Making something with your hands is kind of like magic. Every time I thread a needle or run yarn through my fingers I think of how many generations of my ancestresses did the same exact thing, with the same exact care. I wager every culture on Earth, and certainly cultures here in the South, conjure the same kind of connection with their craft.
A WORLD OF BLOOMS
Credit: (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
Credit: (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
Here’s one to add to the dream job list: plant explorer.
Well, technically Scott McMahan is the vice president of horticulture and collections at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, but being a plant explorer comes with the job.
- The Atlanta Botanical Garden is celebrating 10 years of its International Plant Exploration Program, in which McMahan has played an instrumental role.
- He travels around the world to find cultivars to protect and preserve in the program.
- China, Japan, Vietnam and the mountains of India are frequent destinations, because plants there do well in the climate of the American South.
Did you know? Many of our most beloved Southern plants, like hydrangea, rhododendron, azaleas and magnolias, were once imports from Asia and South America
🌱 READ MORE: The life of a plant explorer
HANDMADE HISTORY
Credit: (Gracie Bonds Staples/AJC)
Credit: (Gracie Bonds Staples/AJC)
The Black community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is known for its rich tradition of quilting work. The community is built on the site of a former plantation, and through the years Black women made quilts to keep their families warm in houses without heat or other amenities.
In the 1960s, Gee’s Bend was one of a few neighboring communities to found the Freedom Quilting Bee, a Black quilting cooperative.
- The quilts of Gee’s Bend are bold and geometric, made with long strips of fabric cut from old work clothes, flour sacks and other recycled textiles.
- It’s the kind of handcraft that draws a direct, spiritual connection between the present and the past.
- The quilters of Gee’s Bend are now the newest participants of fashion brand Ralph Lauren’s Artist in Residence program.
- The collaboration takes traditional Gee’s Bend quilt and reimagines them on apparel, accessories and housewares.
🧵 READ MORE: The importance of American heritage craftwork
SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH
💙 Jackson, Mississippi: Katrina Byrd, a Mississippi writer visually impaired from birth, fell in love with a woman who was later diagnosed with ALS. After her partner’s death, Byrd tells the couple’s story to advocate for better access to clinical trials and experimental therapies. More from Mississippi Today
🫶🏻 Concord, North Carolina: As a child, Trevor Bumbarger found help and happiness with Amazing Grace Advocacy, a Concord nonprofit that supports families raising children with intellectual disabilities. Bumbarger is autistic and had several health problems when he was younger. Now, he gives back to the organization by volunteering as a program manager. More from WSOC
🏀 Atlanta: The Atlanta Hawks are getting ready for their sixth annual Million Meal Pack. The event brings together thousands of volunteers to pack 1 million meals to deliver to Atlantans experiencing food insecurity. More from the AJC
TELL US SOMETHING GOOD
Is there a cool event we need to know about? Something great happening in your town? Let us know. This is your space, too. sweettea@ajc.com.
SOUTHERN WISDOM
Atlanta has always been home to me and played such an important role in shaping who I am both as an artist and as a person. The city's incredible entertainment community poured into me and gave me opportunities to dream big.
Ciara says Atlanta helped shape her, and she’s made it a mission to give back to the city’s music scene. She recently donated $50,000 to arts organizations that help nurture creativity in the city’s youth. Read more here.
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