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F E B R UA RY 2 022 | TH E LO C A L LOV E I S S U E

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LIFESTYLE LETTER

It's All About the Arts!

February 2022 PUBLISHER

Michelle Taylor Willis michelle.taylorwillis@citylifestyle.com EDITOR

Erikka Mitchell | emitchell@citylifestyle.com

Art comes in many different forms, and it gives us a glimpse of someone’s heart—a part of them we don’t see on the surface. We are all drawn to various expressions of art in different ways, and we tend to appreciate artistic expression that makes us feel something and that resonates with us. Our February issue is dedicated to sharing about art in our local area. As you read about our community and various stories of passion and self-expression, we hope you are inspired to pursue what you love. After all, February is the month of love. With the hectic schedules we often keep, it is easy to let our hobbies, talents and special interests fall by the wayside. We just have to be deliberate about allowing ourselves time to pour into interests that we love and that fill us up. One thing that I LOVE about living here in #SoFu and generally in the Atlanta area is that there is an abundance of exceptional art: from the High Museum of Art to Hammonds House to Arnika Dawkins and from Horizon Theater to Kenny Leon’s True Colors to Broadway in Atlanta at the Fox! Concerts from my beloved Wolf Creek Amphitheater to the Roxy and the Tabernacle to Chastain. When you fill your home with chocolates, flowers and valentines this month, remember to give yourself some time to do what you love. Find what makes you feel alive, and don’t forget to share it with us. And while you are at it, don’t forget to shop local and support our local makers and artists right here in our community.

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Proverbs 3:5-6 SOFU Lifestyle™ is published monthly by Lifestyle Publications LLC. It is distributed via the US Postal Service to some of the South Fulton area’s most affluent neighborhoods. Articles and advertisements do not necessarily reflect Lifestyle Publications’ opinions. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written consent. Lifestyle Publications does not assume responsibility for statements made by advertisers or editorial contributors. Information in SOFU Lifestyle™ is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the

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F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

inside the issue The Local Love Issue

F E ATU R E D

D E PA RTM E NTS

12 Two Poems

Lifestyle Letter

City Scene

Business Monthly

Maker’s Studio

Open House

Artist’s Palette

Local Limelight

Trend Setter

Straighten Your Crown & FitBit

20 From A Different World to Ladymakers

Michelle Taylor Willis Interviews Atlanta Royalty and Ladymakers Star Jasmine Guy

28 Nonprofits

Staying Relevant in Trying Times

A RTS + C U LTU R E

A RTS + C U LT U R E A RTS + C U LT U R E LI FE + C U LT U R E

FI NA NC E + LEGA L SE RV IC E S

32 Tax Loss Harvesting

O N T H E C OV E R

“Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama” by Amy Sherald, oil on linen, 2018. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Full caption is on page 18.

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F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

city scene

Where neighbors can see and be seen in the city. 1

1: Atlanta Kappa League is the Youth Outreach Initiative of Atlanta Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 2: They sponsored a food, toy, and bone marrow drive. For more info, visit AtlantaKappaLeague.org.

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F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

business monthly A round-up of exciting news from local businesses.

Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center Launched 2021-2022 Corporate Fundraising Efforts with the Coca-Cola Foundation The Woodruff Arts Center, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and High Museum of Art announced a gift from The Coca-Cola Foundation and a multi-faceted partnership with The Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Foundation has committed a leadership gift of $2M to the Arts Center and The Coca-Cola Company’s Chairman and CEO James Quincey will lead the Center’s 2021-2022 corporate fundraising campaign.

“Dream Hou$e” Presented by Alliance Theater Written by Eliana Pipes and directed by Laurie Woolery, “Dream Hou$e” follows two Latina sisters on an HGTV-style reality show who are selling their family home, hoping to capitalize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood.” One sister grapples with turmoil in the family’s ancestral past while the other learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the family’s future. “Dream Hou$e” is the winner of the 2021/22 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition.

“Ain’t Too Proud” Comes to the Fox Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta is thrilled to announce the First National Tour of “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations.” The new Broadway smash hit musical will play in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre March 8-13. Tickets available now at FoxTheatre.org. This thrilling story is set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”

If you want to be included, send us a message! Visit CityLifestyle.com/SOFU to get in touch.

B USIN E SS M ON T H LY

TWO POEMS STRAIGHTEN YOUR CROWN & FITBIT

STRAIGHTEN YOUR CROWN I stand here in my truest form, fully vulnerable. Naked. Insecure about certain curves and flaws. The same curves that caught your attention have also conformed me to change how I eat, how I dance, how I vibe. As I rise I’m learning to readjust my crown from within. Straighten your crown. Why does it hurt when you make exceptions for someone who was never for you? Perhaps it’s because we know some people should have never been allowed to share that space in the first place! A treasure in the wrong hands can become trash. Who’s watering your garden? What gives you hope? Who shows you that you are dope? Trusting, thrusting, pushing not forcing! Showing, keeping the water flowing.

M AK E R’S ST U D IO | A RTS + CULTURE

Do they share how the drop became a puddle, that ran and became a flood, a lake that made up the ocean that became a beautiful beach front? A prize to pay homage to. We are all beautiful! Beautiful enough to conceive yet we are stuck on what we need....a need to cut, tuck, fold—and then we bleed. Dry like the drought screaming for reprieve. Like flowers curled over, beautiful but not living up to its full essence. Stretching not standing. Mirroring celebrity fate, it must be the branding! Straighten your crown. Take a look in the mirror and say “I love you” out loud. Love on the spirit, the mind, the body who stares back at you! Share with them that every flaw, bump, hair that hangs out of place, it’s all amazing and can be renewed. Straighten your crown!!

ARTICLE BY ANDREA WALKER-WILLIAMSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AUTUMN GOODMAN

FITBIT I watch as you count your steps. Before you sleep, you must reach a goal. Practicing your pace, recording your times, making these moments become opportunities. You show up and grind. We all stare in awe as you change your stride. Practice your breathing looking so regal, Peaceful, beautiful and free. Cold air couldn’t keep you inside. The stars shine for you. They come down to greet you. The Creator’s work is modified.

This world needs you. You are awake before the alarm goes off. Adding more miles to your workout. So hard with a heart so open and shoulders so soft. When I want to give up, I think of your stamina and it gives me inspiration. Setting new goals has been your best trait. I see your preparation. I’ll continue to watch as you increase your regimen and count your steps.

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Be sure to check out the According to Michelle TV Show every Wednesdays at 10am and 7pm on the on the VTV Network on Roku and Amazon Fire.You Tube views average over 500,000 per episode! Michelle Interviews the Nations Leading Influencers Watch as Michelle hosts some of the nations most influential leaders, right f rom Atlanta! Advertise your business on Over the Top with Michelle Taylor Willis on Real 1100 AM and Heart radio (128 million subscribers). Make your afternoon drive a little better every Wednesday f rom 4-6pm.

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THE OBAMA PORTRAITS HIGH MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS PORTRAITS BY KEHINDE WILEY AND AMY SHERALD AS A PART OF A FIVE-CITY TOUR ORGANIZED BY THE SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY The High Museum of Art presents the portraits of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, as part of “The Obama Portraits Tour,” organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The portraits will be on view Jan. 14 to March 20, 2022, in the High’s Stent Family Wing special exhibition galleries. “We are honored to present these portraits as the exclusive Southeastern venue for the tour and to afford our audiences an intimate experience with the works,” said Rand Suffolk, the High’s Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director. “They demonstrate the incredible talents of Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, two artists the Museum holds in high esteem, and serve as important records of a historic period in our nation’s history.” “We view the country as our community and believe in the power of portraiture to encourage both empathy and inspiration across audiences,” said Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. “‘The Obama Portraits Tour’ is an opportunity to meet people where they are, in collaboration with our peer institutions, and offer audiences in different parts of the United States an opportunity to see these portraits firsthand.” In addition to the portraits, the exhibition will feature an approximately eight-minute video providing background on the commissioning of the portraits by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and putting them into the context of the national collection of presidential portraits. During the run of the exhibition, the High will present public programs, including a conversation with the exhibition curators, host student field trips, and offer teachers professional development opportunities presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. The Portrait Gallery holds the nation’s only complete collection of U.S. presidential portraits that is accessible to the public. It began commissioning presidential portraits in 1994 with George H. W. Bush and commissioned its first portrait of a First Lady in 2006 with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The paintings by Wiley and Sherald are the subject of a richly illustrated book, The Obama Portraits (2020), which delves into the making of these two artworks. Published by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Princeton University Press, the book, along with merchandise inspired by the artworks, can be purchased at the High Museum Shop and online at museumshop.high.org. The tour commenced June 18, 2021, at the Art Institute of Chicago and continues through May 30, 2022. Additional tour locations include the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the lead donors to the Obama portraits: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith Kern and Kent Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia; Clarence, DeLoise and Brenda Gaines; The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc Meadows; Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker; and Catherine and Michael Podell. “The Obama Portraits Tour” is organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America. For more on the Portrait Gallery and the full tour schedule, visit npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour.

TICKETS Tickets to the Obama Portraits Tour are $16.50 each for ages 6 and over. Admission is free for ages 5 and under, but reservations are required. The ticket includes access to the entire Museum. Due to the nature and popularity of the exhibition, tickets will be sold for specific time slots. Advance tickets must be purchased through the High’s website. There are no refunds or exchanges for exhibition tickets, and tickets are non-transferable During the run of the exhibition, the High will host four free days, when admission is complimentary for all guests (reservations required). Those dates will include two Second Sundays (Feb. 13 and March 13, 2022), President’s Day CONTINUED >

O PE N H OU SE | ARTS + CULTURE

“Barack Obama” by Kehinde Wiley, oil on canvas, 2018. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the following lead donors for their support of the Obama portraits: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith Kern and Kent Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia. © 2018 Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

FEB R UARY 2 0 2 2 | C I TYL I FE STYL E. C O M / S O F U

“Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama” by Amy Sherald, oil on linen, 2018. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the following lead donors for their support of the Obama portraits: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith Kern and Kent SI-21-2020 Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia. Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

(Monday, Feb. 21, 2022) and March 9, 2022. A list of FAQs is posted on the High’s website, which includes more specifics about ticketing and tips for planning your visit. *Except for admission during Friday Jazz and HIGH Frequency Friday events, which have a higher ticket price, and on free admission days (see above).

ABOUT THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of four special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs. Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 18,000 works of art,

O PE N H OU SE | ARTS + CULTURE

including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper. The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit High.org.

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F E AT U R E | EN TERTA INM E NT

From “A Different World” to “Ladymakers” MICHELLE TAYLOR WILLIS INTERVIEWS ATLANTA ROYALTY AND “LADYMAKERS” STAR JASMINE GUY

ARTICLE BY ERIKKA SEARLES MITCHELL FROM AN INTERVIEW BY MICHELLE TAYLOR WILLIS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GERRELL FERRIES

The fabulous, garrulous publisher of #SoFu Lifestyle Magazine Michelle Taylor Willis and the incomparable Jasmine Guy hit it off immediately. And I couldn’t believe my good fortune to get to be right in the room as Michelle interviewed her for the “According to Michelle” show. I must be “living right.” Jasmine Guy is Atlanta royalty, an HBCU queen. After all, she quips, she attended both Mission College in “School Daze” and Hillman on “A Different World.” The ladies bonded over raising their children. Michelle is the ultimate #boymom raising four sons and Jasmine is watching her daughter launch into adulthood. And despite their extensive vocabularies and trainings, they agreed that there are some occasions where nothing but a wellplaced swear word will do. The laughter abounds. Jasmine Guy is a lady but Whitley Gilbert, she is not. “I love her,” she says. “But I’m not her.” Like MTW, our local media maven, Jasmine Guy has been busy. She turns 60

this year but she seems to be speeding up, not slowing down. She’s been working on a couple of Christmas movies including 2018’s “The Christmas Pact” and can currently be seen on Amazon Prime Video sporting an accent much different than the one she’s known for. Art imitated life as she plays the mother of a daughter starting a life in NYC but the Caribbean heritage she portrays is borrowed from her TV daughter Grace Byers. On this series, “Harlem” that also stars Megan Good, Guy found herself apologizing to Byers, hoping that she was not being too mean. Guy says that with this character and even with Whitley Gilbert, people who are mean are mean for a reason. With Whitley, she says the character is overcompensating for her jealousy of Denise Huxtable (of the loving “Cosby Show” family). As for her “Harlem” character Patricia, she’s mean because she wants her daughter to be strong and independent in a way that she herself is unable to be. CONTINUED >

FEB R UARY 2 0 2 2 | C I TYL I FE STYL E. C O M / S O F U

Of her immense talents, Michelle describes Guy as a “beast,” a high compliment to describe her acting, comedic and dramatic, dancing skills and work ethic. The actress is touched and remarks that you never hear the good things people say. “I don’t go on social media. Social media makes people stay in middle school.” Bullying is always on Guy’s radar and social media has only made bullying worse. She attended a huge high school (Northside Performing Arts now North Atlanta) and intentionally sought out a smaller community for her daughter in middle school at the Atlanta Girls School. She is fiercely protective of her daughter and she feels that this was one of the best decisions. Guy grew up in an interracial household with a preacher dad where she was encouraged to speak her mind. They had family meetings and were encouraged to be direct and plead their case on various topics. She was a dancer. Her friends had no idea she was funny. Then she saw the Alvin Ailey company and discovered that she could make money doing what she loved! Even now when she encounters a roadblock or a hater, she reminds herself that if Debbie Allen could do it, so could she! This February, Guy stars in a film called “Ladymakers,” which she says is a bit different than any part that she has played previously. It’s a true story about the screenwriter’s mother, a Black woman and her interactions with a community of Jewish women who were not mean or prejudiced who rescue women on the edge and smooth out their roughness to make them into ladies. The story is set in Indianola, Mississippi and Guy really enjoyed showcasing the tender moments of friendship between the women. Guy can do no wrong in my eyes so she had me at “heartfelt.” Hope you will join me in enjoying the film on its expected release date 2/22/22. The “According to Michelle” TV show is now on VTV. The show is available on any Roku TV or Roku streaming device and Amazon Firestick. In addition, you can watch episodes on Gagnant Media’s YouTube Page. Be sure to subscribe and like!

F E AT U R E | EN TERTA INM E NT

It’s the small things that add more life! The City of South Fulton offers its residents something that we’re all learning, once again, to appreciate—quality of life. The big things—malls, franchises, big box chain stores—are not necessarily the things that make communities more livable. Little things often do that. With limitations on globetrotting, the essence of travel and experiencing new things is not only found in far off places. Exploring South Fulton and supporting local businesses can be fun and plays a key role in sustaining the community and showcasing it as a viable destination. Small business, local merchants, family-owned restaurants. Neighbors whose names you actually know. These things all help to make communities more livable.

Hammonds House Museum Presents "Donald Locke: Southern Mansions and Related Paintings from the 1990s"

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HAMMONDS HOUSE

A RT IST ’S PA LE T T E | ARTS + CULTURE

Southern Mansions II, 1996

“Southern Mansions and Related Paintings from the 1990s” will be presented at Hammonds House Museum through May 15, 2022. The exhibition is curated by Hammonds House Museum’s Executive Director and Chief Curator Karen Comer Lowe in collaboration with the Donald Locke Estate. Tickets are available by online registration only. Plan your visit at hammondshouse.org. “We are excited to present this exhibition of artwork by Donald Locke, not only because he is a world-renowned artist, but because the work was inspired by his time in Atlanta and his exploration of southern culture as it relates to the Black experience in America,” states Lowe. “Locke lived in Atlanta from 1990 until his death in 2010, and it had a major impact on his work.” “In a medley of mixed-media often multi-paneled paintings, Locke offers us a visual autobiography. With influences of African, Asian, and European, he paints and collages canvas and paper with thoughts about his personal and social history.

“Perhaps unique in the history of mankind, the Black man in the New World has been coerced in a harrowing agenda, the crossing of thousands of miles of cultural time in space of a few short generations. He has moved from captive African to slave, to free citizen of the New World, precariously clothed in a hybrid ethnicity, a ‘creole culture’ which, because of its dominant Negro-African component, is part of the New World's unique contribution to the civilization of modern man.” — Donald Locke

He layers his abstract cultural landscapes (with items such as) photos and photocopies, fur, alligator skin and velvet, old stove parts and tools, magazine cutouts and sheet music,” noted Cathy Byrd in Creative Loafing, 1999. The above quote is a great introduction to Locke’s series at Hammonds House Museum. Born in the former British colony of Guyana, South America, in 1930, Locke was educated there and in the UK before emigrating to the U.S., first to Arizona, then settling in Atlanta in 1990. Although he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to create sculpture and installations, Locke had always been a writer and painter as well. By the mid-1990s, Locke’s paintings evoked aspects of the American south, and transcultural meanings were incorporated via visual clues, collaged images, and layered textures. In the artist’s own words: “Some time after arriving in Atlanta, I began to produce work that was significantly different from anything I had done before… In retrospect, it appears that the work has always been trying to encompass and bend to the will of the imagination, every aspect of the life and experience of Black people in the New World—the landscapes they inhabit, their physical uniqueness, the folklore and myths which crowd their

imagination, and the socioeconomic legacies they inherited from the past. Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners through Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T, and WarnerMedia. Mission Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization, the museum offers rotating exhibitions, artist talks, exhibition tours, arts education programs, family days, virtual programs, and other cultural events throughout the year. Located in a beautiful Victorian home in West End Atlanta, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. For more information and to learn how you can support their mission and programming and become a member, visit hammondshouse.org.

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Nonprofits: Staying Relevant in Trying Times

ARTICLE BY KIMBERLY SELLARS-BATES

LOCA L LIM E LIGH T | L IFE + CULTURE

Since 2007, I have had the good fortune to work with people who have realized their reason for living. These courageous men and women wake up with energy and excitement because what they do doesn’t seem like work. They are excitedly fulfilling their mission to serve those whose voices have been marginalized. Unfortunately, there was a sudden and unexpected change in the atmosphere when COVID-19 hit. Change was swift. There was no choice but to accept that COVID was affecting everything. There were mandatory lockdowns. Food and cleaning supplies were scarce. Programs stopped. Donations dropped. Funders’ priorities changed, and cash reserves dried up. Many nonprofits with longevity and purpose-filled programs closed. I once read that acceptance is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. Instead of looking at the change as a negative, I encouraged nonprofits to view it as an opportunity. The important thing is to stay relevant during these trying times. Being relevant means continuously creating new value in the eyes of those you serve by doing the following:

excites them, what disappoints them, or what their vision is for the organization, is to ask them directly. Model authenticity and vulnerability.

1) REVISIT YOUR MISSION AND PROGRAMS Take stock of your organization’s mission and programs. Is what you are offering still relevant? Do the programs make sense in the current climate? Are the programs providing services that are essential to the success of the population you serve?

8) DONOR RETENTION Research continues to show that it costs less to retain a donor than acquire a new one. Let your current donors know that they matter. Continue to cultivate them. Proactively ask them about your organization’s performance. This shows that you care about their donor experience.

2) ACCESS One of the most pressing things is cash management. How much cash is on hand? What are your monthly operating costs? Where can you cut costs without cutting staff? (Consider subscriptions, office space, etc.) 3) BE PROACTIVE Nonprofits are facing an increase in demand for services. Research current trends against what your nonprofit is providing. Consider any possible changes in client needs, behaviors, and the operating environment that may occur over the next year and determine how the organization can best respond. 4) BE TRANSPARENT Keep open lines of communication with the board of directors, employees, volunteers, donors, and constituents. The easiest way to learn what people are thinking, what problems or obstacles they are facing, what

5) STAND OUT Explore innovative ways to deliver your services. Be creative. Consider virtual events, drive by and pop-up services, etc. 6) 4 FUNDING STREAMS Financial health is crucial to the sustainability of nonprofit organizations but the pandemic has caused many to face significant disruptions to their funding streams. In order to ensure the sustainability of an organization, four funding streams must work cohesively: 1) Annual Fund, 2) Grants, 3) Corporate Sponsorships, and 4) Signature Fundraisers. 7) STAY UP TO DATE Become an expert in your field and the population you serve. Set up Google Alerts with your name, your organization’s name, and the population you serve.

9) COLLABORATE COVID caused many organizations to face the reality that while they play a vital role in their communities, they don’t always have the resources to do all of the work they want and need to do. Forging new partnerships with other nonprofits creates opportunities to find solutions to problems that previously might have gone unsolved. 10) SUSTAINABILITY PLAN Planning and positioning your nonprofit for sustainability is one of the most important steps your organization must take. The phrase “sustainability” describes a nonprofit that is able to sustain itself over the long term, perpetuating its ability to fulfill its mission. I hope these tips have helped. One thing is certain, there will be life after COVID and services will be needed.

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