Local Photographer Joins Nationwide Effort to Create 10,000 Complimentary Professional Headshots to Help America Get Back to Work

Nothing says “I’m ready to work” more than a freshly pressed suit, an updated resume, and of course, a professional headshot. Regardless of profession, COVID-19 sent millions of Americans to the unemployment line without warning. That is why local photographer Shelli Craig of Greensboro Headshots is participating with Headshot Booker and Brookfield Properties in the largest, single-day photo initiative that will provide 10,000 unemployed Americans nationwide with a complimentary, professional headshot to include with their resumes and post to job sites such as LinkedIn.

Shelli Craig will be producing the complimentary headshots on Wednesday, July 22 from 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Brookfield Property located at Four Seasons Town Centre, 410 Four Seasons Town Centre Greensboro NC 27407. Complimentary headshots are open to anyone currently unemployed, but participants are asked to visit HeadshotBooker.com for details and schedule a time to be photographed. More than 200 photographers will participate across all 50 states, creating pop-up studios at nearly every Brookfield retail location nationwide. Headshots will be provided to participants on site through event photo sharing platform SpotMyPhotos.

Shelli Craig is the owner of Greensboro Headshots located at 1175 Revolution Mill Drive in Greensboro. She has been photographing clients for headshots, family portraits and senior portraits for 10 years. She is also a volunteer photographer for local groups such as earlier.org and March of Dimes.

See the story on YES! Weekly >

Greensboro Farmers Market Makes Valuable Connections with Local Food Locator

Greensboro, NC – The Greensboro Farmers Market (GFM, Inc.) has developed a digest for local food shopping by gathering information from its farmers and prepared food vendors to publish the Local Food Locator. The new online resource published April 2, 2020, aims to connect fresh, nutritionally dense local foods direct to customers. The tool has been refined each week, using feedback from customers and vendors, to create an easier user experience.

During the recent COVID-19 Stay-at-Home mandate, farmers and food producers are finding new ways to connect with their customers, including online stores and pre-ordering options, which allow customers to select from fresh-from-the-field produce, pre-payment options, and choose from pick-up options and/or delivery locations. These changes create safer shopping experiences, with minimal contact between vendors and customers.

This newly refined interface reflects the rapid changes happening in the small business world today; a shift in traditional retail models adding new online capabilities daily, during a time that social distancing and public health is paramount.

“Our Market management team created the Local Food Locator to further simplify buying locally from Market vendors, by reorganizing our directory into familiar shopping categories (i.e. produce, eggs, meats, etc.),” said Lee Mortensen, GFM Executive Director and Market Manager. “Our aim with this locator is to serve as the bridge between the customer and vendor in as much as we can during this disruptive time. Shoppers are also recognizing the benefit of online/pre-order shopping directly from local producers over larger retail venues. Customers value knowing where their food comes and the limited number of channels it goes through before arriving on their plate.”

See the rest on Yes Weekly! >

‘Interiors’ at Gallery 1250 opens on Valentine’s Day

Gallery 1250 director Jan Lukens said the theme of interiors in mid-winter resonated with him for a February opening. He said he reached out to several of his favorite artists that frequently address the subject of interiors, and put together a dynamic show of paintings, drawings, and mixed media artworks. Although he is not exhibiting in this show, Lukens paints full-time from his studio at Revolution Mill and is known primarily for his equestrian oil paintings and cityscapes.

“I am so excited about this show,” Lukens said. “We are setting a high bar for excellence in painting.”

Artist Tamie Beldue is a native of New York but has lived in Black Mountain since 2008, and her art is in several national museum collections. Beldue said she draws and works in a combination of graphite, watercolor, and charcoal and uses cold wax to seal and protect her drawings. She will have seven pieces in this exhibit dating from 2016-2020. Her inspiration behind this work comes from slightly different things, especially in her recent work, where interiors were constantly changing from day to day (during construction), along with the moving light. “I begin a drawing by dealing with the smaller parts, and when each part forms an image, I put all of the pieces together like a puzzle, and then it starts to make sense,” she said. Beldue will be in her third show at GreenHill this May and hopes to come to the ‘Interiors’ opening with “Greensboro becoming a happening place for the arts.” Julyan Davis is an oil painter who received his B.A. in painting and printmaking at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. He hails from England but has lived in Asheville for 30 years, painting the American South and working in several national museum collections. Davis will have seven oil paintings in this show. He began painting interiors 15 years ago after painting a lot of architecture and urban scenes. 

 “I have empathy for people who feel trapped by their environment, and I think that comes across in my scenes of empty places, and in my ballad series,” Davis said. 

On his website video, he gives advice to artists, “Whatever peculiar interests we have, it’s where they all meet that’s interesting. The goal is to bring them all together in one’s art.”

Geoffrey Johnson, of Winston-Salem, is a native of Greensboro. He received his BFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His paintings are collected internationally and are in numerous corporate collections. He has had sold-out solo shows in New York City, Alexandria, Virginia, and Charlotte for 20 years. Johnson, who paints with oil, said he had been very fortunate in how his art keeps moving. He will be exhibiting four oil paintings all done within the year.

“My inspiration for some of this work comes from my travels with my wife to Savannah and our love of the old houses there and with it being such a moody place,” Johnson said. “Some of it comes from Charleston, and other cities, and some are completely made up and not even residential.”

Johnson said he might use a photograph as a take-off point, but mostly, he has worked out of his head for the last seven to eight years. He plans to attend the opening with his wife and manager, Edith.

Greensboro painter Sam Wade graduated from Weaver Academy with a concentration in music and moved to Nashville to explore the music scene. He became interested in art and studied at Middle Tennessee State University. Ten years later, Wade moved back to Greensboro in 2017 to start Foundry Studios & Gallery. Wade paints with oil exclusively and will have four new pieces in this show. His inspiration for this work comes from wanting to create an effect of “absurdity mixed with familiarity.”

“I start by scanning an old photograph into Photoshop where I manipulate, stretch and change the elements,” Wade said. “Then, I use the transformed image to paint on canvas by.” He is looking forward to being at the opening and showcasing of these new atmospheres to contrast the unusual “bizarre” portrait paintings he is known for.

Philip Link is a Greensboro artist who received his BFA in painting from UNCG. He has been painting professionally, off and on, since 1978. Link will have five pieces (three are new) that are primarily brush paintings with acrylic marker and charcoal accents.

“These paintings have more of a conceptual element that leaves something to the imagination, whereas my landscapes are more direct.” Link said his work is kind of a “divinely-led thing,” and he always starts with a prayer.

“The picture tells me what it needs, and I follow the lead as the messenger.” Link has exhibited in GreenHill recently and looks forward to the opening.

Revolution Mill opens Gallery 1250 with first exhibition ‘Triple Vision’

Revolution Mill will officially open Gallery 1250 and host their first art exhibit, “Triple Vision,” on Oct. 11 at 1250 Revolution Mill Dr. in Greensboro. The opening reception will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and the exhibit will run through early January 2020, said artist and director of Gallery 1250 Jan Lukens. Lukens said that The Bearded Goat would provide drinks and everyone is invited to this free event with complimentary food. Gallery 1250 is not to be confused with the Central Gallery, which is still operating and located at 1150 Revolution Mill Dr.

Lukens said that Gallery 1250 is a 2,800 square foot art gallery that was formerly known as the WamRev Gallery, a satellite exhibition space that was utilized by the Weatherspoon Art Museum. During a period of time awaiting grants, Revolution Mill decided to host the first WamRev Gallery exhibit. This featured James Cameron, a mural street artist from Raleigh, who painted the entire gallery’s 18-foot walls from floor to ceiling in green geometric patterns with only house paint and masking tape during the same week that Lukens moved his studio across the hall. The WamRev Gallery art opening for Cameron was in October 2016.

“Because the grants were not received and the walls were covered with a mural, the Weatherspoon was unable to use the space, and the gallery was only used for business meetings and events for the next two and a half years,” Lukens said.

Lukens said he pushed to utilize the space as an art gallery again and was asked to submit a business proposal. Management at Revolution Mill responded by making him the director. He contacted two other artist friends, Roy Nydorf and Michael Northuis, and invited them to the gallery so they could do the first show together. After a lengthy discussion, they all decided it was a good idea. That happened in June, and the walls were re-painted in July. Lukens said he is pleased to be a part of Gallery 1250’s first exhibition with two of his good friends whose art he has admired for decades.

Read the rest on Yes! Weekly >

Art-o-mat dispenses art to the people

Clark Whittington is inviting the world to be a part of the growing Art-o-mat family of artists, hosts and collectors, with over 170 machines across the United States as well as Canada, Australia and Austria. You can track the locations with an online map, so you are “never artless” in your travels, but you don’t have to leave the Triad to find an Art-o-mat machine. Whittington’s concept of encouraging more art consumption while reaching audiences that artists may have never accessed is keeping old vending machines out of the landfill and repurposing them into art dispensing machines where people can buy art on their own terms for $5.

Local Art-o-mats can be found in Greensboro at Revolution Mill and in its hometown of Winston-Salem at the Southeastern Center of Contemporary Art, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Foothill’s Brewing Tasting Room, Mary’s Gourmet Diner, A/perture Cinema, Salem Fine Arts Center, Artwork’s Gallery, Krankies Coffee, Earl’s, Jugheads Growlers & Pints, Wake Forest University, Wherehouse Art Hotel, The Olio Glasshouse, St. Paul’s Episcopal, and the Benton Convention Center. From locations in Walnut Cove, Durham, Cary, Boone and beyond North Carolina, Art-o-mats are on the move.

Whittington, an artist and native of Concord, owned Rococo Fish Gallery in the Charlotte’s NoDa (North Davidson) Arts District in the late ‘80s before he moved to Winston-Salem. He said his art comes to him from his experiences and ideas. One day, he observed a friend’s Pavlovian reaction to seek a vending machine upon hearing the crinkling of a cellophane snack wrapper, he sketched out his first Art-o-mat machine, a piece of art itself created from retired cigarette vending machines.

In 1997, he transformed his first old cigarette machine into a functional piece of art to dispense his black and white peel-a-part Polaroids and later invited other artists to be involved creating “Artists in Cellophane” for his conceptual work that included an Art-o-mat.

“I love how artists take this format and make it their own,” he said. “I enjoy seeing people come up with great ideas and getting them into an Art-o-mat and keeping their art alive. When artists and buyers connect through an Art-o-mat, it’s tangible, it’s real, and it’s something people can take with them and enjoy.”

Read the rest on Yes! Weekly >

Bringing back the mill village: Nick Piornack talks Revolution

“It would be great to rebrand this whole area as the Mill Village.”

So said Nick Piornack, general manager of Revolution Mill, when I interviewed him last week. Piornack envisions the 45-acre mixed-use development off Yanceyville as the heart of a once neglected but now revitalized Northeast Greensboro, and closer to downtown than many people realize.

“When I started here, my friends downtown were amazed I was moving ‘all the way out there’ to Revolution Mill.” But it’s actually only six minutes from his old office at Downtown Greensboro, Inc. on Elm Street. “Just one mile from Moses Cone and all the medical complexes, and 2.1 miles from downtown.”

Built in 1898, Revolution was the first flannel mill in the South. By the 1930s, it was the largest producer of that fabric in the world. But it ceased operation in 1982, and by the end of the 20th century, the huge buildings that once housed looms and other machinery were empty shells.

Revolution Mill was the second textile plant established in Greensboro by brothers Moses and Ceasar Cone, three years after their Proximity Cotton Mill became the South’s first denim plant. The Cones built two additional Greensboro mills; White Oak in 1905 and Proximity Printworks in 1912.

Read the rest on Yes! Weekly >

Native Greensboro artist returns home to Revolution Mill studio

I’ve watched Jan Lukens stick to his goals for years despite the many twists and turns his career has taken. We were studying commercial art and advertising design in 1978 when he took a job as an art director for an ad agency. In 1980, after working for a few agencies, he began freelancing as a graphic designer and then as an illustrator until 1992 when he left advertising after feeling burned out.

Lukens had an idea that people who owned horses would be interested in paintings of their horses. He called a dressage trainer who referred him to Parker Minshin, who not only invited him to her stables but also helped him select, groom and pose horses for his reference photography. “That was my first break, back in 1992,” Lukens said. “I did several spec paintings, framed them, printed up business cards and became a horse show vendor.”

Yet, he left his first two shows in Blowing Rock and Asheville with no commissions. 

When Lukens visited his friend, Pattie Harris Boden, an art director who rode hunters (a type of horse in competitive horseback riding), she noted that few horse painters could paint people as well as he did and suggested he paint a girl with a horse. Minshin was happy to have him paint her 12-year-old daughter, Jennifer, with her hunter. This painting landed him three commissions at a Raleigh horse show and a new client, Joanne Boyd.

Lukens recalled the day he photographed Boyd with her horse, “she liked my work and said if I came to Birmingham, Alabama, she’d throw a cocktail party and invite her equestrian friends.” Three months later, Lukens left that party with 13 portrait commissions. 

“That’s when I realized I could make a career out of this,” he said. “I owe my success in equestrian portraiture to a handful of generous, influential people who just wanted to help me succeed. Parker and Joanne were the first.” He added, “I enjoyed the equestrian community, painting portraits, and being outside with the horses. My new career really suited me.”

Read the rest on Yes! Weekly >>

REVOLUTION MILL CREATES RESIDENCY FOR LOCAL ARTISTS

The current political climate seems sure to bring about some amazing protest art, but in Greensboro, local artists will have the revolution brought to them. The new Artist In Residency Revolution (AirRev) program at Revolution Mill gives politically and socially critical artists of the Triad a work space, resources and a platform from which to share their work with others.

AirRev is in the middle of its first season, which began in February and will end in May. The residency gives participants four months of reduced rent in a 1,774 square foot studio space shared with local artists of all stripes, including painters, poets, and filmmakers. AirRev Program Director Rachel Wexler conducted interviews with area artists to tailor the residency to their needs.

“A lot of them expressed a need for building an artist community of folks who are newly graduated,” said Wexler. “There are several arts programs at universities here in Greensboro, so there’s a young arts community, but there’s not enough space to work.”

The first season of AirRev hosted both group arts projects, like Paper 2 Film and the Greensboro Mural Project, as well as solo artists, including Lavinia Jackson, Terri Shalane, Larry Wright, and Kori Sergent.

The AirRev artists come from different backgrounds and favor different mediums, but all are current locals, and all have an element of socio-political commentary to their art. The AirRev program sought out applicants who represented marginalized groups, and whose work encouraged community engagement.

“One of the program requirements is giving back to the community. That may mean giving back to Revolution Mill itself, or to the Greensboro community as a whole,” said Wexler. “Lavinia works with disabled veterans. The Greensboro Mural Project does murals throughout town and builds engagement around the content of those murals.”

Resident artists gain access to Revolution Mill resources, as well as 24/7 access to the studio space. That means there’s no such thing as a typical work day.

“Usually half the artists are here at night,” said Sergent. “There’s not really an average day because we all have jobs.”

Artists often find themselves in the studio in groups of two or three, painting or typing away at odd hours of the night. Sergent, whose mixed media art deals with the fragile state of women’s rights in modern America, said working near the other residents has informed her own creations.

“It’s really inspiring to be around so many different types of artists,” she said.

Participants are required to spend at least 15 hours per week working in the studio, but Sergent estimates that most spend between 20 and 40 hours. Fitting in studio time can be difficult, but some residents view their hours at the Mill as a retreat from the outside world, a haven where they can reflect on their daily life and find meaning in that raw material.

“My art is a representation of me, my blackness, my feelings, and most importantly my babies. It’s me trying to escape,” said Terri Shalane, a resident who uses her paintings to bring awareness to overlooked mental health issues in the black community. “I have also been working on having events that will empower people of color and give them a place where they can show their art.”

The outreach efforts of Shalane, Sergent, and the other AirRev participants join the work of other local groups trying to grow the Triad’s art scene. It seems to be working: Sergent chose to move to Greensboro based on the city’s creative reputation.

“My boyfriend and I had the choice of moving to Greensboro or Savannah, Georgia,” Sergent explained. “I wanted to come here. I love how focused Greensboro’s artists are.”

The second round of residency applications opened March 1, with the second season to start in July. Wexler aims to make future seasons of AirRev a little more structured and a lot more affordable.

“Residents pay $100 a month for the space. In my ideal world, we’d be paying them,” said Wexler.

Wexler wants to set up an exchange in which a local businesses could sponsor a residency in exchange for commissioned work from the artist, be it a mural, an art installation or a workshop.

“In the next round of applications, we’re hoping people can apply for these client-based projects,” said Wexler. “We’re trying to get the word out.”

Client sponsorships would be sure to draw in more talented locals who may have been discouraged by the program’s initial cost. But even with the current rent, Sergent said she has gained valuable experience from connecting with other artists who differ from her personally, but share her passion for the craft.

“I think that’s the best part of a residency,” said Sergent. “It’s about being with like minded people who are on the same grind as you, who still work on art when nothing is saying you have to be an artist.”

Applications for the second season of AirRev are open now through April 15. For more information about AirRev or to apply, visit www.revolutionmillgreensboro.com.

See the Yes! Weekly article here >>

REVOLUTION MILL CHURNS FORWARD INTO PHASE II

The folks behind the revitalization of the old Revolution Mill property are moving forward again, this time with even bigger and better projects. The property will continue its growth as a small business center, but with additional emphasis in Phase II on making this a destination property for work, home and recreation.

Nick Piornack, Business Development Manager for Revolution Mill, said initial work on Phase II of the project began this past spring, but things were really picking up steam now.

“The project is slated to run up to about $100 million by completion,” he said. “Once this phase is done, we’ll have about 520,000 sq. feet of renovated space under roof.”

He explained that the original Phase I development plan for the property renovated about 130,000 sq. feet of the property into office space.

Read the rest on YES! WEEKLY >>

In the News: Revolution Evolution

An iconic structure from Greensboro’s past as a textile empire continues its renovation for a second life as a mixed used complex.

Revolution Mill is part of a nearly two million square foot campus hidden away just blocks from State Street and Greensboro County Club.

Brothers Moses and Ceasar Cone started Revolution Mill in the 1890s after realizing that it would be easier to process the raw materials needed to make denim and other textiles closer to where the cotton was grown. Cone Mills operated the building until 1982.

Revolution Mill is symbolic of Greensboro’s history as a textile capital. Historic preservation efforts led by Self-Help Ventures Fund of Durham and architect Eddie Belk, are continuing to turn the space into a business and residential center with a style that fuses industrial and modern.

Read the rest on YES! WEEKLY >>