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: https://www.epageflip.net/i/19808
Museum Tag Sale: An Ending and a Beginning by STEPHANIE CRIDER A recent walk-through of the Fayetteville Museum of Art revealed empty walls with no exhibits on display. Instead, walls and fl oors were lined with stacks and stacks of items for sale. These artifacts, treasures and offi ce supplies that were once used daily at the Fayetteville Museum of Art are grouped, priced and ready to make themselves useful at a different home — possibly yours. On Saturday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. the doors of the Fayetteville Museum of Art will be open once again. Only this time it’s not for a new exhibit, but for a tag sale. They are looking to sell most everything in the building. There will be art, art supplies, appliances, offi ce supplies, offi ce furniture, computers, electronics, tools, paint, kitchen supplies, books, cultural artifacts, educational toys and plenty of unique odds and ends. “We really have some treasures here,” said Meredith Player Stiehl, of the Fayetteville Museum of Art Board of Trustees. “Everyone from the small business owner looking for offi ce equipment and supplies to homeschoolers looking for resources, to teachers, parents, art collectors — you name it, they can fi nd something here.” Items are priced to sell. The museum store has Andy Warhol items that normally sell for $15 marked down to $2. Art desks that have been well used and well loved but that still have plenty of useful life left in them are going for $25. Grab a chair to go with it, they are $3 - $5. Don’t come expecting to haggle over the price of offi ce supplies, although there will be some wiggle room in price when it comes to the pieces of art that are being sold. “We’ll have our curator here for the tag sale,” said Stiehl. “She will be able to answer any questions that people have about the art work we are selling.” The offerings range in scope, size and tastes. There are a few pieces by a Disney illustrator, works by students who attended art classes at the museum and pieces that were donated over the years for safe keeping. Although it is diffi cult to watch so much of their inventory go out the door, Stiehl realizes that it is for all the right reasons. The board of directors is keeping the museum’s private collection, library materials and a few other resources and plans to use them again when the museum opens its doors at some point in the future, and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. “We are currently waiting to hear back from a consultant about plans for the future of the museum,” Stiehl said. “We are going to store the few things we aren’t selling at the tag sale, and hopefully we will fi nd a space that we can use to reestablish the museum and make these resources available to the public once again.” If you are coming to the tag sale at 839 Stamper Rd., to take advantage of the great bargains, bring cash, as checks and credit cards will not be accepted. Visit www. fayettevillemuseumart.org for more information. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Gilbert Theater Brings Holiday Classic Back to the Stage by BETH SOLZSMON-CARPENTER Most of us are familiar with Charles Dickens’ classic tale, A Christmas Carol. It’s the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a rich, yet stingy businessman who dislikes festivities and celebrations. Scrooge is well-known for his hatred for the poor as well as for the harsh way in which he treats them. In the story, Scrooge is visited by spirits who test his beliefs and eventually, Scrooge realizes that he has erred and resolves to become a compassionate, charitable man. The story has become synonymous with Christmas and has maintained its status of being a holiday staple around the globe. The stage version of A Christmas Carol has become a local tradition as well, courtesy of the performers at the Gilbert Theater. For the fi fth straight year, the Gilbert Theater has been entertaining the community with its own take on one of Dickens’ most famous works. According to founder and artistic director at Gilbert, Lynn Pryer, despite the fact that the story was published more than 150 years ago, it still resonates with readers and audiences today. “Human nature does not change. Greed is still with us,” Pryer said, going on to say that the reason he loves theater is that, “Great stories can change people. Brilliant stories like this one have lasting power. It was on stage one month after its publication in 1843. Redemption is a tenant of all great religions.” It is his love for the performing arts that led Pryer to open up the Gilbert Theater in the basement of his home back in 1994. Now in its location at the corner of Green and Bow streets in downtown Fayetteville, the theater is well known for both its classical and contemporary productions. Gilbert prides itself on providing performances that are both entertaining as well as socially relevant. 8 UCW NOVEMBER 17-23, 2010 When asked about the challenge of keeping an annual production like A Christmas Carol fresh, Pryer noted, “Doing a play year after year requires us to improve this and that: sets, costumes, props, music, etc.” His ultimate goal is for his audience to “sit breathless in their seat and leave changed. We ask audiences to willingly suspend their disbeliefs.” “In a familiar story like A Christmas Carol,” he said, “our task is to use Charles Dickens’ words and breathe life into them.” It is no wonder, then, how the motto of the Gilbert, “where story telling takes center stage” came to be. Those who were fortunate to have caught last year’s version will be happy to learn that John Doerner will be returning in his role as the selfi sh businessman, Scrooge. Also returning this year are Paul Wolverton as Bob Cratchit, Cleve Davis as Jacob Marley’s ghost and Joyce Lipe as the narrator. Carrie Carroll, Crystal Abbott and Efrain Colon will portray the three spirits. The production will run Nov. 26 - Dec. 12. Thursday and Friday shows are at 8 p.m. Saturday shows are at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday shows are at 2 p.m. only. (There will not be a show on Dec. 9). Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the website www.gilberttheater.com or at the box offi ce beginning Nov. 17. The box offi ce is open on Tuesday 5-7 p.m., Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Walk-ups are welcome but seating can’t be guaranteed. For more information, visit the website or call 910- 678-7186. The Gilbert is located on the second fl oor of the Fascinate U Children’s Museum and it is wheelchair accessible. Beth Solzsmon-Carpenter, Contributing Writer, is a realtor with ERA Strother Real Estate. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 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