FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — Some senior art students from St. John’s Catholic Prep stared intently at a mural of swooping green and purple mountains in the halls of the Mental Health Association of Frederick County.
Paint brushes in hand, they expanded the landscape as they traced over old ridge lines with new ones. Some chatted with one another; some concentrated silently.
Each student’s calculated stroke brought the larger scene into focus: a mountainous region with coolly colored expanses basked in warm orange-yellow sunlight.
The hallways and mural lines all lead to a sun in the middle corridor, eclipsed by a majestically posed bird, standing on a tree branch with its beak held high.
The bird was the idea and creation of St. John’s senior Juliana Workman, who stood a few feet away, painting a mountain.
Workman said the bird embodies someone with confidence who has grown out of their mental struggles.
“The fact that it’s against the sun and being highlighted by the sun, it’s absorbing all the things that are positive,” Workman said. “It’s sitting on a branch, so it’s high above the rest of the mountains. When you reach a point where you finally overcome your mental struggles, that’s how it should feel.”
Workman’s theme is emblematic of the students’ mural as a whole.
It was requested by Rebecca Layman, director of marketing and development for MHA, to bring life to MHA’s recently renovated counseling wing and its neutral, beige walls.
She had recently provided a tour of the wing to St. John’s counselors and thought that students would be the perfect artists to spruce the place up.
“We wanted it to be a warm, friendly, comforting space for our clients who come in and use our services,” Layman said. “I’ve always loved art and felt like art speaks to so many people, especially in healing.”
St. John’s art teacher and independent artist Bernadette Miller answered Layman’s call. After speaking with Layman, Miller plotted out the landscape now adorning the walls with input from her senior art students.
Miller and her class began painting the mural in early March — periodically returning to it throughout the month, adding color and contours.
“It’s a great collaborative effort,” Miller said. “The school loves for us to be able to go out in the community and put our mark in different ways. I really feel like the students, that’s where they build memories. That’s where we kind of bond as a community.”
Workman and her classmates explained how they hoped their artwork would soothe those who walk MHA’s halls and shared how their relationship with art affects their own mental health.
Workman hopes to become an animator for children’s TV shows.
Though not everyone plans to pursue art education after they graduate this spring, seniors Adrianna Cortes and Annabelle Browning predicted art would continue to serve a special role in their lives
“I’ve always loved art,” Browning said. “It’s kind of been my thing even as a young kid. I’ve always just went and painted if I was having a bad day.
“When I’m older, I want to be a school counselor. So, I’m hoping maybe I can make my own pieces and hang them up in my room.”
The act of holding a paint brush is freeing to Browning. There are no rules when she has a paint brush in hand and she feels a sense of control.
To Cortes, art similarly serves as a stress reliever.
Both students relished the idea that their contributions to the mural and the individual watercolor paintings they made would be seen by community members for years to come.
“I never would have thought that my art would impact other people’s lives,” she said.
Browning added, “It’s going to help someone, whether we know it or not. It’s just kind of nice to know that a painting can make someone smile, even if it’s not for a whole day. But just the fact that someone smiled for a second … makes me feel good.”
Layman hopes clients will internalize the calmness of the alpine scenery and think about how it relates to their own path toward counseling and support.
“We know that not everybody comes and leaves and feels hopeful, but perhaps it’s the beginning of the healing process for them,” Layman said. “The clouds will dissipate a little bit, and I know that it’s not a cure or a fix, but it’s the start.”
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Visual stimulation will be plentiful next weekend at the free Mission Fed ArtWalk.
The 39th annual edition of the festival is expected to attract more than 100,000 attendees to peruse the creations of more than 250 artists. The media include sculpture, glass, photography, fine jewelry, woodwork and paintings, from acrylics to watercolors.
Set in the cuisine-happy neighborhood of Little Italy, art-lovers will have many options if they’re hungry or thirsty. They can also sample sonic treats from the four music stages that dot the festival. More than 30 acts will perform throughout the weekend, including six-string wizard Robin Henkel and 2023 San Diego Music Award Best New Artist nominee Ash Easton.
“Diving Girl” by photographer Carlos Vargas, one of eight featured artists at the 2023 ArtWalk San Diego April 29-30 in Little Italy.
(Courtesy of Carlos Vargas)
“There’s so much to be excited about this year,” said Curt Brooker, director of ArtWalk San Diego, which also oversees similar festivals in Carlsbad and Liberty Station. “Mission Fed ArtWalk gets better every year. The caliber of the artwork is outstanding.”
For families, there is the KidsWalk area as well as interactive art experiences that everyone can participate in. Among those activities are adding colorful strokes to a mural of Italian scenes and learning the unusual technique of “tape painting” to contribute to Sarah Stieber’s collaborative canvas.
At Piazza della Famiglia, the plaza in the heart of Little Italy, a collection of bicycles and bike accessories designed by local artists will be displayed. Donated by San Diego’s Electra Bicycle Company, they are part of the Charity Art Auction that benefits ArtReach, ArtWalk’s nonprofit partner.
ArtReach aims to increase equity in visual arts education in schools throughout San Diego County.
“Consumed by Chaos” by Jen Duran, one of eight featured artists at the 2023 ArtWalk San Diego April 29-30 in Little Italy.
(Courtesy of Jen Duran)
In January, Mission Fed ArtWalk announced the eight featured artists for its 2023 edition.
“With so much excellence represented at the festival, choosing just eight featured artists was not easy,” said ArtWalk director Brooker. “These represent some of the best and brightest.”
Here are the eight featured artists this year.
“Dancing in Colors” by Mieko Anekawa, one of eight featured artists at the 2023 ArtWalk San Diego April 29-30 in Little Italy.
(Courtesy of Mieko Anekawa)
Mieko Anekawa — An acrylic, impressionist painter, Anekawa has lived in Japan, New York and now La Jolla. She combines “naturalism and emotion into an organic collaboration.”
Nobe Babayan — A Los Angeles-based bronze sculpture artist (born and raised in Armenia), Babayan’s pieces are contemporary “with a side of whimsy.”
“Spring Song” by bronze artist Nobe Babayan, one of eight featured artists at the 2023 ArtWalk San Diego April 29-30 in Little Italy.
(Courtesy of Nobe Babayan)
Jen Duran — This San Diego abstract-realist painter uses watercolor, acrylics, and inks in hopes to “evoke emotions” from the viewer.
Mac Hillenbrand — A native San Diegan, now residing in Carlsbad, Hillenbrand applies the 17th century art of marquetry to his woodworking.
Veronica Leiton — An abstract-surrealist artist who paints in oil on canvas, Leiton is a native Chilean and longtime resident of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Melissa Marquardt — This Encinitas-based mixed-media artist specializes in abstract waterscapes and landscapes, inspired by California’s coast and estuaries.
Nic McGuire — Santa Barbara-born and Encinitas-raised, McGuire now lives in San Diego, creating glass sculpture.
Carlos Vargas — A Palm Springs resident, Vargas was born and raised in Colombia. His photography is inspired by the Caribbean’s “dazzling colors.”
The three people interviewed for this story — McGuire, Hillenbrand and Leiton — are experts in different mediums. Each is excited to be among Mission Fed ArtWalk’s 2023 featured artists.
“This title validates that the artists chosen are on the right path with their personal journey through art,” glass sculptor McGuire said.
“It’s a big morale booster …. There’s a huge marketing benefit to being selected. ArtWalk promotes all their featured artists on the website, social media and local news stations to create a buzz around your artwork. It also makes your booth a designated stop as attendees roam around the festival. It is a true honor,” he said.
Art glass by Nic McGuire, one of eight featured artists at the 2023 ArtWalk San Diego April 29-30 in Little Italy.
(Courtesy of Nic McGuire)
McGuire needed many arduous years to acquire the skills — and power tools — that enable him to make his glass-and-steel creations. He also had to learn to facilitate metal so that his materials come together properly.
“I make glass sculptures that intrigue and fascinate the senses,” he said. “Brilliant, rich colors and unique handmade textures have a graceful movement in the forms. My intentions are in symbiotic harmony with the process-based nature of this exotic material …. Glass is a symbol for the fragility of life.”
Woodworking artist Hillenbrand applies pioneering techniques on the ancient art of marquetry, which is basically inlaying patterns on variously colored woods. Most marquetry artisans are in the furniture world, he said.
“I wanted to make my own artwork and make a small business of that,” said Hillenbrand, who uses computer-aided design software in his art. “I’m going beyond the traditional — like breaking the rules of the sensei to start my own dojo.
“I create two-dimensional pieces, often using wood grain, to express oceanic textures. I’m drawing from years and years of surfing and spending time in the ocean to try to understand how breaking waves affect the dynamic that makes the ocean so enthralling.”
Getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seems simple enough — the five nominees who garner the most votes each year make the cut.
But deciding who to vote for is anything but simple, especially since there are usually three times as many nominees vying for those five induction spots.
More often than not, some of those nominees hail from distinctly different parts of the musical universe. Their impact and influence — two key criteria — can differ nearly as much.
Accordingly, this year’s ballot poses some intriguing and confounding choices. Here are five:
Kate Bush or Sheryl Crow?
Willie Nelson or Rage Against The Machine?
Soundgarden or White Stripes?
A Tribe Called Quest or George Michael?
Warren Zevon or The Spinners?
These are just some of this year’s potential match-ups facing the hall’s voting members, whose ranks have included me since the 1990s. Deciding who to cast your ballot for raises several vexing factors.
Is it better to vote with you heart, or with your mind? To let musical passions dictate your choices, or to use logic and careful consideration?
To further complicate matters, the calculus I use to determine a vote for any one artist may not apply to another. And when my instincts tell me a first-time nominee is a shoo-in for induction, I tend to not cast my ballot for them so that I can instead vote for a worthy underdog candidate.
That is why I have voted for Rage Against The Machine each of the previous four times they have been nominated (and will again this year). Ditto for Kate Bush, for each of the previous three times she has been nominated (and again this year).
It’s also why I have voted — albeit also without success — for “cosmic American music” visionary Gram Parsons, disco pioneers Chic and the incendiary Detroit band MC5 each time their respective names have appeared on the ballot (which in Parsons’ case last occurred in 2005).
To those who argue that Parsons and Chic are not “rock” artists, per se, I agree. But their influence is broad enough — and their contributions vital and enduring enough — that they deserve to be in a hall of fame, especially one that that in previous years has inducted Abba, Donna Summer, Journey and Bon Jovi.
Eight of this year’s contenders are first time nominees: Nelson, Crow, Michael, Zevon, White Stripes, Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper and Joy Division/New Order. Artist become eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording.
Several of the artists who are debuting on the 2023 ballot are very likely to be inducted, including Crow, Michael and the White Stripes, none of whom need (or will get) my vote.
Fans can cast their ballots online until April 28 at voterockhall.com/en/ — and millions have done so already. But be forewarned. All of the fan votes are tallied and submitted on a single ballot, alongside the other 1,000-plus ballots that are cast. Consequently, the millions of fan votes together will constitute about 0.1 percent of the total.
But enough about percentages! Here are the five 2023 nominees I plan to vote for.
Kate Bush — This one-of-a-kind English singer, songwriter and musical conceptualist counted the late Prince among her high-profile admirers. She has been a key influence on such varied artists as Tori Amos, Enya, Billie Eilish, Imogen Heap, Boy George and OutKast co-founder Big Boi, among others, and easily held her own duetting with Peter Gabriel on their 1986 gem “Don’t Give Up.”
The fact that Bush has not performed since 2014 — and has not toured since 1979 — only adds to the enigmatic allure of her singular music. What will probably cinch her induction this year is that her classic 1985 song, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God),” topped the charts worldwide in 2022, after being featured in a key scene in the TV series “Stranger Things.” That visibility should sway voters who were less familiar with her in the past.
Willie Nelson — Still touring and recording at 89, this maverick American-music giant has more attitude in his little finger than many rock and hip-hop stars. By almost single-handedly creating the outlaw country movement in the early 1970s, he irrevocably changed the staid Nashville music machine, while giving it the middle finger at the same time.
Nelson has written and recorded more classic songs than any currently active solo artist not named Bob Dylan. In 1985, he co-founded FarmAid with Neil Young and John Mellencamp. Over the years, his collaborators have ranged from fellow 2023 Rock Hall nominee Sheryl Crow to Keith Richards and Snoop Dogg, who — like Nelson — launched a line of marijuana products in 2015. He’ll celebrate his 90th birthday with a pair of all-star Hollywood Bowl concerts April 29 and 30.
Rage Against The Machine — This explosive Los Angeles-bred quartet set an enduring standard for rap-metal and musical ferocity more than 30 years ago. It also set a new standard for socially and politically charged songs with snarling, take-no-prisoners lyrics that vividly expressed youthful anger and frustration.
Rage disbanded in 2000, then reunited in 2007 for four years, before disbanding again. Its return to the stage last year drew sold-out audiences and earned rave reviews, even after lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha sustained an on-stage leg injury that required him to perform seated for the remainder of the tour. A key influence on numerous bands — including Deftones, Against Me! and System of a Down — Rage continues to live up to its name.
A Tribe Called Quest — A major force in New York’s Afrocenteric Native Tongues movement of the late 1980s and beyond, A Tribe Called Quest has been enormously influential in the decades since then. Its ingenious blend of hip-hop, jazz, funk, alternative-rock and more created an enduring template.
Artists who cite this three-man group as a pivotal inspiration include Roots leader Questlove, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Nas and Dr. Dre, among others. Just how far-reaching this musical Tribe’s reach extends was underscored in the 2011 film documentary “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest.” It was directed by actor Michael Rappaport, a longtime fan.
Warren Zevon — A long shot, or a shoo-in? This Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and band leader died from cancer in 2003. He scored only one Top 40 hit, 1978’s “Werewolves of London,” and remained a cult artist throughout his career.
But Zevon, who cut his teeth playing in the band of the Everly Brothers, made 15 albums and several are classics. He could be wry and acerbic, tender and poignant, the life of the party of the death of it. And he wrote a slew of outstanding songs that were covered by everyone from Linda Ronstadt (“Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” “Carmelita,” “Hasten Down the Wind”), Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia (“Accidentally Like a Martyr”) and The Pretenders and Stevie Nicks (“Reconsider Me”) to Madeleine Peyroux (“Keep Me in Your Heart”), Meat Loaf and Hank Williams Jr. (“Lawyers, Guns and Money”) and Bruce Springsteen (the elegiac “My Ride’s Here”).
The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot inside back page
(George Varga / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Below are this year’s 14 nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Which one current nominee do you feel most deserves to be inducted, and why? Email your answers to George Varga at george.varga@sduniontribune.com, and and we will publish the best responses. Please include your name and where you live (not your address, but the city, town or neighborhood).
Kate Bush
Sheryl Crow
Missy Elliott
Iron Maiden
Joy Division/New Order
Cyndi Lauper
George Michael
Willie Nelson
Rage Against The Machine
Soundgarden
The Spinners
A Tribe Called Quest
The White Stripes
Warren Zevon
george.varga@sduniontribune.com
Alyssa Brody is a renowned real estate and marketing expert, lawyer, and entrepreneur. Alyssa always had an undeniable passion for real estate, which led to her specialization in the field during law school. Following graduation, Alyssa began selling real estate on the side while simultaneously looking for the ideal law firm to start her career. Her not-so-temporary side job turned into more than a decade of experience with career sales totaling over $700 million.
In 2021, Alyssa launched Development Marketing Team (DMT), a data-enabled real estate sales and marketing brokerage. She joined forces with digital tech guru Erica Sachse of Snaplistings, to merge the art of brokering with the science of digital marketing. Through this partnership, the team achieved over $100 million in sales during its first two years in business, with $500 million in current exclusives.
Alyssa is a trusted adviser and industry thought leader. She has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, New York Post, New York Business Journal, GlobeSt, The Real Deal, RealTrends, Yahoo Finance, and more.
Here, she speaks with Haute Residence about her passion for real estate and how Development Marketing Team was born.
Real estate quickly became a passion of mine after my stepfather bought a real estate franchise when I was in college. I spent my free time learning about the entire real estate process and gained firsthand experience in buying, selling, and leasing residential properties while working for him. This excitement stayed with me during law school, where I specialized in real estate and sold listings on the side.
Upon graduating from law school, I joined a notable brokerage in NYC and led a successful team. Over the years, I noticed the inefficiencies of the often siloed traditional sales and marketing model. So, I tapped marketing guru and data scientist Erica Sachse, and in 2021, we co-founded Development Marketing Team (DMT). To date, we have grown the company to more than 15 employees and have completed over $100M in sales. Since day one, we’ve believed in the power of data and have let it drive our sales and marketing decisions, which emulates our motto – marrying the art of brokering with the science of marketing. I’m excited about our next chapter, which includes the expansion of our presence and team in South Florida, and the implementation of our proven, integrated strategy to the rapidly evolving market here.
I think my biggest success has been the launch of DMT, which began amid the pandemic, and even further, creating a seat at the table in an industry that is male-dominated. When I started my career in real estate, I knew it wouldn’t be easy to achieve success. But, I’ve worked tirelessly to establish my reputation as a knowledgeable and trustworthy advisor, broker, and innovator. Through all of the obstacles, I never lost sight of my vision to start a brokerage that could revolutionize the way that real estate is marketed and sold.
Over the past few years, the South Florida real estate market has been greatly influenced by New Yorkers migrating to the area during the pandemic, causing the SFL and NYC markets to be more intertwined than ever before. This opened a new door of opportunity given that I am a Miami native and it allowed me to move back to my hometown, bringing a New York state of mind with me, and helping implement our ideas and strategies for new developments in an area ripe for growth.
For more information, please contact Alyssa Brody at alyssa@developmentmarketingteam.com
Alyssa Brody is one of the exclusive members representing the South of Fifth, Miami, FL real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of her listings here.
When I remember being very young, moments of intense happiness stand out – happiness that came from just curling up in bed, or playing a game with friends, or flicking through a book about beachcombing. As I got older, that simple, deep happiness became harder and harder to achieve as new emotions and adult responsibilities settled in. In many ways, my attempts at happiness in adulthood have been attempts to get back to that uncomplicated feeling of relaxation and pleasure.
I think I’ve managed to get closer to it now than I’ve ever been before in adult life, in part by rediscovering past pleasures.
When I was 11 or 12, I’d while away the hours in my room listening to music – normally the Top 40 charts at the weekend, or else catching Hot 97, recording my favourite hits on to a tape and then taking them into school on my Walkman. Just as much as the hits, I enjoyed the snippets of DJ speak, where I’d failed to stop recording quickly enough. To this day I can’t think of Shanice Wilson’s I Love Your Smile without hearing the DJ’s intro and accidental potted history of the song: “If at first you don’t succeed, remix and try again: Shanice Wilson’s I Love Your Smile.”
But in adulthood I went years without making time for music, without giving it space to vibrate through the house. With the stresses of the last couple of years, all that changed. I needed new ways to relax and to clear my head, so I started using a music-streaming service and began to get curious about the songs I used to enjoy, taking musical memory trips via Arrested Development, Crowded House, bossa nova and Jeff Buckley.
Slowly, as my “liked” songs list grew, music became a part of my everyday life again. I felt so silly for abandoning music for so long when playing a favourite tune can do wonders to lift your mood. I now have a singalong playlist – and I take it as a great source of pride that long car journeys have become an opportunity to memorise the words to a song inside out, exactly like I used to do when I was young.
Another childhood rediscovery came in the form of Lego. As a child I had a Lego Space set with lights, and I remember sitting on the floor, delightfully happy, clicking the little bricks together. Fast-forward 30 years and a random article about Lego as a financial investment got me thinking about that one-time toy – and took me down a rabbit hole of the most recent sets. Before I knew it, I was spending the first lockdown putting together the Lego Haunted House with music on and a hot chocolate in my hands. It was bliss and I once again found myself wondering why I ever stopped – why, with things considered childish, we often throw out the baby with the bathwater. It’s not just a childhood toy. It’s a puzzle, it’s time to be creative, its space to focus on something that isn’t a screen. It’s problem solving; it’s being present.
In my early teens, after I was given a camera as a gift, I jumped on my bike and headed to Wimbledon Common and took photos, just for me: photos of trees and wildlife. I was out all day. On my way home I spotted a tree lit up by street lighting and tried to capture its magnificence. Rushing home, I popped the spent films in a special little envelope and sent them off to the developers, desperate to see how they came out. I took many photos then and loved the fact that when you processed your film you got another roll of film back, gently encouraging the hobby (and the payments for processing). As an adult I have always taken photos, but mainly on holidays. I recently bought a new camera, and try to take it everywhere I go, so that even if the day is full and busy, I can snatch some moments for myself to take photos, to observe the world around me.
My study has always been heaving with books and things I’ve accumulated over years spent working. But recently I rearranged it – throwing things out, swapping an assortment of odd boxes for some proper storage. Suddenly, I found I had space in my little room.
This has been unheard of for years: space was always something I carved out by moving things around like shifting tiles in a child’s puzzle game. When this space yawned out in front of me, I knew what I had to do. My larger desk now has room for a dedicated little speaker where I can play music. The wall to my left holds all my camera equipment on display, along with photos I’ve taken. My cameras are always on hand to accompany me on journeys, to allow me time to myself. A corner in my study has a flip-up table where a Lego set – a typewriter this time – is slowly taking shape.
To me, the room represents how I’ve found happiness: by reconnecting to those younger parts of myself I’d forgotten or laid aside, by allowing room in my life for pleasure to exist, and by creating an environment that allows opportunities for delight.
Joseph Coelho is a British poet and children’s author who was elected children’s laureate in 2022
