"Film is an art I think we take for granted, but it’s more than just entertaining. It can be healing and joyful for both the filmmaker and the viewer. For me, there is just something about when the lights go down in the theater, no one else but you and the screen. Who you are is acceptable here no matter what.”
Read MoreAs our city has grown, there has been a sort of migration of international families and individuals to Jackson. Of these different people who have ventured overseas to temporarily build a life here, the Japanese community in Jackson is one group that has seen significant growth in the past decade. This growth has flowered into a thriving community that is impacting the landscape, growth, and development of Jackson, Tennessee, and can teach our city valuable lessons about both place and culture.
Read MoreWhen my husband Charlie and I started dreaming about the future of the frame shop that has been in his family for three generations, I always knew that there was no future, for me, without including gallery space in some capacity. Custom framing would always be the major part of the Havner’s equation, but I simply could not see a way to move forward with our version of the shop without a way to bring our community together in a meaningful way, and I knew art was the ideal vehicle to do it.
Read MoreIt’s three-thirty in the afternoon when I walk through the front door of Companion Gallery and East Mitchell Clay. As I enter, I step into a gallery space. The lights are off, but that serves as little distraction from the room’s stark white walls adorned with small shelves that hold a kaleidoscope of ceramics. Every wall is covered. Display tables sit in the middle of the room, also adorned with collections of intricate clay pieces.
Read More“I just need a space to dance,” Mona Lisa Lanier said to me as she flicked on the lights of a former elementary school turned community recreation center. The room, once a classroom, is now a dance studio with mirrors and photos of dancers in brightly colored costumes lining the wall.
Lanier proudly pointed out her students and how much they’ve grown since these photos were taken.
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