A new sidewalk mural in Raleigh lets children in on the creative process.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Wake County kiddos return to in-person learning this week after a year of restlessness and screen fatigue from virtual schooling. Helping to add more interactive art opportunities is local artist and graphic designer Anna Totten, who recently unveiled a new interactive sidewalk mural right outside of Worthdale Community Center.
Part of Raleigh Art’s Make Your Mark series, Totten’s mural, which incorporates weather-proof paint, leaves open spaces for children to color in themselves (picture a life-size coloring book) using chalk from small supply houses positioned at the installation site.
“I was thinking of how to have a creative way for people to interact with art in the community—something other than just visually viewing,” Totten says. “I came up with the interactive mural idea, thinking that was approachable and something kids could do.”
Totten collaborated with the Worthdale neighborhood to create content for the first mural in the series, which features kid-friendly drawings such as flowers, animals and modes of transportation. She says that each mural will have slightly different content depending on the community with which she’s working.
When it rains, Totten’s part of the mural will remain, while the children’s chalk art will wash away, once again creating a blank canvas for returning and new children passersby alike. “It’s a regenerating piece,” explains Totten. “Working with Raleigh Arts has been a fun opportunity to do some more environmental design.”
A graduate of NC State, Totten has completed two other murals on bus shelters in Raleigh as part of Raleigh Art’s #TogetherRaleigh project that launched in November 2020. She then brought the idea for the Make Your Mark series to the org after answering a call for its Neighborhood Art Funds.
“It has been great to work with Anna on this project,” says Belva Parker, arts program director for the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. “Her ideas for engaging children with sidewalk art have really changed the way we look at some temporary installations. Her patience has been amazing as we worked on this project during times which challenged how we thought about pretty much everything!”
For this mural series, you get to be the artist too.
VAE’s 2021 Mutual Aid Art Auction gives back to local artists at a time when they need it most.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Calling all creatives! This year’s VAE gala is all about local artists who, like many, have been hit hard by the pandemic. Instead of throwing its annual party, VAE is holding the first-ever Mutual Aid Art Auction, which will provide all participating artists with 100% of the commission for the sale of their work. Can we get a hell yeah?!
“VAE believes the core of our work is to put our people first, and our people are the artists that make our communities worth living in,” says VAE director Brandon Cordrey. “We decided to forego the big party out of safety and to forego ticket sales and commissions on artwork sales in order to direct all of the attention to our artists and to put as much money in their pockets as possible.”
Any artist who has previously exhibited with VAE, been a member or donated artwork to VAE’s annual gala since January 2017 is eligible to submit up to two original works in this year’s auction. The deadline for registration and artwork delivery is March 1. Better get those creative juices flowing!
“What Grows” by Hannah Surace
Many local artists have already begun submitting their works to VAE. Starting bids are as low as $25, making the auction accessible to almost everyone.
On March 3, the virtual auction will open to sponsors; on March 6, the public will be able to bid until March 24 or 25. And don’t miss VAE’s Virtual Auction Party on March 23, where the nonprofit organization will celebrate all the artists who participated—and name the winner of VAE’s 2021 Margot Richter Legacy Award. The anticipation!
Cordrey maintains that VAE would not be in a position to provide this level of financial support for artists without the backing of such sponsors as presenting sponsor PNC, and grantors, including the City of Raleigh’s office of Raleigh Arts.
And if you’re looking to spruce up your home (ya know where you spend so much time these days), VAE’s auction is the perfect opp to snag an original piece while supporting local. A win-win! vaeraleigh.org/auction-art
Burial’s Transfer Co. taproom and bottle shop expansion provides even more reason to drink the award-winning beer.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Almost exactly two years since Burial Beer Co. expanded its Raleigh taproom in Transfer Co. Food Hall (dubbed The Exhibit), the Asheville-founded brewery is in the process of expanding yet again. Obviously, Raleighites are big fans.
After Longleaf Swine BBQ backed out of the corner spot at Transfer Co. (right next to The Exhibit) last year because of plans to open elsewhere, Burial snatched it up. The extra space allows for Burial to expand the taproom with additional seating (including two-tops!) and build out a bottle shop, giving Burial enthusiasts even more ways to enjoy the brewery’s unique selection of beers, ciders, sours and wines—in person or at home—plus brews from some Raleigh-based breweries as well.
Burial is also doubling the number of taps available at The Exhibit—bringing the total number of draft options to 24. The more taps, the more chances for Burial to show off new releases—which come out very often. The brewery also recently launched natural winery Visuals Wine, which specializes in fermented wines, ciders and aperitifs. So, basically, there will always be something to look forward to.
Art is going to be a big part of The Exhibit’s expansion too. The Burial team is working with a local muralist to create large pieces out of the brewery’s colorful (and oftentimes super-trippy) can and bottle designs, which will only add to the taproom’s edgy vibe. Outside seating will be available around the entire corner of Transfer Co. for when it’s warm enough to sip brews outside in the sun again. Spring couldn’t come soon enough.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Did you know that if someone dines and dashes at a restaurant (yep, people really do that in real life), the server likely incurs the cost? As if servers don’t have enough to worry about already.
We recently saw a post on Facebook from a local server who, when she realized one of her tables left a fake check, was forced to pick up the bill. It got us thinking, should that kind of responsibility really be left to the server?
First of all, dining and dashing is illegal. If you ordered food from a restaurant and didn’t pay for it, you’ve essentially stolen from the restaurant, and the restaurant has the right to press charges against you. Also, it’s totally not cool.
Naturally, we reached out to our resident Restaurant Guru and co-host/producer of the North Carolina Food & Beverage Podcast, Max Trujillo, for his thoughts on the topic. Trujillo personally feels that no establishment should ask its service team to cover any kind of dine-and-dash. “Anything else would be bad business,” he says.
As a former server myself, I’d have to agree. Ultimately, dining and dashing really hurts the person who is likely making the least amount of money—and having a server take on that kind of burden doesn’t seem very fair. Moreover, why does the burden fall on the server (who likely has no idea they’re being scammed)? I couldn’t imagine taking on a large table’s $200-plus tab when I was serving in college—I would’ve had to work twice as many hours in the next week alone just to make up for what someone else stole!
Surely, in instances such as these, the restaurant can comp the bill themselves—and hopefully find a way of figuring out whoever it was that scammed them. Trujillo says it’s more common for a restaurant to ask a server to pay the cost of a food or drink item that was caused by server error—a far cheaper bill—usually due to that server repeatedly making clerical errors in ringing the wrong items into the kitchen. (Happens to the best of us.)
Understood, but Trujillo also doesn’t think a restaurant has the power to enforce such a rule. “Just asking a teammate to pay creates an uncomfortable work environment,” he says.
According to USA Today human resources expert Johnny C. Taylor Jr., under federal wage-and-hour law, a restaurant is technically allowed to require an employee to foot the bill from a dine-and-dash “if it does not cause the employee’s wages to dip below the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour for nonexempt employees.” However, in some states (such as New York and California), employers are prohibited from deducting an employee’s paycheck for business losses—as it should be…
At the end of the day, servers depend on tips from customers to make (or supplement) their living. Anyone with service industry experience knows how demanding the job is—physically, mentally and emotionally. On an average busy shift, servers are required to employ mad multitasking skills (think patient satisfaction, educating patrons on various menu items and specials, innumerable orders, delivering food and drinks in a timely matter, general back-of-house upkeep, managing co-staff stress and patron personalities—all while running around (literally: the going average per shift is reported at 5 miles)… not to mention relying on making money from tips (or lack thereof).
All in all, there’s more to the restaurant business than meets the eye. You never know what a server is going through—personally or at work—so it’s best to always treat them with respect and kindness (you don’t want to be the jerk that ruins their day). Be nice, smile and always pay your bill—and leave a good tip!
WEB EXCLUSIVE On your marks, get set, GO run for doughnuts! That’s right, NC State University’s annual Krispy Kreme Challenge is back this year—virtually—beginning Feb. 6 through Feb. 13. While the Krispy Kreme Challenge hasn’t made its debut in the Guinness World Records Book yet, it’s still an extremely commendable feat. And while we personally think running 5 miles and eating 12 doughnuts would earn anyone a trophy, it turns out Raleigh has an even more impressive résumé of world records. We take a look at some of them below.
Most Burpees in 12 Hours
In July 2020, Nick Christopoulos, a 30-year-old Raleigh firefighter, did 5,297 burpees in an un-air-conditioned gym.
Most Varieties of Beer on Tap
Raleigh Beer Garden still holds the record for most varieties of beer on tap, which it earned in 2015 with a total of 369 draft beers. The popular bar and restaurant now has over 400 different taps.
World’s Largest Flip-Flop 1K
The nOg Run Club, a local 501(c)3 charity organization dedicated to raising money for various local charities through running and walking events, reclaimed this record in July 2019, raising over $16,000 for the community.
Most People Playing One Popular Board Game at the Same Time in a Single Venue
More than 300 NC State students came together to break this record by playing Monopoly in 2015.
Most People Wearing a Sweatband
In 2018, 4,990 fans broke this record during a Stranger Things-themed game night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park between the Durham Bulls and the Charlotte Knights.
