The Spider Martin Retrospective

It's the 50th anniversary of the Selma/Montgomery voting rights marches,

 and Spider Martin is back in town!

Rather, the famous photographs he took for The Birmingham News are displayed

 in The Spider Martin Retrospective: Exploring the Role of Photojournalism

 in Influencing History.

The powerful exhibit opened Saturday night at Carneal ArtsRevive 

in downtown Selma just a block from where

 so many of these pictures were taken. 

The pictures will also be the focus of the first Spider Martin Restrospective forum

 this Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. The free event is open to the public,

 and the audience is encouraged to participate in the interactive discussion.

Moderator will be Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Archivist Laura Anderson.

 Presenters are Morehouse College Assistant Professor Dr. Larry Spruill,

 University of Alabama School of Journalism instructor Donald Brown, who formerly

 edited The Tuscaloosa News and was a reporter for The Birmingham News

 during the Civil Rights era; and Alabama State Archivist Dr. Howard Robinson. 

Robinson directs the Oral History Project that focuses on the Voting Rights Movement.

Linking to Ruby Tuesday Too

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Signs, Signs, Carneal ArtsRevive

 One of Selma's arts organizations is housed in a former auto service building,

 hence the Auto Service sign. This is actually the back of the sign,

 the front of which is below. Carneal Auto Service opened in the 1940s,

 and prior to that, the 1920's building was Selma Electric Battery Co. 

This weekend, the Carneal ArtsRevive will host the grand opening

 of the Spider Martin Retrospective:  Exploring the Role of Photojournalism

 in Influencing History. Martin was renowned for his photography of events

 during the Civil Rights Movement. The exhibition will be open free

 to the public through March 28. 

Linking to Signs, Signs

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Opening Next Week!

 

Opening night for the annual ArtsRevive Juried Art Exhibition and Sale

 is coming up March 8, and it promises to be another great showing of works

 from talented Alabama artists. The show will feature 130 pieces 

from 260 submissions and 60 artists.

 Held at Carneal ArtsRevive in an historic building 

by the Alabama River, the show re-opens free to the public from 11-4

 every Thursday - Saturday, March 13-29 and from 1-4 on Sunday, March 16.

 Works include 3-D, photography, oil, acrylic, mixed media and works on paper.

Comb Concert

Have you ever played the comb?

 Ever attended a comb concert?

We have one in Selma every year at the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival. 

The evenings of storytelling and music end with an "I'll Fly Away" comb concert

 led by The Dill Pickers. Make plans to attend this family-friendly event

 next October, and you don't even have to play your own comb! 

Tale-Tellin' supplies the comb and the tissue paper! 

Comb concerts in Selma were the creation of Selma storyteller/author

 Kathryn Tucker Windham, who also founded the festival.

 Ever since she went to Heaven a few years ago, we continue to honor

 her memory with her favorite gospel song played and hummed on combs!

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Playing the Tambourine

The night was filled with music and laughter Friday at the

 Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival, and there is more tonight!

Here, one of The Dill Pickers plays the tambourine

 in that unique Dill Picker fashion.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Supper on the Terrace

Supper and snacks will be served on the terrace by the river

 at the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival this weekend. 

While this picture is from last year's festival, skies will be clear again

 with perfectly pleasant temperatures for outside dining and visiting. 

The Tale-Tellin' stage is inside, but doors will be open

 to let in the cool evening air. 

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for supper and the Swappin' Ground 

(where you can tell YOUR stories), and the main event with music and comedy

 by The Dill Pickers and tales by Donald Davis and Bobby Norfolk

 begins at 7. Tickets are available at the gate.

Linking to Friday Fences, Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Empty Bowls for KENYA

If you craft a bowl and fill it with soup, people will come

 and eat and help feed hungry school children in KENYA.

That formula earned Selma's version of the Empty Bowls Project

 a large crowd Tuesday night. Sponsored by the Selma Art Guild

 and held at Carneal ArtsRevive, local potters made the bowls,

and a lot of good cooks made the soup and cornbread. Donations go

 to Integrity Worldwide's school lunch program at the 

Meto, Kenya Primary School. The Selma-based charity

 makes frequent trips to Kenya and focuses on developing

 "these rural Maasai communities through health,

 education and ministry programs."

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter of the week is K

and City Daily Photo Blogs 

Signs, Signs, 2013 StreetFest

Come on down to StreetFest on Saturday!

 StreetFest celebrates "All Things Alabama" and includes arts, crafts, children's 

activities, farm-raised produce, a U.S. Farm-Raised catfish fry, live entertainment

 all day (Grasshopper String Band, Morgan students' Harlem Shake, Morgan Singers, 

Providence Men's Group and the Alabama Symphony 

Orchestra with music composer and historian Bobby Horton. 

Admission is FREE!

Linking to Signs, Signs and  City Daily Photo Blogs

Cooper, The Cute Little Car

This cute little Cooper Car caught my eye the other day while it was parked 

in front of Carneal ArtsRevive. It's a work of retro art in its own right!

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

The Sunflower Sculpture

Sunflowers are just springing up all over down on the terrace of Carneal ArtsRevive.

These metallic sculptures most recently greeted guests

 for the annual Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival.

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

City Daily Photo Blog Portal

Live from Selma!

WPKR is on the air and live from the Carneal ArtsRevive building in Selma, Alabama!

The Dill Pickers ramped up the roll of the Alabama River last weekend

 with their lively rendition of an old-time radio show.

 The performance was part of the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival. 

They will return next year, so come on down!

Linking to Our World Tuesday

River Dance

If you haven't been by Carneal ArtsRevive's little corner of the Alabama River lately,

 check out these crepe myrtles, along with other blooming things along the terrace bank.

 A background curtain of Spanish Moss hangs above the water as these 

pink/lavender beauties dance in the breeze (when there is one)!   

All That Jazz

The Alabama River flowed to the rhythm of the Concordia Jazz Band recently

 during a river terrace concert at Carneal ArtsRevive. The concert 

tapped the talents of Concordia College Selma musicians

 during the annual StreetFest celebration. Jazz and Motown tunes

 were the melodies of the evening. 

Posted at Our World Tuesday

Shadow Shot Sunday, Covered Bridge

"Covered Bridge" by Karen Weir not only won the third prize photography ribbon,

 but it was perfect for Shadow Shot Sunday. Opening night of the 10th annual

 ArtsRevive Juried Art Show was held Saturday night at Carneal ArtsRevive. 

Posted at Shadow Shot Sunday 

I Hear a Symphony!

An overflow crowd gathered Friday evening to hear the Alabama Symphony Orchestra at Carneal ArtsRevive's riverside terrace.  The free event featured music linked to Alabama's heritage along with American and classical selections. The concert was part of the ASO's Education Tour through a state Department of Education grant. It was also held in conjunction with StreetFest and the Year of Alabama Music.