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On the occasion of Arts in McNairy's 10th anniversary we continue our conversation with those who have been able to observe the organization's progress first hand. This month, Jai Templeton contributes his thoughts on the role Arts in McNairy played in shaping the community during his tenure as county mayor. Templeton presided over county government at a crucial point in AiM's early history and witnessed a period of prolific growth and expansion in the organization's capacity to offer quality arts programming to the community. Always ardent AiM supporter, Templeton is credited with recognizing the relationship between cultural development and community development. The Latta Building project would not have been possible without Templeton's commitment to the growth of the arts in McNairy County.
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"A pivotal moment in the life of a community is when the decision is made to offer its citizens, particularly the children, the opportunity to explore and expand their talents in the arts. Arts in McNairy was formed to fill a void and has tremendously enhanced the future for many by allowing them the opportunity to pursue their talents while allowing countless others to enjoy those very talents. Due to the the leadership offered by AiM our children and adults have been given an opportunity to grow, learn and experience diverse forms of artistic expression that were previously unavailable locally. McNairy County is richer for it."
Jai Templeton
Former McNairy County Mayor
Deputy Commissioner TN Dept. Agriculture
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Theatre Season Underway with Neil Simon's Fools | |
 The 2011-12 theatre season will get off to a hilarious start this weekend as Fools, a Neil Simon comedy, takes the stage under the direction of Caleb McLean. Show times are 7:30 PM, August 26 and 27 and 2:00 PM, August 28. All shows will take place at the MCHS Little Theatre. Tickets will be available at the door for $5.00 (students) and $10.00 (adults).
Fools is the story of Kulyenhikov, a Russian village which has been cursed with stupidity. When teacher, Leon Tolchinsky (Omar Bakeer), arrives and falls in love with the young Sophia Zubritsky (Emily Pitts), he is determined to break the curse and save the village. In order to do so, he must educate Sophia within twenty four hours or she will marry the villainous Count Yousekevitch (Jared Walters). Fools is appropriate for the whole family and it is sure to have the audience in stitches.
The production features a small cast (ten in all) of experienced actors including Joshua Steen, Sarah Morris, Payden Donahoe, Kevin Binger, Josh Sanders, Calista Harris and Shea Mardis. Fools is the second production directed by Caleb McLean who last directed as part of AiM's summer program, the Young Directors Series. No stranger to the stage, McLean has appeared as an actor in numerous shows for CT-A, AiM and Blue Mountain College. He was recently honored as Best Supporting Actor for his role in CT-A's production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. |
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Latta Building Slated to Open Early 2012 | |
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Hundreds of local music fans pack the Latta Building in this photo taken in the late 1940s |
A sight once familiar in McNairy County will soon be seen again: droves of people visiting the Latta Building in downtown Selmer. Not only did the landmark building serve as a well known Ford dealership through most of its existence, many locals recall how Earl Latta loved to entertain the community through regular music jams and other events at his place of business. The Latta family allowed the shop area of the building to be used as a community gathering space and since they were musically inclined themselves, the jam sessions were a natural fit for both their business and a region so rich in musical talent. It is thought that the space was used for such purposes as early as the 1930s, a practice that continued through the 1960s. Period photos show some of McNairy County's most revered musicians entertaining large and lively crowds at the building.
Mere sentimental recollections of a time gone by? Not hardly! Building on the incredible cultural heritage already associated with the County and the Latta Building, Arts in McNairy will soon help transform the old auto shop/community gathering space into a state of the art performance center, among other things.
A plan that has been in the works for more than four years finally got underway last month as construction began on the former Latta Building. The project cleared the final hurdles in June and is now moving forward with completion expected near the end of the year or by early 2012. The Latta Building will become an official welcome center with the aid of McNairy County and Tennessee Department of Transportation funding but it will also serve as a home for Arts in McNairy and McNairy Regional Alliance. Existing AiM programs such as the community theatre group, local artists showings, Artisan Trail, performing arts series, etc. will be greatly enhanced by the theatre and galleries spaces. The center will also allow for rotating cultural exhibits to be enjoyed by the entire community as well as visitors. MRA plans to provide staffing for the center and coordinate tourism amenities like short films for visitors and brochure racks to highlight points of interest in the area.
Perhaps most importantly, preserving the Latta Building dovetails nicely with the MRA and AiM's cooperative efforts to build community identity and improve tourism potential based on McNairy County's unique cultural heritage. Drawing heavily from AiM's ongoing cultural assessment and asset inventory, the two organization's have partnered to promote visitor-friendly events such as the Artisan Trail and Rockabilly Highway Revival to name just two high profile successes. The move into the Latta Building will allow these and other cooperative efforts to occur under one roof and provide a focal point for AiM and MRA programming. Tourism already accounts for more than $9 million in the local economy, much of that associated with heritage and cultural programming and spending. Those figures are expected to skyrocket with the addition of the Latta Building. |
| Plans Announced for New Downtown Mural | | 
Brian Tull is set to begin a companion piece to his successful 2009 Rockabilly Highway Mural later this summer. Arts in McNairy announced, last week, that the organization had been awarded a Rural Arts Project Support grant to complete the new mural. The grant will fund roughly a third of the total cost and remaining expenses will be matched with local dollars. Tull's larger-than-life paintings are part of an ongoing public art initiative that highlights McNairy County's musical heritage while providing highly accessible visual art for the whole community to enjoy. In addition to Tull's previous mural, two sculptures by metal artists Bob Brooks and Tim Pace now inhabit Selmer's downtown green space adjacent to the farmers market. The new mural will be in the same area on the wall of The McMahan law firm facing Front Street. If past successes are any indicator of the future, the new mural is destined for super stardom. Tull's first offering has been the subject of numerous articles in print and online media articles. It is featured as a cultural landmark on a number of online trip planning websites and travel blogs. It even graced the cover of the Tennessee Trails and Byways Walking Tall Trail brochure released last year. All of this has paid off in spades as people now exit the highway to have their picture made with the mural and enjoy a little local flavor in downtown Selmer. "I am looking forward to starting the new mural," Tull said this week. "It will be in a great location and hopefully further brand McNairy County and the significance of Rockabilly Highway." Just as Tull chose a contemporary Rockabilly act, Phil Hummer and the White Falcons, as the visual inspiration for the 2009 mural, he has selected the Silver Threads, a Nashville band fronted by Eileen Rose and Rich Gilbert to provide materials for his new composition. When asked why the Silver Threads, Tull remarked, "Image-wise, they have a very nostalgic look, but Eileen Rose's pure voice doesn't hurt anything!" He stressed that this mural, like the first one, was not so much about a particular musician or group as it was about images reminiscent of the Rockabilly era. He noted that his goal was to draw the viewer into the image evoking what it must have been like to travel Rockabilly Highway as a young music artist in the 1940s and 50s. When asked about her thoughts on being chosen as the subject for the mural, Eileen Rose commented, "I couldn't be happier that he would be inspired enough by our music to see us as a worthy subject. Brian's art, like The Silver Threads, draws on his love and respect for the classic but at the same time, he puts something new and original into it, part of who he is and how he views the world. It's a iconic but fresh and bold at the same time." Work on the mural should begin in August or September. |
| September Book Club - The Blind Side | |
The Arts in McNairy Book Club will meet Thursday, Sept. 15 to discuss The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. The club meets monthly at the Jack McConnico Memorial Library in Selmer at 7:00 PM. There are no participation fees and reservations are not necessary. Come as you are and participate in the lively and always insightful discussion. Everyone is welcomed.
Suggestions are now being taken by the Literary Committee for the 2012 reading list. Book Club members or those interested in future participation are encourage to bring a list of their favorite reads to the next meeting or give chair, Leanne Emmons, a call at: 731-610-3013. The list will be compiled and finalized in November.
Future Book Club selections include:
Sept. 15 - The Blind Side - Michael Lewis
Oct. 20 - The Late George Apley - John P. Marquand
Nov. 17 - The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans |
| Littlejohn Recording Project Nearing Completion | |
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Stanton Littlejohn around 1950 |
This month, the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University will conclude work on approximately sixty discs that have their origins in McNairy County. The records are eight and ten inch commercial acetate discs collected from a variety of sources but primarily from the collection of McNairy County natives, Marjorie and Don Rayburn Richard. The discs contain recordings made by Marjorie Richard's father, Stanton Littlejohn from the 1940s and 50s. A broad cross section of McNairy County musicians and families are represented on these discs and efforts are currently underway to identify as many of the players as possible and make the discs accessible for local listening purposes.
The Center for Popular Music has been busy transferring the individual tracks to digital media and restoring, as much as possible, the original sound quality of the recordings. Some are better than others, of course, but the fact that they survive at all in any useable condition is remarkable. It is an archive that offers a rare glimpse at McNairy County's musical past and the AiM Heritage and Culture Committee is currently considering several possibilities for sharing its contents. The project was made possible by a generous grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Some of the musicians featured on the recordings are: The Arnold English Band, The Chickasaw Ramblers, Ernest Whitten, Virgil Murray, Charlie Cox, Con Crotts, The Banks Band, The Hometown Quartet, The Southern Playboys, The Doc Whittaker Quartet, The Latta Ramblers, The Pickwick Fishermen, The Humphries Band, George E. Knight, Eunice Smith, The Littlejohn family, Peck Boggs, Rob Richard, Curtis White, Paul Taylor, Everett Walker, Clyde Sargent, Milton Banks and Waldo Davis to name just a few. Research is ongoing with this project and anyone with information about the recordings or any of the artists mentioned should contact Shawn Pitts at 731-645-3850. |
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