A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AND THROUGH THE DECADES AS THE VIRGINIA CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR GEARS UP FOR ITS 50TH PERFORMANCE

In today’s age, you’re probably in one of two camps: jamming to Christmas music before Thanksgiving or strongly believing that those jolly tunes should only be played after Turkey Day.

Well, at Thomas Road Baptist Church there’s a third option: Christmas is an all-year production, at least for the Creative Team.

For the last several months, the church has been gearing up for the 50th anniversary of the Virginia Christmas Spectacular, which brings in thousands of guests from all over the area to get into the holiday spirit.

“The story goes that Dr. Falwell saw a church in California do a singing Christmas tree and he decided that he wanted [Thomas Road] to do something similar,” says Adam Lancaster, Chief Creative Officer at TRBC. “That was back in the ’70s. The Living Christmas Tree part was comprised of actual evergreen that they would spend weeks stringing together. They had to make sure it didn’t dry out between set-up and the end of performances.”

Since then, the show has become a staple of the Lynchburg area. In the early years, Lancaster says the production would run for two weekends with multiple performances in the original Thomas Road location. But after their move to Candlers Mountain in 2006, the size of the audience grew.

“In the mid-2000s, we would see between 25,000 to 30,000 people come through,” he says.

This year, TRBC will hold five performances Dec. 10-12.

“We’re bringing back the [living] tree,” Lancaster says, though it won’t be made from real evergreen this time. “We began setting it up and pulling it out of storage mid-October.”

The tree isn’t the only thing the Virginia Christmas Spectacular is known for. Each year, the TRBC team brings a little Broadway to Lynchburg with an original production that is written by a creative team under the direction of Scott Bullman, executive producer—but it still includes classic Christmas songs.

It wasn’t always a high-tech production. Over the years, the technology and scale has evolved.

For one, the tree, which now has hundreds of thousands of lights, was originally operated manually. Behind the scenes, someone was in charge of flipping giant light switches in sync with the music.

“That was a big deal back in the day,” Lancaster jokes.

But the technology quickly evolved thanks to Jon Daggett, who began getting involved in the early ’90s.

“There was a couple by the name of Rich and Kathy who oversaw the lights,” Daggett says. “They were professors at Liberty and, along with their students, would program the PC and light boards to make sure the tree was syncing up to the music.”

A musician, Daggett had an idea to create his own system. Not for the Virginia Christmas Spectacular, though, but for a holiday party they hosted. In his basement, he composed his own outdoor lighting system that he planned to show off to guests.

It was an accidental hit. Soon, the Daggetts found themselves on the local news and people flocking from all over to check out their house.

“Nowadays, it’s a common thing. People do it on their houses all the time,” Daggett says. “But this was the ’90s, where it wasn’t so common.”

This all led to Daggett being nominated to help design a system for the iconic tree at TRBC.

“I knew nothing about lighting when I started,” he says.

Fast forwarding to present day, Daggett has worked with other churches around the country to create their own lighting systems for Christmas productions. He and his wife even own their own custom light and event company in Lynchburg.

Lancaster says everyone involved with the production sees it as not only a “spectacular” show, but a way to reach out to the greater Lynchburg community.

“This has always been a unique opportunity for a city our scale,” Lancaster says. “There are so many people who have been involved—some as far back as the ’80s. Our volunteers get such joy contributing to something like this.”

Approximately 400 people give their time to the production each year—and Don Brooks is one of those long-time volunteers. Since 1983, Brooks has served in various roles from writing to acting to directing.

“I was just in the choir [to start] in the tree,” he says. “I was in the second row from the top where it was hot, and the lights would get you. I did that for a few years, but then I started getting involved with theatre at Liberty and that’s when they started doing the drama portion of it.”

Brooks says after that, he continued to audition and even got his family involved.

But participating in the Virginia Christmas Spectacular is more than just another acting role for Brooks—it’s a ministry.

“Christmas is a time that really magnifies what makes you happy or if you’re in a bad spot, that gets magnified as well,” he says. “I like to do a Christmas program that speaks to where people are at. This time, we’re dealing with COVID-19, and hurt and pain. We all have a story.”

The Virginia Christmas Spectacular is a way to bring hope, says Brooks. He remembers one year where the story portion focused on infidelity. Brooks played the unfaithful husband.

“That’s a hard subject to do when you’re trying to celebrate Rudolph,” he says. “We had several people that came up to me after the show and said, ‘Hey, I saw you in the show and wanted to let you know what you guys were talking about in that storyline is exactly where we’re at.’”

Brooks says a couple even said they came to the show knowing it was the last thing they’d do as a family before heading to divorce court. They told Brooks they had decided to focus on counseling to try to save their marriage.

“We want you to walk away and realize there is hope,” Brooks says.

Restaurant owner opens creative co-op beer house

Sean Bailey, the owner of Crisp restaurants, has always had plans for the warehouse space nestled behind the store’s downtown location, even though it has been vacant for years.

Over the past few months, that plan has turned into action with the creation of greenhaus, a one-of-kind beer garden that serves not only as Lynchburg’s latest restaurant, but what Bailey calls a “creative hub.”

“[The space was designed] to foster creativity,” Bailey said. “This is about taking some of the best creative talent in Lynchburg and making a space that’s unique, special, and serves the larger population.”

Right as you walk through the door, you get that feel. Customers are greeted with a custom, vibrant piece designed by local artist Andrew Riscart, who was featured as the Artist Profile in the July/August issue of Lynchburg Living.

“He even added a UFO on there for me,” Bailey noted.

As you enter the main dining area the space is welcoming, with lots of natural light from the garage door windows. Plants are strategically placed around the space curated by Susan Hertzler, plant supplier and manager for the greenhaus.

Even the plants serve a purpose. Hertzler curated each plant, picking out those that would thrive in the space. Each pot has a QR code, which talks about each plant and how to take care of it.

“The plants liven [the space] up. They’re alive. There’s literally life around you,” Hertzler said.

“There are also so many different colors. I don’t think people realize how many different species of plants there are that you can grow indoors or outdoors.”

Other elements include local woodwork, such as the carved bateau above the seating area, and a geometrical wall sculpture that was designed by Bailey. The sound system was designed by Lynchburg musician Ben Jacobs and was specially created to allow for anyone to perform regardless of whether they have equipment.

To summarize, if Bailey couldn’t find it, he found someone who created it. He even took on the task of constructing the back wall leading to the patio and the bar, which has self-serve taps for different kinds of beer.

“People recognize when something is built by hand,” he said. “They recognize when something is done creatively. Those are the type of places neighborhoods want to turn into an institution. They’re inspired by local creativity they find there. That’s really what we’re going for. I want people to realize that this wasn’t bought at Ikea.”

The menu serves to inspire as well. Bailey wants the food offerings to be a way for chefs and cooks to express themselves. While the greenhaus will serve traditional beer garden food, the team hopes to have rotating menus and pop-up brunches.

Bailey believes that bringing in more artists to the downtown scene will continue to help Lynchburg build a unique identity.

“The artists come in and make the place special and then everyone gets involved,” he said.

While Bailey didn’t grown up in Lynchburg, he moved to the city when he was 19 so he has seen downtown go from a ghost town to a thriving area full of shops and restaurants. He believes the momentum is there to keep thinking outside of the box and make each business become more entwined with the local creative community.

“As a person that’s slowly started one business after another, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh it’s Lynchburg. They’re not ready for it.’ But that’s a bunch of baloney,” Bailey said. “People are dying for a taste of the city. When places like this come in, it ushers the way for other people to do the same. Downtown will become the better alternative.”

Photos by Ashlee Glen

Decorative Artist

If you don’t recognize the name Sonny Harlow, you’ll recognize his work, whether it’s murals downtown or in homes across Boonsboro. For nearly four decades, this burly painter has focused on stenciling and hand-painting to create a unique look that not a lot of people can do—or want to do, according to him.

We caught up with Harlow after a recent kidney transplant, and though he’s promised his doctor to rest, he can’t wait to be able to paint once again.

Tobi Walsh: Sonny, how did you get started?
Sonny Harlow: I’ve been painting for 38 years. I was always scribbling on something as a kid. There was just always something in me. [When I moved to Lynchburg] I needed to find a way to earn money and I picked up some projects [in Boonsboro]. Then it was just word of mouth.

TW: How would you describe your artistic style?
SH: I’m self-taught. There was a high school teacher who showed me a lot, but I think I have my own style. I just have a lot of patience.

TW: You’ve worked on so many projects around Lynchburg. Which one has been your favorite?
SH: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. They were renovating the church and there were no pews—nothing inside. They were trying to restore it to what it looked like back then. They had photos of the original stenciling on the ceiling and I had to recreate it.

TW: Whoa. That had to be time consuming.
SH: Yeah, it was one of my favorites. While we were in there painting, an organist would come in and practice. It sounded awesome. I still have goosebumps thinking about it. A church out in Lexington approached me about working on a similar project for them, but I had just started dialysis and wasn’t able to make the drive.

TW: Yes! You recently received a new kidney via transplant. That’s incredible.
SH: My doctor told me it would probably take a long time to find a donor so I had buckled down, but it took a lot quicker than I thought. I couldn’t do the Lexington job, but I did hand-cut the stencils for them. I was so humbled that they trusted me to do that.

TW: It seems like you have a thing for churches.
SH: (chuckles) I also worked on a mural for Tree of Life Church in their sanctuary.

TW: Any other projects that come to mind?
SH: When Amazement Square first opened, they asked me to come in and do a lot of hand-painting for some of the exhibits. I remember climbing into this tiny tunnel and doing some painting and drawing worms and bugs. I could barely fit. I worked on a few of the traveling exhibits they had at one point. There was one about ancient Egypt. They also wanted to start showing movies in the park [by Amazement Square] so I did a mural for that as well. I also helped out on a project at Point of Honor.

They were trying to recreate a specific wallpaper. So I did it by hand so part of the wall is wallpaper, the other is just a painting.

TW: Do you think hand-stenciling is a lost art form?
SH: I mean, a lot of my stencils I cut by hand. It’s not something you can go and pick out at Michaels. You need a lot of patience.

I remember a mechanic worked on my truck and said, “I couldn’t imagine painting all day.” And I said, “I can’t imagine fiddling with a wrench all day.” Not everyone wants to do it. But I like it. I like being able to take my time.

TW: And it allows you to create some really cool effects, too.
SH: I worked on a house where they wanted a certain area to look a certain way. So I took a sponge and a rag, let it dry, and then wrinkled it out to make the wall look almost like marble. I guess they sold the house, and the new owners mistook the painting for wallpaper. They tried to take it down and realized it was paint!

Photos by Ashlee Glen

GET IN TOUCH
Email Sonny at sonnyharlow6073@gmail.com

Intuitive Color Artist

Lynchburg Living Editor Shelley Basinger:
Andrew, the first thing we notice about your artwork is the use of color. Why do you enjoy using lots of bright hues?
Andrew Riscart: Because it’s so powerful. It leaves so much up for interpretation. It allows the viewer to take ownership from their own personal perspective.

SB: That’s why you describe yourself as an “intuitive” color artist.
AR: Right, I like to blend the real and recognizable with the abstract. I approach this by replicating recognizable characters and then manipulating color theory to interact with the viewer. I find this often requires some kind of response, but still leaves a lot up to interpretation. In short, I play with color theory while letting value do all of the work.

SB: When did you first become interested in art?
AR: When I was about five years old. I got mad that my neighbor’s cousin could draw so much better than me. I guess you could say I became determined. That’s when I really started to practice.

SB: What types of training have you received?
AR: My mother signed me up for a drawing class when I was 10. I later took a painting class at Central Virginia Community College with Kenny Weinfurtner. He showed me how to build a foundation. Over the past year, I’ve been picking things up along the way. Mostly through the internet; I study creatives that inspire me in various mediums like painting, music, poetry, and film.

SB: You’ve recently decided to make art a full-time career. How did that transition happen?
AR: It’s funny—I took a class under a very successful businessman. He kept on repeating the phrase: “What’s in your hand?” That’s where you start. If you want to be successful in business, start with what you have available to you right now. Another phrase he would say a lot is, “Your gift will make a way for you.” When I moved back to Virginia, I kept thinking back on this. The only thing I kept coming back to was painting. So, I started painting. I will ride this wave until it crashes, and then I’ll catch another one.

SB: The doors have certainly been opening for you! We are seeing a lot of your work around town.
AR: I have pieces hanging on Main Street in Dish, Starr Hill Brewery and the White Hart. I also have one inside Riverview Records, a new shop on Jefferson Street. I have some murals at the new Main Street Bar and Grill, and I’m also working on a piece for Crisp’s new beer garden. It’s expected to be open at the end of July.

SB: We heard about you from an Instagram post by Star Hill. How has social media influenced your artwork?
AR: Social media has opened a new avenue for artists, like myself, to create an audience. One we otherwise would not have been able to. It can be a powerful tool in this regard and in many others. However, social media can also be very dangerous. Unfortunately, it has become a substitute for one-on-one human connection. I’m beginning to see this can leave an emptiness in people. I believe fine art can bridge this gap between a sea of choices and what is actually physically tangible right in front of us. I continue to paint for this reason. I personally live for the one-on-one interaction painting affords me. I think this past year really put things into perspective for a lot of us. The greatest impacts are made one human interaction at a time. If we can love the person right in front of us and then they in turn love the person right in front of them, it creates a ripple effect.

SB: You’ve been getting a lot of requests for commissions. How is that going?
AR: I love doing commissions. They have been my bread and butter, if you will. However, I’m becoming more selective on what I choose. Mostly because I also need the commissions I do to fit a common vision with the style I’m evolving into.

SB: What’s next for you? Any future goals?
AR: I just want to be a part of the bigger picture.

Follow along
You can find Andrew on Instagram: @riscart

Group of artists craft original play to explain the diversity of blackness

Photos by Jenna Burling

The creation of the play Color Me Beautiful: An American Odyssey has itself been a kind of odyssey. What began as a therapeutic exercise in connection during 2020’s stay-at-home orders is now an important production that stands to change the future of theater.

Local actor, singer, writer, and director Joshua Carter decided to reach out when the isolation of last year had him feeling boxed in.

“I was in quarantine by myself in an apartment, and in the midst of me feeling sorry for myself, it hit me that if you think you’re alone, there are about ten other people who everybody may have forgotten about,” Carter says. “So I decided to gather some people and say, ‘Hey, let’s read plays on Zoom. Let’s pick plays every week and we’ll read.’”

Zoom calls led to Facebook readings, which led to Carter proposing that people share their original works to be read and reviewed virtually. Taking part in these creative exchanges ultimately inspired Carter to begin a virtual writing workshop.

“I thought to myself, ‘One of my goals is to get new works for Black theater, so let me do a writing workshop,’” he recalls. “I reached out to a few people, and we did a workshop all the way through George Floyd and everything. It was very therapeutic that we got to write from our hearts and share with each other during that time.”

What happened next was nothing short of serendipitous. Without knowing about his writing workshop,Alluvion Stage Company called Carter and asked for, as Carter puts it, “a play explaining why black lives matter.”

“We had no idea; we were just doing our therapy!” Carter exclaims. “Luckily, we were in place and had the tools to make it happen.”

Carter, along with writers Cameron Dashiell, Jasmine Pierce, and Joel Ashur, composed Color Me Beautiful: An American Odyssey, a play in which “a Black teen, overwhelmed by a chaotic world, meets a dark fate and must pursue the weight of his existence on a journey through the stars.”

The play, which is a collaboration among Carter, Dashiell, Pierce, Ashur, choreographer Meagan King, Alluvion Stage Company, and Building Bridges Productions, Inc., will be presented at The Black Box Theater in Lynchburg July 23-25.

Carter says that the process of creating the play was fueled by questions, both external and internal.

“I love to write with questions,” he notes. “When I was asked, ‘Why do Black lives matter?’ I was initially like, ‘Isn’t it obvious? Why do you need to ask that question?’ But then I asked myself that as an artist, and the answer is that our stories matter. The things people don’t see matter.”

“We knew we wanted to have a strong ‘why’,” added Pierce. “At the end of the day, we want people to look at Black people as just that: people. Not threats, not people who should be demonized. Just people with intrinsic beauty and value.”

Carter says one of the major themes of the play is the diversity of blackness. “Being African American comes with so many experiences and so many stories, and in our play, we travel through several stories,” he says. “We’re not always struggling through civil rights, although that’s a big part of how people understand who we are. It’s the conversations at the dinner table, it’s the moments before divorce, it’s the moments before death; we don’t see those things on stage because that’s not what people often see in reality. That’s what the humanities are for: we fill the gaps with life.”

When Carter looked inward at his own personal experience as a Black man as he worked on the play, the question he found there shook him to his core.

“My question as a creator on this project from my personal life was, ‘What if it was me?’” says Carter. “Take the case of Elijah McClain. He was very similar to me in that he was very calm and meek. He played the violin. He was caught up in a moment. He said, ‘My name is Elijah McClain. I play the violin, and I would never hurt anyone. I’m not that type of person.’ That put a little fear in my heart that sometimes it doesn’t matter what education you have or who you are; you don’t get time to share your credentials before you’re in a moment. A lot of the scenes I wrote came from a place of reflection on that question: ‘What if it was me?’”

In addition to addressing these and other complex and important questions, Color Me Beautiful will also help create opportunities for children, especially those who are underprivileged and at risk, through collaboration with local nonprofit theater organization Building Bridges Productions, Inc. Its founder, Janice Atkins Benejan, joined as a producer of the show.

Pierce says the partnership with Building Bridges means putting words into action.

“The arts offer a safe place to express the joys but also hurts of the world,” she says. “It provides people with a place to be vulnerable and oftentimes forces one to look at the world through someone else’s lens, creating a deeper sense of sympathy among people. This is vital for youth.”

One aspect of the partnership is Carter’s involvement with Building Bridges’ Story Makers Theater Camp this summer (June 28-July 9) for youth ages 12-18.

“Story Makers was already an idea in Janice’s head, but it really fit with Color Me Beautiful because it’s the same process of writing a script and producing it yourself,” Carter says. “I was brought into the team as an instructor to help make a curriculum for kids to write their own stories, produce them, and perform them for their families. Any child can sign up, but one of Janice’s goals is to reach underprivileged children, so scholarships will be offered.”

Carter believes that involvement in theater can help children—and adults—learn invaluable communication skills that will serve them in their real-world relationships.

“One of the skills that all people need to work on is communication: the abilities to step back, think, empathize, and be not only reactive, but also reflective,” he notes. “I think theater gives you tools for working on these things. Theater is a very spiritual exchange from one soul to another.”

Carter hopes that the production will create positive change on multiple levels.

“Tyler Perry famously said, ‘Stop asking to be at someone else’s table; build your own,’” he says. “I hope that this play inspires someone to say, ‘I can write a five-minute script.’ I hope that some actor, whether they be young or old, Black or white or Latino, will take authority of their narratives and their stories. I pray that when they come to see this, they feel like they can do the same. I also hope that it will help people understand a perspective that they may not have seen before.”

“I personally hope people will just see the utter beauty of engaging with new stories and cultures and people,” Pierce adds. “I hope they will feel immersed in our world that it encourages them to step outside of their own after the show in order to better get to know people they wouldn’t usually engage with.”

For Carter, Pierce and the rest of the Color Me Beautiful team, the ultimate dream is to see the play find success beyond Lynchburg so it can reach more audiences and spark even more transformative dialogue about race, representation, empathy, and life itself.

Says Carter: “This is just the beginning.”

Save the Date
Color Me Beautiful: An American Odyssey
July 23-25, 7:30 p.m.
The Black Box Theater
601 Mountain View Road (LU Campus)
Find tickets at Eventbrite.com.

Laura Beth Davidson never set out to be a professional photographer. With her newly purchased camera and a few online classes under her belt, she just wanted to have decent photos of her daughter without paying someone else to do it.

“I found this online community called Clickin Moms, which was designed to help moms take better pictures of their kids,” she joked. “But a lot of them end up being people who actually start taking pictures of other people’s kids.

It’s a funny cycle.”

Photo by Ashlee Glenn

That was 10 years ago. Now Davidson is a professional who does just that—however with three more daughters in tow. She and her husband, Andrew, call Lynchburg home after moving to Virginia a few years ago.

“I was always a creative person,” Davidson said. “[Photography] just ‘clicked’ as an outlet for my creativity. Having a cute toddler [at the time] as a subject made it so there was always something to take pictures of.”

As she began to expand her portfolio of her daughter, Jane, Davidson started with a fine art style, but quickly learned that she loved photojournalism.

“I loved shooting things that weren’t posed or directed,” she said. “My favorite clients have been the ones who just let me come into their homes and do this documentary approach, where I basically just spend a day with them at home or whatever they do normally and just fade into the background to capture the ‘real life,’ not just the perfect moments.”

Davidson decided to take that approach with her own family after reading about a social media trend called “100 Days of Summer,” where photographers would take a photo every day between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“Sort of by accident, those first few photos I took [when I started in 2018] had all four of my girls in the frame,” she said. “I thought, ‘This would be a fun challenge.’ At that point, my twins were not quite two and the oldest was seven.”

Davidson said she loved the challenge, especially as a stay-at-home mom with four kids home during the summer.

It gave her a creative outlet and a task, but also a great collection of her girls.

“It’s very tricky not to repeat yourself with your photos,” Davidson said. “That’s what I love about it. I try to play a lot with reflections or shadows to try to make it clever so there’s a wide variety. When you have hundreds of photos, there are some that tend to duplicate, but the other side of that is that there are some that I’ve tried to recreate as an interesting marker of where they are each season.”

On the hard days where creativity doesn’t strike, Davidson said sometimes she’s not happy with the shot she does manage to get.

“But I did [get a shot] and the next day I’ll try to do better,” Davidson said. “That’s my goal.”

As someone who likes control, Davidson the project has helped her let go of her ideas of perfection.

“It makes photos where I really nail it so much better and they are special to me,” she said. “I’ve just had to accept that the light isn’t always going to be nice. I’m not always going to have great composition, but some days I will.”

The girls, for the most part, enjoy being part of the process, Davidson said. She says it helps that she doesn’t make them pose and that they put all the photos in a book at the end of the summer. She even got the opportunity to display a collection of her work titled, “Ordinary Time: A Visual Record of the In-Between” at the Academy Center of the Arts this March.

After focusing on the summer for the past few years, Davidson decided in 2020 she would focus on getting a picture every day: 365 days. Though the pandemic threw the Davidsons into a new season of life, documenting photos became even more important after Alice, one of the twins, was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor late last year.
“It’s the first time that one of them has experienced something that the other three girls haven’t,” Davidson said. “They have no idea what the experience has been like because of the pandemic. The girls haven’t been allowed to visit Alice when she’s in the hospital. We tell them what’s happening, but the only way they get to experience it is through the photos I take.”

Davidson hasn’t shied away from the harder days with Alice because she has always wanted her photos to be an honest look at life.
“It’s crappy,” she said. “She’s four and a half. She has a fantastic attitude and is just a happy kid. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember that this is a big deal for her. I don’t think she fully understands it. I didn’t have any idea of what it was going to look like as a parent, and I’ve even thought about what I’m going to do with these photos after it’s all over.”

Davidson said continuing to be raw during painful moments is still hard, but she always looks back to that first summer when she started.

“Just like how starting [the project] gave me something to focus on as a stay-at-home-mom with four small children, I feel like this helps me compartmentalize or process it in a way. [Alice] has to sit here and have this needle stuck in her and she’s not going to like it. There’s nothing I can do about it in that moment so instead of sitting there and feeling broken by it, I can use that energy to frame a photograph that is heart-wrenching, but it gives me a role to play. We’ve had to hand off so much to the doctors, it really gives me something to do when I can’t be Alice’s primary caregiver.”

Documenting Alice’s journey is something that Davidson believes will help all the sisters process better in the future.

“Whenever they’re ready to know the full extent of what she’s going through, I think they’ll be able to experience it through the photographs in a way they can’t now because of their age and COVID,” Davidson said. “It’s almost like making this time capsule.”

With treatment for Alice scheduled until July and the world slowly reopening, Davidson said setting some expectation of what she wants to shoot this year often leads to disappointment.

“I try to keep an open mind about it,” she said. “But I do want to continue to photograph the girls’ relationships with each other. I’ve also been taking pictures of Alice’s appearance as she loses her hair and weight, gets more dark circles under her eyes. I want to make sure to document that as well as she dips and as she comes back up because the prognosis is very good. But I want to document Alice coming out of this and her sisters processing it as well.”

As she looks back, Davidson believes she could have never started out as a documentary photographer—that transformation happened during motherhood.

“I think having four children [changed that],” she jokes. “It was more than I bargained for, and some days we’re doing the best we can. I think that’s mirrored in my photographs: choosing the things you can control—like where I’m standing in relation to the girls or having patience not to just go for the first shot. That’s part of the beauty of it. When you look back at the photos, it’s obvious I’m not telling them what to do. It is really like I’m not even there. That’s the goal.”

Lynchburg Living Editor Shelley Basinger: Heather, your cookies and other baked goods are certainly eye-catching! When did you first develop a passion for baking?

Heather Sollers: As a child, I used to love making recipes from my mom’s cookbooks and surprising my family. I started off with small snacks, then meals, and, eventually, baked goods. I also remember making chocolate chip cookies every year with my family at Christmastime and everyone sharing cookies they had made after Christmas Eve dinner. This is a tradition I continue with my own family. I have five kids ranging from ages 6 to 20, three girls and two boys.

SB: At what point did your baking turn into more of an artform?
HS: I first tried my hand at making more complicated, artistic cakes for my daughters’ joint birthday party back in 2005. I made a princess castle cake for my then four-year-old and a 3D baby sitting on a cloud for my then one-year-old. After my son was born in 2011, I made my first decorated sugar cookies—a flower cookie pop bouquet for the nurses.

SB: When did you officially start up your business, Creative Confections by Heather?
HS: I actually had a completely different job when we lived in New Jersey. I went to mortuary school and became a funeral director and only baked cakes and cookies on the side. In March of 2014, my husband was transferred and we moved to Lynchburg. Later that same month, I had my daughter and made cookies to thank the wonderful nurses at the Birth Center. A year later, I did the same when I had my son. The nurses quickly spread the word about my cookies and that’s when my business really started. In 2016, I created my LLC, got my business license, and became a state-inspected manufacturer.

SB: What types of techniques do you use?
HS: For the most part, I’m self-taught. While there are a number of ways to ice and decorate a cookie,
I use royal icing because it is easy to work with, dries hard, and is extremely versatile. With it, I am able to decorate with the wet-on-wet technique to create various designs, and when the icing is dry, I can layer it, airbrush it, do brush embroidery, hand paint, and use edible markers to add small details. I am always experimenting and learning new techniques.

SB: Do you have any favorites you’ve created?
HS: One of my favorites was a three-tier, ’80s-themed cake that I made for an E.C. Glass reunion a few years ago. I love everything ’80s!
My most memorable cookies would be the “Riverdale” cookies from 2017. They were my first to go viral, shared by Archie Comics and Seventeen Magazine, among others. That was pretty exciting!

SB: Likewise, what are some of the most unique requests you have received?
HS: Every year, usually for Halloween or Christmas, my husband’s cousin comes up with some crazy idea that she wants me to turn into a cookie. We’ve done everything from zombie snowmen to creepy dolls and scary nuns. But, I love the challenge!

SB: You’ve been baking for the Craddock Terry Hotel since 2016. How is that going?
HS: I started off making the red shoe cookies then quickly added many other items. Currently, I make all of the enhancements, custom orders, and the food items in their gift shop. I also bake custom items and treats for Shoemakers and Waterstone, and for the City of Newport News.

SB: What do you love the most about what you do?
HS: I love that I have a unique outlet for my creativity that also contributes to the memories of someone’s special day or event. I love the excitement my customers have when they are ordering and then when they see their cookies for the first time. I also feel very blessed to be a volunteer Sugar Angel for Icing Smiles. Through Icing Smiles, I am able to share my gift by providing dream cakes, celebration cakes, and cookies for families who are impacted by the critical illness of a child. Seeing the excited, appreciative smiles when a child receives their cake or cookies is something that I will always remember.

Four Local Workshops Offer Inspiration When It’s Needed Most

As we pass the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., many of us can say we have spent the extra time at home tackling new projects. However, many of us can also say we have learned that brainstorming and acquiring materials for these endeavors can cause major burnout.

In the past year, several local DIY workshops in Central Virginia—with their expanded, pandemic-friendly offerings—have become an outlet for those wishing to create meaningful and beautiful home décor, without all of the guesswork and legwork. Regardless of your desired DIY experience, inspiration is teeming in and around the Lynchburg community and is only a mouse click—or short drive—away.

For those seeking an at-home DIY experience without spending hours scouring Pinterest for ideas and deciding on materials at home improvement and craft stores, take-home kits are ideal. For a more social experience, you may want to consider signing up for a virtual class or arranging a virtual party so you and a group of friends can delve into your kits and create together.

Board & Brush Creative Studio in Forest now offers BB@home kits that include everything you’ll need, including tools, to create your own custom wood sign.

“The BB@home kits are perfect because they come with everything you need to complete the project!” says owner Stefanie Feese. “Your board comes already stained and your stencil is ready to be applied. You get paint, sponges, cups for mixing paint, sandpaper for distressing, a B&B sticker for the back of the board, a color mixing guide to help create desired colors, and a full page of instructions, complete with pictures!”

Feese adds that Board & Brush has sold the kits for art classes for children doing virtual school, for birthday parties, and for people of all ages simply looking for a rewarding new activity. Virtual workshops are also available.

AR Workshop Lynchburg, which offers a wide variety of DIY projects, opened in November 2020. As such, kits and virtual events were immediately an integral part of the local workshop’s offerings even though they were new to AR Workshop as a corporate entity.

“The pandemic truly made us think outside the box on how we could better serve our community and continue to create a DIY outlet for them,” says owner Jessica Herndon. “Our DIY kits include all materials including stencils, wood, a PrimARy Paint Essentials Kit, brushes, and instructions. Our PrimARy Paint Essentials Kit includes a color-mixing guide to give you endless color options!”

If painting is your passion, Imagination Station Studio in Forest has a couple of kit options for you. “Our Take Home Kits include everything you need to create a project,” says co-owner Gladys Attin. “Ceramic kits include a ceramic character, a set of paints, a paintbrush, and an apron. Paint at Your Own Pace kits include a pre-drawn canvas, paints, brushes, an apron, and a video tutorial that will go step by step for you.” Imagination Station also offers Zoom parties and art camps.

Like AR Workshop, Lynchburg home décor workshop Blue Mountain Barn opened in June of last year and thus had to quickly find its footing during the pandemic. Co-owners Tressa Sariñana and her daughter, Ashtyn, are working to expand their kit offerings, but they are focused primarily on offering small in-house DIY experiences.

“We began to offer classes right away,” Sariñana says. “We offer them in an intimate setting of usually five to eight people. We make sure to space appropriately, wear masks, and have the appropriate PPE on hand. The intimate setting we offer creates a cozy, warm atmosphere. We have a fireplace and a big screen TV with HGTV or the DIY Network on.”

Individuals and groups of two or three people are able to stop by and create whenever the workshop is open, and groups of five or more people are encouraged to reserve exclusive times to come create.

Although DIY class sizes have decreased across the board due to the pandemic, local workshop owners are taking the changes in stride.

“I will admit that I have loved the smaller class sizes,” says Feese. “I thoroughly enjoy the relationships that are built in the smaller setting. You are creating a piece that will be on display in your home, and in the process, you will also be creating memories with the people you choose to attend the workshop with.”

She adds that the most popular class at Board & Brush is currently the PYP (Pick Your Project) class. “These workshops allow each person who registers to select and create their own piece rather than everyone making the same thing,” she notes. “Half of the fun is looking around the room and getting ideas for your next project!”

Herndon says that in-person classes at AR Workshop have continued to thrive because of an enduring desire for connection. “As humans we long to connect with others,” she says.

“Our workshops are such a great way to get together and share laughs, memories, and lots of sawdust! I love the laughter and smiles the shop brings people.”

She notes that porch-related projects such as signs, doormats, pillows, and door hangers have been popular lately because “there is nothing better than a refreshed porch to come home to.”

At Imagination Station, paint nights are now limited to 16 people with precautions in place and two-hour time slots for small private parties are available. Attin hopes that their projects—whether done at the workshop or at home—are therapeutic. “Painting can help you experience and express feelings, gain skills and confidence, and learn coping skills that will provide an outlet for stress,” she says.

Regardless of the particular DIY experience you choose, local workshops can help you find the perfect balance of creativity and connection. “DIY is very important because of the many things it can accomplish,” says Sariñana. “DIY is not just a trend, a meme, or initials. It offers an outlet and provides people with a sense of purpose and a sense of community. Helping people explore their own creativity is so rewarding.”

Wood-Fired Pottery

Lynchburg Living Editor Shelley Basinger: Beatriz, you aren’t originally from the area—or even the country! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Beatriz Gutierrez: I grew up on the island of Tenerife, Spain. My journey with clay began in Scotland at the age of 28 and continued when I moved to America to study at the Penland School of Craft in North Carolina in 2010.

SB: What other types of training have you received to improve your skill?
BG: I am grateful for the mentorship I have received from other potters since the beginning. Most recently, I have been studying wood firing with
Kevin Crowe at Tye River Pottery in Amherst County. We stopped last March when the COVID-19 pandemic began. He has a big kiln that requires 12 people and seven days to be fired. All the work is loaded into the kiln, but we are still waiting for when we can gather safely to fire.

SB: I’m sure you are looking forward to that day! Meanwhile, you spend a lot of time at your own studio in the Coleman Falls area of Bedford County.
BG: We have been building my studio for most of the past decade, using reclaimed materials collected over the years, including all of the bricks used in the construction of my kiln. That is one of the reasons why everything has happened very slowly. I have broadened my skills by being involved in every step of the process. I have worked mostly with my husband, Paul, with the occasional help of friends and neighbors.

SB: What is a typical day like for you at your studio?
BG: Depending on the weather and the time of the making cycle, I start my days with wood preparations: splitting and stacking. In addition to wood from my property, I purchase locally harvested wood from a logger down the road. The wood needs to be dried enough for the success of the firing—that is why it is stacked is so carefully. Inside the studio, you will find me clay mixing, reclaiming clay, mixing, maintaining my glazes and throwing. I mainly use a kick wheel to make my work and I harvest local clay to make my pieces.

SB: What types of challenges have you faced?
BG: Transitioning from mid-range temperature electric firing (how I used to make my pottery) to wood firing has been a difficult challenge. Over the past year, I have not had a lot of work available to sell because I am still working out the details of the kiln.
It could take me one to three months to produce enough work to fire my kiln and with the preheat,
it takes three days to fire.

SB: What are some of your favorite pieces you
have created so far?
BG: I love all of the shapes I am making. Tea pots are so much fun! Making the jars with the right curve is always a good challenge. Then, the lids
and the spouts and the handle. I love putting all of the parts together in a way that pleases my eye. When they end up working beautifully, it’s a great feeling of satisfaction.

SB: That transitions perfectly to my next question. What do you love so much about working with clay?
BG: Clay has memory—it records the process of making, shows the quality of the thoughts I had when working. When the clay is exposed to the flames of the fire in the kiln and vitrifies, all the conscious and unconscious choices in the making process are revealed. This is always a bit shocking. The power of pots relies on how ordinary and mundane they are. Objects we use every day on our tables.

SB: What’s next for you? What do you have planned in the coming year or in the future?
BG: There are so many pots I want to make this coming year: casserole dishes, planters, baking dishes. Each new form is an adventure.

The Bower Center’s mission continues to evolve, with new offerings in 2021

The year 2021 marks 15 years since the Bower Center for the Arts first opened its doors. What initially began as the Bedford Academy for the Arts with a broad mission of “promoting the cultural arts” has evolved—big time.

Over the years, the center has become an access point for the arts in Central Virginia and a downtown anchor for the Town of Bedford. And even though the center hosts national juried exhibitions that attract artists from across the nation, it continues to honor its original mission of providing cultural arts to the community with an enhanced focus on making the arts accessible to all, which serves as the heartbeat for this nonprofit.

Celebrating Creativity & Self-Expression
On any given day, you might find executive director Susan Martin greeting a host of tiny toddler ballerinas skipping through the Bower Center’s doors, or you might find her collaborating with professional artists and educators on how to best deliver a watercolor workshop over a digital platform. She might be answering questions on upcoming pottery classes or overseeing the next community art installation in the front window of the center.

Gallery admission is always free of charge—that’s just one way the Bower Center fulfills its mission of eliminating barriers and improving accessibility to the arts. “Providing high-quality art classes at an affordable price tops the list,” Martin explains, noting that the center plans to expand its current scholarship program to include adults.

“We want to be available to different audiences and more individuals in the community in different ways,” she adds, which includes expanding existing partnerships and entering collaborations with Bedford Domestic Violence Services and the Department of Social Services.

Equal parts community art center, renowned gallery, and performance venue, the Bower Center serves as a gathering place for anyone interested in any kind of art. From community art events to “2nd Friday” programs and paint nights, “we want this to be a place for community connections, for building relationships, growing your creativity,” Martin explains. “That’s the direction we’re going in—we want to celebrate creativity in all its shapes and forms.”

Serving the Community
The center serves up offerings from a diverse menu of creative programs and opportunities designed to inspire, encourage, and promote artistic expression in a variety of forms. Some classes take place year-round, and others are Saturday morning one-time workshops; many are now available online. Whether someone is interested in photography, fiber arts, creative writing, jewelry-making, or learning to play the bass guitar, the options are varied and nearly endless. Essentially, if someone is interested in learning more about the visual, literary, or performance arts, they will find a class or workshop to meet their needs at the Bower Center—and if they can’t, they can make a request.

In fact, the center invites those requests as it relies on community feedback to curate appealing offerings and to meet community needs. It was because of such input that classes in fiber arts and pottery appeared on the class schedule along with more single-session workshops and an extensive youth art program, including a new program for homeschool students.

While the center was providing after-school enrichment classes to students through its partnership with Bedford County Public Schools, it also recognized that Bedford County is home to one of the largest populations of homeschool families in the state. With that in mind, the Bower Center created Homeschool Mondays in order to better serve the homeschooling community. This program, made possible by grants from the Pacific Life Foundation, the Nora Roberts Foundation, and the Rea Charitable Trust, invites homeschoolers to the center every Monday for age-appropriate art classes and workshops.

Expanding Services in Times of Uncertainty
Martin shares that the recent pandemic compelled the center to consider ways to improve services and reach more people, including those unable to take part in multi-week, live classes.

“It made us start looking at how we better serve our community instead of just doing what we always did,” she says.

With that in mind, the Bower Center pivoted, putting all of their exhibits online along with the family art scavenger hunts to encourage families to appreciate and enjoy art together. Even paint nights went virtual, with Bower supplying at-home art kits. Even in the midst of pandemic-related challenges, the center sought out ways to make the arts fun, interesting, available, and safe.

Adding virtual components and live-streamed classes helped the Bower Center continue providing services during an otherwise uncertain time, and these changes have helped guide future plans. “Even though life won’t always be the way it’s been during the pandemic, we want to continue growing and offering things in different ways,” Martin explains.

Wellness, Creativity, & the Healing Arts
Not only will the Bower Center welcome new faces onto its board in 2021, but it will also support the expansion of a dream that has been long-discussed ever since it opened its doors 15 years ago. This will be the year the center brings expressive arts therapy and the healing arts into focus. The healing arts, which consist of music, movement, poetry, and visual art, are frequently used to promote wellness, deal with stress, and provide avenues for meaningful self-expression.

The center has offered wellness classes periodically over the years, and yoga and Tai Chi have been calendar mainstays. The demand for more “Music and Mindfulness” workshops continues to grow along with requests for more workshops in the healing arts. The center will launch regular workshops and offerings in the healing arts in 2021. Plans also include partnering with area funeral homes to provide art therapy sessions with local grief support groups.

“We know that art is healing and we want to help each other connect, communicate, and share through the arts,” Martin explains. “Through this pandemic, we know people have to have opportunity to express themselves, and we want to help them in any way we can to provide a safe and healthy environment to engage in the arts.”