Countdown to Design House kicks off spring’s crowded calendar

The Design, Wine and Dine Festival is still a few months away, but the Design House, which is now a part of that festival, requires at least that length of time for the designers to work their magic on an empty house.

On April 7, the Porter house, facing Tucker Road on the Wesleyan College campus, was opened to the public by the sponsoring organization, Historic Macon Foundation, for a sneak peek at the “before” look of the former Porter summer home, which was moved from Houston Road and completely restored by Wesleyan, in partnership with Historic Macon.

The interior designers who will participate in this year’s Design House were selected after submitting their individual design concepts. According to Sabrina Cox, Historic Macon’s coordinator for the event, pairing the designers with rooms was made difficult this year by the unusually creative plans submitted by the designers — a good problem to have.

The cottage, built of split timbers over masonry, with a turreted entrance, has the charm of an old European country house, rich inspiration for the imaginative designer.

At the Hard Hat party, Kathy and Daves Steed joined Billie and Thom Phillips and a curious crowd who looked at the design boards on display in some rooms to see what might be in store for the finished Design House. By June the interiors will be transformed for the 10-day run of Design, Wine and Dine, when the Top Hat party debuts the reincarnated Porter home.

If you thought you could hang up your walking shoes when the Cherry Blossom Festival closed, think again! The calendar is full of activities in all of the hot spots in Macon for the next several months.

First Friday’s Artists

Fortunately, the galleries were open early for First Friday events so art patrons had time to attend openings downtown before the Hard Hat party on the north side of town. In the gallery of Macon Arts Alliance, Frances De La Rosa’s contemporary paintings were featured in the show titled “Komma,” which, according to the artist, was the term used by 18th century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to describe the silence between musical notes. De La Rosa’s analogy is the negative space interspersed with the “tangibles of the landscape.”

De La Rosa has lived in Macon since 1998 and is on the Wesleyan College faculty as the Comer Professor of Painting. She has traveled and studied in Mexico and in the Dominican Republic after receiving her master of fine art degree from Tulane University in New Orleans.

The canvases on display at Macon Arts reveal the precise design discipline of a textile artist and reflect symmetry, rhythm and perspective, which appears to pulsate as the viewer moves away from some of her paintings. The influence of pre-Colombian, Latin American and Caribbean art is evident in the geometry of the paintings, some of which are textured, which adds to the perspective of a second or third dimension. The exhibition will be in the gallery until April 28.

Travis Jean gallery’s featured artist this month, Hazel Struby Caldwell, has come full circle. Born in Macon, she earned her bachelor’s degree in studio art with a minor in psychology from the College of Charleston and a master of science in art therapy from Eastern Virginia Medical School before returning to Mercer University, her parents’ alma mater, as adjunct faculty. A reception for the opening of her art exhibit, which will hang in the gallery until mid-May, was held at Travis Jean on First Friday.

Following in the footsteps of her aunt Catherine Liles, another accomplished Macon artist, Caldwell studied in Italy, an experience she credits for her appreciation of architecture, landscapes and portraits. Caldwell’s landscapes are executed with a bold intensity. Her seascapes and water scenes capture the mysterious power of the sea. The nudes, in shades of gray, are sybaritic and emotionally charged portrayals of intimacy and of loneliness.

As an art therapist, Caldwell’s work in hospitals and with children battling serious, life altering diseases has been published. She has helped teens facing criminal sentences and worked with patients suffering from mental and physical disorders after serving in the armed services in combat zones. She has taught art and psychology for 14 years and has been on the faculty of Mercer for four years; her creative outlet is a studio at the Arts Exchange on Cherry Street.

Fun at Macon’s Grand Prix

With the largest crowd ever on hand and an expanded list of entrants for the race, the Magnolia Soap Box Derby took another tumble down the short track from College Street to the straw bales at the bottom of the hill on April 8. From the somber expressions on some of the drivers’ faces, this race has become serious business for Mario Andretti wannabes!

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 6:48 AM with the headline "Countdown to Design House kicks off spring’s crowded calendar."