Cheers to the All New Wine Walkabout Experience

2021 Artful Dining Series Concludes at Ruth’s Chris Steak House Nov. 11

By Zandra Wolfgram

Ready for a mental travel trip? French winemaker Jean-Charles Boisset says tasting wine is “freedom” — meaning each sip allows the taster the “mystical” ability to “travel places.”

Lucky for us, the next installment of the MKAF Artful Dining Series is right here in Destin at Ruth’s Chris Steak House on Thursday, Nov. 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The 9^th Annual Wine Walkabout allows wine and food lovers to “meet and greet” guest winemakers and representatives from Tournesol, Thompson31-Fifty, Revana, Polaris and other notable California wineries.

Paired with that wine will be delicious culinary bites prepared by Chef Ruston Johnson and his culinary crew at Ruth’s Chris.

Event goers will enjoy live music by Michael J. Thomas and pianist Cam Ray, a wine pull wall featuring 100 wines, and silent auction of fabulous experiential packages including travel trips, wine dinners and spa visits and more.

Plus, for the first time this year, an all-vintner wine dinner will follow the Walkabout (for an additional cost). Diners also will have an opportunity to purchase wines at special rates with a portion of the proceeds benefiting MKAF.

This event is about raising funds and awareness for Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation. Staff members will be in attendance to talk about MKAF’s mission, and the many ways guests can support ArtsReach, the organization’s education outreach program. (One way is to become an MKAF member, which includes many benefits, including discounts on the cost of Artful Dining Series tickets.)

California awaits, are you ready to join us for this food and wine adventure?

Tickets are $65 for MKAF members, $75 for non-members. Tickets to the Walkabout and Dinner are $250 per person. To purchase tickets to the ArtFul Dining Series, visit the MKAF.org.

ARE YOU READY TO FEST? MKAF Festival of the Arts Celebrates Art, Music, Food and Fun

It’s fall, ya’ll! That means it is time to celebrate the cultural arts at the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation’s Festival of the Arts. This year’s 26th annual event is free and set for Saturday, Oct. 30 (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Sunday, Oct. 31 (10 a.m.- 4 p.m.) at the scenic MKAF Cultural Arts Village in Destin.

One of the Southeast’s premier art festivals, the two-day signature event features art exhibits of nearly 100 juried artists showcasing a diverse palette of artistic styles from oil paintings and fine photography to mixed media, mosaics, sculpture, clay ceramics, jewelry, and more.

“We will have all of the offerings our Festival fans look forward to each year, but with more new artists joining some of our longtime artists — all showcasing beautiful, new original works of art accompanied by live music, makes the Festival a fresh, new experience all over again,” says Festival producer Deb Nissley.

Art lovers of all ages will be able to watch artists create works during live art demonstrations, browse art from nearly 100 established artists along with dozens of emerging artists, and get hands-on in the interactive children’s art station. Beyond the visual arts, the Festival will feature two days of continual live music and a sampling of the local culinary arts scene. Entertaining street performers, lively art drawings, and the sale of colorful keepsake souvenirs — all create a family-friendly festival feel.

How Best to Art Fest

Free Parking/Shuttle — Park for free Destin High School adjacent to the Cultural Arts Village or at Emerald Coast Centre (near Beall’s Department Store), and ride the free continuous shuttle to the main entrance.

Get the Guide — A complimentary Festival Guide containing a roster of all artists, a map of the Festival site, the entertainment lineup, a list of food & beverage vendors, and other helpful hints on how to navigate the Festival is available at the entrance.

Vote! — On Saturday, Festivalgoers are invited to vote for the “People’s Choice” Artist Award by casting a ballot located at the Main Festival entrance.

Buy Festival Merchandise — This year’s official Festival merchandise features the whimsical artwork of Freeport artist Estelle Grengs (look for her at Booth No. 1.) Signed and numbered poster prints and souvenir t-shirts featuring Greng’s fantastical artwork will be available for sale in the Souvenir Tent.

Win Art! — Be sure to visit the Art Drawing Tent and enter the charity benefit drawing for chances to win a range of original artwork generously donated by the Festival artists. The drawing will take place on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m.

Lend a Hand — Sign up to volunteer. For more information, visit MKAF.org or call (850) 650-2226.

The Shadows of … Psycho

By Zandra Wolfgram

Are you ready to be thrilled? We hope you join us Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Mattie Kelly Cultural Arts Village in Destin. To set the stage for Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s spooky al fresco cinematic sensational concert, we unearthed some lore from the shadows of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s, Psycho — one of the most famous thrillers in the American film canon.

When the cast and crew began work on the first day, they had to raise their right hands and promise not to divulge one word of the story. Hitchcock also withheld the ending from his cast until he needed to shoot it.
The score, composed by Bernard Herrmann, is played entirely by stringed instruments.
Hitchcock was so pleased with the score written by Bernard Herrmann that he supposedly doubled the composer’s salary to $34,501. Hitchcock later said, “Thirty-three percent of the effect of Psycho was due to the music.”
Hitchcock originally envisioned the shower sequence as completely silent, but Bernard Herrmann went ahead and scored it anyway; upon hearing it, Hitchcock immediately changed his mind.
Marion Crane is wearing a white bra in the opening scene because Hitchcock wanted to show her as “angelic.” After taking the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something “wrong and evil.”
The shower scene was shot from December 17-23, 1959. It features 77 different camera angles and 50 cuts.
The Bates house was largely modeled on an oil painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The canvas is called House by the Railroad and was painted in 1925 by the iconic American artist Edward Hopper.
Hitchcock wanted to make this movie so much that he deferred his standard $250,000 salary in lieu of 60 percent of the movie’s gross. Believing it would do poorly at the box office, Paramount Pictures agreed. Adjusting for inflation, Hitchcock’s earnings amount to more than $120 million.

Purchase tickets for this spooktacular event online at SinfoniaGulfCoast.org.

MKAF’s ArtsReach Program Goes Full STEAM Ahead

Atlantic Coast Theatre Presents ‘The Time Machine’

By Zandra Wolfgram

It’s full STEAM ahead this fall for the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation ArtsReach program.

Thanks to generous support from the St. Joe Foundation, MKAF recently engaged the Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth to stage a two-week residency STEAM-themed outreach program in Walton County elementary and middle schools.

STEAM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, investigates concepts through inquiry and problem-based learning methods used in the creative process.

September 10 through October 1, the Atlantic Coast Theatre (ACT) staged The Time Machine, a new musical based on the famed H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel. Published in 1895, the work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively forward or backward through time. The term “time machine,” coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle or device.

ACT is a touring troupe of professional actors dedicated to arts education. They exclusively stage productions designed especially for youth. Students are provided a study guide that is tailored to their grade level. Before and after the 50-minute show (performed on-site at schools), students can engage in a question & answer session to learn more and meet and greet the actors after the show.

This staging of the musical will be infused with a “steam punk” theme.

Steampunk was first coined in 1987 by K. W. Jeter, the author of the novel Morlock Night. He used the term to describe “a genre of speculative fiction in which steam, not electricity, drove technological advancements.” Since then, it has been used to describe an artistic and cultural movement.

“This is such a cool concept,” says MKAF education director Melanie Moore. “We love how ACT incorporates all kinds of key subject areas that really enhance the educational goals that all of our school partners are working on.”

ArtsReach, MKAF’s community outreach program, leverages the talents of artists to provide hands-on art, theater and music education programs designed especially for K-12 students, children, and adults with special needs, as well as veteran and active-duty military service members.

Under Moore’s direction, ArtsReach, has served nearly 50,000 in Walton and Okaloosa Counties. Altogether, since it was established in 1995, MKAF estimates its outreach has impacted 337,800.

And more is on the way.

Despite the obvious challenges of the pandemic, with Fuller’s urging, Moore has grown the program manifold. In fact, 2021 has a record number of education programs underway (108 and counting!)—more than double the previous year.

“The demand for is huge and I love that we’re able to step up to meet it,” Moore says.