Aiken City Limits: Music Festival Schedule
Be Creative
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.” – Daniel Burnham, Architect Our October issue is all about the arts. The sound of the music, the smell of the paint, the rhythm of the dance, and the vision of […]
The Art of Business
Art in the workplace is much more than pretty pictures As business people we should bring art and creativity into the workplace. Few companies do this, but those who have offer very good feedback and examples of how their staff and clients have responded. Studies show that art at work has many positive effects. Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart didn’t produce their best work in gray, fabric-lined cubicles. Not only are these spaces physically constrictive, but they cramp the birth of new ideas. Little by little companies in corporate America are changing the sea of uninspired cube farms and slowly giving way to open, collaborative work […]
Initiative + Influence
Leadership is influence, and we all influence the environment with our presence. Every living person has leadership and influence ability. Good leadership creates a progressive environment, and the most valuable gift a leader can give is to be a good example. Leadership in action is the best way to create influence, and the art of asking questions is a great approach to achieving self-reflection. Each month, Aiken Bella Magazine will publish “Influence Information”, a leadership column that will connect to the Aiken Character Trait of the month. Leadership information, questions, and recognition for individuals and organizations that exhibit leadership are examples of the featured characteristics to be shared each […]
Lessons from the Blue Zones…and My Grandmother
As part of my nutrition work, I have been very interested in longevity research. How can people learn to live into their 90s, or even to over 100 and still be healthy? Dan Buettner worked with a team from National Geographic. They identified five areas in the world that have an unusually large proportion of centenarians. They popularized this research in the book The Blue Zones by Beuttner. Four areas were in relatively isolated regions in the countries of Italy, Japan, Costa Rica and Greece. The fifth Blue Zone is in the Seventh Day Adventists community of Loma Linda, California. I have had a type of “blue zone” in my […]
October Cabinet of Curiosities
The Aiken County Historical Museum will curate monthly this article and will feature guest spots from other regional historical entities. As you may or may not know, “Cabinet of Curiosities” is a term used to describe early versions of museums, and we are full of curiosities in our area. It is our goal to bring you fascinating stories, local legends, and hidden secrets from the county’s past. The curators of this article will be Lauren Virgo and Leah Walker, the executive director and site & events manager of the museum, respectively. So, grab a cup of coffee and settle in to read more about your hometown history. To start us […]
Creating Characters | Dracula’s In His Blood: An Up-Close Look at Bram Stoker’s Great-Nephew
Dacre Stoker is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the international best-selling co-author of Dracula the Un-Dead (Dutton, 2009), the official Stoker family endorsed sequel to Dracula. Dacre is also the co-editor (with Elizabeth Miller) of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years (Robson Press, 2012). His latest novel, Dracul, a prequel to Dracula, released in October 2018 co-authored with JD Barker, has been sold to Putnam in North America, Penguin Random House in the UK, and additional publishers in France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Serbia, Taiwan, Turkey, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Portugal, and Poland with film rights purchased by Paramount Studios. A native of Montreal, Canada, […]
Creating Connection | Of Mice and Men, The Classic Depression Era Drama To Be Presented by Aiken Community Theatre
John Steinbeck’s classic novella comes to life this October at the Aiken Community Theatre (ACT) under the direction of Bob Franklin, who is taking a major turn from his guidance of last summer’s ACT hit comedy “Gibson and Sons” to tackle one of the major dramatic stories from the Depression Era of the 1930s. The director explained his change of pace by explaining, “I have always been drawn to scripts that make audiences think, that are timeless in their themes, and that present characters with multiple layers.” He noted that he finds plenty to work with in Steinbeck’s intense, testosterone-fueled world of hard men fighting for survival during hard times […]
The Art of Money
“We can’t predict, but we can prepare.” The real economic issues that matter are what is going on in your world – your family and the career that you are involved in. Quebec, Canada is a beautiful city this time of year. I was fortunate to enjoy a few days there last month for a business meeting. Artists had their art works displayed along the streets. Flower boxes filled with beautiful flowers lined the windows of many homes and businesses. Even the people on the streets were exceptionally friendly. It was France in North America. In a few months the atmosphere will be very different. They told me that snow […]
Social Media for Artists
Social media gives artists an unprecedented opportunity to be seen and heard. No longer are galleries, clubs, and journals the sole gatekeepers of the artistic world. You can reach the entire world directly… in theory. But how can an individual artist stand out in the crowded online landscape? And what’s the best use of an artist’s limited time for self-promotion? The first thing to figure out is what you hope to get from a social media presence. For a visual artist, it might be selling work online or getting commissions or gallery shows. For a musician, perhaps selling albums, booking gigs, or increasing plays on streaming platforms. For a writer, […]
