PDF - American Lifestyle Magazine

AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
THE MAGAZINE CELEBRATING LIFE IN AMERICA
A Childhood Through Recipes - pg. 12 | Dream Weavers: Longaberger Family - pg. 20 | Cultural Delights in the Windy City - pg. 24
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American Lifestyle IN THIS ISSUE
magazine
6
DREAM WEAVERS:
LONGABERGER FAMILY
20
CULTURAL DELIGHTS
IN THE WINDY CITY
24
30
REPURPOSING
THE ORDINARY
44
SOURCE OF
SOUND EFFECTS
DO YOU KNOW THE
QUILT MAN?
38
A PUBLIC MAN’S
PRIVATE RETREAT
IT’S A COUSCOUS
KIND OF DAY
2
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
12
A CHILDHOOD
THROUGH RECIPES
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
3
[O]CCUPATION
The magic of movies has captivated us for decades. Blockbusters are bringing in millions of
dollars—for some titles, even hundreds of millions—as we rush to see the illusion of true love,
the mirage of real danger, and the appearance of
raw adventure play out on the big screen. The
film industry has certainly mastered this art of
trickery, but the magic act runs deeper than the
actors being able to portray realistic emotions
or the special effects appearing lifelike. Movies
need to not only look real, but sound real as
well. But since the microphones used during
filming only pick up the dialogue of the actors,
sound needs to be embedded in the film to
complete the illusion of reality. And so enters
Foley artist Marko Costanzo, the magician of
the post production community, ready to fill in
the audio gaps of movies with the sounds you
expect to hear accompanying every scene.
“My engineer and partner, George Lara, and
myself will recreate almost every sound you
hear in a film—from footsteps to body rustle,
frozen lakes cracking under foot to wallpaper
peeling from humidity,” describes Marko, the
a foley artist? what’s that?
SOURCE
OF SOUND EFFECTS
Article by Marie Penn based on an interview with Marko Costanzo. Photography by Erin Beeler
gregarious Foley artist at C5, Inc. “We meticulously go through a film frame by frame, replacing or embellishing everything you hear.”
With hundreds of impressive movies under his
belt, Marko has had his hands in producing a
wide range of Foley effects (named after Jack
Foley, a pioneer of film sound effects) for wellknown motion pictures—including the sounds
of sloppy splatters from dropped food found
in the movie Julie and Julia, and the sounds of
falling ash accumulating in a burning room for
a scene in Shutter Island.
Although he has made quite a name for himself
during his twenty-plus years in the industry,
becoming a Foley artist wasn’t the career Marko always saw himself pursuing. “Saw myself
pursuing?” the dynamic professional laughs.
“I never heard of it! But once I saw what was
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AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
7
[O]CCUPATION
involved, I immediately loved it.
It turned out to be the quirkiest position I could have imagined, and one that is perfect for
my personality.”
Marko’s extensive career began in
the early eighties, when he graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson
University with a B.A. in Business Management and a minor
in TV production, Animation,
Film Appreciation, and Public
Speaking. He worked on every
low budget set that would have
him, sometimes getting into a
scene being shot. “I can’t say I
can recall even one movie that
I worked on in these two years,”
admits Marko.
“
There are a MULTITUDE of floor surfaces
within his stage, from dirt and GRAVEL
to linoleum
tile and wood; hundreds of
PAIRS OF SHOES, all well-worn to produce
that PERFECT FOOTSTEP sound...”
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After years of working late hours
for little pay, he found a job as
a messenger for a post production facility, meeting noteworthy sound and picture editors
in New York City. Before long,
Marko’s
amiable
personality paired with an unsurpassed
work ethic helped earn him
an apprenticeship on the film
Rollover, making duplicate copies of sound and working on a
thirty-five-millimeter single stripe
dubbing machine. “I worked in
this capacity for many months,
and was invited back on the
same sound editor’s next project, Sophie’s Choice,” remembers
Marko. It was during this project that he was introduced to the
Foley stage. “I recall walking in
on a scene that needed the sound
of a pull chain light bulb hanging
from the ceiling in a basement,”
recounts Marko, with an air of
excitement. “The current Foley
artist didn’t have that prop, and
I quickly volunteered to bring
one in the next day.” That event
turned into the first Foley effect
Marko ever performed, and the
beginning of his new career.
Marko learned the magic of
Foley effects by closely observing
the resident Foley artist of Sound
One, Inc., Elisha Birmbaum,
who was considering retiring
from actively performing Foley
at the time. The artist-in-training
would do whatever he could to
get involved—eagerly collecting
props, preparing the sessions,
and cleaning up the Foley stage.
When Elisha would occasionally leave the room during a session, Marko would be allowed to
make some of the Foley sounds
they required, despite some reluctance from the supervising
Foley editors. “Eventually Elisha
stayed out of the room more and
more, and I was soon the only
one around who wanted to be
in the room. So, by default, I
became the resident Foley artist
at Sound One,” he explains. “My
entrance into the post production world could not have been
better timed. One man out, one
man in.”
THE MAGIC ACT REVEALED
The trick behind great Foley effects is to produce a clean, vibrant
recording. “If placed alongside
a production track, our sound
should feel as if the production sound recordist had microphones capturing every nuance
of the actors’ actions,” Marko
describes. “The highest compliment I receive is when people are
surprised that any Foley sounds
were used. If it sounds like a
Foley, then it probably doesn’t
sound quite right.”
To determine how a film should
sound, Marko first discusses the
movie with the sound designer
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
9
“
[O]CCUPATION
‘As much as I hate to
admit it, I have BEEN
stumped on a number
of OCCASIONS,’
confesses Marko.
‘We once had to
make dragonfly
WINGS BUZZING
and
swooping, and
avoiding the front
of a WINDSHIELD.’”
and the Foley supervisor to decide what flavor a scene should
have, what emotion the sounds
should portray, and what experience should be felt. “We make
decisions about how a character
should sound, and try to consistently provide a similar sound
for that character throughout
the film,” notes Marko. “We pay
close attention to detail. What
surface is the character walking
on? What type of shoe is being
worn? Is the surface interrupted
by carpeting, or does the surface
change somewhere in a room?
We record each individual sound,
play it back, and move on to the
next sound in sequence.” In most
cases, Marko can manipulate a
sound in sync with whatever action is taken place on screen.
“Foley effects do not necessarily need to use the exact prop to
achieve a sound,” reveals Marko,
which is why his Foley stage is
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comprised of thousands of random objects scattered throughout
the room—and that is no exaggeration! His stage is a cross between an antique shop and a flea
market—treasures everywhere,
ready to be repurposed and put
to good use. There are a multitude of floor surfaces within his
stage, from dirt and gravel to linoleum tile and wood; hundreds
of pairs of shoes, all well-worn
to produce that perfect footstep
sound; dozens of doors, because
no two doors in a movie should
ever sound alike; fancy cloth, for
the rustling of different clothing
materials; and the basic set of
coconuts, for the sound of galloping horses, of course. “Being
resourceful is as important as being creative. If you have an idea,
you need to be able to translate
that idea into a sound,” clarifies
Marko, as he meanders the stage
demonstrating how he creates
impressive sounds with relatively
ordinary objects. “You need to
be able to manipulate the item
to create an action or feeling,
and you want to be able to repeat the action and duplicate the
sound however it presents itself.”
Marko is often asked to create
abstract sounds that convey a
feeling or emotion. “It becomes
frustrating when an editor asks
for something to sound a little
bluer, or some other adjective
that is not normally used in
conjunction with a sound. It is
almost always challenging,” Marko describes. “I was once asked
to make a sound for the hanging
neck skin for a group of pelicans
that were standing along a windy
shoreline. After first asking if
they were serious, I figured out
they were looking for something
not real in the real world. They
wanted an intimate sound that
would enhance an otherwise uneventful scene.”
Taking these challenges in stride,
Marko is able to create every
sound imaginable. “It may appear as if I can make any sound
imaginable, but I think it is more
like this: I can make an impressionable sound for almost anything,” elaborates Marko, who is
certainly not shy about sharing
his experiences. “The challenges
we face are like little puzzles we
need to solve. We are usually
given some artistic license to explore some of the outer reaches
of the possible sounds needed.
There is a margin of forgiveness
that allows a Foley artist to give
an impression of what something
sounds like.”
With high energy and arms expressively flailing in front of
him, the storyteller continues:
“We were recently asked to create the sound of ash falling in a
burning room, accumulating on
the floor around the actors, as
well as the furniture, the mantle,
and their shoulders. The speed
at which the ash was falling in
the scene can best be described
as the speed of fluffy snowflakes
falling from the sky. Not much
of a sound-generating equation
here. I went to a supermarket
and got popcorn, coconut flakes,
flaked soap, styrofoam cups, and
a couple other food products. I
tried some of those little packing peanuts used for shipping
as well. We put our microphone
real close to where I was about to
drop all these items, and eventu-
ally came up with a few usable
elements for this elegant and surreal scene.”
Of course, even the most experienced and innovative Foley
artist can become perplexed by
a sound requirement from time
to time. “As much as I hate to
admit it, I have been stumped
on a number of occasions,” confesses Marko. “We once had to
make dragonfly wings buzzing
and swooping, and avoiding the
front of a windshield. This did
not seem possible because of the
speed at which the wings flap. I
eventually came up with an idea
to put a soft tape on the wings
of a battery-powered personal
fan, the type that slows down or
stops if you put your finger on it.
By just grazing the tape slightly, I
was able to manipulate the speed
of the flapping. Also by adjusting the distance from the microphone, we created a movement
feel that gave this dragonfly
some life.”
Despite the tremendous effort
that goes into making some really extravagant Foley sounds,
Marko has no control as to how
a movie is going to be mixed and
which Foley effects are included.
“We put a lot of effort into everything we do. At times when
I know we did something really
special in a scene, and then when
I screen the film in the movie
theater, and we hear nothing
but music or silence, I can’t help
but feel rejected,” Marko admits.
“We usually do not have insight
into how a director wants the
film to play, so we take the good
with the bad, and record everything in case it might be usable.”
Regardless of which Foley effects are used, every sound bite
is seamlessly blended into the
movie to complete the illusion of
reality playing on the big screen.
The end product makes all the
challenges and frustration of the
job worthwhile. “The best part
of being a Foley artist is being
able to work on films that are
truly memorable—being part
of a team that includes so many
talented individuals, and being able to say I was part of it,”
reflects Marko. “The finished
product enables me to say
proudly to my friends and family,
‘I worked on that film; I am the
Foley artist.’” [AL]
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
11
[F]OOD
milk tart
SERVES 8
i n g re d i e n t s :
Pastry:
7 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
½ cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling:
3 cups milk
5 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, separated
½ cup superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
MILK TART WAS SOMETHING
WE ATE OFTEN IN SOUTH
AFRICA; IT WAS ON THE MENU
IN MANY TEAROOMS AND
BAKERIES. YOU MIGHT LIKE TO
MAKE DOUBLE THE PASTRY
AND FREEZE IT ALREADY
ROLLED-OUT IN THE PAN
SO THAT YOU CAN WHIP IT
STRAIGHT INTO THE OVEN
WHENEVER YOU NEED TO
PRODUCE A DESSERT IN
A HURRY.
cooking instructions:
A CHILDHOOD
THROUGH RECIPES
Recipes excerpted from Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes by Tessa Kiros (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009)
Photography by Manos Chatzikonstantis
• To make the pastry, mix the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until softened. Add the flour, baking powder,
and a pinch of salt, and mix with your fingers until damp and sandy. Add the egg, and knead very gently so that the pastry
comes together. Flatten a little, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling out. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to line a 10½-inch tart pan with sides at least 1¼ inches high. Line with
parchment paper, fill with baking beans or weights, and blind bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the beans and paper when the visible pastry is golden. Prick the pastry base a few times with a fork, and bake for
a further 10 minutes to dry out the bottom.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Put the milk and butter in a pan over medium heat to melt the butter. Whisk the egg yolks
with the sugar and vanilla; then whisk in the cornstarch. Add a ladleful of the hot milk to the eggs, whisking to avoid
scrambling them.
• Add the rest of the milk, mix it all together well, and let cool. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks; then gradually fold into
the filling. Pour into the tart case, sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the top, and return to the oven for 30 minutes, or
until it is set and just a bit wobbly. Cool before serving.
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AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
13
[F]OOD
ludi’s chicken
SERVES 4
i n g re d i e n t s :
4 or 5 large potatoes, peeled
2 heaped tablespoons grainy mustard
Juice of 2 lemons (but save the squeezed
lemon halves)
1 tablespoon dried oregano or thyme,
crumbled
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (3-pound) whole chicken
2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
2 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, with their skin left on
½ cup white wine
THIS IS MY SISTER TANJA’S RECIPE.
LUDI IS A NICKNAME: SHE CALLS ME
LUDI, AND I CALL HER LUDI (OUR
CHILDREN OFTEN LOOK PUZZLED).
THIS DISH JUST SEEMS TO WORK FOR
ALL AGES AND HOWEVER MANY
PEOPLE HAPPEN TO END UP EATING.
YOU CAN EVEN SERVE IT AT ROOM
TEMPERATURE, AND THE POTATOES
STILL END UP TASTING GOOD—
WHICH IS NOT A COMMON THING
FOR ROAST POTATOES, REALLY.
cooking instructions:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Halve the potatoes lengthways, and then cut them into 3 or 4 pieces so that they look like
giant fries.
• Mix together the mustard, lemon juice, oregano, and olive oil to make a marinade. Put the chicken, potatoes, onion
wedges, bay leaves, and 4 garlic cloves in a large oven dish. Season the potatoes and chicken (outside and in the cavity) with
salt and pepper. Put 2 of the squeezed lemon halves and the remaining garlic in the chicken cavity. Splash the marinade over
the chicken and potatoes, tossing them around with your hands, so they are well coated. Gently pour a cup of water into the
dish (trying not to wash away the marinade). Roast for about 1 hour.
• After an hour, the top of the chicken should be getting brown. Pour the wine over the top, turn the potatoes and onions,
and roast for another hour, turning the chicken when it is well browned on top. Check that the potatoes are still in a little
liquid—if they look dry, add a little more hot water.
• The chicken should be golden brown, juicy, and cooked through. If it seems done but you think the potatoes might need
longer, remove the chicken to a warmed serving platter. The potatoes, however, should not be crispy but golden and juicy,
and there should be a little sauce in the dish to serve with the chicken. If it is dry, add some hot water to the dish, and
scrape the bits from the bottom and sides to make more sauce. Serve hot or even at room temperature.
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AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
15
[F]OOD
couscous salad
SERVES 6
i n g re d i e n t s :
1⅔ cups couscous
About 1 cup oven-roasted tomatoes, halved or
quartered if large, plus their oil
1 small cucumber, unpeeled and diced
4 scallions, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons lemon juice
⅓ cup olive oil
1 cup goat’s cheese (soft or a little harder),
crumbled
THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS SALAD ALSO USES
BROKEN-UP PIECES OF PITTA BREAD: THIS IS A
MIDDLE EASTERN VARIATION. THE OVEN-ROASTED
TOMATOES ARE WONDERFUL HERE (MAKE THEM A
DAY OR SO IN ADVANCE, SO THEY FLAVOR THE OIL
NICELY), AND YOU CAN VARY THE INGREDIENTS
WITH DIFFERENT CHEESES OR HERBS FROM TIME TO
TIME. THIS WORKS VERY WELL SERVED WITH
YOGURT-MARINATED LAMB. THE DRESSING IS LIGHT
AND NOT OVERPOWERING, SO IF YOU ARE SERVING
THE SALAD ON ITS OWN, YOU COULD ADD A LITTLE
EXTRA LEMON JUICE AND OLIVE OIL.
cooking instructions:
• Put the couscous in a large bowl, and season well with salt and pepper. Add a splash of the oil from your oven-roasted
tomatoes and 2 cups of just-boiled water. Stir, cover, and leave to cool completely, fluffing it up gently now and then so that
the bottom does not become a stiff pudding.
• Add the cucumber, scallion, mint, and lemon juice to the couscous. Add the tomatoes and the rest of their oil, topping
up with the extra olive oil if you don’t have enough from the tomatoes, and stir well. Add the goat’s cheese, and stir in
carefully, especially if it is soft.
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AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
17
[F]OOD
ricotta tart
SERVES 8-10
i n g re d i e n t s :
THIS IS A TYPICAL SOUTHERN COMBINATION
Crust:
OF FLAVORS: RICOTTA, THE BURSTINGLY RIPE
7 tablespoons butter, slightly softened
⅓ cup superfine sugar
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
Filling:
3 eggs, beaten
⅔ cup superfine sugar
1 heaped teaspoon finely grated orange zest
3 cups smooth ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
ORANGES, AND EVERY ITALIAN’S OBSESSION,
CHOCOLATE. IT IS QUITE SIMPLE TO MAKE,
SO DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY THE THOUGHT
OF THE PASTRY CRUST. IF IT SEEMS TOO SOFT,
JUST ADD MORE FLOUR AS YOU’RE ROLLING
IT; THEN LIFT IT OVER YOUR ROLLING PIN, AND
GENTLY LOWER IT INTO THE PAN. IF IT BREAKS,
JUST PATCHWORK IT IN.
cooking instructions:
• To make the pastry base, use a food processor to mix together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Sift in the flour
and cocoa, and then beat in the egg to make a nice soft pastry. Scrape out onto plastic wrap, flatten into a disc, and wrap up.
Refrigerate for about an hour.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until large enough to line a 9½-inch
removable-bottom tart pan or springform cake pan with high sides. Line the pastry with parchment paper and baking beans
or uncooked rice, and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes to slightly
dry the base.
• For the filling, whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy. Whisk in the orange rind and ricotta until
smooth. Whisk in the lemon and orange juice, and scrape into your pastry case. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until
the top seems set and is lightly golden here and there. Cool before cutting into portions. This can be served slightly warm, at
room temperature, or even cold from the refrigerator.
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AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
19
“
[C]ULTURE
DREAM WEAVERS:
LONGABERGER FAMILY
Article by Joel Zuckerman
In 1919, There is no shortage of things to
a fellow named
J.W. Longaberger
took a JOB with
the Dresden
Basket Factory
in central
Ohio,
learning the
BASKET-MAKING ART,
and eventually
mastering the
TIGHT WEAVING
style that would
become his
trademark.”
see and do in Columbus, Ohio’s
capital and the nation’s fifteenth
largest city. There is the awardwinning Columbus Zoo, the
Harley-Davidson Museum, and
the supposedly haunted Kelton
House, which was part of the
Underground Railroad. But for
sheer “wow factor,” the single
most notable sight in this central
Ohio metropolis is the massive
picnic basket lording over State
Road 16 in the Columbus suburb of Newark.
It’s big enough to hold a week’s
worth of goodies for Goliath,
Paul Bunyan, and the Jolly Green
Giant combined, with plenty of
space left over for the USDA
daily requirements of the nearby
Ohio State University football
team and marching band. This
seven-story, 180,000-square-foot
picnic basket-as-office building serves as home base for the
remarkable Longaberger Company, a uniquely American success story, and one of the most
successful direct sales operations
in history.
How did Longaberger become a name as closely associated with handcrafted baskets
as Smucker’s, another centuryold, Ohio-based, family-owned
company, has with jams and
jellies? Here’s the “Cliff Notes”
version of how it all, shall we say,
weaved together:
At the turn of last century, baskets were used in an everyday
fashion, much like paper bags
and plastic containers are today.
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AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
In 1919, a fellow named J.W.
Longaberger took a job with the
Dresden Basket Factory in central Ohio, learning the basketmaking art, and eventually mastering the tight weaving style that
would become his trademark.
Over time, the family patriarch
found other work, as the Great
Depression forced the basket
operation to shutter their doors.
But years later, he bought and renamed the basket factory where
he had first learned the trade,
married, and fathered a dozen
children. In the middle of the
pack was his son Dave, born in
1934, who was ambitious and
entrepreneurial from the start.
He had so many different menial
jobs as a youth that his sprawling family playfully referred to
young Dave as the “twenty-fivecent millionaire.” As an adult, he
remained as hardworking and
motivated as he was as a teenager, and always kept his eyes
open for new opportunities. He
bought, expanded, and operated
a dairy bar, and then a supermarket, and in the early ‘70s, noticed
a reemergence in the popularity of baskets, most of which
were imported.
Seizing upon an idea, Dave wondered if consumers would appreciate baskets like the fine handcrafted ones his father used to
make. He asked dear old dad to
make a dozen, as an experiment.
They sold immediately, more
were requested, and J.W., happy
to resurrect his basket-making
skills, made several dozen more.
Sadly, the patriarch died at the
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
21
I
[C]ULTURE
It’s an American craft, and our visitors appreciate the workmanship
involved in the process. I sometimes refer to it as “edu-tainment,”
in that they’re entertained, but there’s also an
educational component to their visit.
age of seventy-one, just as the
family trade was being renewed.
Dave opened J.W.’s Handwoven
Baskets™ in 1976 in Dresden,
Ohio. Interest in these unusual
handmade baskets grew, and
Dave had to find a place in which
to expand his factory. He found
a very unlikely building: the old
woolen mill where his mother
had previously worked, built
in the 1890s, but vacant since
1955. Dave envisioned a basket
factory with hundreds of craftsmen and craftswomen weaving,
tacking, creating baskets as they
interacted among themselves and
their customers. He had proven
to himself through his previous
business ventures that he had a
knack for envisioning the unlikely, so he approached his new
venture with great enthusiasm.
Though Dave Longaberger had
become increasingly convinced
that American consumers would
covet the excellent craftsmanship
of Longaberger baskets, his marketing efforts met with varying
degrees of success. In 1978, Dave
discovered that the most effective
way to sell the company’s baskets
was not through traditional retail
outlets but through home shows,
where an educated home consultant could show Longaberger
baskets and share the history and
explain the craftsmanship that
each basket holds. And thus, the
Longaberger Company’s direct
sales organization was born.
“We now have about 1,200 employees in total, including several
hundred skilled craftsmen who
actually make our baskets. We
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AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
make hundreds of different styles
of hand-woven baskets, and I’m
proud to say that I am a fourth
generation basket maker myself.” So begins current company
president, the formidable Tami
Longaberger, Dave’s eldest child,
and granddaughter of J.W. Tami
joined the company in 1984, and
assumed the presidency a decade
later. She worked closely with her
visionary father from the time
she joined the company until his
1999 passing, and their fifteen
years together helped shape Tami
into the entrepreneurial dynamo
she has become.
There are now some 45,000
Longaberger home consultants,
who spread the word and sell
the ever-expanding product line
from coast to coast. The Longaberger product line now includes
wrought iron pieces, pottery, place
mats, and other table items, but
the heart of the company and its
core product will always be baskets. “Each basket is dated and
signed by the craftsman or craftswoman who made it,” continues
Tami, who among numerous
other accolades is a member of
the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.
“Really, there are not too many
things you can buy in America
that are made from native material—in our case, hard maple
splints—and weave it into an
aesthetically pleasing utilitarian
product that has been dated
and signed by the actual person
who created it. That process just
doesn’t happen that much anymore, at least in our country.”
Aside from being a cradle of
craftspeople, these various Columbus suburbs of Newark,
Dresden, Nashport, and Frazeysburg have evolved into tourist
attractions in their own right.
“I would estimate that of the
350,000 annual visitors we receive at Longaberger, only about
fifteen percent are our sales associates,” continues Tami. “It’s really our customers and collectors
who make up the lion’s share of
our visitors. It’s hard to just own
a single Longaberger basket—
most folks end up with some sort
of collection. It’s an American
craft, and our visitors appreciate
the workmanship involved in the
process. I sometimes refer to it as
‘edu-tainment,’ in that they’re
entertained, but there’s also an
educational component to their
visit. It’s a bit of a throwback experience, which includes a replica workshop of my grandfather’s
workshop from the 1920s. Of
his dozen children—six boys and
six girls—my father, Dave, was
the only one of the kids to really
get involved and attempt to grow
the business. To my grandfather,
the basket making was more
of a hobby. It was my dad that
carried on the tradition of Longaberger baskets, and expanded
the business dramatically.”
The Longaberger Homestead is
one of the most popular visitor
attractions. “Some come by bus
tours; others drive in. It might
be a couple, an entire family,
sisters, neighbors, or a group of
girlfriends,” explains Tami, the
former chair of the National
Women’s Business Council.
“There is lots of shopping, restaurants, all sorts of activities
that are tied to various holidays,
winter, and summer. Part of the
visit is touring the factory, seeing how baskets are made, and
in many cases, learning to make
baskets yourself. Pennsylvania,
New York, the New England
states, Maryland, Indiana, and
of course Ohio are among the
most popular areas from which
we draw our visitors.”
There is also a Longaberger
Company-owned hotel in Newark called The Place Off The
Square, a 117-room hotel close
to The Homestead. A fairly recent addition to the Longaberger
experience is the award-winning
Longaberger Golf Club, in nearby Nashport.
“Most of the people that visit
us know something about our
baskets, or know some of the
people who sell our products,”
says Tami Longaberger, whose
own college-age children may be
the next generation to carry on
the basket-making tradition of
the Longaberger family. “These
are primarily women, and a few
good men, as we say. These are
people who appreciate American
craftsmanship and good family values. They appreciate those
things that have made America
great: hard work, a strong work
ethic, treat your neighbors right,
and provide good service. That’s
what we’re all about.” [AL]
i
www.longaberger.com
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
23
[T]RAVEL
Here, public art
DISPLAYS
and
modern
architecture
HOBNOB
SPOTLIGHT ON CHICAGO
with
flourishing
SHOPPING DISTRICTS
and worldrenowned
restaurants.”
© City of Chicago/GRC
Chicago is a city alive with culture. Here, public art displays
and modern architecture hobnob with flourishing shopping
districts and world-renowned
restaurants. Colorful festivals
and theatrical performances represent ethnic diversity within the
city’s medley of neighborhoods.
With its 200 theaters, several
hundred art galleries, and thousands of restaurants, Chicago has
easily become a top city-break
destination, with cultural delights around every bend.
CULTURAL DELIGHTS
IN THE WINDY CITY
Article by Ellie Lawrence
In the heart of the Midwest, lining the shores of Lake Michigan,
you will find this enriching epicenter. As the third largest city
in the nation—with close to
three million permanent residents and over forty-five million
visitors per year—the streets of
Chicago are always bustling.
And with its laundry list of our
nation’s firsts—the first Ferris
wheel, the first skyscraper, the
first mail-order retailing—the
city strives to triumph over other
metropolitan areas.
A look at the skyline reveals that
architecture is certainly an area
of focus for this progressive city.
Famous for its daring designs and
landmark structures, Chicago is
considered to be the birthplace of
modern buildings. The city was
founded on the high ambitions
of true believers of progress—
Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe, and Daniel
24
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
© City of Chicago/GRC
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
25
L
[T]RAVEL
Located in the heart
of downtown Chicago,
Millennium Park opened
in 2004, and united
architecture and lush
landscapes with the
ongoing celebration
of the arts.
H. Burnham—who helped to
transform the once flat, marshy
land into a living museum of innovative architecture.
Chicago’s chic construction is
not limited to its skyscrapers and
high-rise buildings. Take a stroll
through Millennium Park to
fully appreciate the rich foundation of design on which Chicago
was built. Located in the heart of
downtown Chicago, Millennium
Park opened in 2004, and united
architecture and lush landscapes
with the ongoing celebration of
the arts. Millions of people come
to delight in the park’s modern
design, making this twenty-fiveacre public oasis one of the most
popular destinations for tourists
and natives alike.
Prior to becoming an unprecedented hot spot, the land had
been left untouched for over one
hundred years, with its empty
parking lots and unsightly railroad tracks creating an eyesore
on the lakefront. Fortunately,
by the late nineties, the city was
ready to turn this wasted space
into a new recreational area.
The Millennium Park project
evolved into the most ambitious
© City of Chicago/GRC
26
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
public undertaking in the
city’s history, and now features
a collection of work by distinguished artists, architects,
and landscape designers.
In honor of the city’s motto,
Urbs in Horto (which is Latin for
“City in a Garden”), Millennium
Park is home to the stunning
Lurie Garden, which displays
specially-grouped
landscape
configurations that symbolize
significant developments in Chicago’s lively history. The park is
also dotted with bold structures
of art, such as the Cloud Gate—
a sixty-six-foot-long elliptical
sculpture whose highly–polished
stainless steel plates reflect the
city’s striking skyline and the
clouds above.
The Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the
Crown Fountain are among Millennium Park’s prominent features. With immense panels and
an intricate canopy of intertwining pipes, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion is a sophisticated outdoor
music venue. Built by Frank
Gehry, this revolutionary structure towers 120 feet tall, and
boasts technologically-advanced
acoustics, which were the first of
© City of Chicago/GRC
its kind in the country. Another
massive sculptural statement is
the Crown Fountain. Spanish
artist Jaume Plensa designed this
interactive sculpture, which consists of a shallow reflecting pool
with two glass block towers at either end. A contemporary twist
on the traditional use of gargoyles
in fountains, these fifty-foot towers display 1,000 rotating video
images of faces gathered from a
broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens; a strategically placed
water outlet within the towers
gives the illusion of water pouring from the faces’ mouths. With
all of these impressive attractions,
Millennium Park is undoubtedly a crowning achievement for
the city.
Chicago’s assortment of modern
art is as noteworthy as its architecture. The city has always been
passionate about enhancing its
buildings and spaces with quality
works of art. By 1978, Chicago
even passed an ordinance that
required all municipal renovation and construction projects
to set aside a percentage of their
budget for the commission or
purchase of public art. As a result, over one hundred paintings,
mosaics, and sculptures now line
the downtown streets.
This art is often abstract and
large. Take The Chicago Picasso,
for example—the first major
public artwork to be introduced
to downtown Chicago. Towering
fifty feet tall, this untitled sculpture was given as a gift from Pablo Picasso to the people of Chicago in 1967. Although it stirred
great controversy with its size,
design, and use of nontraditional
materials, it helped to inspire a
cultural renaissance within the
city, and is now considered an
icon of Chicago.
A CONTEMPORARY TWIST on the
traditional use of gargoyles in
fountains, these fifty-foot
towers DISPLAY 1,000 rotating
video images of faces
gathered from a broad
SOCIAL SPECTRUM
Chicago
of
citizens...”
Public artwork filters into the
many diverse neighborhoods that
surround the downtown area.
One such artistic headquarters
can be found within Pilsen—one
of the nation’s largest Mexican
and Mexican American communities—where colorful murals decorate the buildings. A
great time to appreciate this art
district is in October when the
community hosts the Eighteenth
Street Pilsen Open Studios—an
art walk that invites the public
inside the studios of local artists
throughout the neighborhood.
© City of Chicago/GRC
© City of Chicago/GRC
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
27
[T]RAVEL
“
After an unforgettable
meal SURROUNDED by the
historical elegance of the
CHICAGO FIREHOUSE RESTAURANT,
a stay at the equally
historic
MILLENNIUM KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL
is imperative.”
28
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
© Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel
© Mark Zou
While in Pilsen, be sure to check
out the National Museum of
Mexican Art. As the country’s
largest Latino cultural organization, the museum proudly displays more than one hundred
visual arts exhibitions and 6,000
permanent collections, which reflect the complexity and beauty
of the Mexican culture.
While indulging in authentic
Chicago-style pizza and hot dogs
is a must, it would be a shame
to overlook the exceptional cuisine of the five-star restaurants
in this culinary mecca. Visit the
Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
for some cutting-edge American fare. This restaurant opened
in 1999 within the city’s historic firehouse. Although the
building has changed over the
years—including a conversion of
the upstairs living quarters into
banquet space—a lot of the firehouse characteristics and artifacts
have remained intact. Walk past
the bar, and you will still find
two original fire poles that have
been used by firemen since the
building was built in 1905. For
an intimate meal, dine in their
Wine Cellar Room. This baroque
style room includes a large handcrafted wood table and candlelit
wine cabinets, creating the ideal
ambiance for special occasions.
After an unforgettable meal
surrounded by the historical elegance of the Chicago Firehouse
Restaurant, a stay at the equally
historic Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel is imperative. Situated on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile, this landmark hotel
is within arm’s reach of the city’s
most noteworthy shops, attractions, and more than fifty restaurants within a four-block radius.
The Knickerbocker’s rich legacy
dates back to 1927 when it first
opened its doors as the Davis
Hotel. Full of eclectic style and
timeless charm, this establishment had every amenity necessary in its time: a grand Crystal
Ballroom, whose illuminated
dance floor was the largest in the
world; a library with an impressive 5,000-volume collection;
and rooms for card-playing,
© Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel
lounging, and writing. By the
early ‘40s, the mezzanine level
was also home to an Officer’s
Club for commissioned officers
in the U.S. Armed Forces, and
remained so throughout the Korean War. Richard Nixon even
spent time in the Knickerbocker
during the 1952 Republican National Convention when he unexpectedly became the nominee
for Vice President.
Despite the building’s eightythree years of heritage, its
accommodations are fitting for
any present-day traveler. The
Millennium
Knickerbocker
Hotel recently renovated its
guest rooms and suites, ensuring guests modern luxury within
its historical architecture. Every convenience and detail was
considered when redesigning
these sophisticated and spacious
suites, which now mix timeless
glamor with modern amenities
and technology. Its soothing décor and spa-like bathrooms make
for a peaceful oasis of bliss, and
a picture-perfect ending to your
cultural adventures. [AL]
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
29
[A]RT
LUKE HAYNES
DO YOU KNOW
THE QUILT MAN?
Interview with artist Luke Haynes
WHAT WAS CHILDHOOD LIKE?
My parents were young and divorced, so there was a lot of traveling between, as well as following them to the next adventure
in their life—to schools or jobs
often in a new state or at least
a new city. I was a very curious
youth, doing well in school and
reading lots. I grew up with a
collegiate peer group, and a lot
of LEGOS® and bottle rockets. I
was raised across the south, living in Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and
North Carolina. I think having
such an eclectic background has
had a huge impact on my work,
and has given me a greater sense
of what it is to exist within a national context.
DO YOU COME FROM AN
ARTISTIC FAMILY?
All photography by David Papas, www.papas.com
30
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
My immediate family is very creative. That fact was not so much
emphasized as just implicit to
the way we lived. Education was
emphasized. We spent lots of
time learning and questioning.
The creation of art filled the time
between learning, and kept my
hands busy. My father is a performing artist, and my mother is
a scientific artist—meaning that
her creativity comes forth under
the umbrella of chemistry and
greater scientific pursuits—and
my mother’s mother and grandmother are painters.
DESCRIBE A MEMORY THAT YOU
ATTRIBUTE TOWARDS YOUR
PASSION FOR ART:
There have been many in my
life. Before I even had any tools
to create art, like the knowledge
of drawing or painting and of
course sewing, I had the desire to
combine objects to fill space in
an aesthetic manner. I remember
at five years old having rocks lining the window sills of our entire
home that I had broken with a
sledge hammer because I thought
the insides were pretty. And of
course forts with the couch cushions and dining room chairs (to
which I would attribute my later
penchant for architecture).
WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR
TALENT? WAS IT SOMETHING THAT
YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO?
My art was more a part of my
life than it was a pursuit. I had to
create as part of my sanity. Like
eating and breathing, it came as
a necessity to fulfill my corporeal
needs. I wouldn’t even go so far
as saying talent, but more a product of practice and my interest in
the creative process. I came at art
and its creation from a logical
constructivist standpoint rather
than a heady conceptual one.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO USING
FABRIC FOR ART? WHY DID YOU
CHOOSE THIS MEDIUM?
It chose me. I had occasion to
try my hand at lots of other
methods of image creation and
construction, and fabric fit most
closely with my planar notions
of flattening perception. Also
the tactile manufacturing of taking parts and creating a whole
makes sense to me more than
taking pigments and alluding
to a visual. Plus the medium
has imbued within it such a rich
history of pragmatism and function. I gravitate towards things
that are rooted in utility. My
years studying architecture have
grown in me a deep appreciation
for the form of function. Quilts
are made for warmth. Quilts are
made for survival. There is something visceral about constructing
a covering out of pieces of fabric,
quilted together to hold in the
batting which is the source of the
insulating qualities of a quilt.
“
I had to CREATE
as part of my
sanity. Like EATING
and breathing,
it came as a
NECESSITY
to
fulfill my corporeal
needs.”
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
31
[A]RT
ARE YOU PROFESSIONALLY
TRAINED AS AN ARTIST?
I spent some time at the North
Carolina School for the Arts,
in the visual arts conservatory,
studying fine arts technique;
however, the bulk of my training
is in either carpentry or architecture. I spent summers and winters in school building houses
and renovating buildings, which
led to my pursuit of architecture.
My penchant for the manual
construction of spaces and the
notions of affecting environment
led to my years at Cooper Union
in New York studying architecture. Within the program there,
I had a few drawing classes and
photography classes, as well as
much input from professors on
my presentation methods and
visual clarity.
WHAT OTHER UNUSUAL MEDIUMS
DO YOU USE?
I have made drawings out of broken glass. I have used plywood as
the canvas for painting. I have
drawn with fruit, but the most
prevalent medium outside of the
standard set of “fine art” processes I use is tape. I have done quite
a few drawings in tape, architectural renderings on clear acetate
that flip up to reveal the inside,
and whole canvases made out of
tape with pictorial images made
from the colors of common tape
(silver, black, and white).
WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR
CREATING?
Creating is the single greatest
motivator in my life. To me, it
is as important as eating, breathing, or moving. Not in a hyper,
intense, focused way, but rather
in a way that is just a part of
life, just part of the week. It is
how we affect our world. It is a
method of my communication.
It is my way of leaving a legacy
or responding to the legacy left
behind by my predecessors. It’s
communications without the
boundaries of language.
32
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
33
I
I tend to
have a very
eclectic work
environment.
If I have a
great idea, I
will write it on
a paper and
pin that to
the wall. The
longer I am in
a space, the
more ideas
accumulate
on the wall,
until the wall
becomes a
patchwork of
thoughts.
a patchwork of thoughts. I like
to keep a clean workspace for
functional reasons, but as a project comes to fruition, I tend to
have drifts of detritus in the corners of the room, and threads everywhere. I have to turn over my
vacuum and cut out the threads
every couple of months, or it gets
too covered to turn. The studio
is often in contrast to my living
space which is designed to be
utilitarian with clean lines and
simple decorations.
HOURS:
WHERE DO YOU FIND
INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?
The majority of my art has been a
process-driven result. I set parameters for myself and make work
from that. For this reason, I love
commissions and themed shows.
It allows me to be creative with a
response to a query; it allows for
work that is site or idea specific.
There are no universal truths as
well as there is no universal art,
so I strive to make work that
hangs in the space for which it
was created. I admit that at times
this makes for some final results
that are not the easiest to access
by the general viewing public, as
they are images of people in my
life or of objects responding to a
particular set of restraints.
WHAT ARTISTS HAVE INFLUENCED
YOU AND WHY?
The list is long. I have been profoundly influenced by the work
I have seen throughout my life.
There are a few artists that come
quickly to mind: Chuck Close,
Claes Oldenburg, Piet Mondrian, James McNeill Whistler,
Antoni Gaudi, Tadao Ando, and
34
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
Shigeru Ban. Some were artists,
some were architects, but all were
aware of the essence of creating
space and following their process
to the end.
DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF
CREATING YOUR QUILT ART:
I start with what I want it to
look like finished; then I work
out how to make that happen.
I find that I tend to get larger
and larger the more I work an
image. My default is to create
quilts that are in keeping with
the actual size that a quilt would
be to warm sleepers in the night.
I have been experimenting with
smaller sizes in the past few years
for ease of hanging.
WHAT IS THE ATMOSPHERE OF
YOUR WORK SPACE?
Most of my studio spaces over
the past few years have been
makeshift. I tend to have a very
eclectic work environment. If I
have a great idea, I will write it
on a paper and pin that to the
wall. The longer I am in a space,
the more ideas accumulate on
the wall, until the wall becomes
The time it takes for a project
depends greatly on the project.
The range is from about a week
to a month, depending on the
size. My work schedule is a bit
varied depending on where I
am living and what else I have
to work on. When I work, it
tends to be in long stretches. I
will stay in the studio for ten to
fifteen hours at a time. I think
this work ethic comes from my
training in architecture, where it
is necessary to have those kinds
of hours. I don’t have any kind
of scheduled hours to work in a
day or a week. The only schedule
that I hold to is eating barbecue
every Thursday.
WHAT IS THE MOST FULFILLING
PART ABOUT YOUR WORK?
It is important for me to create.
It is a component of my needs as
a person, so it is great to get to
work in a way that promotes my
ability to create. I also love to design new ways to accomplish my
goals. In quilting, I have a set of
stitches and fabric options, but
outside of that, there are millions
of ways to vary those to make a
project. The greatest moment
comes when I can hold up a piece
and see the idea that I had from
the beginning looking back at
me, and often the product comes
out better than the idea. It’s quite
rewarding to take an idea from
conception through fruition
“
[A]RT
make work from that. For this reason,
I love commissions and THEMED SHOWS. It allows me to be creative
with a RESPONSE to a query; it allows for WORK that is site or idea specific.”
I set PARAMETERS for myself and
inside a month. Plus I like to
touch all the cool fabrics.
WHEN IS IT NOT ENJOYABLE TO
WORK ON A PIECE OF ART?
There are always times in any
job where it becomes rote or tedious, or the deadlines take the
fun out of the process. At times,
I get disinterested in a project
near the end because I have it all
done in my head, and all that is
left is the busy work. Most of the
time, I have a great time working with fabric and sewing, until the binding needs to go on.
For some reason, I have a strong
distaste for putting on the binding. Maybe because it is tedious
or time consuming at the time
when I want to be done and see
what I have completed.
HOW DO YOU OVERCOME
CREATIVE BLOCKS?
I do something else. I try and
work another way, or take a
break and come back to it at a
later time. Or sometimes I take
myself out of the process of creating by making a project out of
a set of parameters given from
an external source, like an open
call for a gallery with a theme,
or from a series I am working on
and have made a list of things to
do at a time when the mojo is
working. And always in my moments of dire struggle, I can look
to the artists I want to emulate
and get inspired by their work
and methods.
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
35
[A]RT
DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE:
I quilt. I paint with fabric. I convey visual concepts through the
planar manipulation of threedimensional form represented
with pieces of two-dimensional
color. I combine Giacometti
with Chuck Close and add some
Appalachian methodology.
YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT:
I would have to admit—with a
bit of chagrin—that it would be
me. I like to create self portraits
for several reasons: It seems to
me a neutral subject and a very
easy subject to get ahold of. I can
work on my process and methods without having the stigma
of content to be worried about.
Also there is a lot of body issues
and self referential media in our
culture, so as an artist, it is interesting to create an icon of one’s
self. Branding is everything. I
get a lot of flak from peers and
friends about working with self
portraiture, because it seems to
overlook the context in which
I make my work. This critique
seems to me a bit topical, and
yet a challenge for me to contextualize myself in a world of
visual communication.
I created a backdrop for a play
that traveled the world. The play
was an immense success, written by a great friend of mine
out of Strophium Productions.
The quilt measured ten feet tall
and fourteen feet wide, and has
traveled the globe for a few years
now as part of the show.
One of the greatest defining
moments is the moment when
I decided to move across the
country with everything I own
in a Honda Civic hatchback to
live on a llama ranch and work in
exchange for rent. This was the
moment when I acquiesced to be
an artist, when my pursuit of art
was paramount over stability and
comfortable complacency. And
3,000 miles later, I was making
it happen by the sheer force of
will (and a bit of hay). Within a
month, that came crashing down
around me, but it proved to be
the catalyst that I needed to get
out into the world and make myself known.
IS IT DIFFERENT WHEN YOU TURN
A HOBBY INTO A CAREER?
It is different. It’s like making a
girlfriend into a wife; the commitment makes the dialogue
deeper and more present. The
only loss is the feeling of newness, that desire to stop what you
are doing in order to make more
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
MOTTO
is: ‘nothing
in moderation.’ I
find that IN ORDER
to make anything
happen, it is
necessary to
WHAT IS THE LARGEST PROJECT
YOU HAVE CREATED?
TALK ABOUT A MOMENT WITHIN
YOUR CAREER THAT YOU WILL
NEVER FORGET:
36
I often say my
COMMIT
time for it. Since the hobby is
now what you are doing, there is
nothing that needs to be stopped
to make time for its pursuit. We
have only time, and if that is not
filled with what you love, then it
is squandered. I’m just so elated
that I can support myself with my
art and passions. Thanks to everyone that makes that possible.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO
ACCOMPLISH THROUGH
YOUR WORK?
the context of fine art. They were
all waiting for someone else to
take a chance on me and see how
I was received in the world of
fine art. One of the early galleries that took that challenge was
the Jan Larsen Gallery in N.Y.C.
For that boost of confidence and
support, I am ever grateful.
WHAT QUOTES OR MOTTOS ARE
YOU FOND OF THAT PERTAIN TO
YOUR ART OR LIFE IN GENERAL?
I want to make an impact on
people, either through an exhibition, or a piece of functional
art on their bed, or through a
change in perception. I want to
do my part in proliferating good
design and conscious living.
I often say my motto is: “nothing in moderation.” I find that
in order to make anything happen, it is necessary to commit to
it. So go all out, get dirty, talk to
everyone until someone says yes,
and take the time to do what you
do well.
HOW HAS YOUR WORK BEEN
RECEIVED BY THE PUBLIC?
IF YOU WEREN’T AN ARTIST, WHAT
WOULD YOU BE DOING?
The public loves my work. It has
such a nostalgia as well as tactile
qualities that make it fun to look
at. It’s a bit off the beaten path, so
it’s a spectacle which people love
to see. The response I got most
of the time when I began putting
my work out in galleries and into
public spaces is that I was doing
something so unusual that it was
hard for them to place it within
to it.”
WHAT IS LIFE LIKE OUTSIDE
OF WORK?
Besides sewing and drawing, I
like to dance and travel. I often
travel for dancing. The dance I
mostly do is a vernacular swing
dance called the Lindy Hop, born
out of the Harlem Renaissance. I
am addicted to Lost and 30 Rock.
I have lived in twelve states. I am
a dog lover, but am too transient
to be a dog owner, so I pet every
dog I pass on the street. Architecture is a big part of my life;
it has become more of a hobby
for now. [AL]
i
www.lukehaynes.com
I’m not sure you can divorce the
two, but I would have to say
that were I not an artist, I would
work in the field of architecture.
I think that is one of the greatest and most important fields
of work of our time, as well as
one of the fields most devoid of
conscious thought. I continue to
be intrigued and aware of the
progress in that vocation.
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
37
[H]ISTORY
Whether today’s
TOURIST
is a young
immigrant to the
United States or an
OLDER AMERICAN
planning for
retirement,
Jefferson’s retreat
at POPLAR FOREST is a
personal inspiration.”
No one ever equates Thomas
Jefferson to a beachgoer, to one
seeking a getaway, or to a homebuilder or retiree being visited by
his grandchildren. But shortly
after his election to President of
the United States in 1800, he realized he needed a private, tranquil place for himself.
THOMAS JEFFERSON’S POPLAR FOREST
A PUBLIC MAN’S
PRIVATE RETREAT
Article by Martha Steger
© Jackson Smith
38
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
For his public life, Thomas Jefferson has become an icon for
his global influence through
his revolutionary writing and
statesmanship that included the
Virginia Statute for Religious
Freedom, the Declaration of Independence, and serving as governor of Virginia, the first United States minister to France, the
second vice president, and the
third president—during which
time he doubled the size of the
United States. In his time out of
the public spotlight, he’s become
no less recognized for founding
the University of Virginia and
pursuing an astonishing array
of interests, from math and the
natural sciences (including winemaking) to classical history and
Native American culture. While
in public life, he often wished for
more private time to pursue these
and other interests—his own
personal “pursuit of happiness.”
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
39
Whether today’s tourist is a
young immigrant to the United
States or an older American
planning for retirement, Jefferson’s retreat at Poplar Forest is a
personal inspiration. He and his
wife, Martha, had inherited the
4,819-acre Bedford County, Virginia, plantation from her father
in 1773; the property’s name,
which predates Jefferson’s ownership, reflects the forest of poplars
that once grew there. Twentyfive years after a 1781 stay at
the property, during which he
conceived the idea of the retreat,
Jefferson began construction—
with attention to the smallest of
details—on what was the first
octagonal house in America.
Just as he lived in the midst of
ongoing construction, so visitors have lived with the ongoing restoration of house and
grounds. The two rooms to the
left of the entrance will remain
unfinished to continue to tell the
story of how he used bricks to fill
in between timbers to make the
house more fireproof. This was
definitely not a typical American
house of its day. Only three visitors outside of Jefferson’s family
and foreign visitors ever traveled
here during his lifetime—a truly
private retreat.
In 2009, the home’s exterior renovation was completed, celebrating the bicentennial of Jefferson’s
retirement, at the age of sixtysix, from public life following his
eight years as president. Now, in
2010, another massive project—
the restoration of Jefferson’s symmetrical landscape plan, with a
carriage drive and the vegetation
so important to his vision—is
under way. Archaeological exploration has helped to develop
a more complete picture of the
garden and grounds.
THE MISSING CHAPTER
© The Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest
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AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
Jefferson’s beloved Monticello in
Albemarle County, near Charlottesville, has been called his
autobiography in architecture,
but Poplar Forest provides the
missing chapter without which
his autobiography would never
be complete. It was here that he
brought his granddaughters, Ellen and Cornelia, who were his
refuge and comfort; here that he
planned the University of Virginia; and here that he implemented what he considered his
best design for the home of a
private citizen.
Everything a visitor sees at Poplar Forest tells the story of why
the idealistic Jefferson designed
it a certain way and how he executed it, despite long waits for
materials and his own changes in
what he wanted done. Following
his patience and frustrations in
building something very idealistic on the frontier offers inspiration of its own to anyone who
has ever built or plans to build a
private home. Although 250,000
bricks were made on-site at Poplar Forest during its construction, workmen often had to wait
for other materials to be shipped
by boat into Richmond and then
hauled overland to the Bedford
construction site.
Jefferson was never in a hurry to
complete a building—Monticello was more than forty years in
the design, planning, building,
and rebuilding—but that was
to his advantage at Poplar Forest, as he could put into practice
everything he’d learned through
trial and error at Monticello and
the White House. He was the
general contractor of his day,
hiring carpenters and a bricklayer among his skilled laborers
at Poplar Forest. He had also
served as architect for Montpelier, the home of his good friend,
James Madison, up the road in
Orange, Virginia.
E
[H]ISTORY
Everything a visitor sees at
Poplar Forest has a story
behind it of why the idealistic
Jefferson did it that way and
how he executed it, despite
long waits for materials and
his own changes in what he
wanted done.
© Les Schofer
SIMPLICITY, NATURALNESS,
INNOVATION
While Jefferson’s guiding classical
architectural principles shine at
AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
41
[H]ISTORY
Poplar Forest in its neo-classical,
Renaissance Palladian, and eighteenth-century French influences, so do the British and Virginia
features he infused. As complex
as the home is in its elegant geometry—with exterior walls
forming a perfect, equal-sided
octagon and the interior space
divided into four elongated octagons surrounding a central
square—Jefferson’s mathematical thought process results in a
feeling of harmony with nature.
He liked to bring the outside inside, and the octagon provided
more opportunity for windows;
his sixteen-foot-long skylight,
twenty feet above the floor of the
central space, streaks the room
exquisitely with light.
“
In addition to IMAGINING the wonderful aromas of HANNAH’S CUISINE and
the laughter of Jefferson’s granddaughters running about, visitors see the
five remaining POPLAR TREES dating to the 1760s and learn THE PLANS for
restoring the gardens that were SO IMPORTANT to his overall vision.”
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AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
© Les Schofer
For the services portion of the
house, where the cooking, laundry, and other routine household
tasks had to be completed daily,
Jefferson chose the model used by
Andrea Palladio in his sixteenthcentury book that showed service rooms connected to villas. This model was very unlike
the eighteenth-century American
plantation with all of its dependencies (small outbuildings). In
Palladian fashion, he chose to put
the practical functions of everyday life under a wing with a flat
roof, which also served as a terrace that Jefferson and his granddaughters enjoyed for strolling.
No one in his day could build a
flat roof that was waterproof, but
the scientific Jefferson did, and
the detailed explanation of this
is one of the compelling features
of a visit.
As with the roof, Jefferson was
both practical and innovative in
his design of the wing: one chimney served the kitchen on one
side and the laundry on the other. The kitchen was a top-of-theline one for that period with a
bake oven for radiant heat in addition to the cooking hearth that
every home had. A “set kettle,”
a copper kettle built into the
© The Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest
masonry with a fire below it,
is one of two highlights in the
kitchen, the other being the
“stew stove,” which allowed the
cook to control temperatures
more precisely than with an
open hearth.
Jefferson had seen stew stoves in
Europe during his five years as
minister to France, and had added them to Monticello and the
White House. He had also apprenticed one of his chief slaves,
James Hemings, to a French chef
so that Hemings could train
Hannah, the enslaved housekeeper at Poplar Forest, in the
culinary arts. The stew stove enabled Hannah to prepare sauces
in copper pots, as Jefferson ate
little meat and was especially
fond of vegetables with sauces.
Poplar Forest is a truly sensory
package. In addition to imagining the wonderful aromas of
Hannah’s cuisine and the laughter of Jefferson’s granddaughters
running about, visitors see the
five remaining poplar trees dating to the 1760s and learn the
plans for restoring the gardens
that were so important to his
overall vision. In returning the
grounds to their appearance
during Jefferson’s day, workers
will restore the clumps of North
American vegetation, which he
so admired, as well as his three
oval flower beds and his sunken
garden, dominated by lilacs, calycanthus, roses, and hibiscus.
“Poplar Forest is Jefferson’s secret
diary,” says Travis McDonald,
Poplar Forest restoration director. “What he does here architecturally is very different from
what he did at Monticello, and
the landscape is more like what
he planned to do at the White
House at the time he began Poplar Forest during his second term
of office. But some of the things
he was planning for other places
and at other times in his life were
realized here. On a typical day in
the twenty-first century, you can
experience the historic sound of
one person reading and writing
in this house, like going to your
beach house.”
Outside, as at the beach, work
continues. [AL]
Martha Steger is a Midlothian,
Virginia-based journalist and former
city-magazine editor who has
also had poetry and short fiction
published. For twenty-five years, she
was director of public relations for
the Virginia Tourism Corporation, the
state’s tourism-marketing agency.
i
www.poplarforest.org
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[D]ESIGN
At one time or another, we’re all hit
with the undeniable need for change
within our homes. And as of late, this
need for change within my own household has become a full-blown obsession. I’ve lived in my house for over
two years, and as much as I don’t want
to admit it, the hodgepodge that I call
our living room has remained an eye
sore since day one. So with this year’s
spring-cleaning already in bloom, I’m
more than ready for a full-blown interior overhaul. While a complete renovation would be ideal, our limited budget certainly doesn’t warrant any drastic
changes—at least, not all at once. So
I’ve decided to tackle the living room
one project at a time, starting with our
antique sofa.
This piece of furniture has been a thorn
in my side since day one. A hand-medown from my parents who probably
inherited it from theirs, the couch certainly has seen better days. Every time I
passed through the room, my attention
was drawn to its fabric, whose dated
pattern clashed with the style of our décor. The couch was uninviting—to the
point where our pets were the only ones
who enjoyed using it, and their claw
marks proved their frequent visits.
REPURPOSING
THE ORDINARY
Article by Louise Pfeiffer
Photography by Jessica Otwell, www.jessicaotwell.com
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AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
So I set out to find that perfect piece of
furniture—one with style and character all its own, something that beckons
you to sit down and relax, and that can
withstand the wrath of our four-legged
companions, of course. This task was
easier said than done. After countless
trips to furniture stores and weeks of
online searches, I came up emptyhanded. The couches within our budget weren’t quite right, while the perfect
ones came with unreasonably high price
tags. Unwilling to settle on something
that I wasn’t absolutely in love with, I
toyed with the idea of creating my own
couch—that is, repurposing my existing couch with new fabric to match
the style within our living room. And
so my adventure in upholstery began,
despite my limited experience with the
craft. With a little research and a lot of
luck, I excitedly jumped into another
D.I.Y. journey, and encourage you to
do the same.
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[D]ESIGN
the upholstering journey...
1 PURCHASE REPLACEMENT FABRIC:
The first step in reupholstering your couch is to find new
fabric, which may prove to be just as difficult as my
aforementioned furniture excursion. With all of the color,
pattern, and material choices, your head will spin with the
possibilities. Scour every fabric store and craft market in
town to find the perfect material. Discount fabric stores
often offer an affordable selection of quality materials. Keep
in mind that you should buy a medium weight upholstery
fabric—this material is much more durable and often
stain-resistant, so it can withstand daily use.
2
Most pieces of furniture are designed to be reupholstered
when the original fabric shows signs of age, so it is simply a
matter of figuring out how to take the cloth off. After careful
examination, you’ll notice that the fabric is held onto the
frame with staples or upholstery tacks. Begin removing the
cloth piece by piece, using a pair of needle-nose pliers and
a flathead screwdriver to pry the stubborn staples and tacks
from the wood. Be careful not to rip the material because
you will use the original pieces as templates for the new
fabric. Also, take digital photos of the process, and label each
piece for future reference—you will be putting the couch
back together the same way you took it apart.
4 PREPARE THE FABRIC:
Prepare the replacement fabric. Pin the original upholstery
on top of the new fabric, and trace each pattern. If the new
fabric has a print, be extra cautious to keep the pattern
consistent among adjacent pieces, so that the design will flow
evenly on the finished couch. Purposely leave a three-inch
overhang on all sides when cutting each part out, so you
have leeway when reattaching the fabric.
AMERICAN LIFESTYL E
ATTACH NEW UPHOLSTERY:
6
SEW SEAT CUSHIONS:
7
FINISHING TOUCHES:
REMOVE ORIGINAL UPHOLSTERY:
3 REPAIR THE FRAME:
Examine the bones of the couch. The existing padding
should be in excellent shape in terms of its thickness and
contour, so replace the original padding when necessary. Like
any furniture that has seen its fair share of use, the frame
may have a few loosened joints, so tighten all screws and
reglue the frame to reinforce the support. Once the sofa is
structurally stable, refinish the wood sections that will not be
covered by fabric. A fresh stain or new coat of paint will help
accentuate your new upholstery.
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5
With a heavy-duty staple gun in hand, you are ready to
reassemble. Believe it or not, this is a relatively easy step!
All you have to do is attach the new fabric to their
corresponding frame pieces in the reverse order that you
took the original material off. Stretch the fabric over the
frame, tuck and pull the material taut, and staple it securely
in place. Once you get started, it becomes clear which pieces
follow, but continue to rely on your digital pictures to ensure
accuracy. Be diligent in smoothing out wrinkles and
correcting the pattern alignment as you go. If you’re feeling
extra ambitious, you can even attach decorative tacks
around the edges of the frame, which will add texture
to the finished project.
Last on the agenda are the seat cushions. This step takes a
little extra time to do, as it requires a bit of sewing finesse
to make sure the seat cushions are perfect. Begin by
sewing piping along the edge of each top and bottom pieces
of fabric. (You can even use premade piping that blends
or contrasts with your upholstery cloth, and attach it like
you would sew any other seam.) Fasten the top and bottom
fabrics with their corresponding side fabrics to create a box,
and sew three out of the four sides shut, leaving the back of
each cushion open. Shimmy the seat padding into the new
cushion covers, and secure them closed with a strip of hook
and loop tape.
Now that your sofa transformation is complete, it’s time to
integrate it with the rest of your living room. Add blankets
to make the furniture more inviting. Take color cues from
your artwork and décor, and find complimentary throw
pillows for the couch. Try contrasting colors and textures to
increase visual interest. Most importantly, take a seat on your
new couch, relax, and relish in a job well done! [AL]
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