In Atlanta: Everything Old's New Again

By A. Scott Walton
Atlanta’s National Black Arts Festival is going back to the future.
The annual culture/concert series (July 14-18) is “compacting” in duration, according to the city’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs Director, Camille Russell Love, but “expanding in scope” to embrace groundbreaking achievements of the past.
To cap the festival off with a fashionable flourish, the NBAF will stage a Summer Festival Gala on July 17, when the grand atrium of the recently restored 200 Peachtree building will be transformed for a night into “Stormy’s Suppper Club”. Guests at the black tie ($300 per person) affair will be treated to jazz performed by a 16-piece band and lively dance performances.
To preview that event, a cadre of Atlanta’s best-dressed ladies and gents convened at the posh Jeffrey boutique at Phipps Plaza Tuesday night; sipping champagne and chardonnay and discussing their summer plans.
Brooke Edmond, daughter of Atlanta’s first African-American Mayor Maynard Jackson, and socialite Sonya Halpern hosted the party wearing outfits (Dries Van Noten and Barami, respectively) that evoked the Art Deco era. Embracing the “throwback” theme to the fullest, Edmond (above, left) accessorized her outfit with one of the acclaimed, eco-friendly designer Monique Pean’s necklaces made of wooly mammoth bones unearthed in Alaska.
“She’s the best new jeweler on the international scene,” Edmond said, “and yet she works with the most exquisite, ancient materials.”
Festival highlights in a historical vein will include: a screening of Oscar Micheaux’s 1925 silent film “Body and Soul” (starring Paul Robeson), with trombonist Wycliffe Gordon leading a live jazz band in accompaniment (July 14); a tenth-year commemoration of singer-songwriter Curtis Mayfield’s death called “To Curtis with Love”, where featured performers will recall his greatest hits (July 16); and a 40th Anniversary performance by the Philadanco dance company, set to the funkadelic music of George Clinton (July 15 & 17).
For National Black Arts Festival schedule updates, visit nbaf.org.
Photo: G. Paras Photography
RECYCLING DIN: All the noise about “sustainable” products and services won’t fade away any time soon.The latest issue of Fortune Magazine hails local marketing pioneer Joel Babbit for his courage to try and capitalize on the “$5 billion” that corporations spend annually to promote their earth-friendly practices. With Chuck Leavell, the Rolling Stones’ keyboardist, and Ted Turner’s daughter (Laura Turner Seydel) backing him, Babbit’s year-old Mother Nature Network online is already turning a tidy profit...speaking of Seydel: her commitment to the environmental movement shows no signs of fading. She’s the driving force behind the Earth Month collections of fashion accessories available now at “environment Furniture” in the thriving West Midtown district. Go to www.environmentfurniture.com for details…,Anyone still stumped for ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary (April 23) can at least pencil in the cocktail party going on that night (6-9 p.m.) at the Aviary Organic Beauty Collective downtown on Auburn Avenue. Check the Facebook event page for details.
Kudos to local jewelry designer Mark Edge, whose "Eco Vintage" collection just earned him top honors in Jezebel Magazine's annual "Best of Atlanta" issue...And Carol Causieestko-McCollum's "Return of the Lady" campaign to encourage more decorum in modern society continues Thursday (April 15, 7-9:30 p.m.) in the Historic Castleberry Hill Art District with a wine education seminar ($20) and a trunk show featuring by Georgia Tech-schooled shoe designer Ron Donovan at the Wine Shoe (339 Nelson Street, SW). Ladies are encouraged to wear hats and gloves. Visit The Return of the Lady for details.
For dredging up the past's sake, we share the genius of Curtis Mayfield...