WORDS Katie Vega PHOTOS Michelle Marie Photography
Southern Makers, a celebration that was a mere dream just a couple of years ago, has now turned into a Taste of the South and Garden and Gun publicized event—held right here in Montgomery, Alabama. The first annual Southern Makers—curated by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Matter, EAT South, and Southern Accents Architectural Antiques—was assembled to bring Alabama’s top chefs, artists, designers, and craftspeople together to one central location. And they did just that…and so much more.
The second annual Southern Makers is set for May 3, 2014, but you don’t have to wait all those months to get in on the action. Explore Southern Makers was established to act as a pop-up for the main event—aimed at gearing people up for the main shindig, especially those people who weren’t aware that Southern Makers existed. To learn more about it, we talked with Andrea Jean, Marketing and Communications Director at Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood and key player in establishing the celebration of Southern Makers.
Why do you think it’s so important to support and show off Alabama’s talent in an event like Southern Markers? Primarily, Andrea thinks there is a lack of awareness around the amazing talent that lives and works in the South. You always hear about designers, architects, and artists coming out of big cities like New York and Los Angeles; but the South, not so much. She also finds it interesting to explore why these people choose to live in the South versus the Northeast, West Coast, or overseas—places where they also could thrive. She believes that southern makers are connected to the heritage, the traditions, and the land, and these play important roles in their modern creations. From chefs to artists, architects to designers—the South is in their souls. Southern Makers’ curators and creators believe passionately in the potential here in Montgomery and across the Southeast. Andrea believes this is a way to provide an experience that communicates the core of their brands.
How did the idea of a pop-up for Southern Makers come about? Andrea, along with others involved, sees Southern Makers as a movement and touring mini-versions of the event throughout the Southeast seemed to make sense. Their goal? To spread the word and tap into the realms of other visionaries who may not know about Southern Makers.
Explain the PechaKucka format and why it partners well with Explore Southern Makers. PechaKucha is an innovative presentation style that originated in Tokyo. This format will bring together creative minds from the art, food, and design communities across the Southeast to share their inspiration, talents, and ideas. Each presenter has twenty slides, each up for twenty seconds, and they will talk about the images along the way. The hope of these intimate gatherings is to prompt dialogue and conversations between makers and guests. Explore Southern Makers, powered by PechaKucha, will tap into the creativity and design techniques used by artists that live and work across the Southeast.
Who are the featured makers at Explore Southern Makers Huntsville? Will they make their way into the lineup at the big event?
Edwin Marty with EAT South, Garlan Gudger with Southern Accents Architectural Antiques, Wood Studio’s Keith Cochran, Kellie Guthrie with Re-Invention/G.E.A.R by R-I, Tasia Malakasis with Belle Chevre, Tony Reid with Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, and Downtown Hunstville , Inc.’s CEO Chad Emerson will be featured at Explore Southern Makers Huntsville. These presenters encompass a wide range of makers—activists, animators, arbiters, architects, artists, chefs, critics, curators, designers, dreamers, entrepreneurs, fabricators, fashionistas, historians, rabble-rousers, scientists, insiders and outsiders—each woven with the common thread of wanting to celebrating the best in creativity and design across the South. Presenters at Explore Southern Makers have or will be a part of the movement and these gatherings are being used as extensions of the annual Southern Makers celebration.
What should people bring to these pop-up events? Attendees just need to bring themselves, a few bucks for a drink, and most importantly—an open mind. Andrea says they hope to prompt discussion and further the Southern Makers movement with these informal gatherings—where imaginative people simply get together and share ideas.
Give us a little teaser for the main event in May. Think Southern Wonderland…
Explore Southern Makers hits Huntsville on November 7 from 6 pm – 9 pm at Amendment XXI. To get updates on other pop-up events and the main shindig, visit their website (southernmakers.com), Facebook (Southern Makers), and Instagram (@southernmakers).