The festivals, with good reason, were among the first to fall. The prospect of patrons, shoulder-to-shoulder and, more significantly, face-to-face put that kind of crowded scene on hiatus before terms like social distancing had even hit the popular vernacular. That meant that last year – for the first time in many years, there was no Arts In the Heart of Augusta festival. I suppose, officially speaking, there wasn’t one this year.
Except there was.
Scaled back and rebranded as the Augusta ArtsCity Festival, the event – which still featured performances and artists and international food tents – operated under the same model. It was just smaller. And maybe better.
MORE: Brand New Bag: Steven Uhles Talks Art and Music
The truth is when I went to Arts In the Heart in 2019 I found, for the very first time, that I wasn’t enjoying myself all that much. The crowds were too intense. The scene too chaotic. In becoming something a little bigger and brighter each year, I found that for me, it had become too much.
My expectation is that Arts In the Heart – both in name and size – will probably return next year. It’s a tradition in a community that takes tradition seriously. But I’m hoping that there might be a couple of lessons our friend at the Greater Augusta Arts Council have learned. I think my primary suggestion would be keeping the art and organization tents – which have in the past lined both sides of Broad Street on either side of the parking pits – up against the pits, leaving the sidewalks and storefront open. Not only does this keep crowds from feeling quite so corralled, but it allows easier access to those downtown businesses.
Let me add just one more thing. A compliment. In the hours I was at the festival I did not hear a single argument. No snide comments about politics, social distancing or the veracity information. No snapping and no snarling. It was a reminder that, despite differences in philosophy or belief, we all share commonalities. We all love to see things that are beautiful. We all want to eat something that is delicious. We all want to be greeted as a friend rather than a adversary. For one weekend, in the Heart of Augusta, we did that. Let’s keep it up.
Here’s a few other things that have caught my interest recently.
Wellington Paranormal: The mockumentary, shot in the style of Cops, follows two Wellington, New Zealand beat cops as they investigate the city’s surprisingly frequent paranormal activities. Dry and shot with a savvy eye that embraces both the horror and hilarity of disco ghosts and zombie outbreaks, it’s a real winner. It’s no surprise that this series, a spin-off of the popular What We Do In the Shadows, has proved popular in its native New Zealand, where it premiered in 2018. Here’s hoping this relatively recent arrival – it started streaming on HBO Max in July – finds an audience here as well.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
Tony Allen – There Is No End: When Tony Allen, a pioneering percussionist best known for his contributions to the Afrobeat sound, died in April 2020, his passing was mostly unremarked on in the United States. That’s a shame. The very funkiest of funky drummers, his distinctive sound and shining stage presence made him a much admired and often hired presence in not just the music of his native Nigeria – he was the legendary Fela Kuti’s drummer and musical director – but among Western musicians (Flea, Gorillaz, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon) as well. His last project, which features collaborations with young, up-and-coming hip hop artists, was released earlier this year. It’s a miraculous collage of sounds, attitudes and ideas – more tuneful that one might expect a hip hop record to be and much more contemporary than one might expect from an 80-year-old musician. It’s Afrobeat with real street sense and one of my early picks for Album of the Year.
‘A Life in the Movies’ by Irwin Winkler: Told chronologically following a movie-by-movie format, this wildly entertaining autobiography is not only the story of a life, but also a timeline of the movie industry during the transformational 1970s – and beyond. While it’s interesting to hear about the evolution of Winkler’s great successes such as Rocky, Raging Bull and The Right Stuff, it’s equally interesting to dive into his less-successful ventures. Beautifully written and filled with just enough sensational stories to keep it rolling, ‘A Life in the Movies’ is a recommended read for fans of the film industry or otherwise.
Steven Uhles has worked as professional journalist in the Augusta area for 22 years, and his Pop Rocks column ran in The Augusta Chronicle for more than 20. He lives in Evans with his wife, two children and a dog named after Hunter Thompson.
