Initially showcasing front porches of Madison, Georgia, The Porch is a weekly half-hour talk show videotaped before a live audience. The pilot will be broadcast several times in November and December on the University of Georgia€'s commercial TV station, WNEG, before the series goes into production in January and becomes a weekly staple of the station’s schedule.
Starring Athens locals Paige Carmichael, Liz Dalton, Marty Winkler and Jennifer Wootton, the format of The Porch will be familiar to anyone who has watched The View or Live with Regis & Kelly. The show’s interests, concerns and guests will exclusively reflect Northeast Georgia in a way that no TV talk show, national or out of Atlanta, ever has. Like the southern institution from which it takes its title, The Porch will be a place for seriously casual conversation about anything and everything of interest to its regional constituency, from fashion to flu shots, from politics to party-planning. The series will also showcase the region’s diverse wealth of music, arts and crafts.
Each installment of The Porch will feature interviews with one or more guests. Athens-based caterer, historic preservationist and raconteur Lee Epting will be the pilot show’s primary guest. But half the fun of the show will be the four co-hosts just talking among themselves off the cuff.
The Porch is a production of TerraVision in association with The Rialto Club, Hotel Indigo and WNEG-TV, which is owned by the University of Georgia and operated by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
On June 19, 2009, fire destroyed Athens’ beloved Georgia Theatre, the historic and popular music venue at which many famous bands and artists have performed—including the B-52s, John Mayer and R.E.M. The Georgia Theatre opened as a music venue in 1978, and 30 years later, the fire caused much sadness in the Athens area and beyond.
Photograph of the Georgia Theatre, 1953
The Georgia Theatre is now working on a new project to raise money. Not only does Athens have a well-known music scene, but it also has a great art scene. Local artist Jennifer Schildknecht “hopes to unite the music and art communities in order to generate more love and support” for the Georgia Theatre. She has called upon artists, musicians, businesses and anyone else to participate in creating an art quilt. The quilt will be a “non-traditional wall-hanging.” The goal is for two quilts to be made—one quilt will be auctioned off to raise money for rebuilding and the other will be given to the Georgia Theatre as a gift. If you’re interested in participating, all quilt blocks must be turned in by November 30. Click here for more information about guidelines and submission.
I've written about these single collector shows before and as I said then I don't see the point of an absolutist position against them. Especially for smaller museums and museums outside the biggest cites, collector shows are a way to offer visitors a look at work the museum could never otherwise offer them. Obviously, the same could be said for a show in a larger museum. But those institutions, which are more likely to be on the circuit for big traveling shows, have other options for bringing in works from outside.
Also from 7 to 9 p.m., in the Bridge Exhibition Space, the art school is hosting the opening reception for the exhibition “The Others Who Haunt Me and Whom I Haunt” by Marie Porterfield, which explorates the unseen, the seen and the seeing. Visit www.marieporterfield.com for more information. 
Along with curators and advisers, Gene Jones (wife of Dallas Cowboys football team owner Jerry Jones) worked to get permanent art in the new $1.15 billion dollar Cowboys Stadium. The new stadium art includes works by Lawrence Weiner, Olafur Eliasson and Dave Muller.
The Moment (a New York Times blog) interviewed Muller about his art for the stadium. This is Muller’s second time making a commissioned public work of art and it is very different than anything he had done before. Muller had to come up with a work that would last through countless viewings—he was told that this “would be seen by more people in one week than all the other work [he has] ever shown combined.”
He was given plans for the space over the concession stand—other than that, he was free to do what he wanted. After receiving the plans, he returned with a wall drawing that was meant to be a “whimsical diagram of a portion of the solar system.” Muller decided on this for the project because of his interests in astronomy and cosmology. In addition, he mentioned that the stadium itself resembles a spaceship.
Muller stated that he “actually liked the challenge of coming up with a project that would appeal to whoever was stuck in line waiting for a BBQ beef sandwich, nachos and a beer.”
As a college student, I’ve been to my share of football games at the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. After reading about the art in the Cowboys Stadium, I think that Sanford could use something similar. Don’t get me wrong, I love our stadium, but it would actually be nice to see some art. It's something I had never thought of before reading this article. Having permanent art on stadium walls is definitely unusual, but I think it’s a great idea.
The Art X + Sculpture exhibition, “Continuance,” features work by Elizabeth Baek, Gary Bardizbanian, Katie Graham, Rejon Noah and Seth Nichoals Stephens. The exhibition will have everything from sculpture, to kinetic video and flash animation. The Art X: Expanded Forms program teaches students various media, including digital media, computer-based art, durational installation and more. The program emphasizes “creativity, versatility and poetics over computer-based technical skills.” The BFA program in sculpture works to give students knowledge in both traditional and contemporary sculpture concepts, while working with stone, wood, sheet-metal and bronze, among other media.
More BFA exhibitions will be opening in early December. These exhibitions will include photography, printmaking, metals, jewelry and more. We’ll keep you posted, so check back for more information!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009, the College of Environment and Design is sponsoring the opening reception for the exhibition “Forming Content,” which features art by Cecile L.K. Martin, assistant professor in the College of Environment and Design. The reception begins at 4 p.m. 
Some of the county’s artists have been recognized regionally and nationally. Pat and Janice Shields were featured in Southern Living for their pottery, and Stephanie Astalos-Jones in the same magazine for her psysanky (Ukrainian eggs) and jewelry. Another artist’s work was in a recent Warner Brothers movie. Producers leased folk artist Peter Loose’s work for scenes in the movie. His art has also been in various exhibitions throughout the Southeast.
The Madison County Artist Market is sponsored by the Madison County Chamber of Commerce. The event is free and open to the public.
Here are a few photos of some of the artists’ pieces. Check out the event’s blog for more.
