Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1501330
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 14 UCW JUNE 14 - 20, 2023 ALYSON HANSEN, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200 Summer Solstice celebrated at Carvers Creek with run, yoga by ALYSON HANSEN June 21 marks the longest day of the year, and locals can enjoy the extra daylight at Carvers Creek State Park for an evening of running and yoga. e Summer Solstice Run and Yoga event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Long Valley Farm Access entrance to Carvers Creek. e event is being held by Somatic Reset, Qualified Wellness and Running Wild Collective — three locally owned businesses dedicated to the wellness of the Fayetteville community. "is was the brain child of Somatic Reset and Qualified Wellness. ey wanted to incorporate a running portion to a yoga event, taking a kind of holistic wellness lens to the whole event and to try to get the outdoor community together," said Jhovanna errien of Running Wild Collective, one of the co-organizers of the event. Erin Basket from Qualified Wellness and Sa- mantha Ewashko from Somatic Reset round out the team behind the event at Carvers Creek. "Solstice is a big deal on the west coast and with the yoga community," said errien. "Sam [from Somatic Reset] just moved from Califor- nia and she wanted to get the yoga community and the running community together. We talked about it and decided on Carvers Creek because it allows for a trail run and a partnership with a Fayetteville State park." Participants will begin the evening at 5:45 p.m. with a 1.08 out-and-back walk or run through part of the park's trails. Once completed, they will join three yoga instructors from the commu- nity in 108 sun salutations. e number 108 is considered auspicious in yoga practices. e number refers to spiritual completion. Rounds of sun salutations are done in nine rounds with 12 postures, equaling 108. e number 108 can be found all throughout the world. e distance between the earth and the sun is 108 times the diameter of the sun. Stonehenge was built 108 feet in diameter. "It's not common to do all 108, it depends on your experience with yoga," said errien. "It is more of a meditative practice, it is a yoga practice." After the sun salutations, participants can kick back and chat with each other and the many vendors at the event. California Taco, Smoothie Queen and Tropical Sno Fayetteville will be on hand. Fleet Feet, Triangle Rock Club and Team RWB will also have booths. "We are all looking forward to connecting more with the wellness community that is so present in Fayetteville," said errien. "I think it will be a good opportunity to have everyone in one location. I'm just really looking forward to connecting with and bringing people together in one space." e solstice run and yoga event will wrap up around 8:30 p.m. Tickets for the event cost $20 per person or $50 for a family. Send any questions to qualifiedwell- ness@gmail.com. Carvers Creek State Park is located at 2505 Long Valley Road in Spring Lake. EVENTS A.C.E. Program exhibition showcases local artists by ISAIAH JONES Local artists will showcase their talents at an upcoming exhibition hosted by Ellington-White Contemporary. e exhibition opens on June 17. e artists have been taking part in the A.C.E. Program, which is designed to teach, encourage and cultivate artists in Fayetteville. A.C.E. stands for Arts, Cultural and Entrepre- neurial Skills for Artists Workshop. e program is intended to serve as a springboard for visual artists who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. e idea for the local program began with gallery operator Dwight Smith. Being an artist can be a confusing road to fol- low at times. With the new age of social media and the internet at everyone's disposal, many art- ists have the same kinds of questions and prob- lems like, "where can I submit my work? How can I make my art into a career?" While getting asked these questions, Smith fig- ured it was time to apply for grants from the Arts Council to collaborate and help local artists. Up & Coming Weekly got a chance to speak with Smith to learn more about the A.C.E. Pro- gram and how it helps the artists who participate. "e idea was to have a program where we train and provide information in a series of ses- sions that would give artists all the information that they would need to know in developing their career as artists," Smith said. "We also open up exhibition opportunities for those artists and show them what's available here in Fayetteville for them to be able to start, jumpstart their career," he added. e A.C.E. Program started in November of 2022. It was spread out over multiple months to allow intense workshops on one day out of the month. In that one day a month, community artists come to the Arts Council and present the program to participants, and other interested community members. e following Saturday, they presented the program in a more intense training session while discussing homework as- signments and answering one-on-one questions. e program consisted of the following topics: career planning, time management, portfolio building, marketing, promoting yourself, pricing your work, record keeping and legal consider- ations, funding and grant writing, and business planning. e program was a version of a three week pro- gram from an organization in Minnesota called Springboard for the Arts. ey had a program called Work of Art Business Skills for Artists. Smith and his colleague Beverly Henderson were able to tailor the course to be 10 weeks, open- ing it up more to the public and allowing people to either come to every session or pick the ones most needed for them. "We had curriculum packets we would pass out to everyone in the sessions. We also would have a PowerPoint that introduces the program and who we are. Also introducing this program as a safe space for artists was critically important for us," says Smith. e program participants who will be showcas- ing their work at the exhibit are the core group of artists that attended every session and went through the portfolio review process to see how they've applied all of the teachings. According to Smith, several artists are involved in other programs around downtown now be- cause they've gotten that kind of encouragement from this program to give them that extra push. He said this program is extremely important to the foundation of artists and a precursor to what it takes to be a successful artist. e public is invited to the free exhibition. Make sure to go see the great progress made by local artists who are a part of this program. e exhibit opens on June 17 at Ellington White Contemporary located at 113 Gillespie Street in downtown Fayetteville. ISAIAH JONES, U&CW Graphic Designer. COMMENTS? editor@ upandcomingweekly.com.