We’re offering a big thank you to our JumpstART artists, the good folks of The Plant, and all of you who came out to the JumpstART Walkabout! The rain stopped just in time that first Saturday in December for our nine of our ten JumpstART grant recipients to come together, under the deft hand of installation director and Chatham theatre artist Derrick Ivey, to present a free, unique arts experience open to all the folks of Chatham.
New songs and sounds, new paintings, new stories, new sculpture were all on display across the businesses at The Plant.
Singer/songwriter Taz Halloween and sound artist, skintape aka Caleb McLaurin alternated performances in the backroom of bmc Brewing, with songs of protest and new innovations in sound and video.
West African musician Diali Cissokho and songwriter Stephan Meyers, aka Breadfoot, entertained audiences in Building 2, swapping melodic kora songs and the first completed songs of a new banjo opera.
Julia Kennedy presented an interactive oil painting in the coming-soon Lilly Den deli, while Tanja Lipinski Cole offered two new mixed media canvases.
JR Butler displayed two new wood sculptures, and Brenda Linton read excerpts from her new memoir in the tasting room at Fair Game Beverage Company.
In Cataleya Jewelry Studio, artist Alexander Percy and wife Jenn Von Egidy presented a beautiful set of handcrafted jewelry for auction, featuring native Chatham agate from the Jordan Lake area.
We are so grateful to be part of a county that embraces art and new ways of presenting it. This was an experiment on lots of levels, and to see so many brave the less-than-perfect weather to come out and support local artists made it a huge success in our book!
An event like this, with so many moving parts and pieces, takes a village to create. We’d like to thank theatre artist extraordinaire Derrick Ivey for his vision and direction, all our volunteers and board members who came out to help, Tami Schwerin and all the businesses at The Plant. Big thanks to the fine folks at Manbites Dog Theater Fund for sponsoring our first ever JumpstART Walkabout–and Chatham County and Triangle Community Foundation for their ongoing support of our creative placemaking work.
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