Sweet Tea: A world of magic

You know what? You should doodle something today. Or write a little poem in your Notes app. (Anyone else’s Notes app a Pandora’s box of weird stuff? Don’t lie.)

We so often think creativity needs to serve a purpose, that art has to be for something or that writing is just a tool for some end. What about the pleasure of feeling a pen in hand, or the cadence of words tripping over the tongue?

What would you make just for the joy of it?

THE LOST WORLD OF MINNIE EVANS

The longer you look at a Minnie Evans work, the more you believe she was definitely connected to something divine. (AJ Willingham/AJC)

I was beyond blown away by a new exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art featuring the work of prolific North Carolina artist Minnie Evans, and I need to talk about it.

In her art, Evans spun the kind of magic that could only grow from Southern ground. Evans said her kaleidoscopic images of plants, faces, eyes and mythical creatures (and innumerable creepy-cool details) were depictions of a lost Eden. If Eden ever did exist, I hope it looked just like she imagined.

A few facts about this absolute queen:

• Evans was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1892. She grew up in the Jim Crow South, had relatives who had been enslaved, and lived through the trauma of the Wilmington Massacre in 1898. She also had wild religious visions, she said, even from a young age.
• Her version of Eden was inspired by a real place. Evans worked at the admissions gate at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina, a sprawling public garden teeming with bold flora and sparkling lakes.
• Walking among her hundreds of works feels like looking directly into someone else’s soul. She incorporated biblical images, mandalas from eastern traditions, and creatures known only to her mind.
• It’s no surprise, with her innate talent and vision, Evans’ work was highly appreciated in her day. She was one of the first Black artists to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1975, and her painting of Airlie’s famous southern live oak hangs in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

I love how Evan’s work alchemizes so many facets of the South. Faith, beauty, pain, nature, a strong sense of place and, yes, some of our history’s darkest moments, all clearly realized through one person’s remarkable eyes. If you find yourself in Atlanta before it closes in April, you must must go. More info from The High here.

Minnie Evans herself. She's an icon, she's a legend and she IS the moment. (AJ Willingham/AJC)

YOU DON’T LET A GOOD RESTAURANT GO

Louis Squires at the Magnolia Room Cafeteria in Tucker. He has always loved Southern cuisine and didn't want to see the S&S cafeteria on Chamblee Tucker Road close. His passion and dedication also saved 24 jobs. (Phil Skinner/AJC)

The S&S Cafeteria on Chamblee-Tucker Road was one of those classic serving line restaurants that became a decades-old dining tradition in the area. When it closed, longtime patron Louis Squires refused to let the ship go down.

• Now 70, Squires had no restaurant experience when he bought all the diner’s old furnishings including the famous steel serving line. He opened a new version of the S&S Cafeteria just a few miles away in Tucker, Georgia.
• Even better, all 24 S&S employees followed him to the newly-named Magnolia Room Cafeteria, which opened in early 2018.
• “I just don’t like to see traditions disappear,” said Squires, and Tucker is better for it.

🍽️ READ MORE: How Squires updated a classic while keeping true to its roots

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH

🌳 Jackson, MS: A shuttered library will soon be the site of the new Margaret Ann Crigler Park, thanks to massive local donations and a $3 million fund from the state. The park is part of downtown Jackson’s revitalization, and will be a green oasis with walking paths near the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. More from Mississippi Today

🏆 Lafayette, LA: Did you know Lafayette has a big place in the history of competitive trampolining? The son of trampolining pioneer Jeff Hennessy writes about how his dad created a bouncing powerhouse at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. More from The Current