Elizabeth Moseley The University of Alabama
2018
These articles were published in Planet Weekly, an arts, events and entertainment publication in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. These local features give a snapshot of the community through profiles of its artists and stories of its charitable giving. Written, designed and photographed by Elizabeth Moseley
The Holiday Spirit of Giving Thrives in Tuscaloosa W
hile the weather may not feel like it, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas as Tuscaloosa, Alabama gears up for the holiday season. The welcome sight of brightly lit holiday figures line the streets of the downtown area, businesses and homes are alight with cozy red and green adornment and the annual traditions we so fondly anticipate finally arrive.
We may not see a blanket of white snow cover the city this year, but we can see the holiday spirit thriving through the work of charitable organizations all over Tuscaloosa. There is nothing that encompasses the holiday spirit more than the act of giving to those in need, and Tuscaloosa is brimming with opportunities to give back to the community this December. “It’s not very complicated to be giving,” said Chet Goldstein, founder of Santa’s Elves, a nonprofit dedicated to giving underprivileged families in the Tuscaloosa area a chance to have a Christmas experience that might have been otherwise impossible. Santa’s Elves provides a free shopping experience for parents of K-12 students in the city and county school systems. “It’s for parents who may not be able to provide for their
children a simple gift for the holidays,” said Goldstein. “So we wanted to create a charity that can basically go out and have a retail environment set up for the parents to actually come in and pick out a toy that their child will relate to and like to have.” Parents are given vouchers by school counselors determined by need to pick out three toys for their child completely free of charge. Santa’s
Elves provides everything: personal shoppers, gift wrapping, batteries and even a stocking filled with candy and small toys for each of the 700 children provided for by the charity.
Goldstein said the best part of this organization is getting to see the thrill in the parents who get to pick out a toy for their child. The parents get to have choices in their children’s presents and are allowed a stressfree shopping experience at no cost. Santa’s Elves is made possible by donations and volunteers from the business community of Tuscaloosa as well as from individuals knowledgeable of the charity. “We’re very grateful for the opportunity to get a network of all these people that see the need for a simple cause like this,” Goldstein said. This year, there are 46 corporate sponsors that have collected donations, toys and all the other materials Santa’s Elves needs to operate. Businesses can have employee toy drives, raise money and shop for the children in need. While there are a number of recognized o f f i c i a l sponsors, S a n t a ’s Elves takes donations of any amount f r o m individuals looking to take part in the spirit of giving this holiday season.
“If you feel like somebody’s in need, reach out and make something happen. Just act and make it happen.” Chet Goldstein
For information on toy donations and any other contribution, email chet@campuscollection.net or gigi@ campuscollection.net to take the next steps in providing a wonderful holiday for a child in need. Santa’s Elves is a 501(c)(3) approved tax deductible nonprofit organization. “I think people make it complicated to do good unto others…and to just do something for your neighbor,” Goldstein said in closing. “If you feel like somebody’s in need, reach out and make something happen. Just act and make it happen.” There is hardly a more iconic holiday image than the Christmas tree, and Tuscaloosa is home to an an evergreen extravaganza along the Black Warrior River called the Tinsel Trail. It is put on by Tuscaloosa’s OnePlace, a Family Resource Center that improves the quality of life in the community through programs that strengthen families, promote self-sufficiency and prevent child abuse. According to their mission
statement, Tuscaloosa’s OnePlace strives to empower people to meet their full potential. The Tinsel Trail is one of OnePlace’s many projects that go to fund its programs, which help over 8,500 people every year.
“It ’s not very complicated to be giving.” Chet Goldstein
From Nov. 20 to Jan. 14, the Riverwalk is lined with over 150 trees, each sponsored and decorated by a local business, organization or individual. People can walk alongside visitors of all ages and view the glittering ornamentation, enjoy refreshments from local food trucks and attend events in the Tuscaloosa River Market at the end of the trail. While the trail is open during the day, the most brilliant lights can be seen from dusk
until midnight when the trail fills with visitors flitting around in awe. After their grand opening, the Tinsel Trail will host two more events that members of the community can enjoy in the holiday spirit. Pet Night, on Dec. 3 from 3-5 p.m., will feature representatives from various organizations benefitting animals in need. Visitors can bring their pets to walk along the trail, visit Santa Paws and learn more about helping animals through groups like Callie’s Place, the Human Society of West Alabama, the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter, The Canine Compassion Fund and TSnip. On Dec. 17, the Tuscaloosa River Market will hold Sunday With Santa, an event that will offer not only the sights of the twinkling decorated trees, but personal photographs with Santa Claus, refreshments and other activities for the whole family. More information on these events can be found on the Tinsel Trail’s website, www.ttowntinsel.com
A Year of Success for Ernest & Hadley Booksellers
E
asty Lambert-Brown knew she wanted to open a bookstore, but never told anybody. On a trip to Paris with her husband, she visited Ernest Hemingway’s Paris home, where he lived with his first wife. As Lambert-Brown looked through the camera at her husband posing in the doorway, she noticed a plaque describing the place where Ernest and Hadley had spent some of their happiest years. “That’s it!” she said excitedly. “Yeah, go ahead, hurry up and take the picture,” her husband replied. “No that’s the name of the store!” “What store?” Since confessing to her husband that she was interested in opening a bookstore, Lambert-Brown’s dream has come to fruition. Now celebrating its one-year anniversary, Ernest & Hadley Booksellers stands as the only independent bookstore in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “We noticed a real need in the community for a bookstore,” said Avery Leopard, store manager and daughter of Lambert-Brown. “Tuscaloosa was missing that.”
Now, the cozy store offers a wide variety of books and book-related gifts like cards, pens and journals. Leopard and Lambert-Brown are avid travelers, and they like to stop by the independent bookstore in every community they visit. “You kind of get a sense and flavor of the city when you visit its bookstore,” Lambert-Brown said. “It’s kind of a barometer for everything that goes on in that city in the little microcosm of a bookstore.
“I want people to feel like they didn’t just visit a bookstore, they had an experience, and a good experience.” Avery Leopard Ernest & Hadley sought to bring that element to Tuscaloosa, focusing on a comfortable, cozy space that reflected the community while giving an enjoyable shopping experience. “We’re hitting a point in time where there’s this element of nostalgia over everything,” Leopard said.
“Film, TV, people remembering their childhoods fondly thinking, ‘Whatever happened to that?’ and for a lot of people, a bookstore fits into that pretty perfectly.” This resurgence of wistfulness for the past has proven beneficial for independent booksellers, who thought that the rise of Amazon and e-readers would put them out of business. Appealing to an empty market and the trendiness of the bygone, Ernest & Hadley has found great success in its first year of business. “We’re just really excited about how it’s been received in the community,” Lambert-Brown said. “And kind of the general level of acceptance for an independent bookstore in general, and because a lot of the indications five to 10 years ago was that indies were going out of business.” Ernest & Hadley’s success cannot be attributed to chance alone, for the independent bookstore offers a plethora of opportunities for book lovers across town. While an independent bookstore reflects the community’s interests through its book selection, Ernest & Hadley offers many other services that set it apart. Authors can hold book signings or other events. Poetry
clubs, book clubs and other groups can meet at the 1924 downtown house. Ernest & Hadley assists book clubs in getting books and offering discounts while keeping tabs on what local book clubs are reading. Also to gauge the community’s book interests, a chalkboard hangs in the back room for people to write down what books, authors or genres they want to see. “At the very beginning, we didn’t even have a sci-fi section,” Leopard said. “The community on the very first day that we opened let us know that they wanted to see a sci-fi area. They wanted to see sci-fi books, they wanted to see mysteries and thrillers, and so we really increased our collection based on suggestions by people who come in.” Ernest & Hadley’s collection is not only filled with books suggested by customers and employees, but also with works from local authors. According to Lambert-Brown, who has a background in publishing, other booksellers were shutting down their opportunities for local authors to have their books in stores. So Ernest & Hadley provides an entire shelf of books by local authors that cannot be found anywhere else. This invaluable outlet benefits these authors as well
as introduces the community to a book they may not have seen. “I like to to see the expression on peoples faces when they discover a new book,” Lambert-Brown said. The wide variety of works in Ernest & Hadley lends itself to a great deal of discovery. This bookstore differs from the typical bookstore in that its books are organized not by genre, but by theme. Shelves titled “The Other Side” contain theology, sci-fi and wellness books while the “Food Culture” section offers a unique collection of cookbooks that focus less on the recipe and more on the experience of learning about people through the things they eat. Instead of the typical travel logs that you see in bigger stores, Ernest & Hadley sells more personal memoirs in its travel section. Works from British, German, Spanish and Italian authors can also be found in Ernest & Hadley’s growing international collection. Ernest & Hadley Booksellers strives to be a resource for the whole community. Its events spark interest and raise literary awareness, which is a main goal for the independent bookseller, while offering a shopping experience unlike anything else in Tuscaloosa.
“I want people to feel like they didn’t just visit a bookstore, they had an experience, and a good experience,” Leopard said. “We try to make it as cozy as possible. We really enjoy talking to people. We do love getting to know the community.” “I want people to walk in a feel like they’ve just walked into a friend’s living room,” Leopard said. “Come on in, sit a while, enjoy yourself.”
Pack-a-Purse: An Easy Way to Give Back to a Forgotten Cause T
uscaloosa is home to countless opportunities to give back to the community. Nonprofits, churches, businesses and schools can be found hosting fundraisers and awareness events across town year round that benefit one cause or another. Many of these causes are high-profile crises like disaster relief, child literacy and animal rights. However, there are some causes that do not receive as much attention yet still warrant ample support. One of these programs is the Pack-a-Purse drive, put on by The University of Alabama’s Women and Gender Resource Center. This toiletry drive seeks to provide women who are just getting out of prison with a bag that takes care of some of their basic necessities as they re-enter society. Those wanting to donate can drop off items at the WGRC in the South Lawn Office Building from now until Feb. 16. Pack-a-Purse is a program started by Montgomery, Alabamabased organization Aid to Inmate Mothers. The Pack-a-Purse drive offers the campus community and beyond an opportunity to give back to a group that often goes unnoticed. “One of my favorite things [about Pack-a-Purse] is that you don’t have to have a lot of money to be able to give something back,” said program coordinator Paige Miller. Situated on UA’s campus, the WGRC seeks to be accessible to students, faculty and staff regardless of financial status. Contributions of shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, feminine products, lotions and many other items are welcome from any member of the community. More information on donations can be found on the AIM website, inmatemoms.org. When the WGRC began the Packa-Purse drive in 2016, it was able to donate around 25 bags. Last year, it packed 53 bags. Miller aims to
sustain around 50 bags and hopes to increase their impact even more. “It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it would add up to a lot,” Miller said. “We’re hoping just to give those women a little bit of a basic need— basic necessities that they can start out with, and the money that have, they can use on more important things.
“Providing knowledge, information, education to the community is, to me, one of the most important things that we can do. “ Paige Miller “That way, when women in Alabama are being released from prison, they have at least one thing.” Miller said. In the Alabama prison system, 23.3 percent of women return to prison within three years of release, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections 2016 Annual Report. Pack-a-Purse along with other AIM programs seek to lower this statistic. Among the women who participated in AIM programs, the recidivism rate was down to only 11 percent. Reintegration into society after prison is a rarely discussed struggle, and AIM’s goals are to help women
beat the odds and give them opportunities to become productive and successful members of society. Aside from raising awareness about inmate mothers and women leaving the prison system, the WGRC has evolved its programming to include more education and advocacy projects as well as volunteer opportunities for those wanting to help. “A part of the mission of the Women and Gender Resource Center is that we want for each student to experience the most opportunities on campus and in the world,” Miller said. “To make sure that every person, which includes people of all genders, has an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams, or their education or whatever it is that they need.” “Providing knowledge, information, education to the community is, to me, one of the most important things that we can do,” Miller said. Miller’s focus is not only on programs like Pack-a-Purse, but also on raising awareness about gender issues. She hosts programs like Start Smart that teach college women how to negotiate salaries and benefits when they enter the workforce. The WGRC also organizes awareness events for global women’s issues and International Women’s Day, mentoring programs for children in the community and also an annual film festival. A great deal of planning goes into these events, so volunteers are always needed in a variety of fields. Miller encourages people to come by the Center, drop off a donation for Pack-a-Purse and see what it has to offer. The Center is home to a library, where books and DVDs are available for check out and volunteer forms are available for application. Visit their website for forms and more information at wgrc.ua.edu.
Jack Leigh: Influences Behind His Art
A
. n active member of the Tuscaloosa community, a retired automotive dealership owner and an artist—Jack Leigh’s lifetime of artistic endeavors has been shaped by a number of influential artists, mentors and friends over the years. From the fans of his childhood doodles to the buyers of his best pieces, Leigh has made connections across the country and the globe through his artwork. Art has been a constant passion for the former owner of the local Mercedes dealership, who has retired to a life of painting in the studio he built in his backyard. Leigh’s passion for drawing and painting started with the encouragement of his kindergarten teacher, who got excited about a few of Leigh’s earliest pieces. “I don’t know if there was something she saw there, or if maybe she just couldn’t come up with anything else to compliment me on,” Leigh said. “From then on I paid more attention to it.” He began taking art classes with the neighborhood children from Mary Ann Lauer, who had been trained at a European academy before fleeing Nazi Germany with her three young sons and physicist husband and settling in Tuscaloosa, where she had a studio in her garage. Leigh would take classes for a while, quit for baseball or football season, but always come back. When Leigh
grew up, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve, which did not leave much time for him to pursue art. But he vowed that when he got out, he would take a few weeks to go study with an artist. “I wanted to pick out somebody whose work I wanted my work to mirror,” Leigh said. So he wrote to an artist whose pastel paintings inspired him named Albert Handell in Woodstock, New York. In 1975, Leigh found himself with a two-week vacation approaching for the first time in his life, so he drove up to Woodstock to study under Handell. “It was like getting shot out of an artistic canon,” Leigh said. With Handell, he painted the picturesque landscapes of rural New York and honed his drawing skills. Leigh only stayed for one week, but he believes if he had stayed for another he would have never come home.
“It was like getting shot out of an artistic canon.” Jack Leigh
Leigh returned to Woodstock two years later where Handell introduced him to John Pike, a prominent watercolor painter whom Leigh had always admired. According to Leigh, Pike had been to Collier’s magazine what Norman Rockwell had been to the Saturday Evening Post. Leigh said Pike’s home was filled with his cover pieces and memorabilia everywhere you looked. Pike and Leigh became good friends through their artistic interests and stayed close until Pike’s death. Pike had previously battled mouth cancer after a lifetime of smoking, and one day, he called Leigh to tell him that the cancer was back. Pike said he could not talk to his wife or son without them bursting into tears, so he asked if he could call Leigh every once in a while, just to talk. “I was never as flattered by anything in my life, as morbid as it sounds,” Leigh said. He was flattered to have such a great artist reaching out to him. One day, Pike sent Leigh a package with a beautiful watercolor of a snow-covered landscape with a note that said, “Dear Jack, this is what my property looks like in the winter. I just painted this for you. Back to the hospital on Monday ... for how long?” Pike passed away at the hospital, so the ethereal snow scene that hangs
in Leigh’s house may have been Pike’s last. Leigh’s connections to important and talented artists didn’t stop with his training. Back in Tuscaloosa, Leigh read about an impressive younger artist named Evan Wilson. Leigh was astounded that someone so young could have such remarkable skills. Wilson was commissioned by a friend of Leigh’s to paint a portrait, so Leigh was invited to the unveiling to meet Wilson, who had seen one of Leigh’s pastels and been equally impressed.
When Wilson left Italy, he moved to New York, where he invited Leigh to a gallery opening featuring one of his pieces. Leigh went up to New York, brought Wilson to Woodstock to meet his former teacher Handell and connected his past and present art worlds. The three men spent more time painting the gorgeous Woodstock scenery together. At the gallery opening, it dawned on Leigh that he had enough friends in the art community that he could do something like this on a smaller scale in Tuscaloosa.
“I really enjoy it. It’s a great way to calm down, retire and destress. It’s like a different world down here.” Jack Leigh Leigh said that began a lifelong friendship—the two still talk once or twice a week. “He’s definitely the biggest influence I’ve had art-wise,” Leigh said. “My work more reflects what I learned from him than anybody.” Leigh and Wilson’s friendship flourished even when Wilson received a grant to study in Italy. Leigh was able to visit him there and helped him sell the small landscape panels Wilson painted of the Italian scenery when he returned to the States for Christmas. Leigh even hosted a lowbudget show for Wilson’s panels at his home, and despite lacking funds for frames, the show gave Wilson enough money to spend another year in Italy.
His gallery opened in March 1983 and was hugely successful. Leigh said there were probably 500-600 people in attendance at the opening that featured the work of local and Italian artists alike. Simultaneously working at the Mercedes dealership, Leigh would organize four or five showings at the gallery each year. As time went on, the gallery became work that Leigh could not manage alongside his car dealership and growing family, but he never stopped painting.
Today, he is retired from the automotive industry and spends his time in the studio he built in his backyard. “I just sit out here with my dog and paint,” Leigh said. “I really enjoy it. It’s a great way to calm down, retire and destress. It’s like a different world down here.” His studio is full of in-progress paintings, pieces from his artist friends and countless art books. The space even doubles as an extra bedroom for guests with a pull-down bed and full bathroom. The enviable northfacing window lets in the perfect light for painting, and Leigh is always working on three or four pieces at various stages of completion. From his humble beginnings in Mary Ann Lauer’s garage to his own gallery, Leigh’s artistic career has been brimming with prowess. His success shows the value of artistic connections, learning from others and making lifelong friends.
Fayette’s Folk Art on Display at Tuscaloosa’s Hotel Indigo “I
think in a lot of ways, our art is a reflection of our community,” said Scott McQueen. The Fayette-based folk artist said he was very fortunate to grow up in a town that had prominent folk art influences. Inspired by artists in his area like Jimmy Lee Sudduth and Reverend Ben Perkins, McQueen’s colorful, religious and patriotic pieces now hang in Kentuck Art Center’s Hotel Indigo Gallery. Folk art is characterized as being more utilitarian and decorative than its fine art counterparts, which also played a role in McQueen’s upbringing. His father painted oil landscapes, but McQueen says his mixed metal and wooden art pieces reflect the culture and ideas of his rural Alabama upbringing. “It’s just a reflection of who I am,” he said. McQueen’s art is a combination of recycled and repurposed materials. He affixes pieces of old car tags or what he calls “toolbox junk” to scraps of old barn wood or pieces of tin from an old roof. “In fact, I’ve never painted on canvas,” McQueen said. “Maybe one day I’ll try it.” McQueen started his folk art career with a stack of old car tags he had lying around and now finds the components and embellishments of
his artwork in yard sales, estate sales and junkyards. “The rustier, the better,” McQueen said. Thirty-one years in the ministry have shaped McQueen’s artistic style as images of angels, crosses and other Christian symbols are at the forefront of his work.
Institution’s 1976 Festival of American Folklife. Some of his work, also painted on wood instead of canvas, can be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s website. Some of McQueen’s other influences were “Brother Ben” Perkins, a retired minister and local folk artist that sold painted gourds on Saturdays on a bench outside of the grocery store where McQueen worked.
“I have a strong faith. It can’t help but come out in the creativity.” Scott McQueen “I have a strong faith,” he said. “It can’t help but come out in the creativity.” The influence of his faith is evident in his work, but the influence of the folk artists around whom McQueen grew up also shine through his paintings. McQueen fondly remembers riding his bike over to watch Jimmy Lee Sudduth paint. Sudduth grew to prominence in the folk art community when he was chosen to represent Alabama at the Smithsonian
McQueen’s work utilizes patriotic imagery that he says is borrowed from Brother Ben’s work. McQueen said his eyes were always drawn to Brother Ben’s use of the American flag, and one of McQueen’s red, white and blue pieces hangs at the Hotel Indigo with the words of the Pledge of Allegiance artfully splayed across the wooden slab. Growing up watching his father, Jimmy Lee Sudduth and Brother Ben Perkins create art fueled his passion for folk art, McQueen said.
“All of that, along with having a creative spirit of my own, led to what I do.” McQueen’s exhibition will be on display at the Hotel Indigo until May 21. According to the Hotel Indigo staff, two of the pieces sold on the first day. The Kentuck Gallery in the hotel phases through different exhibitions every few months, and staff members say the artwork is well received. There will be an opening reception for the exhibition on Apr. 6 at 6 p.m. in the Hotel Indigo lobby. McQueen will be present to answer questions. When visitors come to see McQueen’s artwork, he hopes they’ll take themselves away with a smile. “People have enough stress in their lives,” McQueen said. “And I know for me, art is a reliever of that, creating it and enjoying it. So I hope I can pass that along to somebody else.”