Gordonston Art Fair, Love Jones Brunch Experience highlight weekend of locals-centric events
The 3rd Annual Gordonston Art Fair and the first ever Love Jones Brunch Experience are bringing people together to see and hear what local creatives have to offer.
Locals for Locals - The 3rd Annual Gordonston Art Fair
“I feel like we [need to] keep reminding people of the talent we have here,” said Gale Steves, one of members of the Gordonston Art Fair committee, in talking about the lineup of artists for this year’s event, set to take place in the neighborhood’s Juliette Gordon Low Park on Saturday, September 28th from 10am-4pm. “I never cease to be amazed. I’m excited about who we’ve got.”
Steves has long been one of the the Hostess City art scene’s biggest cheerleaders, through her advocacy work, most notably with ARC (Arts Resource Collective) and for her time on the board of ARTS Southeast. Last year’s event incorporated 40 artists, and this year’s festival, the third iteration, bumps that number up to 50, including 89-year-old Edward Lyons, a man who only recently felt comfortable calling himself an artist.
“Art was something that came to him,” Steves explained, noting that the long-retired Lyons simply asked for his wife’s support to buy wood-turning supplies and to turn their garage into a woodworking studio. “He’s doing beautiful bowls, and his first appearance is going to be at the Gordonston Art Fair.”
“In a little bit of time he’s been able to make something from nothing,” Steves said. “Recycled chunks of wood have become usable bowls.”
On the other end of the artist age spectrum are a group of high school artists whose work will be hung around what is simply known as “The Cottage” or “Girl Scout Hut,” which was built in 1941 by the Union Bag Paper Company, and for which any proceeds from the event will go towards the repair and maintenance. The students art is inspired by their time spent with the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, and looks to convey the importance of the river on our local environment.
“The youngest and the oldest: What does that say about us?” Steves asked rhetorically. “At any age, we can make art of some sort.”
Returning favorites include Clayspot owner Lisa Bradley, who will be inviting some of her space’s “newbies,” Steves said, to share her booth, to allow them to gather “feedback and confidence”; and Mary Carol Kenney, whose work has been shown recently at Location Gallery.
[Clayspot owner Lisa Bradley Photo Credit ClayCommunity.com]
“Celebrate what we have here locally,” said Steves. “It doesn’t have to be something we bought from New York or wherever. There are a lot of very talented people that are living right down the block.”
There will be also be four food trucks on hand: The Big Cheese; Starship Ice Cream Truck; Pour Boy Mobile Barista; and Smashed Savannah. The Riverkeeper will be on site, as will the Girl Scouts, Savannah Tree Foundation, and the Chatham County Resource Conservation and Recycling Education Center. And there will be pumpkins for sale.
But at it’s core, it’s all about the art, and the Gordonston Art Fair promises plenty of that.
“It encourages people,” Steves said of the festival and what it hopes to do for the artists involved. “Most of these people have no representation. They haven’t the vaguest idea of how to approach a gallery. They’re terrified of actually talking to people about their art. But then they start talking, and artists talk.”
“It’s one; to bring the neighborhood together;” she continued, “two, to bring our neighbors together; and three, to celebrate what’s being created here.”
The Gordonston Art Fair will be held on Saturday, September 28th in the Juliette Gordon Low Park in the Historic Gordonston neighborhood from 10 AM -4 PM. More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/share/J1rbTdBy8uu8VSR2/.
Love Jones Brunch Experience - Showcasing “artists that we have here.”
Poetry is having a moment in Savannah, finding it’s way into festivals, in bars, and on stages across Savannah. Starting this Sunday, you’ll even be able to listen to verses while brunching, thanks to “A Love Jones Brunch Experience.”
“[It’s] gonna be about bringing something different to Savannah, showcasing local artists,” said one of the event’s producers, Michael Hawthorne. “I want to appreciate and showcase artists that we have here.”
For Hawthorne and his collaborative partners Marqueshia Henry, Erwin Wright, and his wife, Shanetra Hawthorne, that means bringing together evocative music and spoken word performances, a menu curated and created by Derek’s Cookhouse, and CJ the DJ on the turntables, whom Hawthorne declared “the best DJ in…all of Georgia.”
“Greg G and Sharese [Janay], I don’t know anybody better vocally than those two, and Really Khalil has such a unique style, that he had to be showcased,” said Hawthorne of the talent he’s brought on board for the event. “I feel like he’s a hidden gem in Savannah.”
[Really Khalil “Touchdown (Performance in the Park)” Music Video Courtesy YouTube]
Really Khalil (real name Bak Mohammad), for his part, has spent the last year or so researching the ways that different artists put on their shows, and tinkering with something new that he plans to reveal this Sunday.
“Just doing a quick, short set to showcase some of the music that I have put out recently,” said Khalil, who can be found online at reallykhalil.com. “And then I also plan to test out a new genre that I’ve been working on in private.”
The brunch will be a self-serve buffet, so attendees will be able to eat what they like as they’re enjoying the show, which is hosted by Kevin Toney. Really Khalil, who hasn’t performed live locally for an extended period, sees the event as a great new way to experience music and spoken word performances in a setting that does justice to what the artists are presenting.
“This will be fun, because I love being on stage,” he said. “I love it, love it, love it.”
“A Love Jones Brunch Experience” takes place Sunday, September 29th from 1-5pm at 5975 Ogeechee Road, Suite 300 in Savannah. Guests are encouraged to wear all black clothing. Tickets start at $40, and include admission, brunch, a mimosa, and table seating for the performances. Purchase online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-love-jones-brunch-experience-tickets-1010849587327.