by Jessie Ammons The Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill recently received its largest gift ever. Alumnus Sheldon Peck and his wife, Leena, donated a gift estimated at $25 million to the university-owned museum in January: 134 masterworks, most from 17th…
“On a perfectly straightforward level, I write a lot about North Carolina because it’s my home. Any time I’m writing about relationships with home and grounding, I’m writing about North Carolina. I grew up in Raleigh, near downtown – I…
by J. Michael Welton photographs by Lissa Gotwals Talk to anyone who knows architect Louis Cherry’s work, and one adjective inevitably slips into the conversation: Comfortable. It’s a hallmark of his finely tuned interiors, his mastery of scale and proportion, and…
by Jesma Reynolds Numbers and art may make an unlikely pairing. But in this case, the numbers bear repeating. Beginning March 12, the largest juried art exhibition in the state featuring 72 pieces from 61 North Carolina artists will be exhibited at…
March Madness is coming, and it extends beyond the NCAA men’s college basketball finals this month. No matter what your level of basketball fandom, there’s a faceoff or two you’ll want to mark on your calendar. Here’s the game plan: March…
This hillside, just over an hour west of Raleigh, will soon belong to the winner of an essay contest. Bluebird Hill Farm owner and operator Norma Burns says she’s ready to retire to an urban Raleigh lifestyle, and when she…
by Liza Roberts When N.C. Museum of Art curator of European art David Steel and his colleague Lyle Humphrey began work on the extraordinary Glory of Venice: Renaissance Paintings 1470–1520 exhibit secured by NCMA director Larry Wheeler, they knew the art…
by Ippy Patterson At 63, having been preoccupied with death as long as I could remember, squeamish, and having never taught anything in my life, I was asked whether I could help run a drawing group in the Duke University anatomy…
text and photographs by Julie Williams Dixon Springtime on the Roanoke River is a fisherman’s paradise. First come the hickory shad, sometimes as early as mid January. As the days stretch out and the water warms, large numbers of fish move…
by Jessie Ammons When a dozen of the nation’s top high school jazz bands convene and compete in Savannah, Ga. later this month, the Philharmonic Association’s Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble will be among them. The Savannah Music Festival’s annual Swing Central…
by Jessie Ammons photographs by Keith Isaacs The idea began, as many do, over two stiff drinks. “My partner, Mike Thor, and I were at one of the best whiskey bars in town, Foundation,” says Jeff Mickel, co-founder of downtown’s Whiskey Kitchen….
by Mimi Montgomery So – it’s spring, the start of a new season, once-dormant life now re-germinating in earnest, blinding calves emerging from shorts with startling enthusiasm. Whether you be flora or human, it’s hard not to to be joyful while…
When people like a place, it’s usually because of the way it makes them feel. Maybe it makes them feel at home, or it makes them feel free. Maybe it gives them hope, reassures them, or excites their imagination. Maybe…
by Liza Roberts photographs by David Williams On a sunny day in February, downtown Raleighites gathered in a sleek, renovated former industrial space of the sort the tech world favors in any modern city. With a massive mural by Victor Knight…