Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Wild Amelia Nature Festival 2009

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This year’s festival is highlighting the Right Whale. Every year the festival chooses a focal point, last year it was the gopher tortoise and the year before the painted bunting.

There are only about 350 Northern Right Whales left, which is why the festival is highlighting them this time around.

There are lots of different activities during the festival. You can learn about nature photography in several different workshops. There are also lots of eco-tours; from segway tours, to paddles in Okefenokee swamp at night, to stargazing at Fort Clinch.

There’s also early morning yoga followed by birdwatching on the porch, nature bike hike,  sunset boat tour and owl prowl.

There is just such a variety of things to do during the festival, the best thing to do is to visit the website and study the program.

For contact information and phone number, visit or post Wild Amelia Festival May 15 – 17, 2009

Wild Amelia Nature Festival
Photo by: Roger Graw

Free Admission to Gibbes Museum of Art

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If you haven’t been to Gibbes before — this is your chance. It’s Community Day on Saturday, May 16 at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina. That means complimentary admission and family activities from 10:00am – 1:00pm. Normally, admission is $9.00 so why not take advantage of this special offer.

Junior League of Charleston Community Days are held quarterly to offer visitors the opportunity to experience the Gibbes’ dynamic programming free of charge.

The Art Discoveries Community Day will include art-making activities for children as well as musical performances. Exhibitions currently on view include The Charleston Story, Prop Master: An Installation by Juan Logan and Susan Harbage Page and Jeff Whetstone: Post-Pleistocene. Beverages will be provided by Rising High Café.

GIBBES MUSEUM OF ART
Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the Gibbes Museum of Art opened its doors to the public in 1905.

Located in Charleston’s historic district, the Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works of fine art, principally American works with a Charleston or Southern connection and presents special exhibitions annually. In addition, the museum offers an extensive complement of public programming and educational outreach initiatives.

Jacksonville Film Festival 2009

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Jacksonville Film Festival kicks off again on Thursday May 14th with reception and the opening movie at the Florida Theatre. The opening film was actually completely shot in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra and is the acclaimed “Like Dandelion Dust” with Mira Sorvino and Cole Hauser.
The movie is based on the Karen Kingsbury’s best-selling novel
Like Dandelion Dust

There are lots of panels, workshops, and of course a variety of screenings from drama, to documentaries, animation and shorts.

Click here for Jacksonville Film Festival 2009 Program

There is an all access pass for $250, but you could also purchase individual tickets. The 10 punch pass for $60 seems to be the budget special.

Tickets are available from the website www.jacksonvillefilmfestival.com

Film Festival Jacksonville

North African Jewelry and Photographs Exhibit – Savannah, GA

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The Savannah College of Art and Design will feature approximately 80 rare pieces of North African jewelry and 27 late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs as part of the exhibition “Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection” May 11-June 19 at the Pei Ling Chan Gallery, 322 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and will be a signature part of the May 15 SCAD Style Gallery Hop.

Collected over three decades by Xavier Guerrand-Hermès, this work illuminates the diversity and beauty of traditional North African design. Crafted from silver, coral, amber and other semi-precious stones, the jewelry includes wedding necklaces, hair ornaments and fibula. Moroccan, Algerian and Egyptian jewelry show common threads of the Berber culture as well as local variations in materials and motifs.

In addition to the exquisite pieces of jewelry, “Desert Jewels” features the work of some of the most prominent European photographers of the era. Theses include Scotsman George Washington Wilson, the Neurdine brothers from France and Turkish photographer Pascal Sabah, all of whom visited North Africa to capture the magnificent landscapes and “exotic” people on film.

The exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, and debuted in October 2008 at the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution.

“Desert Jewels” is presented as part of SCAD Style, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s annual style and design series. SCAD Style events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Visit SCAD Style at www.scadstyle.com for a full list of events or, for more information on exhibitions, visit SCAD Exhibitions at www.scadexhibitions.com.

Photo: SCAD
Fibula (tabzimt), Ait Yenmi peoples, Great Kabylie, Algeria
SCAD Jewelry

Sand Arts Festival Winners 2009

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On Friday, May 8, the annual Sand Arts Festival took place on Tybee Island, Georgia. About 300 SCAD students competed creating imaginative sand art on the north beach. Thousands of visitors came to watch.

Here is a list of the winners:

Sand Sculpture

* First place: “Daughter of the Ocean,” Wen-Shan Huang, graduate student, industrial design, Chaojho, Taiwan; Cheng-Fang Lee, graduate student, industrial design, Banciao, Taiwan; Chin-Sheng Lin, graduate student, industrial design, Taipei, Taiwan; Ran Wang, graduate student, design management, Beijing, China
* Second place: “Coral Reef,” Joel Nilsen, graduate student, graphic design, Blacksburg, Va.; Cristine Moonan, graduate student, graphic design, Cordova, Tenn.; Ximena Molina, M.A., graphic design, 2009, San Salvador, El Salvador; Drew Lewicki, graduate student, graphic design, Clinton Township, Mich.
* Third place: “Bracken Sand Castle,” Jonathan Nance, junior, film and television, Raleigh, N.C.; Stephanie Burns, senior, photography, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; Jacob Sonk, senior, animation, San Antonio, Texas; Karl Goethert, senior, animation, Concord, Mass.

Sand Castle

* First place: “Castle with Sticks and Shells,” Arica Wolfe, first-year, fibers, Medina, Ohio; Alex Waggoner, sophomore, graphic design, Gastonia, N.C.; Elise Lapaglia, first-year, architecture, Apopka, Fla.; Mollie Schademan, first-year, fibers, Marietta, Pa.
* Second place: “Castle in a Rock,” Joshua Buckner, senior, graphic design, Rose Hill, N.C.; Nick Leone, junior, film and television, St. Clair Shores, Mich.
* Third place: “Large Walk-Through,” Robert D. Fleming, senior, industrial design, Fayetteville, Ga.; Steven Kiley, senior, architecture, St. Michaels, Md.; Edd Dumpe, senior, architecture, Hagerstown, Md.; Michael Battjes, senior, architecture, Fennville, Mich.

Sand Relief

* First place: “Dragon,” Lei Zhang, graduate, animation, Beijing, China; Ji Li, B.F.A., animation, 2009, Chong Qing, China; Xiaoyan Yin, non-student participant
* Second place: “Bethany,” Lauren Rinaldi, junior, fashion, Fairfield, Conn.; Corey Handschuch, junior, architecture, Livingston, N.J.
* Third place: “Roller Coaster,” Taylor Sill, senior, architecture, Arlington, Va.; Jeff Masters, junior, visual effects, Wexford, Pa.

Wind Sculpture

* First place: “Mobile Pieces Bombshell,” Sebastian Campos, sophomore, industrial design, Mexico City, Mexico
* Second place: “Bicycle Wheels,” Danielle Kanastab, junior, industrial design, Cleveland, Ohio; Claire Lorman, sophomore, industrial design, Washington, D.C.; Kyle Lawson, senior, industrial design, Detroit, Mich.; David Shapiro, senior, industrial design, St. Cloud, Minn.
* Third place: “Doors with Curtains,” Katy Hall, senior, metals and jewelry, Austin, Texas; Morgan Murphy, senior, architecture, Valparaiso, Ind

Gray’s Reef Best Underwater Creature Contest

* First place: “Big Eyed Fish,” Jason Daenzey; Lori Sefton; Jennifer Sefton
* Second place: “Shark in the Reef,” Kyle Narkiewicz, junior, industrial design, Hershey, Pa.; Jake Hood, senior, industrial design, Woodbine, Md.
* Third place: “Shark and Life Raft,” Ted Vitale, graduate student, architecture, Pompano Beach, Fla.; Mandee Mallance; Bennett Walton, senior, film and television, Alpharetta, Ga.; Jackie Livelli, senior, interior design, Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.