The Guide

ON THE COVER

Imaginative Freedom

Amy Anderson teaches art students in her studio, Art & Soul, off Shades Crest Road in Bluff Park. Photo by Kathryn Bell Design by Kimberly Myers DDid you know that more than 50 languages are spoken in Hoover City Schools? I didn’t until I started working on an article on a Diversity Literature Initiative in Hoover City Schools for this issue, a fact that drove home the importance of the initiative working to make sure students are reading books that both reflect their cultures and expose them to new ones. One of our other stories in this issue, on La Sabrosita Ice Cream Shop on Lorna Road, covers the Mexican roots of its owners and the international flavors on its menu, and has me wanting to try their guava popsicle and lychee bubble tea. But that still only accounts for one of those 50 languages. I’m just one person with one set of connections, so I’d love to hear from you, our readers, about any ideas for stories you have to better cover the diversity in our city. Feel free to email me any time with suggestions you have! As for this issue, there are lots of stories I’m excited to share with you in addition to those two. If you’ve driven down Sanders Road anytime since the 1960s, you know the pastoral Smith Farms property and have likely wondered what will be happening to it since the Smith family sold it a couple of years back. A new neighborhood on part of the property is still in the works, but in this issue we take you on a tour of one of its homes that will remain and its new renovations. Be sure to give it a read to learn about the renovation and the history of the property as told by a member of the Smith family who grew up there. Amy Ferguson’s account of how golf got us through a pandemic— complete with commentary on her husband’s basement golf simulator— is sure to make you laugh and ring true if you know anyone who lived that story over the past year. And I can’t forget our cover story on not just a new art teaching studio, Art & Soul, but also the story of the artist behind it. Last but certainly not least, we have tallied all your votes and are unveiling the winners of our annual Hoover’s Best contest. Check out what restaurants, retailers and more took home the awards, and while you are at it, make note of any local business you want to try out. Best wishes for a joy-filled summer around Hoover! See you at Free Friday Flicks or the Ross Bridge Farmers Market?

madoline.markham@hooversmagazine.com

”“THE QUESTION

What’s the best part of summer in Hoover?

All the fun trails (Veterans Park, Aldridge Gardens, Moss Rock Preserve), parks, Hoover Met and the splash pad!

-Lori Jones

The SEC Baseball Tournament

-Russell Pate

Movies at Spain Park!

-CJ Mullins

Walks at Hoover ballparks with my dog

-Mary V Virciglio All the restaurants with great outdoor seating!

-Tracey Smith

Running on Shades Crest Road early in the morning when the sun is coming up

-Richard Vandrell

Hoover Produce Co-op

-Leigh McDowell Davis

Swimming at the Y, sitting outside eating Ice Cream at The Whole Scoop and grabbing a cupcake right next door to eat with it at CakEffect, and Hoover Library activities

-Cherinita Ladd-Reese

THE GUIDE

ROSS BRIDGE FARMERS MARKET

FRIDAYS 4-8 P.M. 2101 Grand Avenue

Shop local businesses and farmers’ selections at this market full of fresh produce, live music, kids activities, food trucks and more. The market runs May 14-Aug. 13 this year. Find more details on the @rossbridgefarmersmarket Facebook page.

COMMUNITY

A COMMUNITY TRADITION

Area high school sophomores were presented recently as the 2021 Hoover Belles this spring at The Hyatt RegencyThe Wynfrey Hotel. This new class of Belles will serve for two years as representatives for the City of Hoover, and each young woman will earn a minimum of 30 community service hours at civic and local charity events. Each new Hoover Belle was announced by Mistress of Ceremony Haley Bagwell Scallions, a former Hoover Belle, and then they got to dance to the music of The Dave Amaral Trio.

FRIDAYS IN JUNE

Free Friday Flicks

Veterans Park

Free Friday Flicks is celebrating its 30th birthday this year by kicking off the season of Friday night outdoor movies with the first film they showed in 1992: 101 Dalmatians! The park opens at 6:30 p.m. each week, and the free movie starts at dusk. BYO blanket, and find updates on films and more on the @freefridayflicks Facebook page. Here’s the schedule: uJune 4: 101 Dalmations uJune 11: Trolls World Tour uJune 18: Tom & Jerry Movie uJune 25: The Croods: A New Age uJuly 9: Rain Date

JUNE 8, JUNE 22, JULY 13 & JULY 27

Summer Nights at Cross Creek Church

5:30-8 P.M. 560 Lake Crest Drive

Join Cross Creek Church for dinner, crafts, sports and Bible time for ages K4-fifth grade on select evenings this summer. The cost is $5 per child, and no sign-up is necessary. For more information, visit crosscreekchurch.net/ summer-nights/ or email info@ crosscreekchurch.net.

THROUGH JANUARY 2022

All Things Bright and Beautiful & Ways of Seeing Exhibits Birmingham Museum of Art

SATURDAYS The Market at Pepper Place 2829 Second Avenue South

THURSDAYS Hoover Public Library Storytime Veterans Park

JUNE 1-6 Birmingham Barons vs. Tennessee Smokies Regions Field

JUNE 4 Summer Reading Begins Hoover Public Library

JUNE 6 Vulcan’s 117th Birthday Bash Vulcan Park & Museum

JUNE 12 2021 Birmingham Heart Walk Digital Experience

JUNE 12 Hydrangeas Under the Stars Aldridge Gardens

JUNE 17 Blood Drive The Finley Center

JUNE 18-20 Euphonious Music Festival Birmingham Zoo

JUNE 18-20 I’m With Mike Virtual 5K Presented by The Mike Slive Foundation for Prostate Cancer Research

JUNE 22-27 Birmingham Barons vs. Pensacola Blue Wahoos Regions Field

JUNE 29-JULY 4 Birmingham Barons vs. Chattanooga Lookouts Regions Field

JULY 9-AUG. 1 Summer Film Series Alabama Theatre

JULY 10 Birmingham Legion vs Memphis 901 FC BBVA Compass Field

JULY 13-18 Birmingham Barons vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas Regions Field

JULY 16-18 37th World Deer Expo BJCC Exhibition Halls

JULY 31 Birmingham Legion vs Atlanta United 2 BBVA Compass Field

SATURDAYS

MarketPlace at Lee Branch

8 A.M.-NOON Village at Lee Branch

Shop local fruits, vegetables, eggs, grass fed meat and unique artisans with an Alabama flair each week right off Highway 280. To learn more or place an order, visit themarketplaceatleebranch.com.

SCHOOLS

SIGNED & READY

The first ever signing day at Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3) took place on April 20 as 11 seniors committed to work for local construction companies after graduation. All of them are part of the school’s Skilled Trades Academy that teaches hands-on experiences and industry knowledge to prepare students to graduate with employability and to succeed in their fields. How cool is that?

JUNE 17

Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

Hoover Country Club

Join the Hoover Area Chamber for its monthly luncheon to honor 2021 scholarship recipients. Networking for the event begins at 11:15 a.m., and food will be served at noon. Register or learn more at hooverchamber.org. You can also join the chamber for Coffee & Contacts on June 10 7:30-9 a.m. at Brookwood Baptist (5295 Preserve Way) or for Business After Hours on June 24 5:30-7 p.m. at Infiniti of Birmingham (1804 Montgomery Highway).

ARTS CULTURE&

IMAGINATIVE FREEDOM

Art and soul are inseparable in Amy Anderson’s Bluff Park art teaching studio.

BY ELIZABETH STURGEON PHOTOS BY KATHRYN BELL

Amy Anderson works with art students in her Bluff Park studio, Art & Soul, which opened in January.

SStep into Art & Soul off Shades Crest Road, and you’re met with a gallery wall of potential on the right. Ships are deep at sea, and sunsets are vibrant with melty warmth. Dancers and animals and hazy landscapes all cluster together and draw the eyes of those who want to paint them. To the left, owner Amy Anderson already has a candle lit. The wall is clear and calm to counter her inspiration wall with a peaceful ambiance. Toward the back, she has her own used book library of nature, sports and other images, and even further back is what remains from kids’ art camps and after school classes. Only months into opening her new space, Amy has already found the right rhythm. On one of the bleakest, coldest days in January 2021, Amy came to the space in Bluff Park, right down from Mr. P’s, and saw her dream come to life – her own studio to teach art to all ages and levels. She signed the lease that month and, 10 days later, held her first class in the space. Today Amy offers a wide range of different classes at Art & Soul, including open studio nights, one-onone private lessons, after-school art, and more subject- or medium-specific workshops. “Everyone has a different taste and style, and I don’t mind giving people freedom,” Amy says. Hence the wall of different subjects, sizes and textures. She allows her students to pick what they’re interested in painting, and she helps them work toward the finished product. “No matter who you are or what age you are, you can connect with something on the wall,” she says.

As she develops her different classes, Amy brings a lifelong love of painting and a diverse range of different art and teaching experience. She remembers her early fascination with adding water and color onto a page, and she’s continued to pursue art in whatever way she can, even when it didn’t always intertwine with her career.

As a student at UAB she studied psychology and then spent a number of years working in substance abuse prevention. Amy would speak to children and community groups about substance abuse, truancy, bullying and other topics. “That’s when I started to get good at public speaking and feeling confident to pursue my dream.”

Then in 2015 she decided to quit her full-time position to teach art, working with grants through Dothan’s Cultural Arts Center that took her all over the area. Amy would bring supplies and work with area elementary schools, or hold adult watercolor lessons during the day, or go to the Diversion Center, a juvenile safe house facility, where she taught teenage girls.

She also picked up every other teaching gig she could find to become a full-time freelance art teacher, HooversMagazine.com 15

HAPPY ACCIDENTS

Growing up, Amy remembers watching Bob Ross with her family. “I was enamored with the peacefulness – Bob is so Zen and happy,” she says. There’s no denying that the Bob Ross spirit is strong throughout Art & Soul, plus the influence of the artists in her family, like both her grandfathers. She remembers seeing the enjoyment they got from art and their attention to color, texture and detail. Don’t be surprised if you see a Bob Ross night on her schedule soon!

and she was inspired by the way art affected people, especially working in groups. “Art is a bonding thing,” Amy says. “For me, I want the social part – I want to do art with other people and encourage other people. It’s something where you need feedback, or encouragement.”

In 2019, Amy and her family – she was then pregnant with her second son – moved to Bluff Park, and she began to connect to the art community here. She held art classes at Wild Roast Café and also turned her basement kitchenette into a small studio for private lessons. 2019 also marks when Amy defined her own painting style and built her body of work.

Her abstract blooms, as Amy calls them, are blooming petals that intertwine and pass through each other. “I love creating the transparent petals and wondering which petal is on top,” she says. She works with acrylic paints and gloss on wood and sticks to a high-contrast “romantic and vintage” color palette – rosy pinks and purples or, for her “moody blooms,” deep and varying blues.

Amy paints natural imagery – more blooms, trees, fish – in watercolor, too. She brings a loose and abstract look to these as

Have a sweet spring with...

Cookie Fix

Homewood Cahaba Heights

John Henley, Agent 2118 Columbiana Road Vestavia Hills, AL 35216 Bus: 205-823-1343 Cell: 205-913-1418 callhenley.com

Get great service & great rates.

You know I’m always here with Good Neighbor service. But I’m also here with surprisingly great rates for everyone. Call me for a quote to see how much you can save. You might be surprised. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®

Individual premiums will vary by customer. All applicants subject to State Farm® underwriting requirements.

State Farm Bloomington, IL 2001875

ART & COMMUNITY

Amy hopes to take art outside of her walls this fall through something called Art Club, a club for community art service projects. Back when she worked with Dothan’s Cultural Art Center, Amy remembers bringing water bottles to school art classes that didn’t even have a sink in the room. She wants to locate other needs in Birminghamarea communities and find ways to share art and positivity – however that takes shape.

well, and many of her students want to paint pieces in this style. In all of her classes, she focuses on what her students want to paint or what they want to hang in their home.

As pupils gather in her space, Amy is inspired by the confidence children show. “They’re brave when it comes to art,” Amy says. She sees they are not afraid to pull an idea from their imagination and recreate it on paper, and she likes to expose them to all kinds of mediums – pastels, charcoal, splatter paint, tie dye, sometimes clay. Amy has room to cover the wall in butcher paper and let them work at a big scale, and she likes to teach them about murals too. (She’s worked on quite a few herself over the years.)

In her week-long spring break workshop for kids in the spring, she really saw all of this come to life in the new studio. Amy had students who wanted to try every new medium, and others who always wanted to stick with a canvas and their own ideas. “Some just know exactly what they want to do, and they’ve been waiting for the moment to do it,” Amy says.

The type of classes Art & Soul offers is evolving as it grows, but it will always incorporate the balance of independence and guidance, of loving your finished product and enjoying the experience, for all her artists. Amy’s psychology background really comes