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/985403
18 UCW MAY 23-29, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views Student sculptures grace Hope Mills landscape by EARL VAUGHAN JR. e town of Hope Mills is known statewide for oppor- tunities it offers for athlet- ics, recreation and senior citizens. Now Mayor Jackie Warner is trying to expand its cultural horizons by putting a little art on local display. It's been two years since Warner went to a meet- ing of the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County on behalf of Hope Mills to learn about ways she might bring art into the community. About the same time, her son, Teddy Warner, was working with the city of Laurinburg when it had a relationship with the Uni- versity of North Carolina at Pembroke to try and do the same thing. Warner's idea was to get outdoor sculptures to be dis- played in public locations like Hope Mills Lake and the park near Town Hall. She spoke with Adam Walls, a sculpture instructor at UNC-Pembroke. Walls came and made presentations to the Hope Mills Town of Commissioners. e plan was for the town to spend $3,000 on purchasing materials for Walls' art students at Pembroke. In return, they would create original works of sculpture with the town-pur- chased materials and give them to the town. Laurinburg didn't have an agreement with the students on what happened to the art, so Warner and Hope Mills struck a deal. At the end of a year of display, the town could have the option of buy- ing the art from each student, at a cost of $300 per sculpture, based on 10 sculptures for the total of $3,000 for materials. If the town doesn't buy the artwork, it will go back to the student and the town will get a new piece to replace it. For future funding for the project, Warner said she spoke to Deborah Mintz of the Arts Council about writing a grant and getting funding from the council. "e Arts Council would love to help fund this project so that it will instill in Hope Mills the same kinds of things they're trying to do in Fayetteville and other areas,'' Warner said. e sculptures began showing up in Hope Mills earlier this month, some at Hope Mills Lake and some near Town Hall. Warner said the various projects now on display are largely constructed from recycled metal, every- thing from old grate and drain covers to metal poles. Warner said she hopes to continue putting art on display in other ways in the near future. Part of the upcoming lake celebration in Hope Mills will include art and jazz performances. "We're going to have artists down there paint- ing and doing sculpture,'' she said. "We're just trying to promote art in Hope Mills.'' For the time being, Warner said, the focus on art will be outdoors, dealing mainly with metal sculpture. In the long term, she'd like to offer painting, but finding a place to display paintings is a problem. "We have to come up with a venue or display area,'' Warner said. ere is a possible limited op- tion for display in Town Hall, she said. e parks and recreation building wouldn't be suitable be- cause it's so busy. Warner said the town may have to limit art dis- plays to those times when special events are going on like the lake celebration. Once the town builds its long-awaited museum to celebrate its mill village history, Warner said that's a possible location to display local art. "I'm tickled we are doing this,'' she said. "is was something I wanted to do way back when I was first elected mayor and couldn't get the support for it. Once the Arts Council got involved and they started offering the opportunity for Hope Mills, it just fell into place.'' Meetings For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Acting Deputy Town Clerk Tiffany Gillstedt at 910-426-4112. Most meetings take place at Town Hall. • Veterans Affairs Commission ursday, May 24, 7 p.m. • Board of Commissioners Monday, June 4. A public hearing on the proposed FY 2018-2019 Budget will be held. Citizens Academy Graduation will take place that evening as well. Students will be presented with a plaque displaying their certificate of completion. Activities • Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio's, second Tuesdays at noon at and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details, call 910-237-1240. • Town offices closed for Memorial Day Monday, May 28. • Memorial Day Ceremony at Hope Mills Municipal Park. 4 p.m. Free. • Fall sports registration June 1-July 28. $30 per child; $15 late fee after registration deadline. Season begins Sept. 8. Call 910-426-4109 for more information. • Daddy/Daughter Dinner & Dance Saturday, June 9, 6 p.m. $50 per couple plus $20 for each additional ticket purchased. Call 910-426-4107 to RSVP by June 1. • First Annual 4th of July Pageant Friday-Saturday, June 22-23. Pageant regis- tration deadline is June 1. For more information, call 910-426-4107. Promote yourself: To include your business's event, email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. EVENTS EARL VAUGHAN JR., Senior Staff Writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. NEWS Hope Mills is currently displaying 10 sculptures created by students at UNC-Pembroke. "A Ride Through Time," left, was created by Dominique Walker. "Le noyau," right, was created by William Peterson.