AC repair inSavannah, GA

Have your zombie walk down? Then you might be just what's needed as the hit AMC show, "Fear the Walking Dead," makes its way to Savannah to film its latest season.

The spin-off to the popular "The Walking Dead" filmed its previous four seasons in Texas, but will bring the production to Savannah for its eighth season total.

The upcoming season 8 will have a fresh appearance as it prepares to launch as the post-apocalyptic thriller will now revolve around water.

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What are open casting calls, and how do they work?

Open casting calls are auditions that anyone can apply for, whether you are an experienced or novice actor. There is generally no experience required.

Open casting calls for the 'Fear the Walking Dead' roles will be held on Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a virtual submission option for those who are unable to attend in person.

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Per production, casting director Bill Marinella will be present at the casting call and taking photos. The advised outfit ranges from modest and informal, to dressy and sophisticated.

Here’s what anyone planning to attend should know

Before attending, the production asks that you sign up at kaast.app/bmc/7-2022-3-2023-ftwd-survivor-open-call.

They are looking for adults aged 18 and above, as well as minors aged 10 to 17. All races and genders are being sought, per the casting call.

Because there is no formal filming schedule available at this moment, having complete flexibility and availability can be beneficial; with the production adding that for the course of the series, you will have to work on many unknown dates.

The casting call notes you will need reliable transportation to the casting call, filming dates, COVID testing, and any other cast obligations.

In the meantime, get practicing on that zombie growl. Just think of the morning pre-coffee.

IF YOU GO

What: 'Fear the Walking Dead' casting call

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day

Saturday, June 25 at the Garden City Empowerment Center, 4704 Augusta Rd, Garden City, GA 31408

Sunday, June 26 at the Halo Model and Talent Agency, 1319 Bull Street, Savannah, GA 31401.

For Savannah Morning News

“Thank you for coming to my TED Talk” ?— It’s a viral phrase that has become synonymous with sharing something engaging, enlightening, or informative.

It’s been nearly three years since Savannah has hosted its own TED Talks at a TEDx speaking engagement. But now, with life returning to somewhat normal, the event is returning as a range of speakers gear up to drop some knowledge.

TEDxSavannah is coming Friday, June 24, to the Yamacraw Performing Arts Center, with this year’s 11th anniversary theme: STANDARD DEVIATION.

Organizers say it’s an independently organized, day-long celebration of ideas they believe worth spreading. Tickets are $95 for the all-day event, which includes parking, breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

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Savannah actress, singer and marketing professional Cecilia Arango will serve as the 2022 TEDxSavannah emcee. Arango is the Marketing Manager at Thomas & Hutton and a performer with the Bay Street Theatre, The Collective Face Theatre Ensemble and Savannah Repertory Theatre.

This year's speakers will include a host of notable authors, journalists, doctors, professors, business, and government leaders.

TEDxSavannah speakers will include Chris Hanks, Fire Captain of the Savannah Fire Department; Mark Bowen, Programs Director, Forsyth Farmers’ Market; Bertice Berry, Ph.D., Sociologist and Author; Jay Brandes, Ph.D., Professor, University of Georgia Department of Marine Sciences and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; Maxine Bryant, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Africana Studies and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center, Georgia Southern University; and more.

A full list of speakers can be found on the TEDx Savannah website: tedxsavannah.com.

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The event is based on the international TED Talk phenomenon, where influential thought leaders gather to share stories, spark discussion, and foster connections.

TED Talks, an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design, began as a four-day conference in California in 1984. Since that time, TED has grown to include two annual TED Conferences bringing together the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less.

Many of these talks are then made available online and free for the public. Past TED speakers have included business and thought leaders including Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, and more.

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TEDx events are an offshoot of the original TED incarnation. They are local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience, organizers note.

The official TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized and take a deeper dive into the issues and developments in the communities they serve.

In addition to the roster of thought-provoking speakers exploring the event’s “Standard Deviation” theme, TEDxSavannah will also include live poetry and prose performances by local Deep Center Youth Artists as well as family-friendly comedy by Odd Lot Improv.

After a three-year break, organizers say they are ready to bring the community back together to take a deep dive into the ideas and programs that impact the low country, with a few stories and jokes thrown in for good measure.

This year’s TEDxSavannah should prove to make up for lost time as community leaders tackle some of the biggest issues affecting Savannahians today. For more information, visit tedxsavannah.com.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: 11th Annual TEDxSavannah – STANDARD DEVIATION

WHEN: Friday, June 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: Yamacraw Center for the Performing Arts, 649 W. Jones St.

COST: $95

INFO: Buy tickets online at eventbrite.com/e/tedxsavannah-2022-tickets-309003887947.

The chef at The Grey was awarded one of the American culinary community's top awards on Monday night.

Above file video: The history of The Grey restaurant

(CNN) -- An Indian street food restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, and an African American chef at a fine dining restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, earned two of the American culinary community's top awards on Monday night.

Mashama Bailey, chef at The Grey in Savannah, is 2022's James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Chef.

"Black and brown folks, immigrants, mom-and-pop shops have been bubbling underneath the surface of this industry, working hard for a long time establishing our place in American food. I stand on the backs of many of them and today a little Black girl or a little Black boy can see themselves as a future Outstanding Chef," Bailey said in accepting the award.

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Chai Pani, an Asheville restaurant serving bright, crispy Indian street snacks, earned the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant.

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"Restaurants are so much greater than the sum of what's inside the four walls. A restaurant has the power to transform -- transform the people that work there, transform the people that come in, transform the communities we're in, transform society. Restaurants can transform the world," said Meherwan Irani, chef and founder at Chai Pani, which also has a location in Decatur, Georgia.

The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony was held Monday night at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot welcomed the awards ceremony to Chicago and said it bolstered the city's foodie bona fides. She was one of many speakers who talked about the difficulties caused by Covid-19.

"Your hard work, your dedication and resilience ... in conquering challenges of this great pandemic is a testament to the adage: 'What doesn't break you makes you stronger.'"

The 2022 awards mark the first bestowed under new policies and procedures and a new code of ethics sparked by allegations of chefs' bad behavior and a lack of diversity.

The awards in many key categories were abruptly called off in 2020 and remained on pause in 2021 amid the industry's pandemic upheaval and the foundation's work on the new framework.

The nonprofit James Beard Foundation was established more than 30 years ago, shortly after "pioneer foodie" James Beard's death, "to celebrate, support and elevate the people behind America's food culture."

Beard was the host of "I Love to Eat," the first food program on network television in 1946 and was called the "Dean of American Cookery" by The New York Times in 1954.

Here's the full list of the 2022 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards nominees. The winners in each category are listed in bold.

• Ashok Bajaj, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group (Rasika, Bindaas, Annabelle, and others), Washington, DC

• WINNER: Chris Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco, and Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix

• Kevin Gillespie, Red Beard Restaurants (Gunshow and Revival), Atlanta

• Akkapong "Earl" Ninsom, Langbaan, Hat Yai, Eem, and others, Portland, Oregon

• Chris Williams, Lucille's Hospitality Group, Houston

• Ellen Yin, High Street Hospitality Group (Fork, a.kitchen + bar, High Street Philly, and others), Philadelphia

• Reem Assil, Reem's, Oakland and San Francisco

• WINNER: Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, Georgia

• Peter Chang, Peter Chang, Virginia and Maryland

• Jason Vincent, Giant, Chicago

• Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle

• Brennan's, New Orleans

• Butcher & Bee, Charleston, South Carolina

• WINNER: Chai Pani, Asheville, North Carolina

• Parachute, Chicago

• The Walrus and the Carpenter, Seattle

• Angel Barreto, Anju, Washington, DC

• Calvin Eng, Bonnie's, New York City

• Cleophus Hethington, Benne on Eagle, Asheville, North Carolina

• Serigne Mbaye, Dakar Nola, New Orleans

• WINNER: Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria, Austin

• Crystal Wahpepah, Wahpepah's Kitchen, Oakland, California

• Angry Egret Dinette, Los Angeles

• Bacanora, Phoenix

• BARDA, Detroit

• Dhamaka, New York City

• Horn BBQ, Oakland, California

• Kasama, Chicago

• Leeward, Portland, Maine

• WINNER: Owamni, Minneapolis

• Oyster Oyster, Washington, DC

• Roots Southern Table, Farmers Branch, Texas

• Ursula, New York City

• WINNER: Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Pâtisserie, Detroit

• Margarita Manzke, République, Los Angeles

• Claudia Martinez, Miller Union, Atlanta

• Ruben Ortega, Xochi, Houston

• Caroline Schiff, Gage & Tollner, New York City

• Maya-Camille Broussard, Justice of the Pies, Chicago

• Atsuko Fujimoto, Norimoto Bakery, Portland, Maine

• WINNER: Don Guerra, Barrio Bread, Tucson, Arizona

• Caroline Schweitzer and Lauren Heemstra, Wild Crumb, Bozeman, Montana

• Zak Stern, Zak the Baker, Miami

• WINNER: Cúrate, Asheville, NC

• House of Prime Rib, San Francisco

• Hugo's, Houston

• Sylvia's Restaurant, NYC

• Ticonderoga Club, Atlanta

• WINNER: The Four Horsemen, New York City

• Frenchette, NYC

• The Little Nell, Aspen, CO

• Maydan, Washington, D.C.

• Rebel Rebel, Somerville, MA

• Alley Twenty Six, Durham, North Carolina

• Attaboy, Nashville, Tennessee

• barmini by José Andrés, Washington, DC

• WINNER: Julep, Houston

• Nobody's Darling, Chicago

Best Chef: California

• WINNER: Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu's, San Francisco

• Bryant Ng, Cassia, Santa Monica, California

• Sarintip "Jazz" Singsanong, Jitlada, Los Angeles

• James Syhabout, Commis, Oakland, California

• Pim Techamuanvivit, Nari, San Francisco

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)

• Omar Anani, Saffron De Twah, Detroit

• Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, Chicago

• Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago

• John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, Smyth, Chicago

• WINNER: Erick Williams, Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Chicago

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)

• Angel Barreto, Anju, Washington, DC

• Amy Brandwein, Centrolina, Washington, DC

• Jesse Ito, Royal Izakaya, Philadelphia

• WINNER: Cristina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa, Philadelphia

• Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon, Kalaya Thai Kitchen, Philadelphia

Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)

• WINNER: Dane Baldwin, The Diplomat, Milwaukee

• Karen Bell, Bavette La Boucherie, Milwaukee

• Jorge Guzmán, Petite León, Minneapolis

• Gregory León, Amilinda, Milwaukee

• Sean Sherman, Owamni, Minneapolis

• Yia Vang, Union Hmong Kitchen, Minneapolis

Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)

• Jose Avila, El Borrego Negro, Denver

• Cody Cheetham, Tavernetta, Denver

• WINNER: Caroline Glover, Annette, Aurora, Colorado

• Dana Rodriguez, Work & Class, Denver

• Eric Skokan, Black Cat Farm Table Bistro, Boulder, Colorado

Best Chef: New York State

• Amanda Cohen, Dirt Candy, New York City

• JJ Johnson, FIELDTRIP, New York City

• Ayesha Nurdjaja, Shuka, New York City

• WINNER: Chintan Pandya, Dhamaka, New York City

• Junghyun Park, Atomix, New York City

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

• Vien Dobui, CÔNG T? B?T, Portland, Maine

• Tiffani Faison, Orfano, Boston

• Courtney Loreg, Woodford Food & Beverage, Portland, Maine

• WINNER: Nisachon Morgan, Saap, Randolph, Vermont

• Damian Sansonetti, Chaval, Portland, Maine

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)

• Carlo Lamagna, Magna Kusina, Portland, Oregon

• WINNER: Robynne Maii, Fête, Honolulu

• Thomas Pisha-Duffly, Oma's Hideaway, Portland, Oregon

• Sheldon Simeon, Tin Roof, Kahului, Hawaii

• Mutsuko Soma, Kamonegi, Seattle

Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)

• Katie Button, Cúrate, Asheville, North Carolina

• Greg Collier, Leah & Louise, Charlotte, North Carolina

• Philip Krajeck, Rolf and Daughters, Nashville

• Cheetie Kumar, Garland, Raleigh, North Carolina

• WINNER: Ricky Moore, SALTBOX Seafood Joint, Durham, North Carolina

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)

• Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith, Saint-Germain, New Orleans

• WINNER: Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, Birmingham, Alabama

• Timothy Hontzas, Johnny's Restaurant, Homewood, Alabama

• Melissa M. Martin, Mosquito Supper Club, New Orleans

• Isaac Toups, Toups' Meatery, New Orleans

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)

• WINNER: Fernando Olea, Sazón, Santa Fe

• Martín Rios, Restaurant Martín, Santa Fe

• Salazar Brothers, La Guelaguetza, Albuquerque, New Mexico

• Giovanni Scorzo, Andreoli Italian Grocer, Scottsdale, Arizona

• Jamie Tran, The Black Sheep, Las Vegas

Best Chef: Texas

• Tiffany Derry, Roots Southern Table, Farmers Branch

• Christine Ha and Tony J. Nguyen, Xin Chào, Houston

• Quy Hoang, Blood Bros. BBQ, Bellaire

• Steven McHugh, Cured, San Antonio

• WINNER: Iliana de la Vega, El Naranjo, Austin

Good Housekeeping

The pandemic, soaring costs and questions over relevance had led to a 5% drop in enrollment at U.S. colleges over the last two years. But one Georgia school is bucking the trend thanks to a different approach.

For a class in sneaker design, or to shoot a virtual commercial in the Arctic, head to the Savannah College of Art and Design — also known as SCAD — where design meets technology.

Enrollment is up 9% from the previous year.

"We're very oriented toward invention, more so than tradition," school president Paula Wallace told CBS News. "Whereas other colleges might be more emphasizing tradition over invention."

Wallace said the curriculum is critiqued and updated multiple times a year.

The most popular majors are animation, filmmaking and fashion. Sneaker design is now a minor in a curriculum that's evolving nimbly and practically. It has an entire school dedicated to business innovation.

"Not a lot of people, when they're applying for a beauty marketing job, can say they majored in beauty and fragrance in college," Hannah Harris, a 2022 graduate, told CBS News.

Harris said she's learned how to launch a product and bring her ideas to life.

"Creativity is really about invention that's relevant," Wallace said. "We don't teach anything that you can't get a good job in."

SCAD claims students have a 99% employment rate within 10 months of graduation — "no starving artists," Wallace quipped.

"Our students want to work at Disney, Google, L'Oreal, and those businesses want to hire and they do hire from SCAD," Wallace said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Savannah College of Art and Design gave most freshmen a VR headset. The college gives students access to VR headsets from the first day they're on campus, but the headsets are not gifts.

Mark Strassmann

Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau.

For Savannah Morning News

Tybee folks talk about life on the island as “another day in paradise.”

Right now, the Coastal Bird Ambassador program is taking off so that shorebirds and seabirds can say so too. Not just for today but for bird generations of the future.

The beach at Tybee’s northernmost point, where the ocean meets the river, is a well-known birdwatching hot spot. In spring, Red Knots migrating to the tundra stop to eat surf clams for fuel. Once horseshoe crabs crawl ashore and begin spawning, the tiny eggs they lay in the sand help the birds to double their weight and fly thousands of miles.

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These Red Knots make a round-trip migration of 19,000 miles each year, from Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic, and our coast is a critical stopover spot. They sleep at high tide and feed frantically as the tide moves out. Anything that disturbs them causes them to waste energy that they need to fly north to their nesting grounds.

The bird ambassadors are local volunteers/stewards for a ten-acre stretch of beach and dunes from the rock jetties to Polk Street. It’s being designated a Wildlife Beach Area as part of the Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative.

The Tybee Post Theater will have a free program on June 26 at 4 p.m. — “Meet Our Neighbors: Shorebirds and Seabirds of Tybee’s North Beach.” Biologists Allie Hayser and Dr. Abby Sterling will talk about why Tybee is such a key place for these birds year-round.

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They will talk about the birds that could decide to nest on Tybee in the future, resident birds, wintering visitors, and long-distance migrants. I met the two women recently in front of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, where they walked with a group of prospective ambassadors out along the beach in the wildlife beach area.

The area is not roped off but will have signage describing its importance to the birds, encouraging visitors to appreciate the wildlife dependent on the island’s habitat. The ambassadors themselves are easy to spot. They wear identifying vests, and they carry incredibly well-designed flip books that talk about the beach and the birds. The ambassadors use the flip books to share information with curious beachgoers.

Hayser was excited to show the graphics on one page about Black Skimmer chicks, from downy chicks to feathered chicks to flight-capable chicks. Skimmers might be nesting in the zone as you read this.

The habitat is perfect for skimmer nesting. Perfect, that is, if nests aren’t disturbed by unusually high tides or by the wayward human.

Skimmers nest in colonies on flat open stretches of sand. I have always been fascinated by their long orange and black bills that look like they were designed by the folks who gave us candy corn.

The lower mandible of the bill is longer than the top, and they skim the water and snap the bill shut when they touch a fish.

They are usually nocturnal feeders, depending on that sense of touch, but they feed during the day when nesting and feeding chicks. They engage in group defense, calling alarms and dive-bombing threats.

In any group of adults on the beach though you’ll usually see one or two flopped down with their necks and faces stretched out like sleeping dogs.

The ambassadors’ goal is to reduce human disturbance for the roosting birds. Walk around any groups on the beach. You don’t want to disrupt nesting on the dune fronts. If you stay on the wet sand, you won’t step on a nest or an egg or a chick.

If you become a bird ambassador, you help secure the wildlife beach, not just for the Black Skimmers and Least Terns whose nesting season is now. You also secure it for wintering Piping Plovers, for migrating Whimbrels, Red Knots, and Sanderlings.

To become a bird ambassador on Tybee’s wildlife beach, contact Allie Hayser at ahayser@manomet.org.

IF YOU GO

What: Meet Our Neighbors: Shorebirds and Seabirds of Tybee’s Wildlife North Beach

When: Sunday, June 26 at 4 p.m.

Where: Tybee Post Theater, 10 Van Horne Ave.

Cost: Free

Fore more info on the Bird Ambassador Program, visit givepulse.com/group/624380-Georgia-Coastal-Bird-Ambassador-Program

For Do Savannah

Sulfur Studios celebrates this month with its second annual curation, "Past Presence: Commemorating Juneteenth," uniting the work of 14 Black artists from across the country. Selected work is both a reflection on the artists’ personal history as well as an insight into their navigation of the Black experience in America.

The studio also welcomes a new, June artist-in-residence with work featured in the show. Tiara Unique Francois from Dallas, Texas, is this month’s ON::View Residency artist at Sulfur Studios. Francois plans to do a community-based project and is hoping to work with locals in her artistic mission.

Sulfur Studios offers a variety of ways to get involved celebrating Juneteenth and opportunities to get to know Francois and collaborate with her.

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Francois grew up the eldest of six siblings. Her mother home schooled her family, which Francois thinks “opened her mind to see things in new ways.” From an early age, she learned that art and being an artist could be a career, a viable life path.

Francois graduated in May from the University of Texas at Arlington, having applied to Sulfur Studio’s ON::View artist in residence program a few months prior as part of a senior class assignment. She had little expectation of being chosen.

“I applied and really just forgot about it, I mean, it was something I really wanted to do when I first read about it, but I didn’t want to get my expectations up too high,” recalled Francois. “I was shocked when I got the acceptance, completely surprised. I think what I’m most looking forward to is the exchange and being in a new community and learning from people here.”

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Part of Francois’s time at Sulfur Studios entails creating new art, and she wants to work with the community to do that. She has a watercolor portrait booth and considers it perfect for connecting with people.

“I’ll be at the Tybee Juneteenth Celebration with an information booth about Sulfur and what I’m doing at the studio this month,” said Francois. “My goal that day is to paint or sketch a wide range of scenes and people at the beach, sort of like an art journalist, and just get to know more people.”

Francois has three watercolors in the Juneteenth show, each drawing from scenes in her childhood. In one, an older sibling picks up a two-month-old-Francois for a kiss. In another, her parents grin in a portrait, “The Curries at Olan Mills.” In the third, Francois as a toddler stands smiling in a white one-piece bathing suit in sandals and dark sunglasses.

“My work is mostly family-based at this point, and I want to continue to work in authenticity of my experience,” reflected Francois.

Sulfur Studios hopes to be a platform for the community to express Juneteenth

Emily Earl, executive director at Sulfur Studios, aims to keep the studio contributing to the growing conversation about Juneteenth. She considers Sulfur a platform where artists and community members can engage with their feelings and express insights about the liberation holiday. For their first show last year, Alexis Javier, Sulfur Studios co-founder and events coordinator, curated a very well received show from the works of Savannah-based artists. For this year’s, the studio wanted to take a different approach.

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“This year we asked a panel of jurors to be part of the selection process because we thought it important to have more eyes to curate the show,” said Earl. “And we wanted to open the conversation to a bigger pool of respondents and asked artists from around the country their response to Juneteenth.”

By the end of March, the studio’s national call yielded 30 artist submissions, and some of the Savannah artists whose work showed last year were asked to be curators. Like, Antonia B. Larkin, whose work often features the Black female form in repose and at work.

“Juneteenth is important because it’s when the last of us were freed,” emphasized Larkin. “And it’s important for Black artists to share their stories about liberation and talk and create an opportunity to start a conversation, but in a way where all in the community are privy to it. I’m glad that Sulfur did a national call because it broadens perspectives on what this means, and you learn from new perspectives.”

Though most artists selected are from places scattered across the U.S., Savannah resident, Napoleon Wilkerson, has in the show a large watercolor of three Civil War re-enactment soldiers riding into Galveston to announce the two-years’ late emancipation. When he isn’t creating watercolor portraiture, Wilkerson works at Savannah Arts Academy where he’s taught art history and painting for 23 years.

“This show represents a significant time in history,” said Wilkerson. “My painting represents freedom and the courage and bravery it required to become free Americans, and that’s something that continues to require revisiting and talking about.”

Lisa Jackson isn’t an artist. She’s the education coordinator at The African American Art Museum with a lifelong passion for African art and history. When she was asked to be part of the show’s curation, Jackson wasn’t sure she was qualified.

The studio assured her that her insight would be an important addition in putting the show together.

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“In reviewing the submissions, it was fascinating to see how artists from different cities and communities across the country interpreted the theme,” said Jackson. “There was history, hope, sorrow, great feeling, all combining past and present to interpret Juneteenth and Black freedom. This month is personally important because I am a person of African descent — my great grandparents were born just as slavery was abolished, so emancipation is very much a part of my history.”

Sulfur Studios has opportunities for you to join the discussion through the end of the month. On Sunday, Tiara Francois represents the studio during Tybee Juneteenth Celebration — get your portrait drawn and learn how you can make art with her.

On June 25, you can also be part of Francois’s drawing workshop at the Bull Street studio space. Then on July 1, Francois wraps up her residency when she unveils her community art collaboration during Starland’s monthly First Friday event.

“It’s important to continue educating people on our country’s history,” said Earl. “Event though Juneteenth is recognized as national holiday, many people don’t know its significance. Through this show and artist residency, we think it’s important to open the lines of communication about this period of American history and amplify artists’ voices to be heard.”

IF YOU GO

What: Past Presence: Commemorating Juneteenth

Where: Sulfur Studios, 2301 Bull St.

When: Throughout the month of June

Cost: Free

Info: sulfurstudios.org

The Port of Savannah, the second-busiest port on the East Coast, recorded an all-time cargo record in May as strong consumer demand and shifting trade flows continue drive trade volumes at the port.

The Georgia Ports Authority reported Wednesday that Savannah moved an all-time high 519,390 TEU in May, breaking the previous record of 504,350 TEUs set in October 2021. May volumes grew by 8.5 percent, or 40,770 TEUs, compared to the same month last year.

“Despite global supply chain challenges, the Port of Savannah continues to be an economic driver, providing reliable, world-class service for port customers across our state and nation,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch noted Garden City Terminal is handling more business during the current influx of trade than during the previous spike experienced last fall. The additional trade is driven in part by vessels diverting to Savannah from other East and West Coast ports, the GPA said.

“Strong consumer demand continues to drive higher volumes at the Port of Savannah,” Lynch said. “The infrastructure improvements and pop-up yards approved by the GPA Board have enabled our operations to maintain the flow of cargo across our terminal, despite unprecedented container volumes passing through the port.”

May’s cargo numbers follow the port’s third busiest month on record in April, handling just shy of 500,000 TEUs. Unfortunately these high volumes have increased the backup of ships waiting at the port’s anchorages. The Georgia Ports Authority website showed 26 containerships waiting at anchor as of Wednesday, up from around just 3 ships waiting as of mid-May and approaching the levels experienced during peak congestion last Fall.

May’s cargo volumes highlight challenges the Biden Administration’s faces in reducing congestion and backlogs at ports that have driven shipping freight rates higher during the pandemic, raising costs for American consumers and helping to drive inflation. The recently-passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which gives the Federal Maritime Commission greater authority to regulate foreign ocean carriers’ practices and promote exports, is unlikely to help much as cargo volumes continue to exceed port capacity.

The GPA continues work in this regard. As of April, GPA has added 900,000 TEUs of annual capacity to Garden City Terminal. Another 300,000 are expected to come online in July for a new total of more than 7 million TEUs of container handling space.

Additionally, Phase I of the Garden City Terminal West expansion has added a 25-acre container yard adjacent to the primary truck route approaching the main terminal. Phase II will add up to 1 million TEUs of annual capacity, which will begin coming online in 2023.

“By increasing container space at Garden City Terminal, GPA is accommodating the expansion in global commerce that supports job growth in Georgia,” said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten. “Industries from logistics to auto manufacturing, and agriculture to retail depend on Georgia’s ports for reliable supply chain solutions.”

The Port of Savannah completed 327,400 truck gate moves in May, counting loaded import and export containers, as well as the movement of empty chassis. Thanks in part to expanded night gate hours, the Garden City Terminal facilitated more than 15,000 truck moves between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m. last month, up from just over 10,000 in April. Another 48,000 containers (approximately 88,000 TEUs) moved by rail in May.

In addition to the container trade, GPA achieved a 28 percent increase in breakbulk cargo for the month. Breakbulk commodities including iron and steel, rubber, and forest products reached 320,722 tons in May, up 70,780 tons.

For Do Savannah

Catchphrases like “Just Do It” are designed to be clear and succinct, with zero ambiguity to their message. But just because catchy slogans inherently have one meaning, doesn’t mean that they aren’t open to reinterpretation.

Location Gallery is hosting “HYPE,” an art exhibition featuring over a dozen local artists visually reimagining popular catchphrases like, “Have a Nice Day,” or “There is No I in Team.”

“Hype” was conceived and curated by Location Gallery Director Peter Roberts who reached out to several established Savannah artists including Stacie Jean Albano, Chariton Alexakis, Lino Azevedo, Jenny Eitel, Maxx Feist, John Harkins, Rob Hessler, Deborah Sherron Miller, Melody Postma, Adam Stafford, and Michelle Stafford.

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“I felt it was important to update some of these mottos and phrases and ubiquitous sayings that have been with us for a long time and sort of do a refresh on them,” said Roberts. “See if the artists themselves can make a piece that speaks as powerfully without the text actually in the piece.”

Represented mediums include paintings, sculpture, drawings, and mixed media. Trying to convert a piece of text that has been entrenched in the public conscious for decades is no easy task, but the artists were able to capture the essence of the words in exciting new ways.

Lina Azevedo’s “The Truth is Out There,” for example, presents a UFO sighting in the style of a Renaissance painting. Melody Postma’s “Go Big or Go Home” is a splash of pop art stencils and cartoon iconography. Michelle Stafford’s vibrant “Keep Calm and Carry On” presents a spiritually enlightened dog meditating amongst happy daisies. And Stacie Jean Albano relocates the dangling “Hang in There, Baby” kitten into a Paul Cézanne-like cubist landscape.

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“There are definitely some where I didn’t see that coming, but are definitely great,” said Roberts. “It’s also a bit of a wobble affect for the viewer because they see the art and then they see the title. So ‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’ becomes something completely different.”

Each artist was given the option to produce three pieces. Roberts himself produced three works based on the phrases “Keep America Beautiful,” “Give Peace a Chance,” and “This is Your Brain on Drugs.”

“One of course is relying on my usual punster stuff and the other two are more, for lack of a better word, expansive, and not quite as silly,” said Roberts. “It was tough not to put text in the work.”

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Proceeds from HYPE will go to support The League of Woman Voters of Coastal Georgia, an apt choice considering their mission to protect and empower voters, and present politics in ways that go deeper than campaign poster sloganeering.

“I was having a little of a struggle deciding which non-profit to use and then I realized that what the League of Women Voters do is they cut through the hype, meaning they have debates between candidates and have very pertinent questions that you’re not going to hear in a campaign ad,” explained Roberts. “They’re realtime answers. That’s necessary for people to make the right call and an informed vote. I love that they’re non-partisan and that they get the information out in a way that doesn’t always happen.”

HYPE opens on Friday with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m., and will remain on display in the main gallery through mid-July. With mid-term elections looming on the horizon, HYPE provides an excellent opportunity to support the democratic process.

“It’s also a way for people to get original art at a good price point,”added Roberts. “I think that’s important, as well. We’ve all seen the ‘Keep Calm Carry On’ poster relentlessly, but to get that framed and on a wall, you could have had an original piece of art and supported a local artist.”

IF YOU GO

What: Hype! By Various Artists

When: Friday from 6-8 p.m.

Where: Location Gallery @ Austin Hill Reality, 251 Bull St.

Cost: Fr

Info: locationgallery.net