AFTER HOURS: A Big Easy bash
The Anderson Conference Center was transformed into a Louisiana lover's gourmet tour for the Goodwill Gala on Nov. 20, to fund scholarships for aspiring chefs who attend Goodwill Industries' Helms College and the Polly Long Denton School of Hospitality.
Jean Bragg, owner of Travis Jean Gallery on Cherry Street, developed the theme, "Blue Bayou," with the help of a team of volunteers who created the flavor of New Orleans' street scenes.
Towering vases of flowers that might bloom in the Garden District of the Big Easy were arranged by Canaan Marshall for each table, complementing the bayou blue and green linens. The banquet of Creole and Acadian, or Cajun, cuisine was served in adjoining rooms, labeled for popular sections of Louisiana's famous old city.
During the cocktail hour, wait staff served oysters Rockefeller, seasoned frog legs and stuffed mushrooms, among other delectable hors d'oeuvres, to guests who were looking over the raffle and auction items or listening to the contemporary strains of the AJ Ghent Band.
After the welcome messages from Jim Stiff, president of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia, and from Bragg, event chair, students served alligator and andouille sausage gumbo in the "Garden District"; the Creole staples, red beans and rice, soft shell crabs, bayou short ribs and redfish court-bouillon on "Bourbon Street"; and a seafood boil, red skin potatoes and sweet corn "On the Patio."
In the "Piano Bar" of Edgar's Bistro, the restaurant operated on site by staff and students of the schools, tiny pecan pralines, bananas foster and bourbon beignets kept the chefs busy satisfying the collective sweet tooth of the appreciative patrons.
TAKING A CHANCE
The $10 raffle ticket was an inexpensive chance to win jewelry, event tickets or a painting by Ginger Concepcion titled "Blue Bayou," a moss draped scene of water cypress in one of the many Mississippi tributaries.
The auction items included a weekend trip to New Orleans; a private dinner prepared by the executive chef of Edgar's Bistro; a sampler package of tickets to Mercer's basketball and football games, events at the Grand Opera House, fee for Creative Computer Camp and a gift certificate to Karats and Keepsakes; or a chance to attend a race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Bemoaning the fact that she had never won anything, Rita Danese was jubilant when her raffle ticket was selected for the Concepcion painting. Joining in the fun of having one of their table mates win the painting were Lisa McLendon, member of the event committee, and Phyllis Farmer.
According to the chatter that evening, the gala was the most financially successful ever.
THREE WAYS IN CLAY
The Music and the Arts at Vineville series has established a reputation for bringing outstanding regional and nationally known musicians and authors to Vine- ville Methodist Church during the past 25 years.
Dennis McCleary, director of music, has taken the series to new heights by adding monthly exhibitions representing the works of photographers, painters, potters and of archived narratives to the gallery on the second floor of the Wesley building.
During November, three local potters, Meg Campbell, Roger Jamison and Linda Padgett, displayed collections of their ceramics in a show as diverse as the artists. The idiosyncratic shapes of Campbell's designs are familiar to pottery collectors who want unique statements in clay. She also paints in riotous colors and had several of her contemporary canvases hanging above the intricately designed and humorous pots.
Jamison's earthen glazes are consistent with the wood firing process he prefers at his Monroe County studio. A large charger, the centerpiece of his display, was one of the pieces purchased during the show. The warm subtlety of the burnished finish on jugs and pots, created by the firing process, is always unpredictable -- some are shot through with flashing from the fire.
Jamison built his 250-cubic-feet anagama, the Japanese style wood fired kiln, in 2000 after using a smaller kiln for his salt-glazed ware for years. The larger kiln, which burns for five days, requires 'round the clock, manual labor to keep the temperature high and the fire stoked.
Padgett does not remember a time in her life when she wasn't sketching or painting. In 2009, she enrolled in Kathy Murphy's Macon Mud studio classes, applying her vision of shapes and colors to clay and to the potter's wheel.
She has advanced to hand-built pots with decorative finishes and flourishes, including sgraffito, etching through the outer surface to expose another color in patterns informed by Asian or native American art. Hanging over her collection of pots and plates was a misty mountain scene of Lake Burton, signaling her recent return to painting.
To see the schedule for future exhibits, visit www.vinevillemethodist.com/music/arts.
Katherine Walden is a freelance writer and interior designer in Macon. Contact her at 478-742-2224 or kwaldenint@aol.com.
This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "AFTER HOURS: A Big Easy bash ."