ART: R.I.P. Jake McCord

Photo: Mike's Art Truck

Jake (JT) McCord passed away September 1 at the age of 64. Funeral services were held at Zion Baptist Church near Lincolnton, Georgia. A native of Lincoln County, where he picked cotton as a child, McCord moved to Thomson as a young man and worked for the city for over 40 years.

Jake will be missed by many. He was a soft-spoken gental soul, despite his tragic and abusive childhood. Jake became famous for his paintings on plywood, which he would nail to the walls of his porch. He called this his gallery and said he put them on his porch, so the town children could come by and see his art.

His paintings were usually children playing with their pets, cats, dogs and animals from the farm. He had a unique vision using bold strokes and bright enamel paint. The McDuffe Museum will reconstruct the front porch of Jake's home and display his art as he did for years.

One of his paintings of his home church rested against his casket, during his funeral service. Henry Drake, a longtime friend of Jake, said during the service "I was always glad to see J.T coming to see me. Sleep on my friend J.T. and save a seat for me."

(courtesy of Ted Oliver, Oliver’s Folk Art. REPOSTED FROM DETOUR ART TRAVELS)

AUCTION: JOE ADAMS OUTSIDER & FOLK-ART COLLECTION

Outsider art auctioneer Kimball Sterling is hosting the auction of The Joe Adams Collection of Outsider and Folk-Art tomorrow (5/30) at 11AM est:

My friend Joe 'The Spam' Adams has collected folk-art for about as long as I have been selling art. I met Joe about 19 years ago and when he attended the Howard Smith Collection auction. That was the first major collection offered to the public. Many pieces in this auction are from Joe's private collection. It was exciting getting into his storage and seeing items that have been off the market for many years from various collections that we have sold. He bought the best Willey Masseys from the Smith Collection, art from the Gitter-Yellen Collection, the Oh Appalachia Collection, Warren and Sylvia Lowe Collection, the James Smith Pearce Collection and many more. This will be an in-house and live internet auction. Both phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Click here for a sneak peak preview of items.

Make your plans now to attend this auction of a lifetime collection of one of the pioneers of the folk-art field. This will be a great event for the art community.

The entire sale catalogue will be on our website about two weeks before the auction. The collection has been moved from Hilton Head S.C. to our gallery here in Johnson City. There will be over 600 pieces of art in the catalogue auction by both major and emerging artists. After the catalogue sale we will auction other art from the collection to in-house bidders. There will be many surprises in the after catalogue auction.

Visit Sterling's site For info on terms, shipping, previews, etc., or email:
elizabethsterling@earthlink.net or kimballsterling@earthlink.net

• Folk art aficionado and storyteller Joe Adams talks about his famous "Chicken Room" and his love for yard bird.

SOUNDS: Bonnie Prince Billy Taking Manhattan in May

Re-post from Brooklyn Vegan!

a 2nd Bonnie Prince Billy show!

I'm not sure whether Bonnie Prince Billy's May 21st show at the Apollo Theater has completely sold out yet or not, but a 2nd NYC show has been added, much farther downtown, at Santos Party House. Tickets for the the May 20th show are on sale now (thx Keith!). Lightning Dust opens.

BPB's new album, Beware, was released by Drag City on March 17th.

ART/SCENE: 2009 Ozark Folk School (3/15 - 20)

Go see what the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas is really about! Study for a week under a serious craftsperson or musician and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere of camaraderie and fun.

The 2009 classes for Ozark Folk School are being lined up now. Over 20 Craft classes will be offered including Blacksmithing, Pottery, Jewelry Making, Knife Making, Quilting, Basketry, Wood Carving and Loom Weaving. Tuition is $250 for the five day workshop week, with some instructors charging additional materials fees. Extracurricular activities include free Southern Mountain Folk Dancing, a "Gallery Walk" of instructor and student work, Blanchard Springs Cavern tour, a documentary film showing and a Music Instructor's Concert. Contact them at (870)269-3851 for more information. Enrollment is limited so when you see the class you want, register! A 5 Night lodging package is available for $305.25 as well as a complete or partial meal plan.

The Ozark Folk Center is America’s only facility that works at sharing the heritage and way of life of the Ozark Mountain People. It’s lively. It’s entertaining. It makes learning about Ozark history and heritage loads of fun. It’s an adventure to yesterday’s Ozark way of life that you can see, touch and enjoy today.”The Ozark Folk Center, dedicated to providing living history exists to: preserve, document, display and interpret the cultural and social history of the Ozark region, an area that takes up part of five states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

ART: Jerry Brown Arts Festival - Hamilton, AL

We barely made it the first time. The sun, which had been napping behind a blanket of soft gray clouds, peeked out just long enough to say goodnight. It’s 5PM and Brown’s Pottery in Hamilton closes at 5PM, but we were only about 20 miles away though and they tell us to “come on by.”

Jerry Brown is a 9th generation potter. He digs his own clay, mixes it with his mule and still uses the old glazes, casts and molds.

He has been honored as a “National Heritage Fellow,” has pieces in the Smithsonian and a letter from the 1st President Bush thanking him for maintaining traditional folk art in Alabama. His showroom is on a small, unlit, backcountry road, housed in a windowless trailer across from the mule’s red barn home. His pieces are both utilitarian and decorative - rooster teapots, birdhouses, plates, cups, rows of angels, and his famous face jugs. His workshop is attached and he demo his handiwork. His house, across the street. His property is idyllic – softly rolling hills, a pond, rows of stark white gourd bird houses. Jerry and his wife run this small family business and pass their craft down and along to the next generation in line, just as Jerry’s daddy did and his daddy before him.

In 2003 the city of Hamilton and the Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce created The Jerry Brown Arts Festival: Reflections of the South. The Jerry Brown Arts Festival is (JBAF) is a juried art exhibition heading into its seventh season in 2009. The festival, which was selected as a Top 20 event for the month of March 2009 by the Southeast Tourism Association, is supported by the Northwest Alabama Arts Council, headquartered in Hamilton, AL, and is a yearly project of this 501 (c)(3) organization.

2009 DATE: MARCH 7-8
NEW LOCATION: Old Wal-Mart Building, 1500 Military Street South, in Hamilton