ALABAMAARTS In this Issue 2003 State Arts Awards Volume ......On the Cover:linoleum cut with hand applied color by Richard Zoellner, “Jazz-Blues-02”, 54" x 32". This piece was

STATE ARTS AWARDS 2003 • ALABAMAARTS • 1

Volume XIXNumber 1

STATE ARTS AWARDS 2003

In this Issue2003 State Arts Awards

3

4

8

13

17

21

25

2931

ALABAMAARTS

Library of Congress Card No. 74628447

A Celebration of the ArtsAl Head, Executive Director, ASCA

Philip A. SellersA Man for All SeasonsRick Harmon

Albert Murray Scooter Comes HomeJay Lamar

Johnny LongA Sound of the SouthAndy Ellis

Amanda W. PenickHalf a Century of Music MakingDr. Pamela W. Penick

Cecil WhitmireThe “Mighty Wurlitzer”Alec Harvey

Jerry BrownRoots Deep in Southern ClayJoey Brackner

2003 Celebration of the Arts Awards Performers

The Alabama Artists Gallery Exhibition

On the Cover: linoleum cut with hand applied color by Richard Zoellner, “Jazz-Blues-02”, 54" x 32". This piece was pro-duced as part of the "Alabama Big Prints" project funded by ASCA and organized by Scott Stephens at the University ofMontevallo to feature works by thirteen Alabama artists. This print was selected for the cover to celebrate the writings ofAlbert Murray, recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Artist Award.

ASCA also honors the artist Richard C. Zoellner who died March 6, 2003 at the age of 94. The Tuscaloosa News wrote,"Line and color, texture and symmetry, harmony and contrast, these were the tools of his trade, and he wielded them withsuch deftness that his work is included in the permanent collections of many of the nation's finest museums: TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum, the Brooklyn Museum,the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Library of Congress, and many others."

Zoellner was a gifted teacher, establishing in 1945 at the University of Alabama one of only two fine art printmaking pro-grams in the Southeast. His printmaking program attracted to the state a generation of young artists and professionals tolearn the craft of lithography and etching. Following his retirement in 1979 he remained active as a painter and printmak-

er. In 1992, at the age of 84, he exhibited to critical acclaim 15 new works of art inspired by a trip to the Yucatan peninsula and the architectureof its Mayan ruins. "I just try to make good art," he often said.

2 • ALABAMAARTS • STATE ARTS AWARDS 2003

Mission StatementThe mission of the Alabama State Council on the Arts is to promote Alabama’s

diverse and rich artistic resources while highlighting excellence and educational

experiences.

The AgencyThe Alabama State Council on the Arts is the official state agency for the support

and development of the arts in Alabama. It was established in 1966 by an act of the

Alabama Legislature. The agency supports not-for-profit arts organizations,

programming in the arts for the general public, and individual artists. The State Arts

Council works to expand the state’s cultural resources and preserve its unique

cultural heritage and places a high priority on arts programming by and for schools.

The Council’s primary means of supporting the arts and making the arts more

accessible to varied audiences is through a multi-faceted grants program which

covers all disciplines and fields of creative expression.

The CouncilThe fifteen members of the Council are drawn from communities throughout the

state. They are appointed by the Governor for six-year terms, and selection is based

on expertise in the arts, business, or community affairs. The officers of the Council

are elected by its members.

The Council meets four times each year, at various locations throughout the state. It

approves agency programs and policies, develops long range plans, and makes final

decisions on state and federal grant dollars under its jurisdiction.

Alabama’s Council on the Arts


T he arts are such an important part of the fab-ric of our state because of some very talentedand committed people. The artist, arts educa-

tor, arts administrator, arts patron, arts volunteer aswell as the audience and the purchaser of art are theones who make it all happen. If one evaluates whysome communities have such a vibrant arts environ-ment and others may not, without exception, theanswer lies in the commitment and talent of certainspecial people. This issue of Alabama Arts is devotedto those “certain people” who contribute to ourstate’s cultural environment and work to improve thequality of life for so many citizens in communitiesacross Alabama.

Every other year the Alabama State Council onthe Arts recognizes individuals for their work in thearts through an awards program that is designed as acelebration of contribution and achievement. Thewinners of this year’s awards represent the best quali-ties of contribution and achievement. They are indi-viduals who have made a positive and lasting differ-ence in their communities, the state and, in somecases, our nation. In 2003 the Council is honoring anationally acclaimed writer, a life-long arts patronand volunteer, a fifth-generation traditional artist, anadvanced-level arts educator, a musicconductor/director, and a community arts activistand musician. The details of their accomplishmentsand contributions are profiled in the pages of thisedition of Alabama Arts.

While six individuals are being honored thisyear, the Council realizes there of hundreds of peoplewho deserved to be recognized for their work in the

arts in our state. We are hopeful the time for theirrecognition, in various forms, will come. But, the listis long of those no longer with us, who should alwaysbe remembered with appreciation and respect. Ofrecent note are Winton “Red” Blount, SamMockbee, Richard Zoellner, Martin Hames,Flemming Wilson, Bo McGee, Nell Carter, FreemanWootten and the Council’s own Bill Bates. There aremany more heroes of the arts, which space here doesnot allow, that we should celebrate. From famousartists, to volunteers who work quietly behind thescenes, to educators who have touched the lives ofthousands of young people, the list goes on ofAlabamians who have made our state a better placeto live.

The night of our 2003 awards program, May2nd, will include honorees, performing and visualartists, special guests and many friends of the artsfrom all parts of the state. But, while awards and spe-cial programs are nice, we truly hope that you willsupport, appreciate and celebrate, year-round, thecontributions of those in your community who makethe arts such a vital part of our lives. ■

Al Head is the Executive Director

of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

A Celebration of the

A rtsby Al Head


P hilip Sellers appreciates art—paintings by the masters,well-performed symphonies,

and classic Shakespeare plays. So itis a surprise that one of the thingshe most likes seeing at theMontgomery Museum of Fine Artsand at the Alabama Shakespeare fes-tival is a line of buses. “You can goto the museum or the ShakespeareFestival during the day and you’ll seethem, bus after bus,” said theMontgomery investment banker.“They must have gotten schoolbuses full of children from almostevery school in the state. It justmakes you feel good to see it.”

For while Sellers enjoys fineart, he has spent much of his lifeensuring that others have the oppor-tunity to enjoy it, and his focus hasusually been on the children, andtheir children to come. He takes agreat deal of pride in the arts scenethat Montgomeryhas created. “Ithink from thestandpoint ofquality of life,Montgomery hasas good an artsscene or betterthan in any simi-lar sized town Iknow,” saidSellers. Althoughhe downplays hiscontribution,Sellers has had agreat deal to dowith the blos-soming ofMontgomery’sarts scene.

The formerMontgomeryChamber ofCommercePresident hasbeen a long-timemember on theboards of The

Alabama Shakespeare Festival, TheMontgomery Museum of Fine Arts,and The Montgomery Symphony.The Washington and Lee Universitygraduate was named Montgomery’sCitizen of the Year in 1988. He tooktime to work with the arts despite

THE JONNIE DEE RILEY LITTLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Philip A. SellersA MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

by Rick Harmon

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f W

illia

m B

. Sel

lers

Philip A. Sellers with his wife, the late Caroline Sellers.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f W

illia

m B

. Sel

lers

Philip A. Sellers speaking at Huntingdon College


working with the Montgomery AreaUnited Way, the YMCA, JacksonHospital, Baptist Medical Center,the Montgomery Rotary Club, theMontgomery Area Council onAging, the Davis Theatre for thePerforming Arts and withHuntingdon College. “With all wehave in Montgomery, it’s almosthard not to get involved in the arts,”he said chuckling.

When Sellers returned fromWorld War II, where he served inthe Army Air Corp in the Pacific,the city’s arts scene was far humblerthan it is today. “When I startedworking with the museum it was inan old school building.” Sellers said.

Philip A. Sellers with his extended family.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f W

illia

m B

. Sel

lers

Fredda Perryman, Philip Sellers and Gordon Martin at a Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Board meeting, 2002.


“There was a collection of arrow-heads and some things like that, butnothing like what is there now.”And while there were few fine artsin the Montgomery Museum of FineArts, back then the city’s communi-ty theaters wouldn’t have been con-fused with one of the topShakespeare theaters in the world.“Of course, Red Blount was not onlythe man who did that, but was amajor influence on the city’s entirearts scene,” Sellers said. “His interestin art and his financial support of itmeant a lot, but by getting involvedhe also encouraged others to getinvolved in the arts.” “I was madechairman when the AlabamaShakespeare Festival came toMontgomery. It was a wonderful

experience. I think I got much moreout of it than I put into it.”

Kent Thompson became ASFArtistic Director several years afterthe festival moved to Montgomery,but he said he has heard enough toknow that while Blount brought thetheater here, it is hard to overesti-mate Seller’s contributions. “Philipplayed a major role in the theater’ssuccessful move to Montgomery,”Thompson said. “The Blounts wereresponsible for the initial vision andthe funding, but Philip was reallythe board chairman in charge of car-rying it out.” Sellers not only made amajor contribution in bringing thetheater here, but also in bringing itscurrent artistic director. “He had ahuge impact on my decision to come

here,” Thompson said. “He isstraightforward and direct, but gen-tle and civilized. I know he had todeal with a number of situations anddid so with aplomb.”

While working with the muse-um and the symphony, even Sellerswas not ambitious enough to dreamthat they would become what theyare today. “I think we tried to envi-sion what they might become, but Idon’t think we even came close,” hesaid. “Red was probably the onlyone. He wanted not just the bestShakespeare festival in the state, butin the world.” While he may nothave initially envisioned it, Sellersnever saw these lofty goals as beingunreachable. He was appointed tothe Alabama Commission on HigherEducation in 1982, and that experi-ence convinced him people canmake a major difference if they tryhard enough. “It made the impres-sion that it didn’t take too manypeople to turn the world around ifthey were intent enough on doingit,” he said. It’s an impression thatbecame a reality as Montgomery’sarts blossomed, although Sellers saidit has happened so gradually thateven he doesn’t realize the immensi-ty of the change. “You don’t reallynotice how everything sprang up,”he said. “It’s been a gradual growth.It’s like going to the symphony andhearing the improvement, and theyseem to improve almost every per-formance, but you don’t realize howmuch they have improved from theyear before or several years before.”

Philip A. Sellers with “Oak Grove,” a painting by Kelly Fitzpatrick.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f th

e M

ontg

omer

y M

useu

m o

f Fi

ne A

rts


At 82, Sellers is stillactive. He is president ofPhilip A. Sellers Co. Inc., aMontgomery investmentfirm, and has no thoughtsof retiring, although he isspending more time withhis two daughters and twosons, and 12 grandchildren.While he said he is finallydropping off some of thecommittees he has longbeen on, he does it realizingthe huge impact they’vehad on Montgomery. “Thearts have meant a tremen-dous amount to this city,”Sellers said. “It’s meant alot as far as recruitingindustry, but it has alsomeant a lot as far as recruit-ing people. I don’t have totell you how many militaryfamilies have been draggedhere not wanting to comebecause of all they mayhave heard about the Southand then returned here tomake it their home becausethey liked it so much. “The arts hasa lot to do with creating that kind ofenvironment. I think the AlabamaShakespeare Festival and theMontgomery Museum are two of thebest recruiting tools this city couldever have.”

Still, Sellers hasn’t done whathe has with an eye on economicimpact or recruitment. “I don’t thinkwe were smart enough to think ofthe arts in business terms, what it

might mean as far as attractingindustry to the community,” he said.“We looked at it more in terms ofwhat it meant to children and to thegenerations who would come alongafter them.” Sellers smiles, perhapsonce again envisioning one of thecity’s artistic creations—the creationof lines of buses full of children whowill witness wonders they neverwould have seen before. ■

Philip A. Sellers, relaxing at home, 1981.

Phot

o by

Rex

McD

owel

l

Rick Harmon is the features Editor for

the Montgomery Advertiser.


Cast the fortune of a Negrochild born in the early part ofthe twentieth century in the

tiny south Alabama town of

Nokomis. Not even the most auda-cious fortuneteller might have hadthe vision to see through the thickhedge of time and place. Race, cul-ture, place, timing—everythingshould conspire to grow up a thornybarrier behind which the bright boy,like Sleeping Beauty, kept, numbed ifnot asleep.

But it turns out that pricklyhedge exactly suits one who says,“My name is also Jack the Rabbit

because my home is in the briarpatch.” Novelist, essayist, biograph-er, and critic Albert Murray hasbounded again and again into the

place where less brilliant, more fear-ful folk fear to tread.

With the publication in 1970 ofThe Omni-Americans, Murray stakedout a bramble-filled territory. In hisfirst book, Murray asserted that racematters tremendously in America,but it is not a simple black-and-white, bi-tonal composition. In termsboth more and less complex, Murrayfound both races partners, complicit,in creating the culture and atmos-

phere of racism in America. He putit to us thus: one can be reduced to astatistic or one can participate in thelarger scene. One can choose eitherto be diminished or to use all thetools of art and intellect to enlargethe scope, and therefore the poten-tial, of the scene.

There can be no questionabout Murray’s response to the cir-cumstances. Although he did notbegin his writing career in earnestuntil after his retirement from theU.S. Air Force in 1970, since thepublication of The Omni-AmericansMurray has continued through adozen books—biographies, collec-tions of critical essays, novels, andrecently, a book of poetry—to offerstartling, transformative, deeplyintellectual, and highly creativeinsights into art, music, literature,and American culture.

In the 1930s, Murray attendedTuskegee Institute, where he latertaught. His classmate and lifelongintellectual sparring partner wasRalph Ellison, author of InvisibleMan. At Tuskegee, Murray readwidely, a lifelong habit. “Reading’sthe liberating device because itmakes the world yours,” he has said.“How can you segregate a guy who’scoming to terms with the wholeworld?” Hemingway, Thomas Mann,Auden, Freud, Faulkner, Proust,

THE DISTINGUISHED ARTIST AWARD

Albert MurraySCOOTER COMES HOME

by Jay Lamar

Albert Murray in his library.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f A

laba

ma

Cen

ter

for

Publ

ic T

elev

isio

n


No one has more eloquently and thoroughly represent-ed Alabama’s influence on the art and culture of the UnitedStates than Albert Murray. The lush landscapes of Murray’sAlabama have always fed his astonishingly imaginative cre-ative capacity and provided a spyglass tree from which he for-mulates both his poetic vision and his insightful cultural cri-tiques. As a journeyman who made his way from MobileCounty Training School to Jazz at Lincoln Center, by way ofTuskegee Institute, he all the while conspired with the mostcritically acclaimed artists of the century, changing fakeloreinto a new folklore that conclusively illustrates that the bluesidiom statement most completely reflects the elegant grace ofthe southern and black vernacular maneuvers at the core ofwhat is truly American about our art. Whether writing storiesthat embalm the spirit of the deep South and Tuskegee in the1930s, or poems that jam on Armstrong, Ellington, Faulkner,Freud, and Hemingway, or the most unique aesthetic observa-tions of the twentieth century, he has always refined, extend-ed, and elaborated on the riffs he learned in the southern briarpatch of his youth.

Barbara Baker is an assistant professor of English at Tuskegee

University and the author of The Blues Aesthetic and the

Making of American Identity (2003). Her current project,

sponsored by the National Endowment of the Humanities,

is a book about Murray, Tuskegee, and the blues.

•••

That most eminent of African-American scholars (and agood writer too), Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has already ‘bout saidit all. In his 1996 New Yorker “Profile” piece titled “King ofCats,” he ends by saying, “this is Albert Murray’s century; wejust live in it.”

Well, yeah.

I can’t really presume to say more except to add thatAlbert Murray has, personally, uniquely, inspirationally, mademe feel we are living in it together, him and me, him and meand everybody.

Everybody! All of us. Together.

I was not “another Alabama jackrabbit” (just like him)until he told me I was. I was not aware of my residence in “thebriar patch” until he pointed out that common domicile for usall.

All of us! Everybody. Together.

My ear, eye, mind, and heart go back often to the open-ing and closing of his “Epilogue” to South to a Very Old Place:

“Yes the also and also of all that also; because the old-ness that you are forever going back again by one means oranother to is not only of a place and of people but also andperhaps most often of the promises that exact the haze-blueadventuresomeness form the brown-skinned hometown boy inus all.”

Bert Hitchcock is Hargis Professor of American

Literature at Auburn University.

•••

Albert Murray's evocation of the world of boyhood inThe Spyglass Tree ranks with the best of that genre. His South toa Very Old Place generated some of the best discussion I haveever encountered in the classroom. His fiction and essays illus-trate his wide-ranging reading of some of the world's greatestthinkers whose books line his shelves. We are indebted to himfor promoting the artistic value of jazz and the blues.Presenting this prestigious award to this intellectual giantbrings as much honor to Alabama as it does to the recipient.

Dr. Jean McIver is professor of English at the

University of South Alabama.

•••

If Alabama can ever claim to have done right by itsblack folk, then Albert Murray may be its best hope. As anintellectual giant, he has held us all to the idea of makingexcellence our standard. As an American, he has called us tosee the home-grown diasporic African as an all-American; aspart of the core of what it means in this age to be anAmerican. As an African American writer he is an epic hero,a beautiful brother with more style in a hangnail on his leftpinky than a heap of people will ever know in a lifetime.

Congratulations Mr. Murray; Congratulations Alabama.

Dr. Amilcar Shabazz is Director of the African American Studies

Program and Assistant Professor in the Department of American Studies

at the University of Alabama.

ALABAMIANS ON ALBERT MURRAYDuke Ellington once called Albert Murray “the unsquarest person I know.”

Here’s a sampling of what friends, colleagues, and admirers in Alabama have to say about him.


Malraux, Burke, the Iliad and theOdyssey—his literary influences areglobal, classical. Literature is basicequipment for living, Murray notes,because “without a sense of form,without a sense of purpose, middle,and end, what we have is insanity.”

Throughout his career Murrayhas been serious about music. In fact,jazz and the blues are central toMurray’s ideas about American soci-ety and culture, as well as his literaryprojects. Even before the 1985Autobiography of Count Basie (as toldto Albert Murray), Murray was struckby the richness, the aptness of bluesand jazz. In Stomping the Blues, TheHero and The Blues, and From theBriarpatch File: On Context,Procedure, and American Identity, heexplores the blues idiom. The artist,Murray says, uses “regional particu-lars,” the “idiomatic details, thedown-home conventions, the provin-cial customs and folkways.” But overthem all is the “the fully orchestratedblues statement,” a strategy, he sug-gests, “for acknowledging the fact

that life is a low-down dirty shameand for improvising or riffing on theexigencies of the predicament.”

Murray has always used hisAlabama landscape for setting, image,and ideas. Alabama appears in thenovels that draw extensively onMurray’s own life—South to a VeryOld Place, Train Whistle Guitar, TheSpyglass Tree, and Seven League Boots.The boy Scooter, who is also Jack theRabbit, the “thin gray, ghost-whisper-ing mid-winter drizzle,” Stagolee andoutlaw Railroad Bill, the sound offreight trains headed to Meridian, themusic of language spoken by real peo-ple in a real place—these are his“regional particulars.”

Yet Murray the artist is ulti-mately about the universal. “My sto-ries are really about what it means tobe human,” he wrote in Blue Devils ofNada. Through his work, he peelsback the layers of individual history,character, voice to reveal, in the formand intent of our own original music,an American mythology. Not a make-believe cartoon. But a mighty story of

AN ALBERT MURRAYBIBLIOGRAPHY

The essay, biography, thenovel, even poetry—there is hardlya genre Murray has not employed.The following list suggests the prolif-ic and various output of his literarylife. Read them all, but also don’tmiss the chance to hear Murray inperson. He is a brilliant talker.Conversations with Albert Murray(1997), edited by Roberta McGuire,includes 20 interviews with Murrayand offers a taste of his inimitablestyle.

The Omni-Americans: NewPerspectives on Black Experience andAmerican Culture (1970)

South to a Very Old Place (1971)

The Hero and the Blues (1973)

Train Whistle Guitar (1974)

Stomping the Blues (1976)

Good Morning Blues: TheAutobiography of Count Basie (as toldto Albert Murray)(1985)

The Spyglass Tree (1991)

Seven League Boots (1995)

The Blue Devils of Nada: AContemporary American Approach toAesthetic Statement (1996)

Trading Twelves: The Selected Lettersof Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray(2000)

From the Briarpatch File: On Context,Procedure, and American Identity(2001)

Conjugations and Reiterations (2001)

An early family portrait of the Murrays, Albert, daughter Michell, and wife Mozelle.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f A

laba

ma

Cen

ter

for

Publ

ic T

elev

isio

n

human existence thatfinds a narrative, a code,and a hero in the blues.

As O’ConnorProfessor of Literatureat Colgate Universityand through stints atthe University ofMassachusetts inBoston, EmoryUniversity in Atlanta,and the University ofMissouri, Murray hasexerted a powerfulinfluence on a genera-tion of writers, thinkers,and artists. Author andcritic Stanley Crouch once describedhim as “my mentor and far more myfather than the fellow whose bloodruns in my veins.” And Henry LouisGates wrote in the New Yorker, partof the answer to the question “whatdoes it mean to be black” is “reject-ing all exclusionary responses to thequestions, as Albert Murray, the greatcontrarian of American cultural criti-cism, has inspired generations ofthinkers to do.”

In fact, Murray’s importance isacknowledged almost everywhere: ANew Yorker piece finds Murray “pos-sessed of the poet’s language, thenovelist’s sensibility, the essayist’sclarity, the jazzman’s imagination, thegospel singer’s depth of feeling.” TheBoston Globe asserts that he is “asclose to a classic man of letters asone might find in this countrytoday.” The Washington Post BookWorld describes Murray as “one of the

best-kept secrets in contemporaryAmerican literature. He is our pre-mier writer about jazz and blues, anincisive critic, and a social commen-tator of wide-ranging vision.”Whether mentoring WyntonMarsalis in the creation of Jazz atLincoln Center, consulting with Ken

Burns on Jazz, beinginterviewed onNational Public Radio,or passionately talkingabout books and ideas,Murray inspires loveand admiration. As Alabama celebratesMurray’s life work withthe DistinguishedArtist Award, it isappropriate to remem-ber the artist’s mythol-ogy: “Improvisation isthe ultimate human(i.e. heroic) endow-ment.” It is the “ability

to operate on dynamics equivalent tothose of the vamp, the riff, and mostcertainly the break, which jazz musi-cians regard as the Moment of Truth,or that disjuncture that should bringout your personal best.”

Circumstances create heroes. Intheir rugged individualism and accep-


Albert Murray in Europe.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f A

laba

ma

Cen

ter

for

Publ

ic T

elev

isio

n

Albert murray and Duke Ellington sharing a laugh.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f A

laba

ma

Cen

ter

for

Publ

ic T

elev

isio

n


tance of adversity as an inescapablecondition of human existence, theyshow “flexibility” or “the ability toswing.” They are self-reliant. Theyhave charisma. Forged in a “frame ofacceptance”—or the willingness torise to the occasion—heroes producetheir “personal best.”

Altogether not a bad descrip-tion of Albert Murray stomping theblues away. ■

Jay Lamar is assistant director of the

Auburn University Center for the Arts

& Humanities.

Excerpt from Train Whistle Guitar by Albert Murray

There was a chinaberry tree in the front yard of thathouse in those days, and in early spring the showers outsidethat window always used to become pale green again. Thenbefore long there would be chinaberry blossoms. Then itwould be maytime and then junebugtime and no moreschool bell mornings until next September, and when youcame out onto the front porch and it was fair there werechinaberry shadows all the way from the steps to the gate.

When you climbed up to the best place in the chin-aberry tree and looked out across Gins Alley during thattime of the year the kite pasture, through which you tookthe short cut to the post office, would be a meadow of dogfennels again. So there would also be jimson weeds as wellas ragworts and rabbit tobacco along the curving roadsidefrom the sweet gum corner to the pump shed, and pokesalad from there to the AT&N….

Southeast of all that was the L&N clearing, acrosswhich you could see the trains and beyond which you couldalso see that part of the river. Next on the horizon duesouth was Three Mile Crest, which blocked off Dodge MillBottom and that part of Three Mile Creek. So you couldn’tsee the waterfront either, nor any part of the downtownMobile, Alabama, skyline, not even with real binoculars.

Nor could you see One Mile Bridge beyond the tree-line to the southwest. Nor the pecan orchard which youknew was due west out over the gate and the sunflowers

and across the AT&N cut, which you couldn’t see either.Nor African Baptist Hill. But between that neighborhoodand the Chickasaw Highway was the Southern Railroad,whose night whistles you could sometimes hear as some-times after midnight you could also hear the GM&O andthe GM&N en route to St. Louis, Missouri, and KansasCity by way of Meridian, Mississippi.

All you could see due north up Dodge Mill Roadbeyond Buckshaw Corner and the crawfish pond that wasonce part of a Civil War artillery embankment was the skyabove Bay Poplar Woods fading away into the marco poloblue horizon mist on the other side of which were suchexpress train destinations as Birmingham, Alabama, andNashville, Tennessee, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and DetroitMichigan, plus the snowbound Klondike of Canada plus theicebound tundras of Alaska plus the North Pole.

The Official name of that place (which is perhapseven more a location in time than an intersection on amap) was Gasoline Point, Alabama, because that was whatour post office address was, and it was also the name on theL&N timetable and the road map. But once upon a time itwas also the briar patch, which is why my nickname eventhen was Scooter, and is also why the chinaberry tree (thatwas ever as tall as any fairy tale beanstalk) was, amongother things, my spyglass tree.

Albert Murray with Ralph Ellison.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f A

laba

ma

Cen

ter

for

Publ

ic T

elev

isio

n

Aglance at Dr. John M. Long’sresume reveals a myriad ofaccomplishments in the field

of music and band directing. A mem-ber of the National BandAssociation’s Hall of Fame and theAlabama Bandmasters Hall ofFame…recipient of the AlabamaOutstanding Music Educatoraward…Sudler Medal of Honor pre-sented by the John Philip SousaFoundation...Buildings that bear hisname. And, the list goes on and on.

What is not immediately evi-dent is the influence the longtimehigh school and college educator anddirector has had on the lives ofyoung people through the years.Literally hundreds of Long’s formerstudents have gone on to careers asband directors or music instructors,

and many, likeUniversity of NorthAlabama Chair ofMusic, Dr. JimmySpencer, give the creditfor his career choice tothe man who was hisband director atMontgomery’s Robert E.Lee High School.

“He is the reason Iam in music,” Simpsononce said about Long.“He has the ability tomake you want to bethe best you can be in

any situation. He had a profoundinfluence on my life.”

One familiar theme amongmany of Long’s former students ishis leadership both in and out ofthe band room. “He was much morethan just a teacher,” one former stu-dent once said of Long. “He taughtsome music along with some goodvalues, and those values are stillwith me to this day.”

Still another recalled Long’slessons for life. “The thing abouthim is that it’s not only the leader-ship he gives you as a student, butit’s the leadership he provides forev-er afterwards.”

Long’s love for music beganearly in life and, at least in part, canbe attributed to his family. Born inGuntersville, Alabama, he began at

age six taking piano lessons from hismother. A graduate of AthensCollege, she also studied at theCincinnati Conservatory of Musicand put her musical abilities to workto bring in money after the GreatDepression wiped out the familylumber business.

As Long grew, so did his musi-cal talents. Entering MarshallCounty High School, he joined theband, playing the trumpet under thedirection of Mrs. Maxine Couch and

THE GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD

Johnny LongA SOUND OF THE SOUTH

by Andy Ellis

Dr. Johnny Long directs the Troy State University Band.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy

Johnny Long and his wife Mary Lynn say goodbye to Dekalb

County High School in Fort Payne during a farewell party as

the couple prepared to move to Montgomery. Long would

become the first band director at the newly opened Robert E.

Lee High School.



later under thewatchful eye of JamesL. Cowart.

Taking noticeof Long’s abilities,Cowart asked him tojoin his dance bandknown as “Cowart’sClowns.” It was thefirst of many suchinvitations Longwould receive.

In 1943, as Long entered hissenior year, he found himself in aunique position. Cowart was draftedand entered the Navy, leaving theschool without a band director. Longwas asked by the school’s principal toserve in the position until anothercandidate could be found. However,no one was found to fill the position,and Long was left to lead the bandthroughout hissenior year.

In Decemberof that year, Longturned 18 and waseligible for the draft.However, due to hisposition as banddirector, he wasallowed to remainin school and gradu-ate. After gradua-tion, Long joinedthe Army. His musi-cal talents were rec-ognized in theArmy as well, earn-ing him an assign-ment to the touring

band the “Southernaires.”At the end of World War II,

Long was discharged from the serviceand enrolled in the University ofAlabama to study Pre-Law. His stayin Tuscaloosa was short lived. Afteronly one quarter, his love of musiccalled him away to JacksonvilleState College to become the assis-tant band director.

He enrolled in JacksonvilleState and for the second time in hisyoung life became both a student anda band director. During this time,Long also worked as band director atJacksonville High School.

After receiving his bachelor’sdegree from Jacksonville State in1949, Long moved to Oneonta,Alabama and became band directorat Blount County High School.Although he stayed at the schoolonly one year, it was there that hisinnovative nature began to blossom.He decided the band should have aflag line, something that was rare insouthern marching bands. The flagline proved to be a very popular addi-tion to the band, and it also allowedthe young band leader to meet MaryLynn Adams. The two were marriedthe following July.

Student band leader Cobb Alexander (left) and Long (center) accepting a check for the 1963 Robert E. Lee High School Band’s trip to a

national competition in Cleveland, Ohio.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy

Long gives his customary salute before TSU’s “Sound of the South” band takes the

field for a halftime performance.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy


From Oneonta, Long moved onto Fort Payne and DeKalb CountyHigh School where he stayed from1951-1955. His influence reallybegan to grow during this time. Otherband directors both at the highschool and college levels begin totake notice of the interesting march-ing styles and unique halftime showsbeing produced by this brilliantyoung band leader. These styles beganto be mimicked by others throughoutthe southeast.

In 1955, Long accepted thechallenging position of building aband program at the newly-openedRobert E. Lee High School. It waswhile at the Montgomery highschool that Long began to gain areputation on the national level.Under his direction, the Lee Bandwon five national band contests.The Lee Concert Band also was theonly Alabama band at that time tobe selected for the SousaFoundation’s Historic Roll of Honorof High School Concert Bands from1920-1960.

While Long had his hands fullbuilding the Lee program into oneof national prominence, he alsowas completing work on a master’sdegree in music from theUniversity of Alabama. He also wassharing his love of music with theMontgomery community.

Long organized theMontgomery Youth Orchestra in1955, and served as the group’s con-ductor for much of his 10-year stay inAlabama’s capitol city. He also

became involved with the Blue-GrayFootball Classic as music director, aposition he would hold for 41 years.

Long’s community service anddedication did not go unnoticed inthe Montgomery area. In 1959, hewas nominated by the MontgomeryJaycees as one of the TenOutstanding Young Men in America,and in 1964, he was presented theDistinguished Service Award by thecity of Montgomery.

In 1965, Long left the highschool ranks to become the banddirector at Troy State University,where he began immediately to build

a program of national reputation.Continuing to pass along his

knowledge and love of music toyoung people, Long established ahigh school summer band camp in1965 that ran throughout most of histenure at the university. Later, in1973, Dr. Long established theSoutheastern United State ConcertBand Clinic, which has grown andcontinues to thrive. This year, theclinic drew more than 1,500 bandstudents, directors and parents to theTroy State campus in February.

Under Long, the Troy StateUniversity’s “Sound of the South”

Long (center) is presented with the National Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Award in 1982.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy


Marching Band represented the stateof Alabama in four presidential inau-gural parades—two for PresidentRichard Nixon, one for PresidentRonald Reagan and one for PresidentGeorge Bush. The TSU band alsowas the official band for PresidentNixon during his 1971 visit toMobile and for President Reagan dur-ing his 1987 visit to Dothan.

Long became chair of the TroyState music department in 1972, aposition he held until 1996, and wasdean of the School of Arts andSciences from 1974 to 1991. He alsoserved as assistant to the presidentfrom 1982-1996, and dean of theSchool of Fine Arts from 1992-1996.

As with the other communitiesin which he served, Long adoptedthe city of Troy and became a vitalinfluence. He served from 1973-1977on the Board of Education of theTroy City School System, includingone year as the group’s president. Healso served a one-year term as the

president of the Troy Chamber ofCommerce.

Long’s national reputationcontinued to grow after coming toTroy State University. In 1969, Longwas selected by the School MusicianMagazine as one of the TenOutstanding Band Directors in theUnited States and Canada. Threeyears later, he received the Citationof Excellence by the National BandAssociation, and in 1977, becamethe first active bandmaster electedto the Alabama Bandmasters’ Hallof Fame.

In 1973, he was elected tomembership in the prestigiousAmerican Bandmasters Association(ABA), and later led the organiza-tion as its president in 1987. It wasduring his tenure as president thatthe ABA successfully lobbiedCongress to pass a resolution makingJohn Philip Sousa’s “Stars and StripesForever” the official march of theUnited States of American.

Long’s highest honor came in1994 when he was elected to theNational Band Association’s Hallof Fame of Distinguished BandConductors, making him theyoungest active bandmaster to beso honored.

Long retired as the Troy Statemarching band director following the1995 football season and ended hisduties as dean of the school of finearts and director of the concert andsymphony bands in 1996. Still veryactive in retirement, he maintains anoffice on the Troy campus. His influ-ence on Troy State University is evi-dent in the two buildings on campusthat bear his name – John MaloyLong Hall, which houses the univer-sity’s Music Department and theHawkins-Adams-Long Hall ofHonor, which is home to theNational Band Association’s Hall ofFame, the TSU Museum and thelibrary of former Troy ChancellorRalph Adams.

Upon his retirement, Longdownplayed the numerous accoladesand said he had only one hope.“People often ask me how I wouldlike to be remembered,” he said. “Iwould like to be remembered as ateacher and a band director whomade a difference.”

Indeed, Dr. John M. Long hasand continues to make a differencein so many ways. ■

Andy Ellis is coordinator of University

Relations at Troy State University.

Former TSU Chancellor, the late Ralph Adams (left), speaks with Long during a reception honoring the longtime

band director.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Tr

oy S

tate

Uni

vers

ity P

hoto

grap

hy


Motivation. Inspiration.Partnership.Responsibility.

Accomplishment. These are theconcepts that describe a half-centuryof instruction by master teacher andpianist Amanda Penick. TheUniversity of Alabama music profes-sor will receive a Governor’s ArtAward in May, and she holds the dis-tinction of being the longest tenuredprofessor in higher education in theState of Alabama. Penick has taughtat the Capstone since 1953, and sherepresents the pinnacle of pianoteaching in our state.

In a recent conversation withAmanda Penick, her love of musicand teaching is apparent immediate-ly. “As a teacher, when one has goodstudents who provide stimulus andmotivation for the teacher, theteacher reciprocates, and in turnprovides stimulus and motivation forthe student. It is dual motivation,and it is a marriage of sorts. We allhave the love of music, and withthat we are recreating and re-defin-ing the craft of music, and that initself has been my reason to continueto teach.” Penick thinks of teachingas an ever-enlarging circle, believingpractice leads to accomplishment,accomplishment leads to motivation,and that subsequent motivation pro-duces more practice. “But always, the


Amanda W. PenickHALF A CENTURY OF MUSIC MAKING

by Dr. Pamela W. Penick

Amanda W. Penick in her studio with her piano.

Phot

o by

Ric

key

Yana

ura


music itself is of the utmost impor-tance as we strive to be better asteachers and musicians.”

It is insightful teachingphilosophies such as these that havemade Amanda Penick a successfuland prolific teacher and musician.Her accolades are many. A native of

Alabama and a lifelong resident ofTuscaloosa, Amanda received herBachelor of Music from HollinsCollege in Roanoke, Virginia in1952 and her Master of Music degreefrom the University of Alabama in1953. Following her master’s degreework with Roy McAllister at theUniversity, she subsequently studiedwith Irwin Freundlich and JosephProstakoff. She has served as guest

artist, clinician, adjudicator and con-ductor of master classes for numerouslocal, district, state and national lev-els of the Music Teachers NationalAssociation. Penick is past presidentof Pi Kappa Lambda, the AlabamaMusic Teachers Association, and hasbeen a member of the Southern

Division Executive Board ofMTNA. She is an honorarymember of XXXI Club,Omicron Delta Kappa andthe Golden Key HonorSociety. Her students havewon many awards and com-petitions including theMTNA Collegiate ArtistCompetition and the YoungKeyboard ArtistCompetition. AmandaPenick holds the MasterTeacher Certification fromMTNA, and in 1988 wasthe recipient of theUniversity of Alabama’sOutstanding Commitmentto Teaching Award.

In 1998, a $20,000endowment fund in Penick’s

name was established by theMusic Teachers NationalAssociation. This endowment is oneof only four perpetuated by theBoard of Trustees of the MusicTeachers National Association.Recently she also received the DruidArts Musician of the Year Awardfrom the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa.As a performer, she has given recitalsand master classes throughout theSoutheast, has appeared extensively

as soloist and chamber musician, andhas performed with the AlabamaSymphony Orchestra and theTuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra.

In recognition of her teachingexcellence and in service to theAlabama Music TeachersAssociation, the community and thestate, Penick was awarded the inau-gural AMTA Teacher of the Year in1998. When she received thisaward, she unselfishly remarked that“This honor really should go tothose teachers who have gone beforeus and have shared their ideas, andto those who have made us the bestwe can be.” She truly feels that theinspiration and the fine teachingshe received from former teachersand fellow musicians have helpedbring her to where she is today. Sheremarks that her studies with RoyMcAllister were very inspiring toher as a young student, and hepassed down a series of principalsthat have served as a guide in herown teaching.

Amanda Penick’s teachingapproach has evolved from manyexperiences. She states that many ofthe pedagogical concepts she useswith her students have evolvedfrom her own teaching experiencesover the years. Her many travelshave no doubt given her teachingadded historical perspective and hercolorful use of imagery and ethnicflavor has enhanced her stylisticapproach to pieces.

From personal experience, thethree years that I worked as a doctor-

Amanda W. Penick at her piano during the 1950s.

Phot

o by

Bill

Ste

phen


al student under Amanda’s instruc-tion will always be the most produc-tive and satisfying years of pianostudy for me. Through years ofteaching experience, she instinctive-ly chooses literature that is the per-fect match for the student. Her psy-chological approach with each stu-dent is extremely intuitive, and sheis able to instill in each student theconfidence factor that is so impor-tant in performing. Penick makeseach student the best that the stu-dent can possibly be. This is thehallmark of superior teaching.

Alabamians around the statecontinue to enjoy her weekly showon Alabama Public Television. For25 years, “The Pianist at Work” hasshowcased Penick’s outstanding stu-dents, as well as many of her “grandstudents” from all corners of the

State of Alabama. In the format of amaster class, the young pianist notonly performs but also is given peda-gogical suggestions regarding the per-formance. Often Amanda shares adelightful historical or a personalanecdote about the composer orcomposition. Anyone watching theshow, whether amateur or profes-sional, should be able to go awaywith ideas that could be applied todaily piano teaching or performing,and many times, just life in general.

How has her teaching changedover the years? Amanda Penick saysshe has totally changed herapproach since she began teachingfifty years ago. “At first I was learn-ing how to teach, and I was learn-ing the music that I was teaching.”Now as a mature and seasoned pro-fessor, the emphasis has shifted to

continually exploring differentmethods by which to communicatea particular concept to the stu-dent(s). The overall enjoyment ofthe music is the ultimate priority,but she places much emphasis onsound and memorization. WhenPenick studied with Freundlich inNew York, she told Freundlich thatshe “wanted a Madison AvenueSound.” The development of abeautiful sound is one of her majorpriorities in teaching, along withemphasizing to students the abilityto really listen to the sound(s) thatthey are producing.

Amanda Penick is also knownfor her quick wit and wonderfulsense of humor. Long-time friend,colleague and duo piano partnerGloria Moody recalls with fondnessthe fun and great times that she

Amanda W. Penick in her studio with graduate student Melodie King.

Phot

o by

Ric

key

Yana

ura


and Amanda have shared over theyears. Coincidentally, the daughtersof Amanda and Gloria wereexpecting their first children atapproximately the same time. Incelebration of the birth of the firstgrandchildren for both of them,Amanda and Gloria worked on andperformed the “Mother GooseSuite” by Ravel on Amanda’s week-ly program, “The Pianist at Work.”Amanda very dryly commented toGloria, “When one is young, oneplays what one is required to play;when one is older and moremature, one plays what one wantsto play, and when one is mucholder, one plays what one is able toplay!” Of course, both ladies havealways performed wonderfully, andthey still collaborate occasionally.

Penick also experiences theconflict of time between performingand teaching. “Each craft involvesmany hours. When I pour my energyand my heart into teaching, it isalways difficult to pull away and ded-icate myself to performing.” Penickseems to have accomplished thattask very well, as she has continuedto perform and give much sought-after master classes throughout thestate and region.

The encouragement and inspi-ration that Amanda Penick gives toher students are evident. She hasgraduated more UA School of Musicdoctoral candidates than any otherprofessor. Penick feels that the stu-dents are her responsibility as long asthey are under her tutelage, and she

is very supportive of their endeavorsand sincerely wants to help them dowell throughout their careers. ForPenick “it is a joint collaboration ina great musical venture”. Whenasked if there is one thing she wouldsay to excite and to encourage youngmusic students, while remainingrealistic, she replied, “Music is notthe most lucrative profession, and itis definitely not a sedentary job, butit is very rewarding to those wholove it as much as I.”

Amanda Penick has dedicatedher life to bringing music to theState of Alabama and undoubtedlyhas produced more former studentswho have become outstanding pianoteachers around the state than any-one else. Her commitment to teach-ing is most outstanding and is evi-

dent from her long list ofaward winners as well as mas-ters and doctoral graduatesfrom the University ofAlabama. Penick’s superiorlegacy has raised the bar forpiano teaching and perform-ing for the entire state. Hermusicianship is superb and shetransfers that love of music toeach and every student. Kudosto Amanda Penick, recipientof a Governor’s Arts Award, adistinction which she so read-ily deserves. Her service to theState of Alabama for half acentury of musical dedicationis truly outstanding andremarkable. ■

Dr. Pamela W. Penick is a former doc-

toral student of Amanda W. Penick.

Pamela is also Amanda’s daughter-in-

law, and is currently the Executive

Director of the Arts and Humanities

Council of Tuscaloosa.

Amanda W. Penick early in her career.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f U

nive

rsity

of

Ala

bam

a Pu

blic

Rel

atio

ns


T he story has been around fordecades now, but it has neverbeen more true.

Once upon a time, in a news-room in Birmingham, someone oncesaid she only knew two people whohad their magic kingdoms: WaltDisney and Cecil Whitmire.

Disney, of course, has spread hisfar and wide, from California toFlorida to Europe and Asia.

Whitmire, on the other hand,has confined his to a block in down-town Birmingham. Whitmire’s magickingdom—on Third Avenue Northbetween 18th and 19th Streets—consists of The Alabama Theatreand the Lyric Theatre across thestreet, a vaudeville house that willsoon be restored to its former glory, ifWhitmire has his way.

It all began, though, with theAlabama Theatre, which opened onDec. 26, 1927 at noon with a show-ing of “Spotlight,” starring EstherRalston. The grand movie palace—which played host to stage showsand orchestras in its early years—would become known as “TheShowplace of the South,” presentingsome of the most popular moviesover the years, including “GoneWith the Wind.”

During the 1940s and 1950s, ayoung boy from Knoxville,Tennessee, would go to the theatre

when he came to visit hisfather’s family inBirmingham.

“The Alabama wouldbabysit me,” Whitmire says.“I would go down aislethree, seventh row from thefront on the right hand sideof the aisle and watchStanleigh Malotte play theorgan. It was thrilling. I canstill remember sitting therehearing the organ motor goon and knowing it wasabout to play. Even at ageseven, my palms would getsweaty because I knew I wasabout to hear somethingthat would absolutely thrillme to death.”

That love for theorgan guided Whitmire’searly years. He took lessonsbeginning at age 12 andcontinued playing while at theUniversity of Tennessee and after-ward, even while working fulltimefor a wholesale hardware house.

“In those days, you could rentan organist for $15 for two hours,and I was playing at funeral homes,country clubs, churches and otherplaces just to make some extramoney,” Whitmire recalls.

At one of those gigs, he wasasked to play at the Tennessee

Theatre. “I went for one day andstayed for 22 years,” Whitmire says.

When he transferred toBirmingham in 1975, Whitmire wasdevastated to find the Alabamaalready had a house organist, but ayear later, he got the job playing themovie palace’s “Mighty Wurlitzer,” aPublix 1 Crawford Special.

“The ride from the bottom ofthe pit to the top of the pit into thespotlight with a big crowd is just


Cecil WhitmireTHE “MIGHTY WURLITZER”

by Alec Harvey

Cecil Whitmire

Phot

o by

Sky

y C

am


terribly exciting,” he says. “I don’thave to spend my money oncocaine and heroin. I get my highjust doing that.”

While the Alabama changedhands several times during the 1970sand 1980s, one thing remained con-stant—Whitmire at the keyboard,playing “Big Bertha,” the MightyWurlitzer, and delighting audiences.

“I was the only one who knewwhere all the light switches were andwhat keys fit what doors,” Whitmiresays. “They would put new manage-ment in, but I stayed. I stayed at theAlabama from 1976 through all therough-and-tumble years when thepublic was abandoning the down-town and, of course, the theatre.

Eventually, the audiences justweren’t there anymore.

The Alabama closed in theSpring of 1981, but Whitmire andthe Birmingham Chapter of theAmerican Theatre Organ

Society were determined to main-tain the organ.

“It’s such a fragile instrument,that if we didn’t work on it, it wouldbe junk and would cost hundreds ofthousands dollars to get it back,”Whitmire says.

To raise money for the organ’supkeep, Whitmire would performtwo concerts a year, even thoughthe “Showplace of the South”wouldn’t fully open to the publicagain until 1988.

Returning to Knoxville for 14months in 1981 and 1982, Whitmireand his wife, Linda, becameinvolved in the restoration of TheTennessee Theatre and Atlanta’s“Save the Fox” campaign.

“During that time, I alwaysthought, if I had my theatre, here’swhat I would do,” he says.

He’d soon get his chance.When the group that owned theAlabama went bankrupt in 1986,

Whitmire and the AmericanTheatre Organ Society knew they’dhave to buy the building to save thebeautiful organ inside.

It wasn’t easy.“We just couldn’t seem to

muster any steam,” Whitmire says.“Banks didn’t want to do businesswith a bunch of organ peoplebecause they didn’t think we knewwhat we were doing.”

Eventually, they approachedthe bankruptcy court and were given60 days to raise the $106,000 in backtaxes, insurance and interest neededto take control of the Alabama.

A fund-drive netted $156,000,and Birmingham Landmarks, Inc.—which Whitmire has headed eversince—bought the Alabama onMay 6, 1987.

“I’ll never forget the feelingafter I had signed those papers allday,” Whitmire once recalled, hisvoice breaking ever so slightly. “I

Former Miss Americas with Cecil Whitmire outside of the Alabama Theatre. From left to right: Neva Jane Langley, Evelyn Ay, BeBe Shopp, Marian

McKnight, Lee Meriwether and Jean Bartell.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f th

e A

laba

ma

Thea

tre


came into the theatre through theback door, walked across the stageand looked out. It just hit me thatwe now had the responsibility for theplace. I was overcome at that pointto realize that a lifelong dream hadcome true.”

Slowly but surely, Whitmireand about 60 volunteers began build-ing the Alabama into a performingarts center, much to the surprise ofmany observers.

“When we took this theatreover, I don’t know of anybody whoreally offered us any hope,”Whitmire says. “They said itcouldn’t be done. The only thingwe knew was that we had the desireto make something out of this oldplace. We have a saying aroundhere that if you tell somebody itcan’t be done, it will be done.”

Eventually, groupssuch as the BirminghamMusic Club, theBirmingham BroadwaySeries and the AlabamaBallet began bookingshows at the Alabama,and the theatre becameanother venue for pop,rock and blues concertscoming to town.

By 1992, the theatrewas so busy that Whitmirequit his hardware job andturned his attention to hisdream full time. When hebegan searching for a gen-eral manager for theAlabama, he knew just theman for the job.

“It came to me thatthis was the job I was

looking for for all my life,” Whitmiresays. “I had to take a terrible cut insalary, but how many people get hechance to do exactly what they loveto do?”

After retiring from the hard-ware business, Whitmire quicklyexpanded his Alabama Theatredream to include the Lyric Theatre,an old vaudeville house across thestreet from the Alabama Theatre.The Lyric opened in 1914, duringvaudeville’s heyday, serving as a livetheatre, a movie theatre and, even-tually, an adult movie theatre until itclosed in 1993.

Since then, Whitmire and hisgroup have been trying to raise the

Fannie Flagg with Cecil.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f th

e A

laba

ma

Thea

tre

James Earl Jones (center) with Cecil Whitmire and a theatre patron.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f th

e A

laba

ma

Thea

tre


money to renovate it, just as they didwith the Alabama a decade ago.

“This house is just like theMajestic in New York,” Whitmiretold The Birmingham News. “It wasbuilt like a Broadway Theatre. WhenMilton Berle saw it in 1928, he saidthat he felt like he was in New York.”

For Whitmire, his work at theAlabama Theatre is much more thanjust a job. It has been a part of hislife for nearly six decades, much ofthat spent with his wife, Linda, whodied in 2001.

The Alabama keeps a busyschedule, and more often than not,

whether it’s Willie Nelson, the SpinDoctors, a touring theatre produc-tion or some high-school music pro-gram to be performed inside,Whitmire is there, proudly welcom-ing people into the house that he lit-erally rebuilt.

He’s chronicled the trek inlast year’s “The AlabamaTheatre: Showplace of theSouth,” a book written withJeannie Hanks and chockfull of photos and memoriesof the theatre, the organ andits patrons. The book recallsvisits from luminaries such asHelen Reddy, WayneNewton, Lionel Hamptonand Lee Meriwether, as wellas historical moments fromthe distant past (a 1934 firethat nearly took theAlabama with it) and thenot-so-distant past (GarrisonKeillor broadcasting livefrom the theatre in March1993 despite a blizzard thatparalyzed the city).One seems certain that adecade from now, Whitmirewill be doing the same withthe Lyric Theatre. ■

Alec Harvey is the Features

Editor for The Birmingham

News.

Cecil Whitmire at the Alabama Theatre’s “Mighty Wurlitzer.”

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f th

e A

laba

ma

Thea

tre


E verything about the potterybusiness has art to it. There’sart to making it, art to find-

ing the right kind of clay, art…to get-ting it mixed up to the right temper-ance, getting all the lumps groundout of it, and there’s art to stacking it.There’s art to firing it…withoutbreaking a lot of it…. The potterybusiness is one of the oldest trades inthe world...people come to my shopand say ‘I believe I could do that.’And I tell them ‘There’s anotherwheel over there…and they get in

there and play with it and (then)they say, ‘it’s not as simple as itlooks.’” Jerry Brown, 1985.

Hamilton potter Jerry Brown isthe recipient of the Alabama FolkHeritage Award for 2003. In choosingBrown from a strong field of nomi-nees, a panel of southern folk artscholars cited Jerry’s significance asone of a few remaining Alabama folkpotters and his service to the peopleof Alabama as a representative of thestate’s folk art traditions. They alsonoted his efforts in training familymembers and others in traditionalpottery making.

Jerry Dolyn Brown was born in1942 in Pine Springs Alabama. Hisparents, Horace Vincent Brown(1889-1965) and Hettie Mae StewartBrown (1911–1996), were both prod-ucts of multi-generational potterymaking families. The Browns, one ofthe South’s most famous pottery-mak-ing families, are usually associatedwith Georgia, but in fact, members ofthe family have also made pottery inTexas, North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Alabama, Florida, andMississippi. It is believed that Brownswere potters in the late eighteenthcentury and possibly earlier. TheStewarts established a pottery inLouisville, Mississippi after movingthere from Alabama shortly after theCivil War.

In the late 1930s, a recentlydivorced Horace Vincent “Jug”Brown, a Georgia-born potter, cameto Louisville, Mississippi to work forTom Stewart making pottery. Hemarried Tom’s sister Hettie Mae in1939 and they soon moved to PineSprings near Sulligent, Alabama totake over the operation of the E. P.Kennedy pottery. It was here thatJerry Brown was born in 1942. Jerry,his mother, older brother Jack, andbaby sister Wanda Lou all helped atthe pottery. Jerry and Jack learned to

THE ALABAMA FOLK HERITAGE AWARD

Jerry BrownROOTS DEEP IN SOUTHERN CLAY

by Joey Brackner

Jerry Brown at the potter’s wheel.

Phot

o by

Joey

Bra

ckne

r

Jerry Brown with his wife Sandra.

Phot

o by

Eile

en K

nott

“


make pottery at a very young age.Occasionally their relatives Otto,Jimmy and Walter Brown andHettie’s brother Gerald Stewartwould work with them.

Working in the pottery shopwas hard work, but an aging JugBrown and his two young boys man-aged. Because he was an older thanaverage father (born in 1889), Jug’sboys were trained in a nineteenth-century style of pottery making. Likeall pottery apprentices, Jerry and Jackmade balls of clay for their father toturn. Jerry recalled that their fatheroffered incentive for them to wedgeand roll good balls: “My daddy(would) let me by with two or three(poorly made balls of clay)…youknow those soft slips (soft clay) onthe wheel? He just picked them up, awhole hand full and just throw themat me…. He’d daub me with themslips upside the head…”

Every aspect of their potterybusiness was traditional. For example,pottery was priced at so many centsper gallon. Jug Brown made utilitari-an folk pottery using Albany Slip,white Bristol-type glaze and the tradi-tional southern ash glaze.

Jerry remembered that his fathermade some face jugs but very few,“there just wasn’t much demand forthem” in the 1940s and 1950s. Herecalled that the family never threw

away broken dishes, in order to usethis material to make teeth for facejugs. This face jug tradition was thecontribution of the Brown family,because, according to Hettie MaeBrown, the Stewarts did not makeface jugs.

Tragedy struck the Brown familyin 1964 when Jack was killed in anautomobile accident. A year later JugBrown died and Jerry, Wanda andtheir mother decided that they couldnot stay in the pottery business.Eventually, Jerry became a logger likemany young men in northwestAlabama. He eventually married andmoved to Hamilton. After the birthof a son, Jeff, Jerry and his first wifedivorced. While Jerry was successfulas a logger, he yearned to return tothe pottery business. In 1979, he metand married Sandra Wilburn.

In 1982, Jerry Brown beganmaking preparations to reenter thepottery business after an almost twen-ty year career as a logger. “(I hadbeen) logging for a living and we hadabout two bad winters, one right afterthe other, stayed round here with

Small churns by Jerry Brown.

Phot

o by

Joey

Bra

ckne

r

Jerry’s mule drawn mud mill.

Phot

o by

Joey

Bra

ckne

r


nothing to do. I told my wife I’m fix-ing to clean out my barn over hereand put me in a pottery shop…. A lotof my friends come and say, ‘man,you’re crazy tearing down a nice abarn…to make a pottery shop outof ’…once I started tearing everythingdown and redoing it, it was probablyabout two months, I had my wheel inthere and I was making churns. Putup my (pug) mill out there where Iwas mixing my clay with the mule….I’d been out it about twenty years andit probably took me about three orfour months to really get the feel of itback right. Uncle Gerald, he come upand helped me out a lot…. I forgotabout a lot of the fundamentals…butstill a lot of things I stillremembered …. I still rememberedhow much it’d take to make any sizechurn or flower pot or pitcher orwhatever, I still remembered all that,I’d been down to my uncle’s shop andmade maybe a couple of jugs…. Inabout six months I could make achurn as big as I wanted to make andbeen out of it twenty years.” Sandrarecalled, “He decided to get into it, itseems just like overnight. He justcomes in one evening, he said I’m fix-ing to go into pottery business, hehadn’t mentioned it to me…next dayhe started out over here fixing hisshop…. I guess all along he had it inthe back of his mind, though.”

During the mid-twentieth cen-tury, the few remaining Southern folkpotters discovered an urban marketinterested in their pottery as artreflecting a folk heritage. InAlabama, this interest intensified inthe 1970s and really took off duringthe 1980s after the production of sev-eral exhibitions about Alabama folkpottery. In 1985-1986, the AlabamaState Council on the Arts andAppalshop shot and produced thefilm Unbroken Tradition. This docu-mentary, funded by the NationalEndowment for the Arts, documentedpottery making at Jerry Brown’s shop.This, along with the new public con-sciousness of traditional Southernpottery, encouraged Jerry’s resolve tore-enter the pottery business.

While encouraged by the inter-est in old-time pottery, Jerry Brownrealized the modern market wasunlike that of his father. At first, hemade old-fashioned utilitarian formssuch as flue thimbles, and he did notmark his pottery. About a year intohis rebirth as a potter, he started sign-ing vessels on the bottom. He firstsold pottery by the gallon, a tradition-al pricing mechanism, but quicklylearned to price by form, with facejugs selling for the most. He alsobegan experimenting with glaze com-binations and unusual forms inresponse or in anticipation of market

desires, like other Southern folk pot-ters he met at workshops and folk fes-tivals. In 1984, Jerry and his UncleGerald Stewart participated in theSmithsonian Festival of AmericanFolklife. Then, in 1992, Jerry won theprestigious National Heritage Awardfrom the National Endowment forthe Arts. Those experiences haveexposed the Browns to many othertraditional potters and their reper-toires. Consequently, the BrownPottery showroom contains more can-ister sets, soup bowls, coffee mugs,chickens and face jugs. The potterychickens were an idea that Jerry andSandra gotfrom meet-ing theMeadersfamily ofGeorgia.Jerry has alsodemonstrat-ed at manyshows of his-toric pottery.He realizedthat ash-glazed pot-tery was older and that otherSouthern potters were still makingand selling it. Since he could notremember his father’s ash glaze formu-la, he asked his Uncle Gerald to helphim devise a formula for it and he

Horace Vincent “Jug” Brown late

in life.

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Je

rry

Brow

n

Jerry Brown’s famous face jugs.

Phot

o by

Joey

Bra

ckne

r


began using it on many vessels, espe-cially his face jugs. Jerry and Sandraalso received glazing advice fromtheir many studio potter friends. Ared glaze soon entered their reper-toire. Perhaps the area of greatestexperimentation came with the use ofcobalt. At first, the Browns usedcobalt to make a simple ring decora-tion around their churns. Later, theymixed cobalt with a Bristol slip tomake a solid blue glaze. After that,they tried applying the cobalt ran-domly in a “splatter” glaze or by“feathering” it with a chicken feather.

In 1998, Browns Potterylaunched a web site by virtue of itsmembership in the AlabamaMountain Lakes tourist organization.The web site gave the Browns anoth-er dimension of market exposure.

Despite this modernization ofBrowns Pottery, if a nineteenth-cen-tury potter could spend a week withJerry Brown, he would feel right athome. Jerry Brown still digs his ownclay at a clay pit in Detroit, Alabamastarted by the pottery-making Ryefamily over one hundred years ago.He continues to mill or “grind” the

clay with an old-fashioned mule-powered pug mill.He does use anelectric wheel to“turn” the pottery,but he still uses anold two-piecetechnique formaking large ves-sels, which was

standard practice for early potters. “Iask a lot of people come here whichside of the jug you put the handle on;very few have ever told me. They say,‘it don’t make any difference,’ I tellthem, ‘it does’ and they want to knowwhy, I tell them, ‘it ain’t but two sidesof a jug—inside and outside.’”

Sandra Brown has become themost active female folk potter inAlabama today. She does not turnmuch pottery, but works as hard asJerry in glazing, finishing, and mar-keting the ware. In fact, she handlesmost of the sales work. She alsomakes the faces on many of the facejugs produced at the shop. Her sonJeff Wilburn was the first and mostproductive of all of Jerry Brown’sapprentices and her daughter TammyWilburn Rawls works from time totime at the shop. Jeff is now helpingJerry train his son Brandon Wilburn.Jerry and Sandra have trained a num-ber of younger people in their shop.Jerry’s son by his first marriage, alsonamed Jeff, has received training andhas worked in the shop. He is cur-rently working as a logger but Jerryhopes that he will become more

interested in becoming a potter in thefuture. Jeff Brown’s daughter Jenniferhas also shown interest in makingpottery. She sometimes turns smallobjects in her grandfather’s shop. Thelatest student at Brown’s Pottery isJoey Froelich, a pottery enthusiastwho lives in nearby Winfield.

Jerry Brown has found that ithelps to educate his customers aboutboth the technology and tradition ofhis pottery. “When I go to some ofthe arts and craft shows and have itsetting out on the table on display,most people walk by and don’t evenrealize it. They think its ceramics(Note: By “ceramics” Jerry is referringto slip molded hobby ware.)…theydon’t even realize its hand-made pot-tery…what you call stoneware…. It’sreal durable…. You can take a littlecream pitcher and two men or threemen my size can lay it down on itsside and stand up on it and it won’tbreak.” However, for the most part,the public is informed, very interestedin southern folk pottery and needs nosuch explanations. The market forfolk pottery was once only a fewcounties in breadth, but now,Alabama’s folk potters sell their workthroughout the United States. ForJerry Brown, there is great satisfactionin having made that decision twentyyears ago to continue his family’s longtradition. ■

Joey Brackner is the Folklife Program

Manager for the Alabama State Council

on the Arts.

Jerry Brown and Jeff Wilburn firing the kiln.

Phot

o by

Joey

Bra

ckne

r


The Tom Wolfe Group

Tom Wolfe is the director of Jazz Studies at theUniversity of Alabama and one of the top jazz guitaristsin the Southeast. A recipient of an Artist Fellowshipfrom the Alabama State Council on the Arts in the year2000, he is the first guitarist in Alabama to ever beawarded such an honor. He has performed professionallysince he was in high school, and by the time he was 19,Wolfe was a sideman for Bob Hope, Chita Rivera, andJerry Van Dyke. Wolfe has played festivals such as CityStages in Birmingham and the New Orleans Jazz andHeritage Festival. He has performed with top stars likeBob Hope, Englebert Humperdink, and the GuyLombardo Orchestra. He is in demand throughout theregion in jazz clubs and as a sideman for touring artistssuch as vocalists Giacomo Gates and saxophonist JameyAebersold. Wolfe is a core musician for the W.C. HandyMusic Festival in Florence, Alabama, and teaches highschool students at the Handy Jazz Camp.

Wolfe has taken his music worldwide, touring theAfrican countries of Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger,and Morocco as a 1998 Kennedy Center/USIA JazzAmbassador. He has also performed throughout the

United States, in El Salvador, and in France, and heoften plays at various clubs in Birmingham andTuscaloosa. Wolfe also performs and records with his trio“In Real Time.” He is an officer of the state chapter ofthe International Association of Jazz Educators.

Tom Wolfe has been called “One of the most prolif-ic jazz guitarists and educators emanating out of theSoutheastern region of the United States,” by GleenAstarita, Modern Jazz Editor at All About Jazz.com.

With a repertoire that covers the jazz standards tocontemporary/modern jazz and original compositions,Wolfe’s performances can be tailored to any audience orvenue. He offers solo jazz guitar (electric and acoustic);duo (sax and guitar or bass and guitar); trio (guitar, bassand drums); quartet (guitar, bass drums and sax or trum-pet); and larger ensembles, which incorporate keyboards,percussion and possibly horns. He is available for work-shops, concert lectures and master classes.

CelebrationA rts

o f the

AWARDSPERFORMERS

2003


George Washington CarverHigh School Choir

The George Washington Carver High School Choirhas built a reputation for musical excellence that reachesaround the United States. The recipient of many honors,the choir was invited to perform at the 1998 NationalSchool Boards Association’s Annual Meeting in NewOrleans, Louisiana in April. The Choir routinely receivessuperior ratings at district, state and national competitionsand festivals. The choir has been featured at Music Fest inOrlando, Florida where they were rated superior. For thepast two years, the choir has competed at the NationalPeanut Festival Choral Competition in Dothan, Alabamawhere they received superior ratings and won Best ofFestival consecutively.

The choir’s electrifying performances at some of themost prestigious universities and in some of the finest citieshave earned it recognition as one of the country’s foremosthigh school vocal ensembles. Some of these performancesinclude Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas;Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; and theNational Democratic Headquarters in Washington, DC. Inaddition, the choir has performed concerts in Cincinnati,Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. The choir has becomenoted for its accurate interpretation and performance ofmusic by African-American Composers. Critical commen-tary has referred to the choir as a terrific group of singersand the pride of Carver.

In his thirteenth year as music director, Henry Terryis continuing to use the medium of choral music to instillthe importance of hard work, perseverance, dependability,and loyalty to the members of the choir. He is a native of

Elba, Alabama. He holds boththe Bachelor of Arts and theMaster of Music Educationdegrees from Alabama StateUniversity, and the EducationalSpecialist Degree from AuburnUniversity at Montgomery. In1997, the Reader’s DigestEducation Foundation selectedhim from more than seven hun-dred educators nationwide as ahero in education. Mr. Terryholds membership in theAmerican Choral Directors’Association, Gospel Music

Workshop of America, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi DeltaKappa, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Selma Youth DevelopmentDance Company

The Selma Youth Development Dance Company isan exciting traveling dance company of four to ten youngwomen with an ability to express a variety of dancestyles, from contemporary to reflections in African her-itage. Their natural skills are augmented by the Center,which promotes positive body image and overall healthyconsciousness. Live drum accompaniment is often provid-ed by Frank Hardy and Tim Sheehey.


Mark DavisMark Davis holds a Masters Degree in Art

Education from the University of South Alabama andserves as artist-in-residence at the Mobile Museum of Art.His work has been exhibited widely in juried and invita-tional exhibitions as well as private galleries. He receivedthe 2001 Best of Show Award at the juried exhibition“Art With a Southern Drawl” held annually at theUniversity of Mobile. He says, “Color is the mood andatmosphere of my paintings.” The apparent minimalismof his work is in reality a complex layering of color andopaque marks, giving rise to meditative pieces of texture,rhythm and color.

Kathleen FettersKathleen Fetters, Gordo, received the 1999

Individual Artist’s Fellowship in Photography from theAlabama State Council on the Arts and exhibits region-ally in arts festivals and galleries. The gallery Blue Spiral 1in Asheville, NC has written about her work, “Skillfullyinterpreting the Southern gothic spirit through figurativeand still life compositions, Kathleen Fetters’ hand paint-ed, narrative photographs convey sublime eccentricity.Her work is a celebration of rural life through an honestand faithful lens.”

Bethanne HillBethanne Hill, Birmingham, is a graduate of the

Alabama School of Fine Arts and received the BFA fromBirmingham-Southern College. Her regional recognitionincludes the 2003 Best in Show Purchase Award from theMeridian Museum of Art. Her stylized, narrative paint-ings use abandoned rural buildings and landscapes asrecurring themes. They seem to tell stories with both asense of humor and a mysterious, dark element. She says,“I am haunted by these places, thinking of the stories thatmust exist.”

Julie MoosJulie Moos, Birmingham, studied at McGill

University, Montreal; Sorbonne University, Paris; NewYork University and the International Center ofPhotography in New York. Her work was included in the2002 Whitney Museum in New York Biennial, an exhibi-tion of 113 artists considered one of the most prestigiousin modern American art. Her pieces involve pairings ofportraits and investigate “how issues of gender, race andclass affect our communal expectations of identity.” HatLadies depicts church-going African American women inEnsley, Alabama.

The Alabama State Council on the Arts isproud to showcase the work of Alabamaartists in its Montgomery gallery in the RSATower. The eight artists featured in thisexhibition represent a variety of approachesto the disciplines of painting and photogra-phy and have achieved significant state,regional and national reputations.

Alabama

Signatures/

Eight Artists:

Painting &

PhotographyMay 2-June 27, 2003

CelebrationA rts

o f the

EXHIBITION

2003

Amy PleasantAmy Pleasant, Birmingham, received the MFA from the

Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her work was chosen forthe 2002 Huntsville Museum of Art regional juried Red ClaySurvey and for 2003 New American Paintings published by OpenStudios Press. In her pieces thin, multiple layers of paint coverthe human form in repetitive activity. She says, “Images becomeveiled and seem as if they are still shifting. I want to use the sur-face to create a sense of animation and layer images as our mem-ory does. The figures begin to interact with one another andalter the way the story is read.”

Wayne SidesWayne Sides, on the faculty of the Department of Art,

University of North Alabama, Florence, holds the MFA inPhotography from Pratt Institute, NY. He received the 1995Individual Artist Fellowship in Photography from the AlabamaState Council on Arts. His extensive teaching, curatorial andexhibition record includes a photographic series of the Ku KluxKlan, exhibited in 2003 at the Birmingham Civil RightsInstitute and the collaborative piece, Litany for a VanishingLandscape. He says, “I’ve been photographing rural scenes forabout 20 years now. . .. I try to be as honest to my own experi-ence as I can.”

George TaylorGeorge Taylor resigned an accounting career and returned

to Montgomery in 1995 to pursue a lifelong dream of being anartist. He has received awards in the 2001 Montgomery ArtGuild Biennial Exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of FineArts and Exhibition South at the Tennessee Valley Arts Center.He says, “I paint exclusively in oils because they have anunequaled feeling of solidity, depth and chromatic intensity. Ipaint most of my pictures en plein air because I have to be there,in the scene, in order to select the relationships and essences I’mafter.”

Pamela VenzPamela Venz received the MFA from The Ohio State

University in 1985 and is associate professor in the Departmentof Art at Birmingham-Southern College. She exhibits regionally,with work selected for the Triennial Southeastern JuriedExhibition at the Mobile Museum of Art in 1999 and the 2001Montgomery Art Guild Biennial Exhibition at the MontgomeryMuseum of Fine Arts. She notes that her visual interests havealways fluctuated between photography and sculpture, exploringthe unique qualities of each. More recently she has been con-necting the two, “combining the perception of reality inherentin photography with the abstract reality inherent in sculpture.”


Documents

ALABAMAARTS In this Issue 2003 State Arts Awards Volume ......On the Cover:linoleum cut with hand applied color by Richard Zoellner, “Jazz-Blues-02”, 54" x 32". This piece was