Where to go, what to see and who to know in the world of Southern arts and culture. This blog masterfully blends art, culture, and local exhibitions around the American South. Uniquely Southern, topics on this arts and culture blog include art, artists, installations, paintings, photography, graffiti, fashion and more. Above all, you will discover how culturally rich the South has become, especially its bigger cities such as Atlanta, Savannah, Nashville, Charleston and Charlotte. Moreover, smaller towns like Greenville, S.C. and Birmingham, Ala. are not far behind. The arts and culture scene is what is driving these burgeoning cities of the South.
Two-Sided Southern is an arts and culture blog started by Stephanie Davis Smith. Smith lives in Atlanta and is a culture vulture reporting on all happenings around the region. With a penchant for the finer things in life, as well as a firm appreciation for lower brow offerings, you will find what you’re looking for in this Atlanta-based blog. Smith loves to talk about exhibits at the world renowned High Museum of Art or the latest fashion exhibit at SCAD Fash as much as she loves to discuss folk art, bluegrass bands to go see at a mountain fair, country museums that have unique exhibits and more.
Joe Salome is a prominent figure in Georgia’s burgeoning hemp industry, and it’s actually his mother who played a pivotal role in shaping his entrepreneurial journey.
Elizabeth Dupree inaugural jewelry line launch at Cherokee Town and Country Club brings out the who’s who of Atlanta society.
Pullman Yards will host its first SweetWater 420 Fest this weekend, April 20 and 21, 2024. The venue has been buzzing with excitement as it prepares to host the homegrown Atlanta event by SweetWater Brewery.
Emily Blejwas is the Director of the Alabama Folklife Association. She has delved deep into the essence of her state, embracing its arts and history as catalysts for community development and a chance to celebrate Alabama folk history.
These four southern-made pressents stood out as the perfect high-end—but still down home—gift ideas for the holidays.
The Blonds: Glamour, Fashion, Fantasy at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta is one of the best shows to see in Atlanta right now.
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion,” is one of the best lines from “Steel Magnolias.” Like “The Hot Wing King,” it too started out as a beloved play with quick wit, memorable lines and wholly focused on a group of Southern friends and their quirks.
“The Hot Wing King,” a Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Katori Hall, is about to wrap at The Alliance Theatre. The performance had me laughing through tears so many times, I couldn’t help but recite Dolly Parton’s famous line in my head. Only instead of white ladies, “The Hot Wing King” is an all black cast. Oh, and it’s all male. And instead of them talking about their hetero marital problems, four of the six cast members are gay.
Ok, so it’s really nothing like “Steel Magnolias” on first glance. But stay with me. Hall writes hilarity into a plethora of scenes, captures Southern characters beautifully and takes the audience on a roller coaster of emotions that the comparisons to the 1989 movie kept coming to me. And I know “The Hot Wing King” would make an incredible movie. I cried, laughed, felt wildly uncomfortable, angry, cried some more, laughed some more and actually yelled “No!” out loud in pure anxiety at the character Isom who was about to unknowingly ruin all Cordell’s dreams. (You’ll have to go see it to see what I mean.)
I was so engaged and enthralled, that I was fully in my feelings. And isn’t that what great art does for the audience? I forgot my life for a couple of hours and entered into the world of a black gay man in Memphis who left his wife and children to follow his true heart. He took me along while he chatted up his funny, loyal friends all there to help him win Memphis’ chicken wing contest.
In that span of time, they confront issues of infidelity, hiding your true identity, crime, poverty, hope, joy, finding love, relying on family, losing family, creating family out of friends, turning bad luck into good and redefining stereotypes. It was one of the best original pieces I’ve seen performed in a long time. Hats off to Hall. Kudos to the remarkable cast. And whoever built that set deserves some kind of award.
“The Hot Wing King” closes this weekend. On March 5, 2023, the curtain will fall in Atlanta. And I’m sad, because the beautiful set needs to be memorialized. Or at least passed on. It’s so good! But I hope that “The Hot Wing King” and its spicy characters pop up again in another city somewhere else soon. And then, fingers crossed, on the big screen.
As I finish my second year writing Two-Sided Southern, I am still having such an incredible time. I adore telling stories about the South and its people. The kind of people who embrace being both high-brow and down home as shown in these top 10 blogs of 2022.
A guide to the best holiday lights in Georgia. Whether you spend your holiday bonus in one go, or do something affordable that won’t break the bank, there is beauty in both experiences.
Aviary Beauty + Wellness i an elegant, adorable spa in up-and-coming Summerhill. It also has the best facial in Atlanta.
