume contest and special preshow entertainment to get the party going. Audience participation is strongly encouraged and so are any costumes!
Prop bags are available for $5.
Worldwide Knit in Public Day Chickasaw Oaks Plaza, 3092 Poplar, Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Knitters, crocheters, needlepoint enthusiasts, and all other stitchers unite! Stitching Supply is hosting its inaugural celebration of World-
wide Knit in Public Day, the largest global event dedicated to bringing ber artists together in a social and engaging way.
is full-day celebration will transform Chickasaw Oaks Mall into a vibrant hub of creativity, with special appearances, interactive experiences, and exclusive collaborations. Guests will enjoy ra es, giveaways, and yarn-themed games with fun prizes throughout the event. Stitching Supply will also debut a fresh lineup of special merchandise, including exclusive yarns from three outstanding independent dyers. Among them is Forbidden Fiber from Covington, Tennessee, known for their stunning palettes and inventive ber bases. ese trunk shows o er a rare chance to meet artists, see collections up close, and snag unique skeins that aren’t available anywhere else.
STAY IN THE LOOP
JUNETEENTH
CORDOVA LIBRARY, 8457 TRINITY, SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 11 A.M.-3 P.M.
Ghost Chat
PHOTO: COURTESY CORDOVA LIBRARY Celebrate Juneteenth with cra -making for all ages.
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Driving in the Delta for Sinners
Boo Mitchell describes the movie-makers’ voyage of discovery through Mississippi.
You know music will be at the heart of a movie when both its writer/ director and composer are researching its soundtrack over a year before its release, making an epic road trip that’s equal parts fact- nding, soul-searching, and club-hopping. Such was the case for this summer’s popular and critical smash hit Sinners, a lm that weaves the blues deep into its narrative threads of vampirism, spiritualism, and racial identity. Indeed, music plays such a central role in the lm that its box o ce success has gone hand in hand with the soundtrack’s fortunes, the album having risen to the top of Billboard’s blues charts, to number ve in the soundtrack charts, and to number 18 in the Americana charts within two weeks of its release. And it’s worth noting that the musical pilgrimage that informed the lm so deeply was launched in Memphis, with Royal Studios’ Boo Mitchell at the helm.
“ e Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel,” runs the old quote, and that was certainly the case when Mitchell and Hi Rhythm guitarist Lina Beach pulled up to that fabled lobby with a van and driver; picked up Sinners’ writer/director Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, and his father, Tomas Göransson; and headed to Clarksdale, Mississippi.
“As soon as we get to Clarksdale and turn o the highway, right where you go past that grove of beautiful pecan trees, Ryan was, like, ‘Pull over, man!’” says Mitchell. “So he starts taking pictures and video. I didn’t know what they were up to. I knew who they were, de nitely, so I thought, ‘Maybe they’re scouting a movie or something.’ And we get into Clarksdale, and there was a festival, and Super Chikan was playing!”
Seeing one of the Delta’s most original artists, a purveyor of the living blues as it exists today, was the perfect introduction to the contemporary scene, and perfect for Mitchell’s guests, all avowed fans of the blues. “Ludwig’s father has had a blues band for 35 years in Sweden, and they play all this Albert King stu . So they got to see Super Chikan, and that was mindblowing. He’s up there playing the diddley bow and all that stu .” at was just the beginning. Moving on to Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club, also in Clarksdale, they saw Anthony “Big A” Sherrod & the All Stars,
and from there went on to a hotel in Cleveland, Mississippi, checking in on the Grammy Museum there. “ e next day we get up and drive to Indianola, and it’s just a whole lot of cool topography. Ryan had us pulling over in spots where there was some kind of river or stream or something, and he’d start taking pictures of the scenery.”
But it was Indianola’s B.B. King Museum that was the real draw, where the director rst gave them a personal tour, then asked, “Y’all want to go see Club Ebony? We just redid it.” at drew an immediate yes. “We were like, ‘Club Ebony, where B.B. King cut his teeth as a performer? Hell yeah, we want to go see it!’” explains Mitchell. “He’s like, ‘I’m gonna grab one of B.B.’s guitars.’ And the guitar that he just happened to grab was Lucille 01! So we hung out at empty Club Ebony, and it’s a really cool place because it looks almost exactly like it was back in the day. And so then [the museum director with Lucille] said, ‘Somebody want to play it?’ So Lina was immediately, like, ‘Hell, yeah.’ en Ludwig’s father was playing it.”
Beyond that, the traveling party was learning some history. “I was telling them
about sharecroppers, plantations, and the plantation bucks,” recalls Mitchell. “I’m like, ‘ is the rst form of economic slavery and how they kept the slaves on the plantation. at money was only good at the plantation store, right?’ And Ryan was fascinated by that. I think he had some knowledge of it. But he liked hearing another account, and then I ended up taking them to the Dockery Plantation. He was trying to get his hands on some of these plantation bucks.”
ose who’ve seen the lm know how company scrip comes to play a role in the story. But it was ultimately seeing and hearing the music that made the most lasting impact. e lmmaking team now had a clearer vision of how to proceed. “Ludwig asked me to put together a list of blues musicians who I thought were authentic. So, you know, I made a list, and Bobby Rush was at the top of that list. en Alvin Youngblood Hart, Cedric Burnside, Southern Avenue, and Sharde omas Mallory [Otha Turner’s granddaughter and leader of the Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band]. A lot of people on that list ended up on the soundtrack.”
And much of the hit album was in turn recorded by Mitchell. While Göransson worked on most of his score in Los Angeles or New Orleans, the composer booked time at Royal for the bluesiest musical segments. “ ey wanted me to assemble the team,” says Mitchell. “So I called Bobby Rush, Charles Hodges, Cedric Burnside, Tierinii Jackson,” and others. “ ey were interested in writing new songs. So people were pairing o , like Cedric and Tierinii wrote a song. Reverend Hodges and Super Chikan wrote some stu . We did all these crazy pairings and people would go home, write some more, and come back. So it’s like a big writing session. And out of that, Alvin Youngblood Hart wrote ‘Travelin’.’” e song is pivotal in the lm, seeming at once timeless and fresh, and establishes the character Sammie Moore’s command of the blues. As it turned out, the actor playing the bluesman internalized Hart’s composition. “Alvin didn’t perform,” says Mitchell. “Miles [Caton] learned the song and played it. But I was really glad to see Alvin was in the mix. Because he’s like the modern personi cation of a 1930s Delta bluesman. Like, that’s who he is.”
PHOTOS: COURTESY BOO MITCHELL
(above) Boo Mitchell works with Chris Mallory and Sharde omas Mallory at Royal Studios; (circle) Boo Mitchell and Ludwig Göransson
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule June 12 - 18
Ashton Riker & The Memphis Royals
ursday, June 12, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Baunie and Soul
Looking for something to do on a Tuesday night? Visit
Blues Hall on Beale Street and enjoy some live music.
Tuesday, June 17, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE BLUES HALL
Blind Mississippi Morris
Friday, June 13, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Earl “The Pearl” Banks
Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Eric Hughes
ursday, June 12, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Flic’s Pics Band
Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.
Saturday, June 14, 4 p.m. |
Sunday, June 15, 2 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
FreeWorld
Friday, June 13, 7-11 p.m. |
Saturday, June 14, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
FreeWorld
Sunday, June 15, 8 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Ghost Town Blues Band
ursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Memphis Soul Factory
ursday, June 12, 4 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Soul Street
Wednesday, June 18, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Sunday Evenings with Baunie and Soul
Sunday, June 15, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
The B.B. King’s Blues Club Allstar Band
Friday, June 13, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Vince Johnson
Monday, June 16, 6:30 p.m. |
Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Almost Roo
Up-tempo vibes Featuring FERB, Jasades, Strooly, Von Gogh. 21+. $10/doors. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.-1 a.m.
FLYWAY BREWING COMPANY
Omari Dillard
An extraordinary evening of new music and soul classics by soul violinist Omari Dillard.
Saturday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.
THE HALLORAN CENTRE
The Danny Banks Trio Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S DOWNTOWN
Jay Pride
Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
John Williams & the A440 Band
ursday, June 12, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
One for the Road
Friday, June 13, 9:30 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Rob Caudill: A Tribute to Rod Stewart
$20. Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Deb Jam Band Tuesday, June 17, 6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Pretty Boys Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Twin Soul
Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Van Duren
e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo.
ursday, June 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
BoDeans (Orion Free Concert Series)
Saturday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Bursting
With Slumdog, Figurine [Small Room-Downstairs].
Monday, June 16, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Charles Wesley Godwin
$47.75/general admission.
ursday, June 12, 8-9:30 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Death Panels
With Hartle Road, ASP.
Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m.
B-SIDE
Deborah Swiney Duo is gi ed singer keeps the tradition of jazz standards alive. ursday, June 12, 7-10 p.m. THE COVE
Degenerate Breakfast –Listening Event
ursday, June 12, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Devil’s Cut Monday, June 16, 7 p.m.
GROWLERS
Devil Train
Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, June 12, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Dexter & the Moonrocks
$33.55. Saturday, June 14, 8-9:30 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
DJ Zirk – Listening Event
DJ Zirk is a pioneering force in Southern hip-hop and a foundational gure in the iconic Memphis rap scene, known for his gritty beats,
hypnotic ows, and innovative production. Saturday, June 14, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
East Nash Grass (Orion Free Concert Series)
Friday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Echoes in the Room
Join David Less and Robert Gordon as they take a deep dive into Memphis music history. is time around the focus is on instrumentals and great solos. Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Eddie 9V (Orion Free Concert Series)
Hear the Georgian’s fresh, ery spin on Southern soul, blues, rock and funk, with his signature wit and sharp observations of modern America. ursday, June 12, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Evil Army
With Grave Lurker, Interna. $10. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Goner Presents: Quintron e innovator and inventor from New Orleans returns. With Aaron Dilloway. Friday, June 13, 7 p.m.
B-SIDE
Hans Gruber and the Die Hards
Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m.
GROWLERS
Iron Mic Coalition –
Vinyl Listening Session Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Jazz Jam: Hosted by the Alex Upton Quartet
Alex Upton is a Memphisbased saxophonist, composer, and educator with a deep passion for musics both old and new. Tuesday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet
Jazz musicians are welcome to sit in. Sunday, June 15, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
Jerry Decicca Trio
With Greg Cartwright and Krista Wroten. Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Joe Restivo 4 Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, June 15, noon.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Johnny Mullenax ursday, June 12, 9 p.m. GROWLERS
Kenneth Whalum
Born in Memphis, this remarkable singer, songwriter, and saxophonist has charted a new course in music, combining his technical mastery with the deep emotional expressiveness of soul and jazz. $30/advance, $40/at the door. Saturday, June 14, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 9:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Level Three
Wednesday, June 18, 10 p.m.
LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR
Memphis Estate Ensemble
$14.50. Friday, June 13, 7 p.m. HI TONE
Memphis Rhythm Revue Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
Modern Masters: Joe Locke and the Ted Ludwig Trio Locke is an internationally recognized modern master of jazz vibraphone. Enjoy an evening of incredible music playing by Locke alongside some of Memphis’ nest jazz musicians. $20/advance, $25/ at the door. Friday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Live In Studio A
Summer Series with 926 Stax Music Academy
Alumni Band
Visit the Stax Museum this June for live music by 926, the Stax Music Academy Alumni Band. ese are singers and musicians who have graduated from the world-renowned Stax Music Academy and are now either attending college or have graduated college and working as professional musicians. Free admission for Shelby County residents.
Tuesday, June 17, 2-4 p.m.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
Treaty Oak Revival
Blending the rich traditions of Texas Red Dirt country with in uences from punk and Southern rock, Treaty Oak Revival delivers a raw, refreshingly unpolished vibe.
Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m.
BANKPLUS AMPHITHEATER
Twin Soul Duo
Nonestomper
With Spoonful, e Narrows. Saturday, June 14, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Officer Down With A Kiss Before Dying, Path to Failure, Rosary, Taste Defeat [Small RoomDownstairs]. Wednesday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.
HI TONE
Pants Tour 25
With F!rst, Woodsage, Wicker. $5. Friday, June 13, 7 p.m.
GROWLERS
Sam Barber - Restless Mind Tour
$63.15/general admission. Friday, June 13, 8-9:30 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Stay Fashionable
With Titans of Siren, Shame nger [Small RoomDownstairs]. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
The Pink Rings
With DJ McCalla. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Five O’Clock Shadow
Sunday, June 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHWIND
Hideaway Honey Wednesday, June 18, 7 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Kansas, 38 Special, and Jefferson Starship
All three of these classic hitmakers of the ’70s and ’80s still have their inimitable magic. Kansas has sold over 30 million albums worldwide since forming in 1974. 38 Special, also formed in 1974, evolved from Southern rock to a dynamic mix of bluesinfused hard rock, creating a string of hits in the ’80s like “Caught Up in You” and “Hold On Loosely.” Friday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.
BANKPLUS AMPHITHEATER
Sunday, June 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
Concerts in The Grove with Rachel Maxann Kids under 18 are free. $9/ general admission. ursday, June 12, 6:30-8 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS
CENTER
Duane Cleveland Band
Sunday, June 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
El Ced & Groove Nation
Sunday, June 15, 8 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
Gerry Finney Group
Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
Happy Friday at the Grove
Featuring Josh relkeld. Friday, June 13, 5 p.m.
THE GROVE AT GPAC
K.C. Ray & the Moonshine Band
Sunday, June 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
Summer Soirées at Saddle Creek
Sips, tunes, and vibes with the Side Street Steppers in the Hammock Courtyard. Saturday, June 14, 4-6 p.m.
SADDLE CREEK NORTH
Tequila Mockingbird
Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S MILLINGTON
The Bugaloos
Sunday, June 15, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S COLLIERVILLE
The Java Trio
Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
Wendell Wells & The Big Americans
Also with Brad Web and G Lonzo, entertaining on the patio. Saturday, June 14, 6-9 p.m.
EL MEZCAL MEXICAN RESTAURANT
PHOTO: JOHN ABBOTT Joe Locke
CALENDAR of EVENTS: June 12 - 18
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
“2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection” is series honors the new additions to the museum’s permanent collection. rough Nov. 2.
METAL MUSEUM
Alaina NJ: “Bird Sanctuary”
Notes NJ, “ is series aims to bring together vivid gardens and happy birds, in layers of bold color and texture. Each piece intends to capture a moment where nature feels abundant and intimate.” rough June 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Art by Carol Sams
An artist working with oil on panel, watercolors, and fabric collage, including threedimensional crocheted and woven works. Sunday, June 15-July 23.
CHURCH HEALTH
ARTSmemphis: “GRANTEDTime Exhibition”
An exhibit curated by Brittney Boyd Bullock, a visual artist working ber, mixed media, and abstraction. rough Aug. 5.
ARTSMEMPHIS
Bartlett Art Association Exhibition: “Summer Arts Fest”
Works by members of this nonpro t organization chartered in 1988 to encourage, educate, improve, exhibit, and support ne art. rough June 29.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Becky Ross McRae: “All About Color” McRae’s high-resolution photos are printed on metallic paper, mounted on aluminum, and covered with a thick layer of acrylic, giving them a threedimensional e ect. rough June 29.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Bleeding Together – A Correspondence”
A collaboration between Andres Arauz, who specializes in photo collage, design, and photography, and Abby Meyers, a visual artist, poet, and award-winning lmmaker. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee”
e Tennessee State Museum brings the award winning temporary exhibit into every part of Tennessee. Davies Manor is thrilled to host this exhibit the farthest west it has ever been. rough July 31.
DAVIES MANOR HISTORIC SITE
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
CBU Spring 2025 BFA Exhibition
Christian Brothers University presents work by graduating seniors in the department of visual arts. Free. rough July 11.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
Colleen Couch and Dolph Smith: “Walk in the Light” is exhibit traces the arc of Smith’s work, presents new pieces by Couch inspired by Smith, and highlights recent collaborations between the two. rough June 29.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“[Fe]ATURED AR[Ti]STS”
Works created and curated by sta members of the Metal Museum, built on creativity, collaboration, and tradition. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“Landshaping: The Origins of the Black Belt Prairie” Learn about the geologic event known as the Mississippi Embayment and its e ect on this region. Fossils and farm tools will be displayed alongside photographs by Houston Co eld. rough Oct. 12.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Leigh Sandlin Solo Exhibition
Vibrant abstract paintings in cold wax, linoleum, and mono prints, as well as encaustic collages. rough June 26.
GALLERY 1091
Leslie Holt: “The Sound of Your Own Wheels”
Abstract impressionism blends with intriguing text and wordplay in this artist’s work. rough June 21.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
“Light as Air”
Explore the beauty in tension: a balance of forms, the contrast between heavy and light, and the signi cance of negative space. rough Sept. 7
METAL MUSEUM
“Overcoming Hateful Things”
e exhibition contains over 150 items from the late 19th century to the present, including items from popular culture and images of violence against African-American activists. rough Oct. 19.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Sean Nash: “Cosmic Produce”
Nash’s sculptural paintings from this series are hybrids that take their shaped forms from marine organisms, painted in vivid splashy and dappled colors, orders of magnitude larger than reality. rough Sept. 14.
TOPS AT MADISON AVENUE PARK
“Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin” Exhibition
An exhibition exploring Rustin’s innovative use of the “medium” to communicate powerful messages of non-violence, activism, and authenticity. $20/adult, $18/senior, college student, $17/children 5-17. rough Dec. 31.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
Summer Art Garden: “A Flash of Sun” Immerse yourself in the radiant spirit of summer with these geometric sculptures that cast vibrant hues in the shi ing sunlight. rough Oct. 20.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Summer Break”
A new group exhibition featuring work from Justin Tyler Bryant, Sai Clayton, Coulter
Golden Hour: Celebrate “A Flash of Sun”
A free, open-air celebration of art, music, and Memphis summer magic in the Summer Art Garden. Sip, mingle, create, and unwind as the sun sets, with food and drinks.
ursday, June 12, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Opening Reception: Art by Carol Sams
An artist working with oil on panel, watercolors, and fabric collage, including threedimensional crocheted and woven works. Sunday, June 15, 3-5 p.m.
CHURCH HEALTH
“Swamp: A Meditation on Self and Silt” —
Closing Reception
A closing reception for Hank Smith’s newest work, “Swamp: A Meditation on Self and Silt,” emphasizing the beauty and importance of Memphis wetlands. Saturday, June 14, 6-9 p.m.
THE UGLY ART COMPANY
Fussell, Carl E. Moore, and Melissa Wilkinson. rough July 26.
SHEET CAKE
“Summer Opener” Art
Exhibit
Exhibit by Jane Brakin, Anna Carr, Randy Parker, Pat Patterson, Jeanne Seagle, Angela Stevens, and Lance David White. rough July 15.
ST. GEORGE’S ART GALLERY AT ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Tad Lauritzen Wright: “Zen on the Installment Plan”
Contemplating humanity, nature, and repeated histories through photo abstractions and sculptural works constructed from salvaged wood. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
Tributaries: Leah Gerrard’s “Longline” Seattle-based fabrication artist Leah Gerrard, the Museum’s newest Tributaries artist, shapes ethereal steel forms, blending basketry, jewelry, and large-scale pieces. Free. rough Sept. 14.
METAL MUSEUM
ART HAPPENINGS
Alexandra Baker: “Healing Thru Color” Art Opening e opening of Baker’s 11th solo exhibition at Eclectic Eye. Friday, June 13, 6-8 p.m.
ECLECTIC EYE
A Special Farewell to South Perkins
Anticipating the gallery’s next chapter at Laurelwood Shopping Center, a warm send-o to its South Perkins location, with art on sale. Friday, June 13, 6 p.m.
GOETZE ART & DESIGN
BOOK EVENTS
Hampton Sides: The Wide Wide Sea Sides presents his account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and le a complex and controversial legacy. Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Chunky Chains with Brandy Boyd
Make a chunky silver chain using di erent kinds of sterling silver wire and a butane micro torch. You’ll have the option to shape your links, texture the silver and design a clasp. $73. Sunday, June 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Figure Drawing (Nude Model)
Figure Drawing is back by popular demand! Artists of all levels can practice and increase their skills drawing the human form at Memphis’ art museum. $18/general admission. ursday, June 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Inspired Aging: Watercolors - Beginner
Abstract Dive into the vibrant world of watercolor painting with professional artist Stacey Meredith. No prior experience necessary. $55. Saturday, June 14, 2-4 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
continued on page 22
PHOTO: COURTESY TOPS GALLERY
Sean Nash’s sculptural paintings are hybrids that take their shaped forms from marine organisms.
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Make a chunky silver chain using di erent kinds of sterling silver wire and a butane micro torch.
continued from page 21
Oil Painting with Judy Nocifora Nocifora is an awardwinning teacher and painter. $250. Thursday, June 12, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Six Week Beginners Watercolor Painting Course and Critique with Fred Rawlinson
Explore the world of technique, brushstrokes, color, and layering. $350. Monday, June 16, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. | Tuesday, June 17, 9:30 a.m.1:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Super SaturdayRainbows and Color Theory
An engaging and hands-on experience where you will learn the basics of mixing color by creating your own rainbow color wheel. Free. Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-
noon.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Watercolors Workshop
– Beginner Abstract
Master basic techniques and create your own abstract watercolor masterpiece. All materials are included. Saturday, June 14, 2-4 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
COMEDY
Comedy Night with Ben Pierce Freewheeling hilarity on the open mic. Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Open Mic Comedy Night
A hilarious Midtown tradition. Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Yeeterus
Join Kate Lucas and three amazing performers for a night of gut-busting laughs as they celebrate a hysterectomy in the funniest way possible. $13.50. Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
HI TONE
COMMUNITY
Bowties & Blazers: The Distinguished Divine 9
A gala supporting the Christopher Pugh Center’s mission of empowering males, both youth and adults, through workforce development, career preparation, and mentorship. $125/ticket. Saturday, June 14, 6-10 p.m.
GUEST HOUSE AT GRACELAND
Juneteenth Paint and Sip at the Genealogy Center!
A vibrant and empowering party, where creativity meets celebration. Saturday, June 14, 3-5 p.m.
MEMPHIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES
ORANGE MOUND BRANCH
CALENDAR: JUNE 12 - 18
William’s Walk Inaugural Walk
Improve pedestrian safety in Memphis. Saturday, June 14, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
OVERTON PARK
Worldwide Knit in Public Day
With interactive experiences, demonstrations, and exclusive merchandise from independent yarn dyers. The free event aims to foster community connections and creativity through public stitching. Free. Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
CHICKASAW OAKS X
DANCE
SummerDance
New Ballet students take center stage. These dancers have spent the early summer weeks honing their skills under the guidance of staff and master guest artists. $20/ticket. Thursday, June 12, 7-9 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
EXPO/SALES
SEGC Annual Flower Show: Petal Palette: The Art of Gardening
The theme of Shelby East Garden Club’s Annual Flower Show is “Petal Palette: The Art of Gardening,” exploring the rich intersection of floral design and artistic expression. Free. Friday, June 13-June 14.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
Turbo Expo 2025
Choose among 1,000-plus technical presentations to discover new ways to build, test, and develop power and propulsion technologies. Monday, June 16-June 20.
RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER
FAMILY
Family Drop-In Day: Brushstrokes of HomeCollierville Through Art Designed for families with children of all ages, these drop-in sessions are a perfect way to explore the museum together, get creative, and learn something new. Free. Thursday, June 12, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
Garden Discovery Days
Featuring craft and activity stations designed to get your kiddos exploring the great outdoors. Decorate binoculars to look for birds and learn about bees. Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Get Outside Fitness: KidoKinetics
Through age-appropriate games and activities, young children build confidence, coordination, and a love for active play through a variety of sports in an encouraging, non-competitive environment.
Thursday, June 12, 5 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Get Outside Fitness:
Kids Yoga
Kids yoga is designed to be fun and engaging, teaching basic yoga poses with playful names that build strength, flexibility, balance, and
mindfulness. Parents are welcome to join, too. Wednesday, June 18, 5-6 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
June Family Day
A fun-filled afternoon at the Stax Museum, with free admission, live music, food trucks, games, and crafts. Fun for all ages. Free. Saturday, June 14, 1-5 p.m.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN
SOUL MUSIC
Little Bird Bookclub
A nature-themed story time and activity for your little birds. This week, Do Butterflies Make Butter?, written and illustrated by Brandall Laughlin. Saturday, June 14, 10:30 a.m.
LICHTERMAN NATURE CENTER
Pre-School Story Time
Enjoy stories, songs, art activities, and creative play that connect with Collierville history. Friday, June 13, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
Story Time at Novel
Recommended for children up to 5 years, with songs and stories, featuring brand-new books in addition to wellloved favorites. Saturday, June 14, 10:30 a.m. | Wednesday, June 18, 10:30 a.m. NOVEL
Summer Splash
Overton Park Conservancy is popping up water slides on the Greensward, next to Rainbow Lake Playground. With face painting and food trucks. Free. Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OVERTON PARK
The Wiggles: Bouncing Balls Tour
Sparking creativity, curiosity, and a love of learning through a signature blend of entertainment and education. Saturday, June 14, 6 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
FESTIVAL
Juneteenth Fest at Cordova
Join the fourth annual Juneteenth Fest at Cordova Library. Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
CORDOVA BRANCH LIBRARY
Sankofa African Diaspora Festival
A celebration of the rich culture, lived experiences, and creative expressions of African-descended communities, with live music, dance performances, art displays, author readings, and local vendors. Free. Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
COSSITT LIBRARY - DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS
FILM
A Minecraft Movie Thursday, June 12-June 18, 3 p.m.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
If Beale Street Could Talk
With a live pre-screening performance by Singa B in honor of the Juneteenth holiday. Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
My Own Private Idaho
In this 1991 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) is the rebellious son of a mayor. Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
T. Rex: Greatest of All Tyrants
The most dazzling and accurate giant screen documentary ever made on this legendary predator — and its carnivorous Cretaceous cousins. Thursday, June 12, 11 a.m. | Thursday, June 12, 2 p.m. | Friday, June 13, 11 a.m. | Friday, June 13, 2 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m. | Saturday, June 14, 2 p.m. | Sunday, June 15, 11 a.m. | Sunday, June 15, 2 p.m. | Monday, June 16, 11 a.m. | Monday, June 16, 2 p.m. | Tuesday, June 17, 11 a.m. | Tuesday, June 17, 2 p.m. | Wednesday, June 18, 11 a.m. | Wednesday, June 18, 2 p.m.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
FOOD AND DRINK
Canoes + Cocktails
A guided sunset paddle on the lake followed by specialty cocktails provided by Old Dominick, snacks from Cheffie’s, yard games, and music. A “cocktails only” ticket omits the paddling part. $35-$80. Friday, June 13, 6 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Clase Azul Presents: Battle of the Agaves Special guest Bryan Windsor of Clase Azul will lead the tasting, offering a behindthe-scenes look at the artistry and tradition that shape each legendary bottle. $80. Thursday, June 12, 6-7 p.m. MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
CMOM After Hours
Why should kids have all the fun? Rediscover the power of play during this new adultsonly night at the Children’s Museum of Memphis. $35/ CMOM after hours individual ticket. Friday, June 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS
Drag Queen Bingo feat. Krystal Karma Nothing but good karma here. Friday, June 13, 7-9 p.m.
MOXY MEMPHIS DOWNTOWN
Father’s Day Lunch
There is no better way to celebrate the dad in your life than at Memphis Riverboats. $65. Sunday, June 15, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
MEMPHIS RIVERBOATS
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN Learn about flower arranging on the theme of “Petals of Love Design – Blooms and Beats: Flower Crowns” while sipping and snacking at the Flower Happy Hour.
Flower Happy Hour 2025
Learn about flower arranging on the theme of “Petals of Love Design – Blooms and Beats: Flower Crowns” while sipping and snacking. Bring your own beverages and food. 21+. $55. Thursday, June 12, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Food Truck Fridays at Dixon Gallery & Gardens
Grab a bite from a local food truck and enjoy lunch in the beautiful Dixon gardens. Friday, June 13, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Happy Hour at the Brooks Come and relax during happy hour featuring beats from the talented Qemist, specialty cocktails, and, as always, fantastic art. Free. Thursday, June 12, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Inaugural Downtown Memphis Brew Hop
Memphis, it’s time to hop into summer with the inaugural Downtown Memphis Brew Hop, a week-long celebration of local beer, music, and summer fun. Through June 15.
DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS
Rolling Flavors: Food Trucks @ Soulsville
Take your lunch break to the next level with Rolling Flavors, the June weekday food truck series on the Soulsville Campus! Thursday, June 12, noon-2 p.m. | Friday, June 13, noon-2 p.m. | Monday, June 16, noon-2 p.m. | Tuesday, June 17, noon-2 p.m. | Wednesday, June 18, noon-2 p.m.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Get Outside Fitness: Body Combat
A YMCA-led mix of martial arts moves that will get you fit, fast, and strong — and leave you feeling fierce and empowered. Class is entirely noncontact; no martial arts experience required.
Wednesday, June 18, 9 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Get Outside Fitness: Mat Pilates
A full-body, low-impact workout that emphasizes dynamic core work to enhance strength, balance, and flexibility. The session is designed inclusively for everybody. Friday, June 13, 4:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 8 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Lunchtime Meditations
Free meditation sessions every Friday. Friday, June 13, noon-12:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Taijiquan with Milan Vigil
This Chinese martial art promotes relaxation, improves balance, and provides no-impact aerobic benefits. Ages 16 and older. Free. Saturday, June 14, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Walk The Greenway - Kennedy Park
A walk of 1.5 to three miles. Some interesting native plants can be found in this park, including copper iris and bog orchids. Saturday, June 14, 10-11 a.m.
JOHN F. KENNEDY PARK
Wednesday Walks
Take a casual stroll around the Old Forest paved road! Wednesday, June 18, 4-5 p.m.
OVERTON PARK
TGYF Yoga
Variations are offered to accommodate each individual’s level with an emphasis on correct alignment. $5/suggested price. Thursday, June 12, 10-11 a.m. | Tuesday, June 17, 10-11 a.m.
UNITY CHURCH OF PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY
Yoga
Strengthen your yoga practice and enjoy the health benefits of light exercise with yoga instructor Laura Gray McCann. All levels welcome. Free. Thursday, June 12, 6 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
LECTURE
Lunch & Listen: 9/11 Hero Father
Mark Hanna
A live podcast interview with 9/11 Hero Father
Mark Hanna and Oscar-winner Coach Bill Courtney. Free. Thursday, June 12, 11:30 a.m.-
1:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Munch and Learn: Blissfully Adrift in Tennarkippi
Enjoy lunch alongside this weekly lecture series featuring presentations by artists, scholars, and Dixon staff sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics. Wednesday, June 18, noon-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
Memphis Magic Night starring Joe M.
Turner with Charlie Reifenberger
The Bluff City’s favorite evening of magic, mentalism, and comedy, at a rotating selection of Memphis performance venues. $20/general admission. Monday, June 16, 7:30-9 p.m.
FLYWAY BREWING COMPANY
SPORTS
Heal the Hood Foundation All Star Celebrity Basketball Game City of Memphis Mayor Paul Young will meet Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris on the basketball court during the Heal the Hood Foundation’s annual All Star Celebrity Basketball Game. Saturday, June 14, 3 p.m.
SOUTHWIND HIGH SCHOOL
Memphis Redbirds vs. Norfolk Tides Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m. | Wednesday, June 18, noon.
AUTOZONE PARK
THEATER
A Bronx Tale
Step into the vibrant streets of 1960s Bronx with this captivating musical adaptation of a beloved play and film that delves into themes of respect, loyalty, and the unbreakable bonds of family. Journey alongside a young man torn between admiration for his father and the allure of becoming a mob boss. Please note the production contains adult language and mild violence. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m. | Sunday, June 15, 2 p.m. | Wednesday, June 18, 8 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Five performers are featured with rowdy to risque songs that reflect Fats Waller’s view of life as a journey meant for pleasure and play. Thursday, June 12, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Friday, June 13, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Sunday, June 15, 2-4 p.m.
LOHREY THEATRE
Clark Gable Slept Here
Hollywood’s hiding a lot more in the closet than tuxedos, and agent Jarrod Hilliard’s going to keep it that way. But when you work in the make-believe world of movies, everyone’s acting. $20. Friday, June 13, 8 p.m. | Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m. | Sunday, June 15, 2 p.m.
THEATREWORKS @ THE SQUARE
Once On This Island, Jr.
A Caribbean-inspired fairy tale and musical about Ti Moune, a young girl who falls in love with Daniel, a wealthy boy from a different part of the island. Tuesday, June 17, 10:30 a.m. | Wednesday, June 18, 10:30 a.m.
HATTILOO THEATRE
ACROSS
1 Where pumpkins grow
6 Count in Lemony Snicket books
10 Apex
14 Snoozer’s sound
15 Prefix with technology and second
16 Greek earth goddess
17 Firefighter Red
18 Class stars
20 Misplaced
21 Suzuki with the M.L.B. record for hits in a single season (262)
22 To date
23 “The A-Team” actor with a mohawk
24 Initials meaning “I’ve heard enough”
25 Thread holder
27 ___ Lanka
Crossword
28 Peter ___, Nixon impeachment hearings chairman
32 General vibe
33 “Toy Story” boy 35 Serta competitor
37 Hop to it … or what to do to the various eggs in this puzzle’s shaded squares?
41 Hot drink sometimes served with a marshmallow
42 Explorer Ericson 44 Neighbor of Ghana 47 Cuban-born Grammy winner Jon
50 Little fellow
52 Go halfsies on 54 Disney dwarf with the shortest name
55 Pinocchio’s undoing
56 One of the Kardashians
57 Spicy Korean side dish
61 Clark of the Daily Planet
62 Triangular Swiss chocolate bar
64 Coffee drink sometimes served with milk “art”
65 “Buy one, get one free” event
66 The “A” of U.S.A.: Abbr.
67 PC key above shift
68 Patella’s joint
69 Polling expert Silver
70 Monopoly cards DOWN
1 Biblical book of poems
2 181-square-mile country in the Pyrenees
3 Honoring, as at a wedding
4 Lit ___ (coll. course)
5 “On ___ Majesty’s Secret Service”
6 Using LSD
7 Where mascara goes
8 Adamantly against 9 Number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 10 Get older
Words starting a request 12 Shooting star 13 SoCal area bordering the neighborhoods of El Sereno and Boyle Heights 19 Uno + uno
Texter’s “if you ask
Includes when sending an email
___ v. Wade
PUZZLE BY ANDREW KINGSLEY
FOOD By Toby Sells
Brew Bites
Memphis breweries launch kitchens to satisfy patrons that are both thirsty and hungry.
There was a time that Memphis breweries and food trucks were like peanut butter and jelly or a light lager and a summer beach.
But times have changed for these seemingly inseparable pals at many — but certainly not all — local taprooms. In several places now, a trip to a brewery doesn’t immediately beg the question — “What’s the food truck tonight?” — that sends you tapping away on your phone, searching socials, and hoping the answer is Soi Number 9 or El Mero Taco.
So many Memphis breweries now make and serve their own food, instead of relying on a (sometimes unreliable) food truck. When Wiseacre Brewing Co.’s Downtown location opened in 2020, for example, its space for an inhouse restaurant was a new-ish concept for new-ish Memphis breweries. (Boscos has brewed its own beer and served a full menu since it opened in 1992. But it was always intended as a brewpub, never meaning for its beers to be packaged for wholesale.)
Okay, but why the change? Flip your Memphis beer history books back to around 2013, an era we refer to as the Memphis Cra Beer Boom. Back then state law mandated that any place that served alcohol on the premises also had to have a kitchen.
at was a real bummer for beer folk who could whip up a batch of Hefeweizen easier then laying down a plate of barbecue nachos. is law also put Tennessee behind the larger cra boom happening all over the country. (Crazy to think some state law kept Tennessee behind the times, right?) So the Memphis City Council stepped in.
“No brewery with a tasting room shall be required to serve food, maintain kitchen facilities, or conform to any requirement relating to the percentage of sales attributable to food so long as it …,” reads the city rule, which then rattled o a list of mustdos for breweries to drop the kitchen requirement.
With that barrier down, beer entrepreneurs dove in to create businesses, spaces, and beers that would become local favorites and even city icons. But they knew thirsty patrons would be hungry, too. To keep them on-site and drinking more beers, brewery owners teamed up with food truck operators.
At the time, food trucks were another new-ish notion to Memphis. Less costly than a brick-and-mortar,
“They make you feel good. They’re delicious food, but they are not overly complicated.”
enterprising chefs found a big barrier to market down, too. Together, breweries and food trucks would create a revolving lineup of new beers and new dishes to new spaces all across Memphis. But that changed over time.
“When we opened the brewery, I think beer was enough to really draw people in,” said Crosstown Brewing Co. co-founder Clark Ortkiese. “ en you could have food trucks, and food wasn’t our focus.”
But Crosstown leaders noticed the taproom was thin at meal times, and started to hear why people were leaving, which “you could see in our busy hours,” Ortkiese said. Some food trucks weren’t dependable, he said. Some would even cancel the day they were scheduled. en Crosstown would just not have food that evening, Ortkiese said, noting they never had trucks seven days a week.
To ensure reliability and ght to keep more customers, Crosstown opened a kitchen last year. Planning the food menu came down to sticking with Crosstown’s ethos for beer-making — precision and solid execution that leads to a reliably quality product. ey also wanted to keep the food menu simple.
“We’re making foods that we know,” Ortkiese said. “We’re making burgers, making wings, making chili cheesesteaks. ey stick to the ribs. ey make you feel good. ey’re delicious food, but they are not overly complicated. ey’re not haute cuisine and I don’t think that’s for our brewery anyway.”
is trend for food reliability has led many Memphis breweries to develop their own food programs. Wiseacre’s Little Bettie got a visit from Guy Fieri. Memphis Filling Station opened with its pizza oven cranking out delicious calzones the size of regulation footballs.
Hampline Brewing Company’s food program, which they call Franco’s Italian Kitchen, features charcuterie, panini sandwiches, and pasta. Flyway Brewing Company opened with a full menu (including Mississippi Pot Roast, tater-tot poutine, y’all) as its space also included the former Edge Alley kitchen and dining hall.
But not every Memphis brewery has gone to solid food. Soul & Spirits Brewery, for example, still loves food trucks like Smoke & Toast, Ritzie’s Barbecue and Fine Foods, and Tacos Mondragon as essential components to their community-based hospitality.
“We like to use food trucks for two reasons: one, to support other local small businesses, and if we do not have food being prepared inside the taproom, then we can still be dogfriendly,” said Blair Perry, CEO and co-founder of Soul & Spirits.
PHOTOS: TOBY SELLS
(above) Calzone at Memphis Filling Station; (inset) so pretzel at Crosstown Brewing Co.
Emily Guenther
Birthstones of June
Find the most tting birthstone for you.
A
t e Broom Closet, we are o en asked about birthstones. Finding the most tting birthstone is not always as easy as we think it is. Each month and each zodiac are associated with multiple gemstones. Sometimes these gemstones overlap, but sometimes they do not. When trying to nd a birthstone, you rst need to know if you want one that re ects the month of your birth or your zodiac sign. Or both. e month of June is associated with three di erent birthstones and two di erent zodiac signs. e birthstones for June are pearl, moonstone, and alexandrite. e astrological signs of Gemini and Cancer share the month of June.
Pearls are the only gemstones made by living creatures. Pearls are o en associated with emotional balance, serenity, and purity in metaphysical traditions. ey are believed to promote calmness, enhance intuition, and encourage spiritual growth. Pearls are also linked to feminine energy, love, and wisdom.
Moonstone was named by the Roman natural historian Pliny, who wrote that moonstone’s shimmery appearance shi ed with the phases of the moon. Moonstone is a stone of intuition, emotional balance, and new beginnings, o en associated with feminine energy and the lunar cycles. It is believed to enhance intuition, promote emotional stability, and facilitate connection with the subconscious mind.
A relatively modern gemstone, alexandrite was discovered in Russian emerald mines located in the Ural Mountains. Legends claim that it was discovered in 1834 on the same day that future Russian Czar Alexander II came of age; it was named to honor him. O en described as “emerald by day, ruby by night,” alexandrite is a rare variety of the mineral chrysoberyl that changes color from bluish green in daylight to purplish red under incandescent light. e unlikelihood of elements combining under the right conditions makes alexandrite one of the rarest and most expensive gemstones on Earth. Alexandrite is a gemstone associated with balance and
harmony, transformation, good fortune, prosperity, and spiritual growth. ese three birthstones for the month of June share some overlapping metaphysical properties. All three stones are associated with spiritual growth, emotional balance, calmness, and intuition. ese are also qualities that can bene t the two zodiac signs associated with June.
Geminis, known for their adaptability, quick wit, and intellectual curiosity, thrive in lively conversations and diverse social settings. eir birthstones complement these traits, providing balance to their airy nature. Cancers, revered for their loyalty, nurturing spirit, and deep intuition, embody creativity and emotional depth. eir birthstones enhance their best qualities while o ering stability against mood swings and sensitivity.
Gemini is associated with the same gemstones as the month of June, but other birthstones for Gemini include agate, chrysoprase, citrine, emerald, and sapphire. Agate is a type of chalcedony that is o en banded with di erent colors and patterns. It is believed to have protective and grounding properties and is said to enhance mental clarity and focus. Chrysoprase is a bright green gemstone that is said to bring abundance and prosperity to the wearer. It is also believed to enhance self-con dence and creativity, making it a popular gemstone among artists and creatives. Citrine is a gemstone that is associated with warmth, energy, vitality, and prosperity. Emerald is associated with the heart chakra and is said to bring balance and harmony to the wearer. Sapphire is said to promote wisdom and spiritual growth.
Cancer, June’s second zodiac sign, is also associated with multiple gemstones such as ruby, carnelian, rose quartz, pearl, moonstone, and alexandrite. Ruby symbolizes love, vitality, and courage. Carnelian inspires creativity and ambition, as well as courage and con dence. And rose quartz is a gentle stone that encourages self-acceptance and empathy towards others.
If gemstones interest you, take some time to nd the ones associated with your birth month and/or your zodiac sign. Learn about those gemstones and see if you think they re ect your personality or if they could help you balance aspects of your life. Gemstones make wonderful spiritual partners when we learn to harness their energy.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
MY HEALTH is our health
Since welcoming little one, life expanded while my world contracted.
More complexity, less time
Every day I advocate for my baby whether it’s at daycare or the doctor’s office.
And every day, I push off one thing—my own health.
Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer of new moms, with risks can last for months post-partum.
So, I’m taking action and starting the conversation, with not just my doctor, but with other moms I know, too.
Because not only do I want to be a great mom I want to be a mom for a very long time.
Locally supported by
PHOTO: ALEXEY DEMIDOV | UNSPLASH
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Rare Sight
Customers at the upscale Treehouse Studios hair salon in the Hollywood Hills had a hair-raising experience on April 26, when a coyote climbed onto the building’s roof and lapped at water that had collected in the skylight, in full view of the patrons below. Owner Travis Ogletree shared footage of the unusual encounter on TikTok, with the caption, “Just another day at the Treehouse.” USA Today noted that while it is not uncommon for coyotes to adapt to and survive in urban areas like the Hollywood Hills, it is unusual for the animals to be in populated areas during daylight.
Department said in a Facebook post, adding, “No raccoons were hurt or injured in this incident.”
Sweet Tooth
Look Out Below
Carletta Andrews was just about to take a sip from her margarita at Patron Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Sandston, Virginia, on April 16 when something struck her on the forehead, reported WRIC 8News. “I looked at my husband like what was that,” Andrews said. “When I turned around, I saw the snake in my margarita.” The baby snake, which had fallen from the ceiling, wriggled in the glass and wrapped itself around the straw as restaurant workers attempted to remove it with a stick; finally, another customer was able to grab the snake and set it free outside. The staff offered to move Andrews to a booth, but the shaken patron chose to leave instead. The owner of the restaurant suspects the snake entered through the AC unit. But Andrews was left to wonder: “If that was the baby … is the mom there?”
Seen It All
Police in Akron, Ohio, caught body cam video of a bandit behind the wheel with a meth pipe in his mouth during a traffic stop on May 5. But Chewy, the bandit in question, did not face arrest, because Chewy is a pet raccoon. WLWT 5 reported that as the driver of the vehicle, Victoria Vidal, 55, was detained for having an active warrant and driving with a suspended license, officers returned to Vidal’s vehicle to find Chewy in the driver’s seat with the drug paraphernalia. “While our officers are trained to expect the unexpected, finding a raccoon holding a meth pipe is a first!” the Springfield Township Police
Holly LaFavers of Lexington, Kentucky, tried to cancel an Amazon order placed by her second-grader son, Liam, over the weekend, but it was too late; when the pair arrived home on May 5, WKYT reported, Liam yelled, “My suckers are here!” and LaFavers was greeted by 22 large cases of Dum-Dums lollipops lining her front porch. Liam, who placed the order while entertaining himself with his mother’s phone, actually had ordered 30 cases — each containing 2,340 lollipops, for a total cost of more than $4,000 — but eight of the cases wouldn’t scan and were returned to sender. “He told me that he wanted to have a carnival,” LaFavers said, “and he was ordering the Dum-Dums as prizes for his carnival.” Amazon fully refunded the order, and LaFavers vowed to change the access settings on her phone.
Joyride
A stray bull in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India, became an internet sensation when CCTV caught the bold bovine taking a spontaneous ride on a motorized scooter. In the video, which was posted on X and reported on by NDTV, the bull casually strolled down a street before taking an interest in a parked scooter. As a prescient mother scooped up her child and ducked out of harm’s way, the bull hopped onto the scooter with its front legs, somehow perfectly balancing the scooter and setting it in motion. The ride covered about 50 feet before the scooter fell over and the bull nonchalantly walked away. One user on X summed it up: “No one would believe if it wasn’t captured by CCTV.”
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your definition of home is due for revamping, deepening, and expansion. Your sense of where you truly belong is ripe to be adjusted and perhaps even revolutionized. A half-conscious desire you have not previously been ready to fully acknowledge is ready for you to explore. Can you handle these subtly shocking opportunities? Do you have any glimmerings about how to open yourself to the revelations that life would love to offer you about your roots, your foundations, and your prime resources? Here are your words of power: source and soul.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Do you have any frustrations about how you express yourself or create close connections? Are there problems in your ability to be heard and appreciated? Do you wish you could be more persuasive and influential? If so, your luck is changing. In the coming months, you will have extraordinary powers to innovate, expand, and deepen the ways you communicate. Even if you are already fairly pleased with the flow of information and energy between you and those you care for, surprising upgrades could be in the works. To launch this new phase of fostering links, affinities, and collaborations, devise fun experiments that encourage you to reach out and be reached.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Let’s talk about innovation. I suspect it will be your specialty in the coming weeks and months. One form that innovation takes is the generation of a new idea, approach, or product. Another kind of innovation comes through updating something that already exists. A third may emerge from finding new relationships between two or more older ways of doing things — creative recombinations that redefine the nature of the blended elements. All these styles of innovation are now ripe for you to employ.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo psychotherapist Carl Jung was halfway through his life of 85 years when he experienced the ultimate midlife crisis. Besieged by feelings of failure and psychological disarray, he began to see visions and hear voices in his head. Determined to capitalize on the chaotic but fertile opportunity, he undertook an intense period of self-examination and self-healing. He wrote in journals that were eventually published as The Red Book: Liber Novus. He emerged healthy and whole from this trying time, far wiser about his nature and his mission in life. I invite you to initiate your own period of renewal in the coming months, Leo. Consider writing your personal Red Book: Liber Novus
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the coming weeks, you will have chances to glide deeper than you have previously dared
By Rob Brezsny
to go into experiences, relationships, and opportunities that are meaningful to you. How much bold curiosity will you summon as you penetrate further than ever before into the heart of the gorgeous mysteries? How wild and unpredictable will you be as you explore territory that has been off-limits? Your words of power: probe, dive down, decipher
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When traditional Japanese swordsmiths crafted a blade, they wrapped hard outer layers around a softer inner core. This strategy gave their handiwork a sharp cutting edge while also imbuing it with flexibility and a resistance to breakage. I recommend a similar approach for you, Libra. Create balance, yes, but do so through integration rather than compromise. Like the artisans of old, don’t choose between hardness and flexibility, but find ways to incorporate both. Call on your natural sense of harmony to blend opposites that complement each other.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio journalist Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998) was an excellent war correspondent. During her six decades on the job, she reported on many of the world’s major conflicts. But she initially had a problem when trying to get into France to report on D-Day, June 6, 1945. Her application for press credentials was denied, along with all those of other women journalists. Surprise! Through subterfuge and daring, Gellhorn stowed away on a hospital ship and reached France in time to report on the climactic events. I counsel you to also use extraordinary measures to achieve your goals, Scorpio. Innovative circumspection and ethical trickery are allowed. Breaking the rules may be necessary and warranted.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My spirit guides enjoy reminding me that breakthrough insights and innovations may initially emerge not as complete solutions, but as partial answers to questions that need further exploration. I don’t always like it, but I listen anyway, when they tell me that progress typically comes through incremental steps. The Sagittarian part of my nature wants total victory and comprehensive results NOW. It would rather not wait for the slow, gradual approach to unfold its gifts. So I empathize if you are a bit frustrated by the piecemeal process you are nursing. But I’m here to say that your patience will be well rewarded.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Sometimes I’ve got to pause and relax my focused striving because that’s the only way my unconscious mind can work its magic.” My Capricorn friend Alicia says that about her creative process as a novelist. The solution to a knotty challenge may
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I’ve always had the impression that honeybees are restless wander ers, randomly hopping from flower to flower as they gradually accumulate nectar. But I recently discovered that they only meander until they find a single good fount of nourishment, whereupon they sup deeply and make a beeline back to the hive. I am advocating their approach to you in the coming weeks. Engage in exploratory missions, but don’t dawdle, and don’t sip small amounts from many different sites. Instead, be intent on finding a single source that provides the quality and quantity you want, then fulfill your quest and head back to your sanctuary.
not come from redoubling her efforts but instead from making a strategic retreat into silence and emptiness. I invite you to consider a similar approach, Capricorn. Experiment with the hypothesis that significant breakthroughs will arrive when you aren’t actively seeking them. Trust in the fertile void of not-knowing. Allow life’s meandering serendipity to reveal unexpected benefits.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Are you interested in graduating to the next level of love and intimacy? If so, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to intensify your efforts. Life will be on your side if you dare to get smarter about how to make your relationships work better than they ever have. To inspire your imagination and incite you to venture into the frontiers of togetherness, I offer you a vivacious quote from author Anaïs Nin. Say it to your favorite soul friend or simply use it as a motivational prayer. Nin wrote, “You are the fever in my blood, the tide that carries me to undiscovered shores. You are my alchemist, transmuting my fears into wild, gold-spun passion. With you, my body is a poem. You are the labyrinth where I lose and find myself, the unwritten book of ecstasies that only you can read.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What deep longing of yours is both fascinating and frustrating? To describe it further: It keeps pushing you to new frontiers yet always eludes complete satisfaction. It teaches you valuable life lessons but sometimes spoofs you and confuses you. Here’s the good news about this deep longing, Pisces: You now have the power to tap into its nourishing fuel in unprecedented ways. It is ready to give you riches it has never before provided. Here’s the “bad” news: You will have to raise your levels of self-knowledge to claim all of its blessings. (And of course, that’s not really bad!)
FILM By Chris McCoy
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Wes Anderson returns to form, with help from Benicio del Toro, in e Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson’s got a shtick. And that’s okay.
Anderson’s been making movies for almost 30 years now, and he’s become one of those directors whose style is instantly recognizable. You can look at any random frame from Asteroid City or Moonrise Kingdom and instantly know who directed the lm. People on TikTok who have never seen e Grand Budapest Hotel know Anderson as an aesthetic. His art direction is impeccable; his attention to detail is legendary; his camera movements are crisp and precise. He directs his actors to underplay and uses close-ups sparingly, which makes his lms feel emotionally cold to some people. He also has a reputation for being “twee,” which might have been true when he made e Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou but hasn’t been the case for years.
“Shtick” is a word that comes from the comedy world which means a character, bit, or routine associated with an individual performer. Maybe it’s a puppet, like Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, or a catchphrase, like Rodney Danger eld’s “No respect!” e truth is, every artist has got a shtick, if for no other reason than when you nd something that makes people laugh, you want to keep doing it. For people like David Bowie and Lady Gaga who made a conscious decision to change everything about their acts every few years, the rejection of shtick becomes their shtick.
If shtick is inescapable, why not embrace it? Anderson certainly has. His lmmaking skills are sharp enough that he could do something else, but he chooses not to. And why should he? He does what he does better than anyone. Notably, other lmmakers who are in uenced by Anderson adopt his precise attitude, but their lms don’t look like his lms.
Anderson has concentrated on more fully becoming himself, but that has led some critics to say that he is just doing the same thing over and over again. at could not be further from the truth. e lms Anderson has made since his shtick fully developed have had very di erent themes. Moonrise Kingdom is about the invisible line between childhood and adulthood, and what it feels like when we encounter it. e Grand Budapest Hotel is both a character study and a story about the rise of fascism in Europe.
If there’s one lm that can be
accurately described as style over substance, it’s Anderson’s last lm, Asteroid City. e ensemble cast that Anderson loves to assemble got the better of him, and the story-withina-story-within-a-story structure was too clever and not very clear. It was beautiful to look at, but not much else.
Anderson’s latest, e Phoenician Scheme, largely recti es those problems. Yes, it has such an enormous ensemble cast that the poster looks a bit like a high school yearbook. But this time, the audience has a great focal point, in the person of Benicio del Toro.
ey call Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (del Toro) “Mr. Five Percent” a er the cut he takes o the top on all the international business deals he makes. When we meet him, ying 5,000 feet above “the atlands”, he is already fabulously rich — not the kind of rich you get by being an honest, above-board player. He is a stateless man who travels without a passport because, he says, “I don’t need human rights.” A er a lifetime cutting deals with the most unsavory characters in the Middle East, he’s got one last plan that will set him and his family up for the next 150 years.
e details of the plan are not forthcoming and not really important. Su ce it to say it involves building a lot of infrastructure, like a giant train tunnel and a hydroelectric dam, in the Middle East. And it’s phenomenally expensive. Korda is ying to a meeting where he will ask someone else to foot the bill for the project when a bomb explodes in his private plane. is might not come as a surprise to someone who carries around a case of hand grenades to give as gi s (“I had some extras,” Korda says) but the explosion is caused by someone else’s bomb. It seems someone —in fact, several someones — has had enough of Korda’s schemes and wants to take him o the board permanently.
When the plane crashes, Korda has an out-of-body experience and visits the Pearly Gates, rendered in stark black and white. But God (Bill Murray) is not ready to judge Korda just yet and sends him back to Earth. Shaken by his latest brush with death (let’s just say this is not Korda’s rst or last plane crash), he decides to secure his legacy. Instead of leaving his vast wealth to one of his eight sons (one of whom has a mischievous streak and a crossbow), he retrieves his only daughter Liesl (Mia reapleton) from the convent where
(above) Gorgeous compositions by cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel; (below) Benicio del Toro and Mia reapleton
he le her when her mother died.
Liesl is the only person in the lm with a personality as big as Zsa-zsa, but she manifests it in a much di erent way. She is determined to become a nun, but she’s heard rumors for years that her father killed her mother, so she takes the opportunity to get to the bottom of the mystery. Along for the ride is Bjørn Lund (Michael Cera), a Norwegian entomologist turned tutor for the boys. e three of them crisscross the world looking for support for the scheme, meeting folks like Phoenicia’s Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed) and American investors Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston) for a hilarious game of basketball, gangster nightclub owner Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric),
and second cousin and potential wife material Hilda Sussman (Scarlett Johansson). e nal boss of the lm is Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch sporting a truly epic beard), Korda’s estranged half brother who may actually be Liesl’s father.
Working with a new cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel, Anderson creates some of the most intricate and gorgeous compositions of his career. With a fantastic look and a screenplay that keeps the action moving, e Phoenician Scheme is a return to form for one of the 21st century’s best directors.
e Phoenician Scheme Now playing Multiple locations
Our critic picks the best films in theaters.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025) Not content to let Disney do all the liveaction remakes, DreamWorks Animation has remade this 2010 hit. Dean DeBlois returns from the animated version to direct, with Mason Thames starring as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who defies tradition by befriending Toothless, a Night Fury dragon thought to be untrainable.
Materialists
Director Celine Song follows up her acclaimed Past Lives with a rom-com. Dakota Johnson stars as a New York matchmaker who finds herself in need of her own counsel. Will she choose Pedro Pascal, the perfect mate, or Chris Evans, her flawed but lovable ex?
Dangerous Animals
It’s summer, so you know what that means — shark horror! Chomp into Aussie helmer Sean Byrne’s sea-bound snack-fest starring Hassie Harrison as Zephyr and Liam Greinke as Greg, a couple on a shark cage adventure off Australia’s Gold Coast with Tucker (Jai Courtney), a tourist boat captain who may be murderously insane.
Bring Her Back
If your appetite for antipodean scares is whetted, try Danny and Michael Philippou’s latest art-horror. Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) are put into foster care when their father dies unexpectedly. But Laura (Sally Hawkins), their new stepmom, has some strange ideas about bringing the dead back to life. What could possibly go wrong?
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BUY, SELL, TRADE
Laurie Stark
THE LAST WORD
By William Smythe
Walking the Greensward
We can and should help to keep our green spaces clean.
In the shade of these two trees, I do decree that the Overton Park Greensward is the place to be on a lovely spring day. Beside me, as I write this, three old men putter their golf balls and sputter tales of feats of strength from their better days. We are near the Abe Goodman Golf Clubhouse, one of the theoretical ends of the vast green space I just traversed. e other end of the Greensward is where the zoo stands in grand display, streams of patrons coming and going. Westerly Rust Hall, which has yet to rust during its recent dormancy, bridges the span between these two landmarks, and the Old Forest silently hovers to the east, watchful and wise. (I’m excited to see the Metal Museum move in and bring more folks to such a gorgeous section of our city.)
But here, on this ne a ernoon, I witness a myriad of neighbors enjoying the weather. Most of them are picnicking or basking in the sunshine. One lady lies in repose, almost reenacting Christina’s World by Wyeth, watching folks come and go. In the center of the eld is a spread of white and yellow owers, none I know by name, maybe buttercups or daisies. Bees buzz by here and there, sni ng (can insects smell?) and pollinating (that I’m certain of). Winter’s weight is being shrugged o , slowly, if not surely.
Families stroll around Rainbow Lake, and some of them admire the turtles, also sunbathing themselves. e kids gawk and squawk at them, in awe. Earlier, I made friends with a raven outside the Memphis Zoo. He’d caw, I’d caw back. It was something I used to do as a kid, and it’s something I feel like doing now, as a full grown man. Who cares who’s watching or judging? It’s a fun and good time here at the Greensward! I’ll be as silly as I like.
But, as I move from the zoo’s parking lot, I see scars le by the cars when they used it for over ow parking. Bottles and cans litter the verdant landscape, and on one end of Rainbow Lake (near the quiet family of turtles), Taco Bell and Chick- l-A wrappers oat around. I sh a plastic bag from the small runo between the lake and the zoo.
One man helping keep our green spaces clean is Sam Blair of HBC Trailworks. e group meets on the weekends to repair and renovate Overton Park. Midwinter, around the end of February, the HBC and Overton Park Conservancy teamed up with a local Boy Scout troop (plus family and friends, other volunteers) to replace the limestone in the Loop. ey claim to have spread about 50,000 pounds of the rock in one single a ernoon!
But it can’t just be one group of volunteers maintaining our Greensward and various other green spaces. We as dutiful citizens ought to keep a vigilant eye and greasy elbow, ready to spear any loose debris we see. I’ve contemplated walking around with a trash bag on my days o , and I do my best to pick up trash as I walk. In fact, on a recent rainy day, I run into someone doing just that. e dutiful citizen, Kendra, stands at the trestle that welcomes folks to her neighborhood and all its shops, plucking up garbage with a claw. “I bought it for cheap at Home Depot,” she remarks, “bucket too.” She has a podcast playing and her bucket is already halfway full with discarded bottles, paper bags, a panoply of unrecognizable debris. “It began,” she tells me, “as a community project for the Cooper-Young [Community] Association. Just neighbors being neighborly.”
But when her job with the Grizzlies required her to perform service hours, she gured this would be a great way to ful ll those. “I may continue to do this even a er I complete the hours required,” Kendra says. “ at is, if the summer doesn’t get too hot. We’ll see how long this lasts when the degrees reach the 90s daily.”
Perhaps that’s what prevents most folks from going out with their own claws and buckets. It is hard to want to do anything in the oppressive heat, when even existing is sweatinducing. But, if we can all promise to at least wait until we see a trash can to throw our fries away or pick up some of the trash we see, perhaps we can maintain this beauty a little bit more. Or at the very least, we can keep a Rainbow Lake turtle from choking on a Tops Bar-B-Q wrapper.
William Smythe is a local writer and poet. He writes for Focus MidSouth, an LGBT+ magazine.
PHOTOS: ABIGAIL MORICI
Finding litter around the Greensward is easy; picking it up is easier.
