Labor of Light
by Andrew Kenney photographs by Missy McLamb Patrick Shanahan lives in the wrong city. He’s a movie maker. He shoots on film because he needs its grain and grit. He bought a ’57 Chevy Bel Air, matte black because it was the…
Category: Arts & Culture
Live music
photograph by Travis Long “I love live music, and May is full of it. I’m excited about Needtobreathe, Dave Matthews, and Kenny Chesney.” – Andrew Valkanoff, owner, Triangle Dairy Queen Entrepreneur Andrew Valkanoff has a pretty sweet gig: he owns and…
Imani Abdullah-Lutes
by Todd Cohen photograph by Carla Williams Some would say the odds have been stacked against Imani Abdullah-Lutes from day she was born 18 years ago. Those people don’t know this young woman. When Imani’s biological mother went into labor,…
A teacher first: Lope Max Diaz
by Amber Nimocks photographs by Juli Leonard Bold, staring orbs, fractured picture frames, and bright geometric elements give the sculptural paintings of Raleigh’s own Lope Max Diaz a visceral presence. Through his signature use of shape and color, Diaz can…
Editor’s Letter: June/July
WALTER was delighted to welcome the author Frances Mayes to a special luncheon with 125 WALTER readers at the Umstead Hotel & Spa on a Sunday in late April. This latest in our series of WALTER EVENTS combined literary conversation with gourmet food…
Making music: Raleigh’s instrument restorers keep the town in tune
by Corbie Hill photographs by Lissa Gotwals Violins are made to be repaired. Their tops aren’t flush to their sides, like a guitar’s. Instead, those tops are designed to be removed, so violins can be tended to over multi-hundred-year lifespans….
A better ‘bot
photographs by Tim Lytvinenko At Dorton Arena one recent afternoon, groups of teenagers wearing kooky matching outfits huddled together, eyes fixed on an obstacle course of sorts – but machines were navigating it, not people. As the teenagers looked on, robots…
Spotlight: Author with a purpose
by Jessie Ammons Paul Leonard has always been an intentional observer. “When I have experiences and they move me, I write about it,” he says. “I don’t necessarily journal every day, but when I see something that means something to me,…
Dave Rose: Raleigh’s man behind the curtain
by Liza Roberts photographs by Nick Pironio In a modest bungalow along the grassy, unmowed edge of Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Hospital campus, Dave Rose presides over the Triangle’s most comprehensive music and entertainment empire. Unless you’re a music geek or one of…
Art and empathy
by Sarah Schroth Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University Art museums are, for me, almost sacred spaces of contemplation. If I slow down and take enough time to look at a work…
CAM docents: Leading the way
by Liza Roberts On the first Friday of any given month, when Raleigh’s galleries and museums are all open late, art lovers head out to see the latest shows and mingle with their peers. When they walk under the cantilevered…
Local roots, local eats
by Dean McCord photographs by Nick Pironio We live in a society that places a high value on rolling up your sleeves to start a business, getting family members to join in, and making a buck. We tell romantic tales of the…
Contemporary art right now
by Larry Wheeler, director, North Carolina Museum of Art Art collectors of the world gather each year at several contemporary art fairs: Art Basel in Miami in December, the Frieze Fair in New York in May, and the Armory Show in…
Eric Hall: Community catalyst
by Todd Cohen photographs by Doug Van de Zande To build a better community, it’s often necessary to lend a hand to people in need. Morrisville’s Eric Hall learned that lesson at 9 from his grandfather, a small-town grocer in…