Urban Arts Dance Competition at Southern Makers!

We are excited to announce a new addition to the Southern Makers line up this year! There will be an Urban Arts Dance Competition on Saturday, August 12, followed by an Urban Arts Dance demonstration and presentation on Sunday, August 13 at the Historic Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama. These fantastic displays of art in the form of dance are included as part of your Southern Makers ticket price!!

Take It To The Streets is a 5 Year Running Urban Arts Open Styles Tournament Dance Competition where dancers from Alabama Dance Nation invite other artists from across the country to come to the Magic City and battle for the loot, $300 Cash to be exact, and the crown! This Tournament will be part of Southern Makers 5th Annual Event on Saturday, August 12. With over 35 accomplished street dancers coming from six different states across the South to compete for the prize, this battle is sure to be a crowd pleaser! Judges for Saturday’s competition will be Ladia Yates, Benji Porter and Michael ‘Kaotic’ Phillips. Music provided by DJ New Era, MC for this event is Jag War.

Sunday, August 13, experience Urban Arts in Motion at it’s finest! Alabama Dance Nation will bring to Southern Makers the best of the best as they explore the Past, Present and the Future of Street Dance. Special Guest Appearances Sunday by Dance Legends: Boogaloo Shrimp aka Turbo (The Movie Breakin), Honey Rockwell (Legendary B-Girl), Kid Dynamo (Legendary Locker) and Orko Romero (Zulu Nation). We are also excited to announce that a presentation of the First Annual Christopher Herndon Exceptional Artist Award will be made to a deserving member of Alabama Dance Nation who has been a consistently, positive force in the street dance community, in addition to being a phenomenal artist.

What an honor it is to have such a prestigious line up and display of dance as part of #southernmakers2017. Join us at Historic Sloss Furnaces August 12 & 13. TICKETS ARE ON SALE AT: SOUTHERNMAKERS.COM

Southern Makers – 5 Star Dinner with Mike Wolfe & Natalie Chanin

Southern Makers 5 Star Dinner
29th Street at Pepper Place, Birmingham, AL
August 11, 2017
Cocktails: 5:30-7:00
Dinner: 7:00 until

Tickets are now available for this one-of-a-kind dining experience to benefit Southern Makers nonprofit. With special guests Natalie Chanin and Mike Wolfe.

Special dinner guest, Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, is the founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin. She was born and raised in Florence, Alabama, where her company, which creates beautiful hand stitched clothing, is based. Natalie has traveled the globe working as a stylist, costume and fashion designer. In 2013 she won the CFDA/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge, an award competition that identifies and celebrates the greatest American designers working in the realm of sustainable fashion. Natalie’s fashions focuses on sustainability at every stage of the manufacturing process – from materials and processes, to cultural sustainability in the form of preserving hand sewing skills. Over the years, Alabama Chanin has expanded to include The Alabama Chanin collection, The School of Making, The Factory Store + Cafe, and Building 14 Design + Manufacturing Services.

Our other special guest for the evening is Mike Wolfe. Mike is the creator and star of History Channel’s American Pickers! While we have all come to know Mike on television as a picker, Mike is so much more than a finder and rescuer of old objects. Mike is an American history buff who’s passion lies in discovering and preserving the stories of the treasures that he uncovers. In addition to American Pickers, Mike is the creator and executive producer of Nashville Flipped, has is own line of American made products and apparel, Two Lanes, and is an avid motorcycle collector and enthusiast!

This very special evening will start at 5:30 PM in the cocktail lounge with libations and a Southern Makers anniversary craft cocktail created by Chris Hastings. Guests will enjoy a five course dinner prepared by a variety of top southern based chefs including: Adam Evans, formerly of Optimist, Atlanta, GA,  James Lewis Bettola, Birmingham AL,  Alex Harrell, Angeline, New Orleans, LA, David Carrier, Certified Burger, Sea Island GA, and Josh Quick, Odette, Florence, AL. Miami’s own, five-star sommelier Heath Porter will pair wine with courses. Each chef will prepare a special plate to add to this one-of-a-kind culinary experience. The atmosphere and surroundings will complement the dinner with an urban farm-to-table feel and theme. Table flourishes include place settings from McQueen Pottery, cotton napkins by Alabama Chanin, flowers by Stone Hollow Farmstead and more. 29th Street to the historic Pepper Place will be transformed for one night only into a joyful dining room under the stars of Alabama. Dress attire for this event is business casual. A very limited number of tickets are available and can be purchased by visiting southernmakers.com.

The Value of a Story

Every architectural piece that is rescued by Southern Accents has a story and a value. The relationship between the value and the story are synonymous with one another, but are inherently different. The “story” tells of past events in the elements life or in other words, it’s evolution. After researching the story of an architectural fragment, Southern Accents also asks additional questions such as: the age, the maker, the condition, the rarity, the provenance. Combining the “story” with the researched facts of the architectural  remnant, Southern Accents can give a true “value” of the rescued item.

Salvaged iron window lintel from New York City

It is exciting for us when all the questions that are asked when finding the value and the story align to produce the highest caliber in recognizing an architectural  piece of historical significance. But this past week we obtained a true piece of architectural history from New York City. If you have been by the NYC Grand Central Terminal in the last year, you would have noticed that across the street, at One Vanderbilt Ave., there is a huge demolition / construction project in progress by the developer, SL Green. The project consists of constructing a new tower that will be taller than the Empire State building! Amazing enough in that fact alone, but the history of this monument goes much deeper! As the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was the original developer of this land, where the cast iron lintel that we acquired, embellished a window of this now demolished building. The railroad/shipping tycoon, Mr. Vanderbilt, also is famed for developing the adjacent property – the Grand Central Station and Terminal. Along with all of those interesting facts, this rescued relic also shares the same architect that designed the Grand Central Station, Warren & Wetmore.

As the skyline of Midtown changes, architectural fragments, like this iron lintel, will be one of the only ways our future generations will be able see the sheer power and the bold masculinity of these destroyed historic buildings that once stood on some of the most prominent corners in our nation. The lintel is in mint condition and has aged perfectly with its crackle patina. Measuring 39″ wide x 8.25″ deep x 20.5″ tall, this was one of a few pieces saved off the original building before the demolition was finished. You can view this magnificent piece here in our showroom or take a look at it online. You’ll find it listed on our Ironworks page at sa1969.com. We #digmygig saving one historic treasure at a time!

Stonework and Terracotta from the big cities…now in the South!

Sometimes we get in things that are very unique and have to be pre-planned for a home….meaning, you have to be prepared to use it before you start building! We got in a trailer full of stone and terracotta from Chicago and New York City. I can’t even tell you how gorgeous it is! There are some unbelievable pieces!! It’s been sitting out at the gym on pallets waiting to be unpacked and sorted and photographed!

Slowly but surely, it’s been unpacked and sorted. We brought some pieces up to the garden lot and have started the photography process. We posted several pictures yesterday to our Facebook page. The prices vary depending on size and how detailed the work is. I’ve been searching the web for photos of buildings with similar work. I found lots of Brownstones in NYC and Boston. We could just move into one of those OR figure out how to use this beautiful architecture in our own homes here in the South. I think the obvious choice is to use it as a surround for a front door. It would also be fabulous on a veranda or a pool house. Why not just pick a few pieces and create a piece of art with it? I think that is probably the easiest way for most of us to use it. Are you building a house? Come to the store and we can help you design something to make your house a unique place like no other!