By Martha Nodar
A landmark nestled in the Virginia-Highland area, the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center is celebrating the 14th anniversary of the Jazz on the Lawn series this summer. Every year from June to August local residents bring their picnic blankets and folding chairs to the mansion’s gardens and enjoy musical concerts in the front lawn.
Buckhead resident Hil Hughes said he first discovered Callanwolde when he attended the jazz series with his friends last year.
“Callanwolde has a je ne sais quoi about it that is very personal,” he said. “This is a beautiful, magical, romantic setting; something you don’t see anywhere else in Atlanta. The concerts are fantastic; they seem to find fantastic talent.”
Callanwolde’s executive director Peggy Johnson said she tries to bring local artists well-known to the community. Diane Durrett, Joe Gransden, Ted Howe, Gwen Hughes and Bradford Rogers are just some of many local artists who frequently play at the annual jazz event combining a mixture of both classic and contemporary jazz, swing and fusion. Johnson said often times the concerts are sold-out.
“Our goal is to remain current, a little edgy, and yet, family oriented,” Johnson emphasized.
This year’s Jazz on the Lawn series kicks off June 13 with An Evening of Duke Ellington with Ted Howe.
In addition to the jazz concerts, patrons also have a chance to enjoy an indoor treat in the mansion’s art gallery located on the second floor. The gallery is open all-year around. Approximately, every two months the works of a different artist is in display in the gallery for the public to enjoy. Currently, “Paint by Heart,” a mixed media exhibit by Kathy Yancey of Virginia-Highland is showing through July 11.
Influenced by her mother who was very creative with her hands, Yancey said she still has her childhood drawings. She said she strives to honor her mother with her work, to accentuate the feminine, and to illustrate the female point of view.
Yancey is a frequent visitor to Callanwolde and calls it “a magical place.”
“It makes you feel as if you were in the English countryside,” she said. “You get there and you focus on an inner stillness. It is the ideal place for experiencing art.”
Hughes said “Yancey’s piece titled, ‘A dancing man is worth his weight in gold,’ featuring a couple in a dancing floor, has a vintage nostalgic look that is very fitting to Callanwolde.”
Callanwolde’s patron Dana Barrett of Brookhaven sums up how many people feel about Callanwolde and the concerts in the gardens.
“The minute your turn into Callanwolde’s driveway you are transported to another place and time,” she said. “It is almost magical. There is something about the Callanwolde campus that is unique and special. You sit on the lawn, in front of a beautiful, historic mansion surrounded by amazing gardens and listening to great music.”
For more information about the Jazz on the Lawn series and Paint by Heart exhibition, visit callanwolde.org.
