I’ve been a busy artist lately, playing with spray paint, electricity, and, naturally, ink and paper. But this weekend I’ll be around town enjoying a couple of art events that are also bringing attention to two of Birmingham’s intriguing neighborhoods.

First up is the beginning of the annual summer sale at Naked Art, which begins tomorrow (Friday) night at 5:00 as part of Forest Park’s inaugural Third Friday event. Every month on the–you guessed it–third Friday, the galleries, shops, and restaurants of Forest Park will stay open late with specials and surprises. And like I mentioned, this first one will feature Naked Art’s sale, which is a great deal–10 to 50 percent off everything in the gallery! I’ve put big discounts on several pieces, including some of the large pieces now on display at Roly Poly in Vestavia (available through Naked Art.)

I also want to stop by a new gallery I’ve never visited, DanielDay Gallery for the opening of its group show. My friend Jill Marlar will be showing her intricate intaglio prints, which seem like they want to tell you some secret story, as part of the show.

On Saturday afternoon, the Woodlawn community is hosting a big open house of sorts, and you’ll be able to check out local artists and potential office/studio spaces at the same time. That last bit might sound a little boring, but you’d be surprised. The last time Woodlawn had an event like this, I had a great time exploring some historic Birmingham structures, including an office building that made me feel like I had stepped into a classic 1930s movie (with a fantastic event space on its top floor). The arts portion of this event is part of the effort to draw more artists into Woodlawn and the eastern sections of the city, and I wholeheartedly support that. Woodlawn has a great little business district that feels urban and small town at the same time; it would be great to see it hopping with people and businesses and creativity. Usually artists lead the way in revitalizing areas like that.

A while back I posted some ideas on what could be done to make the 1st Ave. S. railroad cut a useful and beautiful bit of walking greenspace. Essentially, I thought we could adapt some of the ideas that New York was working on for its High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad track winding through Manhattan. Well, the first phase of the High Line park has opened, and it looks fantastic–see for yourself in this slideshow. Now imagine a somewhat subterranean version of that connecting the Railroad Reservation Park and Sloss Furnaces. What do you think? I believe it’s a concept that could work.

Speaking of Sloss, my latest contribution of the weekly online edition of UAB Magazine profiles its curator, who also is a UAB history instructor, and her inventive efforts to preserve the stories of Sloss steelworkers. With the help of our staff photographer, Steve Wood, who took some gorgeous photos, we did this “article” in the form of a slideshow.

This is exactly what I needed to see after a bummer of an afternoon. Something positive and exciting.

The Terminal has posted a video detailing the plan for a new city center bus circulator service from the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham. You should watch it to check out their concept for the new bus service, which is great–but also watch it to see a concrete, 3-D view of a potential future Birmingham. The Railroad Reservation Park, the renovated Lyric Theatre, the new Children’s Hospital, the sunken I-20/59, and even the dome–they’re all there. It’s quite an inviting, amazing vision of what B’ham can be, and the thrilling thing is that all of it is within our grasp–perhaps not immediately, mind you, but all of the cool-sounding projects they mention/show are in motion to some degree.

Now as for the circulator plan, I think it’s a good one. Circulators just like the one they describe, with the electronic cards and signs telling how soon another bus will arrive, are successfully running in other cities. We can definitely implement it here.

Making a difference, one slice at a time. That seems to be the idea behind Pie Lab, a new cafe in Greensboro, Alabama, that I discovered via Deep Fried Kudzu. Pie Lab was created by designers with a higher purpose in mind: to bring the community together and encourage its residents to make connections. It’s social networking the old-fashioned way, and it seems be yielding some positive results already, according to this article in Fast Company. I can’t tell you how much I love this concept, and I definitely have to visit this place and enjoy a slice of pie.

While you’re perusing that article, follow the links to learn more about Project M, the program that birthed Pie Lab. The idea is to bring creative people together to brainstorm–and then execute–solutions to pressing problems. And they’re coming from all over to the program’s base in rural Alabama. Just a little more proof that this state can be a magnet for creative people who want to accomplish something.

I’ve been a busy printmaker lately! Lots of stuff going on behind the inky scenes, but I can now give you a couple of updates.

First, when you’re at City Stages this weekend, be on the lookout for the cool commemorative poster featuring my prints! It’s the first time my work has been turned into letterpress, which was a thrill for me. I created two new prints–including an all-new version of the famous Magic City sign–that were enlarged and transformed into the letterpress plates used to print this 16×20 poster. The posters capture the layered feel of my other work, and I’m very happy with how they turned out. They’ll be for sale somewhere on the City Stages site.

And on Saturday, June 27, see me carve and print a new block live at the East Lake Farmers Market. I’m very excited to help support this market–it’s not as big as the more well-known Pepper Place market, but when you buy something there, you feel like you’re making a concrete contribution to the revitalization of that neighborhood. The market runs from 8:00 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of the East Lake United Methodist Church, at 2nd Ave. S. and 78th Street.

This year the East Lake market is really trying to showcase local artists, which is a great idea. (This is actually part of a wider campaign to bring art and artists to help energize East Lake, and I’m all for that.) If you know of any artists who’d like some exposure, this is a super easy way to do it. They’ll even provide a tent. Here are the details from Jeff Willoughby, who is spearheading the effort:

“East Lake Arts has partnered with PEER, Inc. (Promoting Empowerment & Enrichment Resources) to bring art and artists and music to the East Lake Farmers’ Market. I am currently looking for artists to commit to May 30 through mid-October.

ELA is a grassroots org fostering revitalization in East Lake and enhancing the quality of life in East Lake by celebrating our culturally diverse residents through the arts, visual and performing.

Booth rate for sellers is $20 (cheap) and free to artists who, because of gallery exclusivity, will come and demonstrate their craftsmanship. WE ENCOURAGE BOTH!!! Please share this with your artists and musician friends.

I am eager to tell each of you about our organization and our efforts. E-mail me at jeffwilloughbyATgmailDOTcom.”

This weekend features two very different but very exciting art shows in Birmingham–and unfortunately, I’m going to have to miss both of them, so I’ll be relying on you to see them for yourselves and then tell me all about them!

Saturday night, Paint the Town Red will transform downtown Birmingham’s hotspot–2nd Avenue North–into an outdoor gallery, with large-scale digital art illuminating the sides of buildings and screens. Now that is a great idea for an art event, and I really like how it merges a modern form of art with a historic background. It will take place between 22nd and 24th streets, from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m., and it is a ticketed event benefiting the Birmingham chapter of the American Red Cross. (Tickets are just $10.) Click the link for details.

And on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, Naked Art will host an opening by local concrete sculptor Justin Roth and paper sculptor Tiffany Ownbey. This will be a great combination because both artists work wonders with their mediums–you’ll swear Justin’s pieces are made of wood, and Tiffany creates whimsical, odd, and intriguing figures using papier-mache that you’ll just have to see to believe. I’m a big fan of Justin’s work and very excited to see what he’s made for this show. Naked Art’s opening lasts from 5:00 to 9:00 on Friday and 1:00 to 6:00 on Saturday.

Several months ago I got the opportunity to meet and interview John Powers, the new sculpture teacher at UAB, for the weekly online edition of UAB Magazine, and I was blown away by his work. He makes big, mechanical, sound-producing, more-animal-than-machine-looking kinetic sculptures out of things like typewriters. Now, finally, here is the video piece that I put together and helped produce. I especially love the little piece of stop-motion animation!

I’m very excited when I meet people like John here in Birmingham. He’s an example of the kind of creative people we need in this city–and hopefully we’re the kind of city that can provide a welcome environment for them. Check out John’s site to see more of his work, including the mesmerizing “Field of Reeds” and his own stop-motion films.

The next time you’re driving south on 22nd Street, take a look to the right just before you cross 2nd Avenue South, and you’ll see a literal blast from the past. Thanks to the removal of a brick wall–and the entire Screening Room–you can now see a near-pristine vintage painted ad for Double Cola, exploding on the wall of the neighboring building in red, yellow, black, and green. Its vividness means that it must have been relatively freshly painted when the wall was built over it (which seems to have been a common occurrence decades ago).

Whoever is developing that corner deserves kudos for uncovering and showcasing that sign. (I’m not sure if they’re doing anything to preserve it, but they certainly didn’t paint over it to give the wall a uniform look, which deserves a lot of praise!) It looks like the corner will be home to a parking lot, and the adjacent building is being redeveloped nicely. I’m eager to see what the whole arrangement looks like when it’s done. They have certainly given themselves an instant landmark by spotlighting that Double Cola sign.

Have you noticed just how busy this spring has been in Birmingham? There’s so much going on every weekend–and it’s spilling over into weekdays as well. I can’t recall the spring being quite *this* full of cool stuff to do in past years–and while it’s frustrating that I can’t be in three places at once, it’s very exciting to see the increase and enjoy how lively the city has become.

As an example, here’s just scratch on the surface of what you can choose from this weekend:

-Naked Art and Forest Park are hosting a Spring Fling on Friday evening and Saturday. Art! Food! Music!

-Continental Bakery and English Village get in on the action with a carnivalesque Spring-a-Ling-a-Ding-Dong on Saturday. Apparently there will be a parade, hula hooping, and a beheading of Marie Antoinette!

-Bare Hands Gallery invites you to its Garden Party with a City View at the wonderful oasis that is downtown’s Jones Valley Urban Farm. The food will be fantastic, there will be music and dancing, and the setting is unbeatable.

–Vulcan Park and Museum is conducting another historical walking tour, this time on the streets of downtown Birmingham, on Saturday.

–And Avondale Park is the setting for an “Art Feast” (which looks like a springtime version of the Art in Avondale Park festival that takes place each fall) on Saturday.

Get out and enjoy this season in this city!

A while back I told you that I was doing a story for the new weekly online edition of UAB Magazine that gave me a chance to look at the amazing treasures inside UAB Historical Collections. Well, it’s finally been published! Read it here.

The story was inspired by the exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci drawings at the Birmingham Museum of Art, and I interviewed a UAB art curator, art historian, archivist, and information manager about the art and science of preservation–whether it’s artwork, documents, artifacts, or health records.

Be sure to check out the slideshows that accompany the article–especially the one focusing on UAB Historical Collections. You’ll get to see some of the rare, ancient, and wonderful things I saw. (Love the medieval books full of wood block prints!)