Sunday, December 06, 2009
Arts & Extras: Roanoker's 'Best' wins state competition
Nathan King
Arts & Extras column
Mike Allen, arts columnist
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Arts&Extras blog
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Roanoke native Nathan King wanted to try his hand at the Virginia Screenwriting Competition this year.
The 21-year-old cinema and philosophy major at Virginia Commonwealth University had plans to submit a feature-length screenplay he'd written for a class -- but two weeks before the deadline, he realized the submission had to be filmable in Virginia, and his screenplay, called "Sand," was set in a Texas desert.
"I just figured I'd work on something for next year," King wrote in an e-mail. "But then I started writing and said I'd have it done in time and in a week I did. I hand-delivered it on the competition date and honestly thought it wouldn't go anywhere."
Except, King won.
His script was one of four $1,000 prize winners, according to a statement released Nov. 25 by the Virginia Film Office. Kathryn Stephens, industry relations manager with the Virginia Film Office, said there were 138 entries in this year's competition, a new record.
Called "Best," King's screenplay tells a story of a young man's coming of age in the early 1970s. Here's how he describes it.
"The script takes place in a small South Carolina town during 1973 right when the draft is ending. The world was changing globally, and for Mason, the central character, his world is changing too. He's 18 years old, an athlete, and graduating with bad grades and nowhere to go.
"The script is about some sort of yearning, for each other, for a future, or for the past. It's a lot about being unsure, and continuously becoming someone new. Mason doesn't have many options ahead of him, and he's throwing out his arms, trying to cling to something, and causing a lot of destruction in the process. The relationships he has with his mother, brother, and friends Anne and Sean all undergo serious change."
One judge's comments on "Best" said its characters are "so tangible they are standing in the room with the reader."
King, a Hidden Valley High School graduate, said he wanted the script to include a tribute to one of his favorite movies, director Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show." One scene is set in a theater where the movie is playing.
King has a passion for a type of photography called "lomography," which involves taking spontaneous shots with cameras that sometimes have unusual lens setups. He posts examples of his work on his blog, kingnate88.blogspot.com.
He will graduate in July, and hasn't made up his mind yet whether he wants to pursue graduate school or venture into the working world.
"Writing is what I'd love to do for a living -- and collaborating with other writers, because I know I can't do it all on my own," he said.
'Peace by Piece' quilt on display at Taubman
About 500 Roanoke Valley schoolchildren now have their artwork on display in the Taubman Museum of Art.
In the "Peace by Piece Quilt Project," organized by the Conflict Resolution Center in Roanoke County, a large cross section of children ages 3 to 17 were asked to create quilt squares and stories illustrating what peace meant to them.
The squares have been sewn together into a quilt that's hanging in the Advance Auto Parts Auditorium and will be there through January. Visitors do not have to pay admission to see the quilt.
For more information, visit www.conflictresolutioncenter.us/peacebypiece.html.
Bedford Hardware show a revue of artists
Since 2003, Bedford Hardware has held exhibits by regional artists in its upstairs gallery, Art Up Stairs.
The store is finishing out the decade by holding a revue, called "Not Quite Deja Vu," featuring samples from more than 40 artists whose work has been displayed since the gallery opened.
According to a statement from the gallery, the show will include woodwork, pottery, glass art, paintings, sculpture, photographs, textiles and other media.
The gallery, at 126 South Bridge St. in Bedford, is open during the store's business hours, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. During December, the store will open until 8 p.m. Fridays. The exhibit opened Saturday and runs through January.
For information, call 586-8811.
Signature 9 show
In keeping with the holiday spirit, the show featured this month at the Signature 9 Gallery on Jefferson Street in Roanoke is called "And Visions of the Orient Danced in Their Heads," with paintings that incorporate Christmas decoration patterns by Troutville artist Vera Dickerson and jewelry by Roanoke artist Annie Trinkle.
For more information, call 342-0703 or visit www.signature9gallery.com.
On the arts blog
On the Arts & Extras blog, I have details about a new communal art studio opening in Martinsville, and more arts and culture news.
Come take at look at blogs.roanoke.com/arts.
Mike Allen's column runs in Sunday's Extra.
