YES! Weekly - February 21, 2024

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BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE

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NIGHT MOODS

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 8

10 5500 Adams Farm Lane Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Office 336-316-1231 Fax 336-316-1930 Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com

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READING, WRITING & MENTAL HEALTH

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

EDITORIAL Editor CHANEL DAVIS chanel@yesweekly.com YES! Writers IAN MCDOWELL MARK BURGER KATEI CRANFORD

Roughly 200 students from across the district filled the WinstonSalem/Forsyth County Schools Education building, located at 4801 Bethania Station Road in Winston-Salem, on Monday morning to partake in lessons that they can utilize for the rest of their lives.

JIM LONGWORTH NAIMA SAID DALIA RAZO LYNN FELDER PRODUCTION Senior Designer ALEX FARMER

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designer@yesweekly.com Designer SHANE HART artdirector@yesweekly.com ADVERTISING Marketing ANGELA COX angela@yesweekly.com TRAVIS WAGEMAN

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SAGE AND SALT Bistro opened in October. It is located on the edge of Old Salem, in a landmark brick building that was originally home to the Southbound Railway Freight Warehouse and Office.

6 Earlier this month HanesBrands announced that it was ELIMINATING ANOTHER 159 JOBS in Winston-Salem.

The key phrase here is “another.”

7 There’s a tinge of sadness watching BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, which attempts to dramatize the life of the reggae superstar Bob Marley, who died at age 36 in 1981.

8 Once again, students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) are being lauded — and possibly rewarded — for their abilities and efforts, as three School of Music students have been named semi-finalists for FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIPS...

12 Speakers at the Feb. 6 Greensboro

City Council meeting were given a printed “RULES FOR DECORUM” list when they signed up to speak. It was longer than the list Mayor Nancy Vaughan has read aloud at previous meetings.

13 UNC-Greensboro is offering to BUY OUT THE TENURE of senior faculty members in programs that are being discontinued. Those accepting the offer cannot be hired for another tenured position in the University of North Carolina system.

14 The days unfurl as NIGHT MOODS returns to Winston-Salem’s Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art with its fifth edition of the nocturnal concert series that explores the “electronic and hypnotic” echoing through the historic Hanes House on Feb. 24.

travis@yesweekly.com Promotion NATALIE GARCIA

DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT ANDREW WOMACK We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2024 Womack Newspapers, Inc.

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Reports to the audience at one point in a manner which is both informative and interactive. Has a well-informed interest in Napoleon.

Mrs. Webb — Emily’s mother and Mr. Webb’s wife. A no-nonsense kind of person. Innocent, caring, a little coarse, somewhat anxious, hardworking, and tolerant.

Rebecca Gibbs — George’s younger sister. Contrary, competitive, daring, immature, and a motivated dreamer.

Wally Webb — Emily’s younger brother.

Stubborn, self-interested, but a lovable young boy.

Professor Willard — A professor at the State University who gives the audience a statistical report on Grover’s Corners. Animated, enthusiastic, jovial, and gregarious.

Mrs. Soames — A curious woman who sings in the choir with Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb. Gossipy, a chatterbox, and a bit small-minded. Offers a sense of the interrelated nature of the lives of the citizens of Grover’s Corners.

Howie Newsome — The local milkman. Good-natured, chatty, friendly, and divulges the local gossip. His reappearance during every morning scene highlights the continuity of life in Grover’s Corners and in the general human experience.

Joe Crowell — A paperboy. Sharp-witted, opinionated, and upbeat.

Si Crowell - Joe’s younger brother, also a paperboy.

Simon Stimson — The choirmaster/ organist of the church, whose alcoholism and undisclosed “troubles” have been the subject of gossip in Grover’s Corners for quite some time. Unhappy, downtrodden, embittered, and often disparaging.

Constable Warren — A policeman with little crime to fight. Parental, protective, and watchful.

Sam Craig — Emily’s cousin, who left Grover’s Corners to travel west but returns late in the play. An outsider, experienced and worldly.

Joe Stoddard — The town undertaker, a reclusive watcher and town chronicler.

Ensemble — various roles, including choir singers, “audience members” who interact with The Stage Manager and Mr. Webb, baseball players, and Assistant Stage Managers.

Auditions are open to actors/actresses ages 14 and up, of all gender, ethnic, and racial identities, regardless of experience.

Those interested in auditioning can sign up online and complete the audition form in advance by visiting stainedglassplayhouse.org/auditions. !

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PRESS RELEASE

Stained Glass Playhouse will hold auditions for “Our Town,” written by Thornton Wilder and directed by Mark Graves, on Monday and Tuesday, February 26 and 27, from 7-9:30 p.m. each night. The performances will be the three weekends of May 3-5, 10-12, and 17-19.

In “Our Town,” the residents of Grover’s Corners — a small American town like any other — go about their daily lives: newspapers are delivered; people go to work; gardens are tended. And a young boy and girl fall in love. Through the experiences and relationships of these “unremarkable” townsfolk, we discover universal truths about what it means to be human and the cyclical nature of life. But as life’s events unfold, an unexpected tragedy strikes — and in its wake, one question remains: “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?”

The available roles are: The Stage Manager — The benevolent host of the play and omniscient narrator.

Interacts with both the world of the audience and the world of the play’s characters, exercises control over the action of the play, cues the other characters, informs the audience of events and objects that they cannot see, and occasionally assumes other roles, such as an old woman, a druggist, and a minister.

George Gibbs — An all-American boy.

Sincere, agreeable, polite, respectful, decent, and upstanding, but not very good at book and school learning. A loving person, even if not very good at expressing those emotions, and perfectly happy to stay on the farm.

Emily Webb — George’s neighbor, love interest, fiancée, and finally wife. Bright, articulate, conscientious, and vivacious girl who shares some of her mother’s anxious nature.

Dr. Gibbs — George’s father and the town doctor. A loving father, kind husband, content, well-liked, knowledgeable, and mindful. A Civil War expert, and knows just about everything about everybody in town.

Mrs. Gibbs — Enduring, calm, appreciative, and caring wife to Dr. Gibbs and mother to her children. Although content in Grover’s Corner, she still desires to see Paris. Suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen.

Mr. Webb — Emily’s loving father and the publisher and editor of the local paper, the Grover’s Corners Sentinel. A caring husband with a good sense of humor.

Kindly, demonstrative, and sympathetic.

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VOTED BEST BARBECUE RESTAURANT IN GUILFORD COUNTY

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

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Chow Down with John Batchelor at Sage and Salt Bistro

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BY JOHN BATCHELOR

age and Salt Bistro opened in October. It is located on the edge of Old Salem, in a landmark brick building that was originally home to the Southbound Railway Freight Warehouse and Office. The interior bears a cozy feel, with some seating at a long bar looking into the open kitchen. That bar is a knockout, with strip lighting framing bottle cubicles.

In the dining area, hunter green walls host a non-dominant television adjacent to the bar, with artwork and other decorative accessories elsewhere. One wall is brick, retained from this building’s original frame.

Seating is actually comfortable, if not a rarity in area restaurants, at least unusual enough to merit mention. Porch accommodations are heated when it’s cold outside; these seats will be especially welcome in warmer weather.

Servers are exceptionally well-informed, deliveries appropriately paced. There is a lengthy list of original cocktails as well as

Gumbo

Creme Brulee

Potato-Leek Soup

a very well chosen wine list, with plenty of quality selections by the glass. The bottle list provides ample opportunity for international adventure at prices that actually invite participation. I rate this list in the top echelon.

Food sustains those positive initial impressions.

My first visit occurred on a chilly evening, so soups seemed in order. I was well

pleased with Potato-Leek. The kitchen melts the leek whites, slowly, over low temperature, extracting flavor. The taste of both named ingredients is clearly evident, the oniony leeks not overshadowing the potato, hosted in a pureed potato broth seasoned with sherry vinegar. Gumbo gets most of its impact from andouille sausage, in a hearty tomato broth blended with the “holy trinity” of celery, bell peppers, and onions. With a salad, I could make a meal from either of these and be happy with it.

An off-menu Asparagus Risotto was especially impressive. Al dente asparagus segments studded creamy arborio rice, enriched with mushrooms, layered with shaved truffles, and coated with Parmesan foam. The foam is constructed with melted cheese and gel sheets, blended, and fired out of a CO2 gun. Don’t try this at home without proper training and safety equipment!

Lump Crab and Artichoke Dip arrives steaming, covered with melted Parmesan cheese, which gives way to a creamy interior. Intact lumps of crabmeat as well as quartered artichokes convey solid flavor from these main ingredients, well served by the cheesy host.

A bistro has to have a good hamburger, and this one does. The meat is finely ground, exuding solid, simple beef flavor,

hosted on a brioche bun, with lettuce and tomato. Accompanying fries are unusually crisp. My wife and I both found the fries and even the meat too salty — not seriously, but if you are sensitive to salt, you might tell your server to have the kitchen exercise restraint in this regard.

One section of the menu is devoted to seafoods and steaks cooked on a woodfired grill, all of which come with one side.

The Whole Fish choice one night was Branzino- a Mediterranean white fish that lends itself very well to this treatment.

My serving was perfectly cooked, coming away from the bone easily, the clean, pure flavor of the fish accented with homemade tartar sauce. If you prefer, the kitchen will filet this for you and remove the head.

(Some people just don’t want their dinner looking back at them.) I ordered Brussels sprouts — al dente, enhanced with lardons — thick bacon, mostly lean, not fatty, richly flavorful.

Tuna also benefits from grilling. The serving here is sushi grade, no gristle, and it arrived cooked just as ordered. Roasted mixed vegetables include fingerling potatoes, forest mushrooms, leaves of kale, onion slices, and Brussels sprouts.

Salmon resides on the “Plates” section of the menu. This kitchen sources its salmon, an excellent product, from the Faroe Is-

Branzino

Pasta Pomodoro

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8900 Ellisboro Road Stokesdale, NC 27357 HOURS Monday-Saturday 8am-8pm Sunday 10am-6pm (336) 643-5249 | www.stokesdalebirite.com Follow us on Facebook & Instagram!

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enced chefs — Anders Benton, whose work I admired at GIA in Greensboro, and Patrick Rafferty, an alumnus of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in California- helm the kitchen.

The manager is Eric Van Orden; he has over 15 years experience in the Winston-Salem restaurant scene.

I look forward to continued growth here.

This one is a winner! !

JOHN BATCHELOR has been writing about eating and drinking since 1981. Over a thousand of his articles have been published. He is also author of two travel/cookbooks: Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants and Recipes from the North Carolina Coast, and Chefs of the Mountains: Restaurants and Recipes from Western North Carolina. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail.com or see his blog, johnbatchelordiningandtravel.blogspot.com.

WANNA go?

Sage and Salt Bistro 300 South Liberty Street Winston-Salem 27101 336-829-5007 sageandsaltbistro.com Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday Appetizers: $8-$16 Salads: $10-$12 Soups: $6-$9 Sandwiches and Burgers: $12-$24 Plates: $18-$28 Desserts: $10-$12 Most recent visit: February 3

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lands. It is seared to a light crust that allows interior moisture to remain intact. A whole grain mustard beurre blanc sauce further extends flavor. The fish is presented over an assembly of wild rice, hosting turnip and butternut squash morsels, plus Swiss chard.

Another selection from this section of the menu is Pasta Pomodoro with meatballs.

You’d be hard pressed to beat this, even in a good Italian restaurant. The pasta is cooked al dente, the thick tomato sauce uniquely sweet, a function of San Marzano tomatoes. The meatballs are hearty, coated with melted mozzarella cheese.

It’s hard to pass up dessert this time of year, especially when it can be shared with friends. Unindicted co-conspirators Fred and Courtney thus enjoyed Crème Brulee with us. The crust is delightfully light, the interior rich and creamy. Large, sliced blueberries join strawberry slices on top.

As currently configured, the restaurant is fairly small, seating a little over 50 inside, a similar number on the patio. But expansion is planned for the future. They are knocking out a wall and taking over the space next door, which will become The Station at Sage and Salt with local seafood a specialty, a raw bar, cooking on a Japanese Robata grill, and live music.

The Brock Family — Tom, Kelly, and their son, Brandon — are the owners. Brandon was a former Willows Bistro server and assistant manager when that restaurant occupied this space. Tom Brock is the Wine Director; he has assembled an exceptional list at especially good prices. Two experi-

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HanesBrands Sticks it to Us Again

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Ralph Burns, Tent Revival #1, Naples, NC, 1992, 1992. © Ralph Burns

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arlier this month HanesBrands announced that it was eliminating another 159 jobs in Winston-Salem. The key phrase here is “another.” That’s beJim Longworth cause, over the past 14 years, the once great communityLongworth oriented company at Large has been about the business of decimating our community.

In 2006, HanesBrands employed nearly 5,000 people in Forsyth County.

That was the year the company split from Sara Lee, and CEO Rich Noll promised, “HanesBrands will always be a major employer in Forsyth County and have a strong community presence here.” But a not-so-funny thing happened right after Noll made that promise. Between 2007 and 2009, Noll closed 30 plants in the United States and began moving his workforce offshore. In 2007, for example, HanesBrands employed 350 people in China. By 2009, that number had risen to over 6,000.

Meanwhile, the Great Recession of 2008 gave Noll a perfect smokescreen for continuing his campaign to send local jobs overseas. In May of 2009, Noll announced that he was closing the Stratford Road and Weeks plants in Winston-Salem, and laying off 440 workers. By year’s end, he had also eliminated subsidized medical benefits for retirees, leaving thousands of people without adequate medical coverage.

Said Noll, the closures were caused by, “reduced consumer spending during a bleak economy.” Local business leaders and elected officials who always blindly supported Noll swallowed his explana-

tion hook line and sinker. I guess they forgot that his 30 plant closings had occurred long before the economy was “bleak,” and that he had moved over 15,000 U.S. jobs out of the country while our economy was strong. Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce president Gayle Anderson defended Noll, telling the Winston-Salem Journal’s Richard Craver that HanesBrands continues to support the local economy with, “leadership and volunteerism.”

Leadership and volunteerism? First of all, corporate greed is not leadership; stripping retirees of their subsidized medical benefits is not leadership. Second, what exactly is the economic value of having thousands of unemployed volunteers in the community? And by the way, in the course of cutting jobs, HanesBrands abused the spirit of the Federal Trade Adjustment and Assistance Act, by filing claims on behalf of the employees they screwed and expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for up to 156 weeks of training.

This month’s local layoffs come on the heels of the 560 jobs that HanesBrands already eliminated in Forsyth County last year. It’s no surprise then that nearly 90% of the company’s total workforce is now located outside of the United States and in countries with poor standards of living. That means HanesBrands can pay slave wages for the manufacture of underwear that they then ship back to America and attempt to sell to their former employees, providing those folks can afford to buy the underwear that they used to make. Now that’s what I call leadership and commitment to community. !

JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15) and streaming on WFMY+.

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One Love a one-note chronicle of Bob Marley

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here’s a tinge of sadness watching Bob Marley: One Love, which attempts to dramatize the life of the reggae superstar Bob Mark Burger Marley, who died at age 36 in 1981. It’s Contributor not because of that or other tragedies in Marley’s all-toobrief life, but because the film fails almost completely at conveying his passion, talent, or legacy.

Kingsley Ben-Adir has some good moments as a humanized icon, and there are some persuasive scenes, but all told this is a crushing disappointment.

Chief among the film’s faults is a sketchy screenplay, credited to Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin, and director Reinaldo Marcus Green, which dutifully covers various high points in Marley’s life, but only in rudimentary fashion. It’s hard to believe that so dynamic a unique persona as Marley’s would yield such a conventional, even dullish biographical film about him, yet that sadly is the case here.

The narrative is basically confined to an approximately three-year period (1976-’79) beginning with the “Smile Jamaica” concert and the attempted assassinations of both Bob and his wife Rita (played by Lashana Lynch) and WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

concluding after Marley triumphantly returned to Jamaica after a selfimposed exile during which he became an international superstar but was also diagnosed with the cancer that would claim his life.

In a failed effort to create a more comprehensive portrait of Bob Marley (i.e. fill in the blanks), the filmmakers fall back on the dubious and overused technique of utilizing flashbacks and heavy-handed symbolism. All this accomplishes is a singular lack of clarity and an inability to stay focused — either on the man, his music, or his message.

The film delves into the Rastafarian culture that shaped Marley’s beliefs and, by extension, his music, how his working-class background made him a man of the people, and his relationship with Rita, yet the sheer impact he made in terms of culture and entertainment has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle.

There’s a funny sequence depicting how he was inspired to record “Exodus,” which became his most popular album, but the celebratory spirit of Bob Marley is singularly lacking.

Rita Marley and son Ziggy Marley are among One Love’s producers, and the latter even introduces the film, sparking the hope — which dissipates quickly enough — that this film will offer an insight into Bob’s life and legacy. That it doesn’t is, frankly, rather heartbreaking. !

Edgar Meyer & The New World Saturday, Mar 2 | 7:30 PM & Sunday, Mar 3 | 3:00 PM

Genre-defying bassist and composer Edgar Meyer bridges the worlds of classical and bluegrass music to shine a new light on American music.

Join us as he performs his own Concerto for Double Bass and Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 in a program with Jessie Montgomery’s Strum and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”

Get Your Tickets Today!

Box Office: 336-464-0145 wssymphony.org

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

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[ WEEKLY ARTS ROUNDUP]

SPRING CLASSES OPEN FOR REGISTRATION AT SAWTOOTH PHOTO COURTESY OF SAWTOOTH

Three UNCSA students are semi-finalists for Fulbright fellowships

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BY ROBERT GRAND This spring, learn how to make your own jewelry, build a perfect side table, print posters with an antique printing press, upcycle your clothing, and more at Sawtooth!

Registration for spring classes and workshops recently opened at the landmark community art school, and you will want to secure your spot soon–many courses fill within days.

Are you looking for a fun and unusual date night or a new spot to gather with friends? Their Taste of Art workshops, scheduled on Friday evenings and only lasting a few hours, let you try your hand at something new and walk away with a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted artwork.

Upcoming ones include making a pair of coffee mugs, a charcuterie board, silver rings, a macrame plant hanger, and more.

Thanks to new studios at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness (114 W. 30th Street), Sawtooth has expanded its popular ceramics and mixed media offerings with more classes for beginning and intermediate students. Enroll in weekly handbuilding, wheel-throwing, or weaving classes, or simply get your hands on clay or a taste of fiber arts with short sessions in the late morning or early afternoon. Generations Center programming is open to all, with registration also available on Sawtooth’s website.

For 79 years, Sawtooth has provided

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high-quality and hands-on classes and workshops for people of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. Offerings are tailored to fit many schedules, ranging from one evening to a weekend or once a week for a few months. Studios include art + wellness, ceramics, drawing, digital arts, glass, lapidary, metals, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. Their instructors, world-renowned and dedicated to their craft, create a nurturing atmosphere that combines technical experience with the freedom to experiment and grow.

Also, parents, if you’re looking for a fun, creative, and enriching summer program for your child or teen, make sure to sign up for Camp Sawtooth classes!

Registration opened last week, and many sessions are filling up fast. Camp Sawtooth offers classes for students aged 6-8, 9-11, and 12-16, with morning and afternoon sessions throughout four- and five-day sessions. This year, extended care is also available.

Registration for all programming is now available on Sawtooth’s website, at sawtooth.org, or by calling 336-7237395. !

SAWTOOTH is proud to be a founding partner of the new Intergenerational Center for Art and Wellness, led

by Senior Services and bringing together 21 community partners in an unprecedented effort. Sawtooth’s programming at the Generations Center is a sponsored project of Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County and funded through ARPA supported by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.

nce again, students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) are being lauded — and possibly rewarded — for their abilities Mark Burger and efforts, as three School of Music students have been Contributor named semi-finalists for Fulbright fellowships, which support post-graduate international cultural exchange through education, the arts, and research.

The talented trio includes pianist/collaborative artist/teacher Sarah Core, who is currently a graduate piano performance student studying with Dmitri Shteinberg.

She recently completed a bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition at Arizona State University (ASU) and graduated magna cum laude from both the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and Barrett the Honors College. In addition, Core is a private teacher at St. Mary’s Music Academy and the UNCSA Community Music School. She earned an honorable mention from the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in 2022 and the 2023 North Carolina Music Teachers Association Competition.

Baritone Robbie Raso is currently a graduate student at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute studying with Marilyn Taylor and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. Last summer, Raso essayed the roles of Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor” and Dandini in “La Cenerentola” with the Mediterranean Opera Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily. This season,

Raso sang the role of Enrico in “Maria di Rohan” and is scheduled to perform the role of Marcaniello in “Lo frate ‘nnamorato” in April.

Currently a student in the voice program with a minor in German studies, Bentley Dorics has performed in the Undergraduate Opera Scenes as Sandrina in Mozart’s “La finta giardiniera” and is scheduled to appear as Lauretta in Bizet’s “Le Docteur Miracle” in April. Dorics sings with the choir of Home Moravian Church under the direction of UNCSA School of Music Faculty member director Glenn Siebert and also serves local elementary schools through ArtistCorps, a program that utilizes the skills of UNCSA students and graduates to provide arts instruction, integration, and exposure to school-aged children and senior citizens in the Winston-Salem community.

The Fulbright Program, which was inaugurated by the Department of State in 1946, has been the flagship international educational exchange opportunity sponsored by the U.S. Government. It is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals alike to embark on international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide.

“We’re thrilled to witness our students achieve these coveted accolades as they prepare to step into the professional realm,” said Rachel Williams, dean of the Division of Liberal Arts (DLA). “Acknowledgements from such a prestigious organization underscores the caliber of education our institution provides. We eagerly anticipate witnessing the impactful work our students will produce as a result of their participation.”

The official UNCSA website is https:// www.uncsa.edu/. !

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leisure [KING CROSSWORD]

[WEEKLY SUDOKU]

RULING PARTY

ACROSS 1

Gilda Radner character on “Saturday Night Live” 9 Certain martial arts surface 16 Just OK 20 Enthusiastic reply to a request 21 Raised, as a building 22 Central point 23 British ruler applying veneer?

25 Violent anger 26 Nutrition Facts category 27 Brewed beverage 28 Great Plains tribe 29 The Devil 30 Nile goddess 33 Turkish ruler’s pungent condiment?

38 Quaint office transcribers 41 Sleep study diagnosis 42 Regarding 43 Something a Frenchkissing Arab ruler has?

46 Small sailboats 51 Nuptial vow 52 Really smell 53 Kind of tide 56 China’s Zhou – 57 Actress Perez 59 Hindu ruler’s radio signoff?

65 Secretive U.S. org.

67 Tehran’s land 68 Jug handle 69 Skye of film 70 Save the Russian ruler from tumbling to the ground?

75 Actors Mineo and Landi 77 Car club inits.

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78 Coin-op hole 79 Thesaurus entry: Abbr.

80 Afghan ruler caught up in a tornado?

85 Stared in amazement 89 Agate playing marble, informally 90 Lingo suffix 91 Greek money 93 Brewed beverage 94 Exam taker 96 Very easy task for a Muslim ruler?

102 Many a war vet’s affliction 105 Behave badly 106 Yellowstone gusher 107 English ruler making mouse sounds?

111 Bomb part 112 Liquid- – (Drano rival) 113 Electees 114 Iowa college 116 Louver strip 120 Hula – 121 What’s revealed by taking an X-ray of a Persian ruler?

127 Shower affection (on) 128 Butt forcefully 129 Waters north of Australia 130 Went swiftly 131 Visits during a trip 132 Car mileage recorder

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5

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Boast Irritated Big name in peanut butter 61 Break out in – 62 Actress Berry 63 Set to a slow speed 64 Bow shapes 66 Berry of Brazil

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

YES! WEEKLY

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feature

PHOTOS BY JAKE BROWNING

WSFCS Health and Wellness Summit

Reading, Writing, and Mental Health

R

Chanel Davis

Editor

oughly 200 students from across the district filled the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools Education building, located at 4801 Bethania Station Road in Winston-Salem, on Monday morning to partake in lessons that they can utilize for the rest of their lives.

The High School Health and Wellness Institute was held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and was designed to “empower students with tools for comprehensive well-being, addressing mental, physical, and

emotional health.”

Mental Health Program Services Coordinator Wanda Kellyman said a lot of work went into bringing the institute to fruition, but the idea came from the students themselves.

“We had the advisory forums and I was told that I needed to be here to answer any questions dealing with mental health resources that we have in the school district. A lot of students identified having questions about their mental health and that was where this whole idea came from. This whole thing is based on the focus groups we had with students. We asked them what they wanted,” Kellyman explained.

She and her colleagues went to work collecting data from middle and high school students from across the districts on what issues they’d like to see addressed and whom they’d like to hear from.

“A lot of students said they were dealing with stressors. Some were looking at graduation, looking at their future, not only looking at going to school but also having to look at family/work/life balance, they have a job, or they were just stressed,” Kellyman said. “Stress was a huge one for middle and high school students.

Middle school stress didn’t include a job but it did include family stress.”

The program offers interactive workshops and discussions that allow participants to explore strategies to manage stress, enhance emotional resilience, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Monday’s institute was tailored around what stu-

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dents wanted tips on dealing with. Participants could choose between three of the six workshops with the day ending with a keynote address from Cornell Jones, founder of Mad Miles. Sessions included: Rhythmic Healing which dealt with coping skills; Care Starts with Me and Ends with Me, and Empathy Jam each dealt with empathy; Ready Set Recess and Stress Busters dealt with releasing stress; How to Get What You Want dealt with effective communication; and Embrace Your Moments scrapbooking session dealt with coping skills.

Not to be forgotten, an institute for middle school students will be held on Monday, February 26. That institute offers different sessions.

“We have a session downstairs based on how to communicate with teachers. Or anyone that you run into when you feel like you are not being heard. A lot of them talked about not having coping skills. So, the Rhythmic Healing and the Scrapbooking [Embrace your Moments] are about ways to cope. If you’re in a situation where all you can do is beat on something to help release your stress, then here’s a strategy. Here’s a drum. Here’s some different techniques you can use with scrapbooking to find yourself in art and be as creative, as dark, or as light as you want to be,” Kellyman said.

The institute also offered students an opportunity to visit mental health vendors that were onsite and collect information and resources. Kellyman said that schools across the districts offer a list of resources for students in need, as well.

“The other thing they identified was that people will tell them about mental health resources but they don’t tell them where they are. One of the things we did is put a mental health counselor at every school and they are here as some of the vendors,” she said.

Tristan Muhammad, a 16-year-old sophomore from North Forsyth High School, said he enjoyed attending the institute and seeing what the vendors had to offer.

“Knowing that there are people who do certain things out there to help in certain ways in regards to mental health is very good. Oftentimes a lot of people struggle with it and they want help but they don’t know where to get it. So when those kinds of things are being made available it can only be a good thing,” he said.

He said that he would take the breathing exercises back with him and that he learned about how trauma impacts the brain and body.

“That was really cool to learn about. I hope another one of these comes around real soon,” Muhammad said. “I don’t know how often they happen but whenever they do I’m going to try and be here. This is nice.”

Fourteen-year-old Zaida Boomer, a freshman at Mount Tabor High School, attended the institute to learn more about mental health awareness. She said that she’s excited to show others her vision board and show others what she learned today.

“I’m interested in looking into the program that they introduced us to today for my mental well-being,” she said. “I would come again and encourage others so they can have the opportunity to come, as well.”

On a personal note, it was important for the Winston-Salem native to make sure this institute happened for students based on her personal experiences.

She said that when she was growing she faced similar situations and did not also have access to the same resources.

“I was excited to do this job because I really want students to have the resources that they need. I was lucky because I had people in my life to encourage me, so I was able to deal with the stresses that I was facing but some people are not,” she said.

Kellyman is hoping that students not only take away strategies to cope but also the resources that they need when they can’t.

“I want them to realize that we have resources in Forsyth County. Not only in the schools but in the community.”

The mental health of students has long been a national issue, with funding, resources, and policy ever evolving. It’s no different on a state and local level.

According to the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, more than one in 10 children, aged 3 to 17 in North Carolina, had a diagnosis of depression or anxiety in 2020.

NC Child reported that suicide became the leading cause of death for children ages 10-14 in 2019. The next year, “an unprecedented 67 children” aged 10-18 died by suicide in the state.

In recent years, more of the state’s teens reported seriously considering attempting suicide. For high

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PHOTOS BY CHANEL DAVIS

Resource Vendors from WSFCS school students, the rate of suicidal ideation increased from 16.2 percent in 2017 to 22.3 percent in 2021, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. One in 10 reported making an attempt at ending their lives.

The implementation of Social and Emotional Learning in schools offers the framework to help young people feel, understand, and cope with their emotions.

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

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Both Guilford County Schools (GCS) and WinstonSalem/Forsyth County Schools offer SEL as part of their curriculum.

In 2023, GCS expanded its mental health services for students and staff with in-person and virtual therapy, funded by a $14.8 million School-Based Mental Health Grant and federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. They’ve also hired four new mental health clinicians as part of its SchoolBased Mental Health Services grant. Earlier this year, GCS secured $3.7 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collaborate with the Kellin Foundation and North Carolina for Community and Justice to implement a mental health program across multiple district high schools.

Kellyman is excited to see others recognizing the need to fund mental health resources. While she organized this event without funds, she feels the recognition is well past due.

“We did all this with no budget at all. All of this is people giving time,” she explained. “I think that people have been struggling with mental health for a long time. There’s always been a stigma on it. People are embarrassed to say that they need help. Then there are some communities that believe that we shouldn’t share information that’s happening in our households.

But if you don’t get help then you will never be able to grow and move forward.”

Kellyman said that the Health and Wellness Institute can be the bridge for the SEL lessons that students learn.

“This is a way for you to not only deal with your emotions but also regulate them.”

Kellyman said while it would be great to see this model mirrored across the state, it’s all about the resources.

“I think all of this can turn into something powerful and something to keep people because it’s all about resources. It’s all about knowing where to get help, how to get help, and who can help you move forward in your process.” !

CHANEL DAVIS is the current editor of YES! Weekly and graduated from N.C. A&T S.U. in 2011 with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She’s worked at daily and weekly newspapers in the Triad region.

FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

YES! WEEKLY

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Even more rules for speakers at Greensboro City Council meetings Speakers at the Feb. 6 Greensboro City Council meeting were given a printed “Rules for Decorum” list when they signed up to speak.

It was longer than the list Mayor Nancy Vaughan has read Ian McDowell aloud at previous meetings.

From June through Contributor last month, Vaughan began each meeting by stating: “In order to maintain a safe space for all speakers, members of the audience or speakers from the podium who intentionally disrupt the meeting or ridicule other speakers will be given a warning, and if unheeded, they will be removed from the meeting. That person will be suspended from in-person participation for three months.”

In these spoken announcements, Vaughan has also said that meeting attendees “are expected to respect the speakers, and to respect council’s deliberations.”

The list handed out on Feb. 6 included prohibitions on previously unmentioned behaviors.

The first new rule stated that “speakers shall refrain from personal attacks and/or threats directed toward City Council, City staff or members of the public.” While the council has long banned threats or incitements to violence, the prohibition against “personal attacks” is new.

The second rule stated, “Speakers shall be civil and courteous in their language and presentation. Insults, profanity, use of vulgar language or gestures or other inappropriate behaviors are not allowed.” This new rule has sometimes been violated by

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FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

council in their past arguments with each other.

Rule number three stated, “Speakers shall not address or respond to members of the audience.”

While Vaughan has regularly admonished individual speakers to only address their comments to council rather than anyone else in the room (which includes the city managers and city attorneys), this is the first time this has been in the announced rules.

The last rule is also new: “The Mayor, or presiding officer, has the authority to interpret and enforce the Rules of Decorum.”

Also new, or rather, enforced after having been seemingly discontinued for several years, is the requirement that anyone who signs up to speak must give a valid physical and email address.

The shorter list of rules announced last July passed by a 7-1 vote, with only District 1’s Sharon Hightower voting against them (District 3’s Zack Matheny was absent from that meeting). “Let me be clear,” said Hightower. “This is the people’s house; this is not our house.”

Vaughan has denied that June’s briefer list of rules against “disruptive” conduct were aimed at the Working Class & Houseless Organizing Alliance (WHOA), a group of activists who have denounced both Greensboro’s elected officials and police for what WHOA has described as brutal and even murderous policies towards the unhoused and the city’s communities of color.

At the Sept. 5 meeting, WHOA’s Luis Medina delivered an angry speech after ACLU attorneys sent the city a letter warning that seizure and discarding of the

property of houseless people is probably unconstitutional.

“I’m going to explain this with a metaphor,” said Medina, “because I don’t want to get arrested after this. If I’m being attacked by someone with a big stick, what am I going to do?”

Medina then slammed his fist on the podium. “I think you should snatch that stick from them, and hit them back!” Medina slapped the microphone as he left the podium. Days later, the city sent two officers in tactical gear to his home to deliver a letter informing him he was banned for 90 days.

At the Oct. 3 meeting, WHOA member Billy Belcher asked, “If I was to bring a bunch of people in here and we started chanting and interrupting your sense of decorum, are you going to send a bunch of cops to every person’s house?” After Vaughan said yes, Belcher led his allies in chanting, “Whose house is this?”

Those chanting were escorted from the chamber by security, and Belcher and WHOA member Del Stone later received letters informing them they were banned for 90 days.

The call-and-response between Belcher and the audience is a venerable civil rights technique.

In a Jan. 30 Instagram post, WHOA stated that “Greensboro City Council has been eroding the rights of the public to speak at council meetings” and that, during the January meeting, “Mayor Vaughan and Councilman [Zack] Matheny were emailing staff trying to find out more information on the many speakers who were calling for a [Gaza] ceasefire resolution.”

When asked if she and Matheny had exchanged those emails, Vaughan told YES! Weekly “there were people claiming that there was a group from outside of Raleigh, organizing people to go from city to city” and speak on this issue. She also said that, from an examination of the sign-up sheets, “it didn’t look like there was a roving group of speakers.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is an award-winning author and journalist whose book I Ain’t Resisting: the City of Greensboro and the Killing of Marcus Smith will be published in September by Scuppernong Editions.

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Professors taking UNCG buyout barred from tenure UNC-Greensboro is offering to buy out the tenure of senior faculty members in programs that are being discontinued.

Those accepting the offer cannot be hired for another tenured position in the Ian McDowell University of North Carolina system.

Nor can they sue Contributor UNCG, the State of North Carolina, or the UNC System for any cause related to their current or previous employment. While those who accept the buyout may apply for future untenured faculty and staff positions in the UNC system, they may not do so until 12 months after signing the buyout offer.

On Feb. 7, UNCG provost Debbie Storrs sent letters and documents to selected tenured faculty in programs facing termination. As previously reported, these include undergraduate programs in Anthropology, Physics & Astronomy, as well as graduate ones in Mathematics; Languages, Literatures and Cultures; Special Education; Communication Sciences and Disorder; Interior Architecture; and Computational Mathematics.

Students currently enrolled in these programs will be allowed to complete their degrees, but no new applicants will be admitted.

Several professors invited to apply for the buyout have shared the release form received from Storrs with colleagues and others. That form explicitly states that the recipient may “publicly disclose this release and/or its terms upon request to any person.”

The letters from Storrs began: “Pursuant to Session Law 2023-134, and in accordance with UNC Regulations 300.7.5 [R], UNC Greensboro is offering a Faculty Realignment Incentive Program (“FRIP”) to select tenured faculty members who meet eligibility requirements.

FRIP is intended to assist the University with reducing salary and benefits costs and capturing the savings for institutional reallocation.”

FRIP was created by the UNC Board of Governors and funded by the 2023 Appropriations Act in an attempt to get faculty to retire early in return for a severance payment. To be eligible, they must be at least 55 and have been employed for at least 10 years as full-time benefitseligible employees of the UNC system.

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“You have been identified as an individual who may be eligible for the FRIP and this letter invites you to consider participation,” wrote Storrs. “Participating employees will receive a lump sum separation payment, less statutory tax withholdings, payable in their final paycheck with the University. For College/ School faculty, the amount of the lump sum separation payment will be the faculty member’s 2023-24 nine-month base salary.”

Storrs’ letter also stated that those desiring to apply for the FRIP buyout must hand-deliver or mail completed Statement of Interest forms to associate vice-provost Andrea Whitley by Feb. 29.

Along with Statement of Interest forms, the provost’s letters to faculty were accompanied by documents stating that FRIP applicants must: Agree not to apply to or accept any employment at a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina System for 12 months following participation in the FRIP program. After the applicable 12-month period, individuals who participated in the FRIP program may only apply to, or accept employment at, a UNC constituent institution in a non-tenured faculty or a staff position.

FRIP applicants must also agree to: . . . hereby release and forever discharge the following entities and persons: the State of North Carolina; the University of North Carolina; the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina; UNC Greensboro; the Board of Trustees for UNC Greensboro; all constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina; current and former Boards of Trustees of the constituent institutions; such entities’ respective subsidiary organizations; the employee benefit plans of the foregoing entities; all current and former officers, directors, trustees, governors, agents, representatives, assigns, and employees of the foregoing entities (in both their official and individual capacities) . . .

The form states that these parties shall be released from: . . . any and all claims, actions, causes of action, demands, rights, damages, costs, sums of money, accounts, covenants, contracts, promises, attorney fees, and all liabilities of any kind or nature whatsoever at law, in equity, or otherwise which I or my heirs, personal representatives, executors, administrators, successors, or assigns (as to whom this Release is also binding) ever had, now have, or may have against any of the Released Parties on account of any and all events, occur-

Dr. Alicia Aarnio rences, and omissions arising in any way from my employment by UNC Greensboro, the conclusion and resignation of my tenured employment status and the voluntary relinquishment of my tenure rights at any prior time to the date on which I have signed this Release [Bold text in original document].

Also included was a FRIP program summary from the UNC System, which stated that applications may be received through June 30, 2025, but that each UNC institution “has discretion to determine specific timelines and related procedures for the Program.”

One of the first public mentions of the UNCG buyout offers was on Thursday, Feb. 15, when over 60 UNCG students and faculty held a memorial ceremony on the lawn outside UNCG’s Elliott University Center. The ceremony was announced as a “funeral” for the departments and classes that Chancellor Franklin Gilliam and Storrs are discontinuing as part of the controversial Academic Program Review process.

One of the speakers was undergraduate Physics & Astronomy student Holly Burroughs, who described how, on Feb. 1, UNCG Dean of Undergraduate Studies Andrew Hamilton sent an email to all Physics & Astronomy students stating their program was being discontinued, but that “no changes to programming, faculty or staffing are in the near future.”

“Less than a week later,” continued Burroughs, “our professors were sent an email to take a buyout.”

Burroughs called this “an insult to the idea of a diverse well-rounded education that so many of us came here for,” adding “administration has yet to come to any of the students who are affected by this and say what is the next plan, or

Memorial Ceremony for Terminated Programs even ‘I’m sorry that this happened’, but what they have barreled forward with is how to get rid of faculty without even a teach-out plan. How are we expected to get the degrees that we paid for without the faculty here to teach them?”

Another impassioned speaker was Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy Alicia Aarnio, who is untenured, but has read the buyout documents sent to her tenured colleagues. Holding back tears, Aarnio told those attending the ceremony that UNCG administrators were “destroying the entire roadmap that they promised you — they said ‘find your way here,’ but now the Google Map of UNCG is a 404 — File Not Found error.”

The promise that current students will be allowed to complete courses should mean that Aarnio will have a job teaching Physics & Astronomy students for the next two to three years, but even that short-term future is uncertain. On Thursday evening, she emailed the following statement: “Each of us is contractually obligated to carry a full teaching load, but if they reduce the classes the department is allowed to offer, we don’t have enough for all the faculty to teach. If I can’t cover classes and teach a full class load, they can fire me for not fulfilling my expected duties. So, they either expect us to fire our lecturer, in order to give me enough classes, or they want one of our three near-retirement faculty to accept this deal to ‘save’ me from being demoted to a lecturer after teach-out is over, even if I have tenure by then. This is all so filthy.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is an award-winning author and journalist whose book I Ain’t Resisting: the City of Greensboro and the Killing of Marcus Smith will be published in September by Scuppernong Editions.

FEBRUARY 21-27, 2024

YES! WEEKLY

13

tunes

HEAR IT!

T Katei Cranford

Contributor

Night Moods and Liminal Space

he days unfurl as Night Moods returns to WinstonSalem’s Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art with its fifth edition of the nocturnal concert series that explores the “electronic and hypnotic” echoing through the historic Hanes House

on Feb. 24.

For session number five, SECCA invokes Liminal Space, a multi-sensory collaborative musical video experience matching Marteka Fair’s techno stylings with visual projection displays from Fluxxss.

As the two artists present works interweaving genre, media, and the exploration of spaces in between, so does Night Moods — offering an interplay of electronic music and digital art juxtaposed by the wood, stone, and stately environment. A techno takeover — a four-to-the-floor in the former home of one of the region’s most prominent families.

“We’re really excited to welcome Winston’s own Marteka Fair back to SECCA amid her world travels,” said SECCA’s Philip Pledger, nodding to her 2023 performance with Treee City during Vol 4. “Night Moods has been a fun experiment as we explore unexpected ways to bring the historic Hanes House to life, and Marteka’s cutting edge Liminal Project with visual collaborator Fluxxss will make for a special installment of the concert series.”

Echoing the excitement, “It was really fun to get to play back to back in that setting,” Fair said, recalling working with Treee City. “Nothing was planned and we were really able to feed off each other’s energy.”

“The first time I actually went to SECCA was for Night Moods with Marley Carroll,” she continued. “I loved the juxtaposition of hearing electronic music in a space like Hanes House. So I’m feeling very honored to present this edition of Liminal Space. I don’t get to play in Winston that much so it’s always a pleasure to do so.”

Jetsetting her blend of “gritty, trippy left-field techno” across the globe, Fair is again stateside after recent performances in various countries, including Germany and Peru. “The energy in South America is palpable,” she said. “The people have such

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a love and respect for music, it’s hard not to fall in love down there.”

Musing layers of energy from performing abroad into her work, “Even if that energy is sometimes nerves, I try to harness it into my performance so the nervousness turns into adrenaline.”

Riding a sort of different hometown rush, Fair’s excitement remains palpable.

Crediting her mother’s musical taste as a foundation, Fair developed a technical prowess as a percussionist in her school bands. “I was able to take various music-related classes in college but never really got to use my drumming background until I started producing electronic music,” she explained, turning to the synesthesia that ripples layers of multisensory notions through her music.

“Since I was a kid, I’ve experienced soundto-color synesthesia with varying levels of intensity,” she added. “It’s different for everyone but I’ve used color to guide through some choices in the mix or while producing a track. It’s like having a second level of intuition when it comes to sound.”

Fair’s intuition carries into other works like her Mit Filter techno duet with Matthew Cha; and hosting duties for the Blankhaus podcast, “Liminal,” which “features sets from local and international artists with a focus on highlighting all the flavors of techno.”

Drawing her own influential flavors, “Jon Hopkins’ ‘Immunity’ is a seminal album for me,” she said. ”It’s emotional but cerebral and driving but also introspective.” With preference for the live dynamic expression from artists like Kink and the textural design employed by Blawan, Fair has been recognized for her multifaceted approach and gritty genre play. “While I play primarily techno, I enjoy listening to post-punk, classical, and early electronica when not focused on purely techno. I try to keep the spirit of my influences while also asserting my own creative vision.”

In the vision for Liminal Space, Fair is joined by Fluxxss, the stage persona for Durham-based video artist Brooke Nivens.

“I couldn’t ask for a better collaborator,” Fair insisted. “We have similar musical

Marteka Fair tastes and a love of A24 films so it wasn’t hard to get a creative rapport going.”

Dropping trails of pop culture references throughout her work, from Scott Pilgrim to Pushing Daisies, Kraftwerk to the Kardashians. “I’m a huge fan of film,” Fair said. “Auteurs like David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, and Park Chan-wook are major influences.”

Echoing the love for Lynch, Nivens considers the director an undeniable influence in both work and “meditative approach to creativity.” Drawing heavy influence from the 1970s NYC No Wave movement, “The raw experimentation is very impactful to me,” Nivens explained. “Just the way that everyone did something outside of their comfort zone. If you were a visual artist, you made music; if you were a musician, you would make a film.”

Pointing to no wavers like Blondie, Talking Heads, Jim Jarmusch, Basquiat, and Sonic Youth, “ I love all of them,” Nivens said.

Gravitating to the “more emotional, immersive, and celestial sounds like Cocteau Twins, New Order, Joy Division, Burial, Aphex Twin, A$AP Rocky, Death Grips, The Smiths, The Cure, Hole, Boy Harsher,” it was actually Fair’s inclusion of a Boy Harsher track in a Halloween set that struck a chord within Nivens. “It had a very ominous 80s sound that I aligned so much with.”

Reflecting on the shared connection to Liminal Space, “We have a lot of trust in

each other,” Nivens explained. “We both feel a lot of creative freedom in the project and are also very close to this project within our mediums.”

In Nivens’ own medium, “I base everything around the concept for that particular iteration. I’ll immerse myself in an idea, write poems around a feeling I have, and then develop the theme and the visuals from there,” Nivens noted. A poet “before anything else,” Nivens’ obsession with music and film weaves into their work. “I got my BFA in English with a minor in Art History at UNC-Greensboro and was heavily involved with the Coraddi — the university’s art and literature publication. I bring many of the sensibilities I developed from that liberal arts background into the visuals.”

From college to concerts, Nivens merges the spectrum of life’s experiences into their production. “A pivotal moment for me was seeing Panda Bear [of Animal Collective] tour his album ‘Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper,’” Nivens explained of their jump into video arts. “Danny Perez did the visuals for that tour, which honestly changed my life,” they added, with affection to analog video artists like Tachyons+, and Yovozol; and the Chemical Brothers show designers, Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall.

Acknowledging Nivens’ poetic flair, “I really wanted to work with Fluxxss and knew that whatever music I performed, they would be able to provide a visual aesthetic that made people feel something,” Fair said. “Liminal Space came from me wanting to push my own boundaries as an artist and showcase a side of techno that is not really seen un-

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less you can travel to Detroit or Berlin.”

“Seeing Oscar Mulero play in Detroit with James Lost on visuals was an experience that really got the idea cooking in my brain,” Fair continued, pulling a Richard Rohr quote as a major descriptor: “Where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. There alone is our old world left behind while we are not yet sure of the new existence. That’s a good space where genuine newness can begin.”

Embracing the unease of artistic exploration, “It’s in that discomfort you can find new meaning or purpose,” she said.

“Each Liminal Space edition has a different theme, but the thread between each edition is the concept of liminality and the exploration of it.”

Drawing their own examples, Nivens recalled their inspiration for Liminal Space 002: “I was driving down to South Carolina for a family thing,” Nivens explained. “I thought about how passing through a state border, bills, laws, and regulations can shift and change your access to safety, healthcare, and general autonomy.”

“That’s wild!” Nivens continued, bluntly.

“States can share the same mountain range, but on one side of the mountain, you can’t get an abortion.”

Referencing the weight of the material, Nivens patched images of friends’ ID cards with bits from films like the 1984 western drifter manifesto, Paris, Texas and the 90s Shakespearean adaptation My Own Private Idaho; along with original footage featuring an interpretational ballet from Faith Goodart and self-shot imagery of the open road. “...how trees look when you’re driving,” Nivens said. “That’s how that one came together. Liminal Space 003 will be based on a completely different concept but still be focused on this state of being in-between spaces.”

Beyond the liminal, Nivens does visuals for the Rainbow Rave series. “The first one was held in Winston and it’s been so sick to watch it grow over the past two years,” they said. “I’m honored to be involved.”

For Fair, her latest EP, “Anachronism,” dropped on Bandcamp in January. In the noble pursuit of Doctor Who, she’ll continue, “just adventuring through space and time...chill stuff,” reads her bio. “It’s a show that can be serious but doesn’t take itself too seriously and I try to be the same,” she explained of the reference, with enthusiasm for adventuring up to DC for a leap day show with Minneapolis DJ, DVS1.

Digging crates and the inbetween, Marteka Fair and Fluxxss explore Liminal Space through the halls of the historic Hanes House during Night Moods, Vol. 5; Feb. 24 at SECCA. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who enjoys spotlighting artists and events.

WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

last call [ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Stop being the wool-gathering Lamb and start turning that dream project into a reality.

You have the ideas, drive and charisma to persuade others to follow your lead, so do it.

[TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’ve scored some big successes. But remember that all hard-working Ferdinands and Ferdinandas need some time to restore their energies and refresh their spirits.

[GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You’re gaining a stronger mental image of what you’re trying to achieve. Now look for the facts that will help get this to develop from a concept into a solid proposal.

[CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Some of you eager-to-please Moon Children might want to delay some decisions until midweek, when you can again think more with your head than your heart.

[LEO (July 23 to August 22) A new business venture seems to offer every-

[SALOME’S STARS] Week of February 26, 2024

thing you’ve been looking for. But be careful that this rosy picture doesn’t betray traces of red ink under the surface.

[VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A volatile situation needs the kind of thoughtful and considerate care you can provide right now. There’ll be plenty of time later to analyze what might have gone wrong.

[LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your loyalty to a friend in a tough situation earns you respect from the people you care about. Those who criticize you don’t understand what friendship is all about.

[SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your strong work ethic is rewarded with the kind of challenging opportunity you love to tackle. Now go ahead and celebrate with family and/or close friends.

[SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A legal matter you thought had finally been resolved could require a second look. But don’t make any moves

yet without consulting your lawyer.

[CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Taking charge is what you like to do, and since you do it so well, expect to be asked to lead a special group.

This could open up an exciting new vista for you.

[AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) An important matter might wind up being entrusted to you for handling.

The responsibility is heavy, but you’ll have support from people who are able and eager to help.

[PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Avoid getting lost in your thoughts early on in the week. Stay grounded until the week’s end, when the aspects will give you a stroke of luck that can spur powerful action.

[BORN THIS WEEK: You always try to do the right thing — and for the right reasons. No wonder people have come to depend on you. © 2024 by King Features Syndicate

[CROSSWORD] crossword on page 9

TR ASURE The

CLUB

A D U L T E N T E R TA I N M E N T A N D S P O R TS B A R & C LU B

[WEEKLY SUDOKU] sudoku on page 9

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