Joe Minter’s African Village in America
At the Guardian, Hanging trees and hollering ghosts: the unsettling art of the American deep south regarding the We Will Walk exhibit at the Turner Contemporary in the UK
Cultural critic Greg Tate describes the artists in We Will Walk as “southern black visionaries and homegrown technicians of the sacred” who deal in “neo-hoodoo imaginations and hollering bebop ghosts … folks who made ritual look like interior decorating”, and “turned lawn ornamentation into a form of incantation”. That esoteric mix is seen in the work of Minter, which includes a large recreation of the jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, where King was held after an anti-segregation protest – here, it’s watched over by six concrete dobermans.
And wow, Greg Tate undoubtedly skyrocketed the google search frequency of the phrase ‘bebop ghost’ with his Larry Neal shoutout. I’m going to print out the article and bring it to Joe and Hilda next week.
Hummingbird cake from Gratefull Soul in Hattiesburg
Mattie’s in Austin shares its recipe for hummingbird cake, with cashews rather than pecans, and a pineapple gelee atop, made of pineapple juice and ginger beer.
Memphis’ Cossitt Library is getting a $6M renovation which will include podcasting / music studios, performance stages, co-working space and a cafe. Memphis is one of the cities taking part in the Reimagining the Civic Commons program.
at the 21C in Louisville
At the NYT’s Beyond the DJ in the Lobby: How Resorts Cater to the Creative Crowd, the 21C Louisville is mentioned, as is Blackberry Mountain in Tennessee:
…houses an Art Studio offering opportunities to throw pots, build ceramics, paint, sketch, weave baskets or learn textile arts. This year, there are also periodic multiday events featuring professional artists such as the potter Keith Kreeger and the glass artist Richard Jolley.
The Motlow’s / Jack Daniels mural in downtown Birmingham
If you would have guessed that Jack Daniels would have been the most-visited distillery in the world, I would have agreed — but it’s another Tennessee distiller that got 4.5M visitors last year. Also: remember when the JD tours were free? Not any more, for a while now.
From West Virginia Public Radio, The Hütte: A Melting Pot Of Swiss, Appalachian Culture
Deep within the mountains of central West Virginia, is a tiny village called Helvetia. It was originally founded by Swiss settlers in the mid-1800s, as they felt the steep mountains, thick forests, winding river, all resembled their homeland. Today the town of about 50 people is a melting pot of Appalachian, Swiss culture. There is even a swiss restaurant called — the Hütte. It celebrated its 50th anniversary two years ago and is featured in an upcoming documentary.
at Apolline in New Orleans
I realize this is a stretch, but while reading it, I made a connection between these two articles:
and
What We Lost When We Lost Our Hymnals at Appalachian Magazine with points like we lost an established body of songs, we lost a deep knowledge of our songs, and not so much a connection with the above but enjoyed this little insight: It is easy to imagine a family singing “It Is Well With My Soul” after eating dinner together, but almost impossible to imagine them singing “Oceans.”
Tennessee Rep Kent Calfee got lots of attention this week after people saw him drinking from a Hershey chocolate syrup bottle, like NBD.
“It’s a repurposed syrup bottle that I drink my water out of,” Calfee said on Tuesday. “I’m not going to buy a $25 or $35 or $45 water bottle that’s not worth what it costs because I’ll probably put it down and leave it somewhere.”
Among items in the upcoming March 5 auction of some of Georgia O’Keeffe’s art and personal effects:
For the first time, O’Keeffe’s collection of recipes — a card file containing about 300 items — is going up for auction. Many are penned, or penciled, by the artist. Along with the chicken flautas, she copied out recipes for pecan butterball cookies, fresh applesauce, and leek and potato soup, among others.
fried pie from the Amish community outside Pontotoc MS
Yes to Season 7, Episode 5 of Tennessee Farm Table, with: “Good ole favorites”, Cast Iron Cornbread, make your own butter, fried peach pies, Beef Stew, and “Pal’s Sudden Service”.
Mayhaw jelly at Jim’s Cafe in Greenville MS
Well-deserved love for mayhaw jelly at Texas Highways
Pam relies on a simple formula: just mayhaws, sugar, and Sure-Jell (a brand of pectin). “Wynn sterilizes the jars while I make batches of jelly,” she says, noting that jelly needs to be cooked in relatively small batches to gel properly. “My favorite thing about making mayhaw jelly is keeping the old ways and traditions alive,” she adds. “It’s culture, history, family, and society all rolled together.”
Doris Metropolitan in New Orleans
Thrillist does a list, and…sigh…another list. But this one is The Best Steakhouses in America and it rightly includes the incredible Doris Metropolitan in New Orleans.
Anyway, hi from the JCRS Gala in New Orleans last weekend and a beautiful Super Bowl Sunday lunch at Galatoire’s! 
Hope you have some beautiful lunches in your future this week. Lots of love! xoxo!