The 2018 Evolve Bank and Trust Cooper Young Festival is seeking local artisans to submit work for this year’s Art Invitational set for Thursday, September 13 from 6-9 p.m. The Art Invitational will be hosted by Epicenter, located at 902 South Cooper Street. There will be refreshments along with live music.
The annual Art Invitational celebrates the artists who live and/or work in the Cooper Young Historic District. The free event allows artists the opportunity to showcase their work in a gallery setting. Anyone who lives or works in the Cooper Young neighborhood is invited to join.
The Cooper Young neighborhood boundaries are McLean to East Parkway South and Central to Southern.
Art should be less than five years old and not overly heavy to hang. We are looking for 30 artists that have paintings, sculptures, jewelry, glasswork, photography, paper and fabric designs, metal or repurposed pieces etc.
Please get in touch with Cooper-Young Business Association executive director Tamara Cook at cyba@bellsouth.net to get your name on the list to participate. There is no cost to you, and if your piece sells, all proceeds go to you. You will need to attend the show the night of the invitational. Your art must be at the CYBA offices by Friday, September 7 to be in the show. Art must be collected by owners after the event that night.
n Cooper-Young record store destination Goner Records has announced the initial lineup for the 15th annual Gonerfest music festival. New York punk legend Lydia Lunch and her band Retrovirus leads the lineup which also includes Memphis’ the Oblivians and Harlan T. Bobo.
Other acts include: The Carbonas, Deaf Wish, Sick Thoughts, Surfbort, Gino & The Goons, En Attendant Ana, Blaha, Shark Toys, Amyl & The Sniffers, Oh Boland, EXEK, Datenight, Ethers, Vile Bodies, David Nance, Trouble Boys.
The festival will be held September 27-30 in venues across Midtown. Check goner-records.com/gonerfest for tickets and updates.
n A developer announced plans to convert the former Galloway united Methodist Church into apartments. Lance Forsdick, president of Lance Construction Co. Inc., is pursing investors and tax credits to convert the church at 1015 S. Cooper St. into high-end 34 apartments with amenities to include a dog park, a gym, a grilling pavilion, gated parking and 24-hour video surveillance. The church sanctuary would remain untouched and become an event space. A staple of the neighborhood since 1912, the church was where Johnny Cash played his first professional concert in 1954, an event commemorated by a historical marker on the property.
n Cooper-Young residents Jennifer Jordan and Lisa Holt have launched Soul Ride, a company that seeks to address a public transportation need in the neighborhood left vacant sinc the shutdown of Ride the Roo. The pair will run their six-person golf cart Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday. People who want a ride can call or text -901-598-SOUL or flag the cart down on the street.
n The comedy event Drafts and Laughs has cemented its schedule for the foreseeable future. The event, featuring stand-up and sketch comedy from founder Sam Anzer and a cohort that includes a St. Jude research scientist, a lacrosse coach, a respiratory therapist/pizza delivery man, and a bird catcher, will be held at Cooper-Young’s Memphis Made Brewing (768 Cooper) on the second Saturday of the month with the next one on August 11. The event runs 7:30-9:15 p.m.
