Cohen Studios Teams with Habitat/Wake
November 5, 2009 at 9:35 pm | In charity, downtown Raleigh, news, photography | Leave a CommentTags: Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Habitat/Wake, Raleigh photo studios, Raleigh photographers
Raleigh photographer volunteers to document
2009 Homes Tour, Party
November 5, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Photographer Max Cohen of Cohen Studios in downtown Raleigh, NC, has volunteered his professional services for Habitat for Humanity of Wake County’s ninth Home Tour and Party on Sunday, November 22.
Max Cohen
The annual event is a fundraiser for Habitat/Wake that takes participants on a tour of homes built by Habitat/Wake volunteers. After the homes tour, the party at Habitat’s ReStore on Raleigh Boulevard kicks off the holiday season.
Max Cohen will photograph each of the homes on the tour and capture the festivities at the ReStore, which sells recycled and usable building materials at discount to raise money for building Habitat homes.
“I’m a huge fan of Habitat’s mission of building affordable homes for people in need,” said Cohen, who opened his photography studio this year. “And Habitat is all about volunteerism, so I figured I should do my part. I’m a lot better with a camera than I am a hammer.”
The after-tour party will include seafood from 42nd Street Oyster Bar in Raleigh and live music. Tickets are $50 and are available at http://www.habitatwake.org/index.html.
For more information on Habitat/Wake, visit www.habitatwake.org.
For more information on Cohen Studios, visit www.cohenstudios.com.
About Cohen Studios:
A graduate of Enloe High School in Raleigh and the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, Max Cohen of Cohen Studios has been a professional photographer for five years, working in both digital photography and film. At H.I.P., he was exposed to a wide range of technical skills and studied under world-renown photographers as instructors and guest speakers. Describing himself as a “generalist,” he enjoys all types of subjects, from children and high school senior portraits to commercial and editorial assignments. The studio is located at 311 West Martin Street, Raleigh. For more information, visit www.cohenstudios.com. Cohen Studios is also available on Facebook and Citysearch.
Raleigh Artists To Open “Studio 600″ on Glenwood South
November 2, 2009 at 6:10 pm | In art, downtown Raleigh | Leave a CommentTags: art, art events Raleigh, art openings Raleigh, art studios Raleigh NC, artists, North Carolina artists, Raleigh artists
Jason Craighead © f8 Photo Studios
November 2, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) — Artists Jason Craighead and David Green will open Studio 600, their new working studios, to the public during Raleigh’s First Friday Art Walk, November 6, starting at 7 p.m. Studio 600 is located at 600 Glenwood South, Raleigh, NC, between the 606 Lounge and Abbey Carpets.
After working out of a spare bedroom-turned-studio in his downtown Raleigh apartment for several years, Craighead was seriously looking for separate space when two things came together: His friend, mixed-media artist David Green, also needed a studio, and the warehouse space behind Abbey Carpets at 600 Glenwood South became available.
“Studio 600 – which is simply named for the address – will make us more accessible to the public,” said Craighead. “It also gives us a place to create work without having to live in it. And it gives us a great place to collaborate on some work. I want to do other things, besides painting.”
At approximately 1000 square feet, the new studios offer plenty of storage space to accommodate the artists’ completed works. Craighead’s paintings tend to be large, so getting them out of his downtown apartment was a major plus, he said.
Craighead and Green have up-fitted the warehouse-turned-studios themselves, with a little help from friends — framing out, dry-walling and painting the interior, and installing lighting. When Studio 600 opens to the public on November 6, the interior will feature a small entrance gallery/foyer, additional display walls beyond and to the right of that area, dedicated working space for each artist, and ample storage units.
"Studio Floor Drawing," mixed media on paper, by Jason Craighead
About the entrance area, Craighead noted that he and Green do not intend to use it just to display their own work. They will invite other artists to use the space for shows and art installations.
“If you’re going to participate in the community, why just hang your own work? Participate in the community,” he said. “Let somebody else have some fun.”
He noted, however, that “shows” are only for a day and a half. Studio 600 will be open to the public each First Friday and the following Saturday. After that, all but the front area is strictly for creating art work and open otherwise only by appointment.
“This is not a gallery,” he stressed. “It’s a working studio.”
For more information on Studio 600, contact Jason Craighead at Jason@jasoncraighead.com; or call 919-946-4219.
About Jason Craighead:
Jason Craighead has been named Best Artist in Raleigh Metro Magazine’s annual MetroBravo reader’s poll for five consecutive years. His paintings have been featured in numerous gallery exhibits and belong to many public and private art collections. An active member of the North Carolina arts community, he is now working with the Raleigh Arts Commission on its plans for future public art. He also frequently donates his paintings to charitable causes, including Works of Heart, the Triangle area’s annual premiere art auction to benefit The Alliance of AIDS Services – Carolina. For more information visit www.jasoncraighead.com.
Jason Craighead Featured in “Retrospective 25″
October 18, 2009 at 5:56 pm | In Raleigh arts scene, art, downtown Raleigh, news | Leave a CommentTags: NC artists, Raleigh art exhibits, Raleigh art shows, Raleigh artists
Jason Craighead. (photo by f8 Photo Studios)
October 18, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Raleigh, NC-based artist Jason Craighead is among only 25 artists selected for the City of Raleigh’s “Retrospective 25,” a special art exhibit celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Municipal Building’s art exhibition program.
Sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, the retrospective showcases work from artists who have exhibited in the Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery in the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, or Municipal Building, in downtown Raleigh.
In October 2006 through March 2007, nine of Jason Craighead’s large works were included in a two-artist exhibit there entitled “Microcosm/Macrocosm.” The City of Raleigh subsequently purchased his largest piece in the show, “Travel Park 2,” an 80-inch wide by 80-inch tall mixed media on panel painting. It is currently on display in the Exchange Plaza building on Wilmington Street.
For “Retrospective 25,” Craighead is showing “Losing Man’s Geometry,” a 64w by 76h mixed media on canvas painting.
‘I’m honored to be included in a show that covers such a span of North Carolina’s art history,” he said.
According to the City, an exhibit spanning the past 25 years provides “a snapshot into the history of the Block Art Gallery and overall development of the visual arts scene in Raleigh.”
“Retrospective 25” spotlights the work of deceased artists, such as Claude Howell, George Birelines and Joe Cox, as well as recent work by living artists, including: Marty Baird, Tina Bromberg, Luke Miller Buchanan, Richard Garrison, Ann Harwell, Herb Jackson, Mary Shannon Johnstone, Joyce Watkins King, Philip Lopez, Gayle Stott Lowry, Kathleen Rieder, Thomas Sayre, Brian Shawcroft, Nona Short, David Simonton, Tom Spleth, Georgia Springer, Wayne Taylor, Anthony Ulinski, Doug Van de Zande, and Sally Van Gorder. Media featured includes painting, fibers, ceramics, photography and mixed-media.
“Retrospective 25” will be on display through November 16. The Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery is located 222 W. Hargett Street.
For more information on Jason Craighead, visit www.jasoncraighead.com.
About Jason Craighead:
Jason Craighead lives and works in downtown Raleigh. He has been an active participant in the Triangle arts community for many years and has donated numerous paintings to charitable art auctions, including the Works of Heart auction for the Carolina AIDS Alliance and the Visual Art Exchange’s annual fundraiser. He has also served as a juror and signature artist for Works of Heart, the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, the Greensboro Center for Visual Arts Members’ Show and Raleigh’s annual Artsplosure festival. He is currently represented by Somerhill Gallery in Durham, Broadhurst Gallery in Pinehurst, Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta, GA,, and Bucks Gallery of Fine Art in Newtown, PA. For more information and to view the artist’s work, visit www.jasoncraighead.com.
Cohen Studios Signs With Blueplate PR
September 9, 2009 at 1:46 am | In Raleigh arts scene, business, downtown Raleigh, news, photography | Leave a CommentTags: black and white, digital photography, photo studio, photography, studio portrait, wedding photography
Max Cohen, Cohen Studios, Raleigh, NC
September 8, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Cohen Studios, a photography studio recently opened in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, has contracted with Blueplate PR for all of its public relations needs.
Owned and operated by Max Cohen of Raleigh, Cohen Studios is a full-service photography studio offering a range of services, including color and black-and-white photographic portraits; engagement and wedding photography, commercial, corporate and advertising photography; website photography, headshots for aspiring actors and models, editorial photography, and fine art photography.
The photography studio is located in trendy “311 W. Martin,” a collection of artists’ studios and exhibition space that was the site of the former Glance Gallery.
Blueplate PR is also located in downtown Raleigh. Owned and operated by award-winning journalist Kim Weiss, blueplate pr specializes in message development, media relations, social media, online presence, and website text development.
“I’m delighted to be working with Max,” Weiss said. “He’s very dedicated and serious about his work, yet he’s determined to make photography a fun, relaxed experience for his clients. I admire his natural talent and the enthusiasm he brings to his work. And I’m honored that he’s trusting blueplate pr to make sure more people know about his hip new photography studio.”
For more information on Cohen Studios, visit www.cohenstudios.com.
For more information on Blueplate PR, visit www.blueplatepr.com.
About Cohen Studios
A graduate of Enloe High School in Raleigh and the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, Max Cohen of Cohen Studios has been a professional photographer for five years, working in both digital photography and film. At H.I.P., he was exposed to a wide range of technical skills and studied under world-renown photographers as instructors and guest speakers. Describing himself as a “generalist,” he enjoys all types of subjects, from children and high school senior portraits to commercial and editorial assignments. For more information, visit www.cohenstudios.com.
About Blueplate PR
Blueplate PR is a small and cost-effective boutique public relations agency located in downtown Raleigh, NC, with a free structure optimized for modest PR budgets. This makes blueplate pr the ideal solution for small firms, companies, businesses and individuals with limited marketing budgets. Intentionally small, blueplate pr provides personal attention to each client. For more information visit www.blueplatepr.com.
Tobacco Road Cellars To Introduce Four New Cabernets During Red Carpet Event in Downtown Raleigh
August 19, 2009 at 1:40 am | In downtown Raleigh, luxury living, news, wine news | Leave a CommentTags: events downtown Raleigh, Tobacco Road Cellars, wine events Raleigh NC, wine introductions
August 18, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Tobacco Road Cellars, a boutique Napa Valley winery owned by Jason Earnest and Dusty Field of Raleigh, North Carolina, will introduce four new Cabernets during a stylish red-carpet celebration and silent auction to be held Thursday, October 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the RBC Plaza pool deck high above downtown Raleigh.
The event is entitled “Bacchanalle: A Cultural Intervention.” According to Tobacco Road Cellars co-owners Jason Earnest and Dusty Field, the evening will include tastings of the new wines, catered dining that will pair the wines with haut cuisine, music, VIP suites for the winery’s Regency Club members, and lavish decorations.
The evening’s silent auction will offers such items as an original handpainted surfboard by Raleigh artist Clark Hipolito of ArtCo Surf that will be signed by the Carolina Hurricanes, other signed items by such sports luminaries as the Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and various wine packages from Tobacco Road Cellars. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Frankie Lemmon Center School & Development Center in Raleigh.
Clark Hipolito has also created an original work of art for one of the Cabernets’ labels and will be unveiling his new series “Cultural Intervention” during the event.
Earnest calls Bacchanalle as “an alchemist experience blending visual art, high design, fine wine and extraordinary personalities.”
The Cabernets Tobacco Road Cellars will introduced during the Bacchanalle event are “Vitality,” “Tradition,” “07 V” (honoring former NCSU basketball coach Jim Valvano with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Jimmy V Foundation), and the Private Reserve.
Earnest describes “Vitality” as a “deep, mid-red with violet hues with great blue fruit and black berry aromas, lifted raspberry and black cherry with dark, brooding notes of fig, coffee and spice. It’s an excellent mid-weight palate entry with dense fruit weight supported by heaps of fine-grained oak and fruit tannin. The wine has fruit-forward style that’s very well backed up by layers of deep, softly drying tannin.”
“Tradition” offers “sweet, ripe, black berry with a warm alcohol lift of spice and nutmeg,” he said. “It has rich, mouth-filling black fruit flavors with solid, blocky tannins. Very firm finish, drying but sweet at the same time. The Palate lingers and shows lots of classy French oak palate weight. Firmer acid helps lift the tannic finish, which will soften nicely over the next three to five years.”
Of the Private Reserve, Earnest notes, “This is a very solid, deep, dark red/black wine with purple hues. It offers aromatics of black fruit, chocolate, mocha and berries that draw you into the wine. It has a lovely solid entry with gobs of firm tannin. Its rich fruit weight is a class above other wines and supported by an amalgam of French oak flavors of vanilla, toasty oak and spice. It has a huge palate that just keeps going and going. Big blocky tannins appear a little proud at present, but given time it will soften into a true classic Napa Cabernet for those patient enough to wait.”
And the ’07 V is “supple, fleshy and very defined as berry fruits lead into a classy, sexy, fine-grained tannin finish that lingers on and on,” he said. “The French oak is evident but not obtrusive — quite elegant and fine boned but overall very classy and seductive. It’s delicious!”
Tickets for the Bacchnalle event are $100 and only 250 will be sold. An after-party will also be held at Solas restaurant and lounge on Glenwood South for ticketed guests only. To order tickets go to www.bacchanalle.com or call 888.770.3635.
For more information on Tobacco Road Cellars, visit www.tobaccoroadcellars.com.
About Tobacco Road Cellars
Award-winning Tobacco Road Cellars was conceived when two North Carolina-based entrepreneurs and wine enthusiasts, Jason Earnest and Dusty Field, went to Napa Valley to create a wine to give as holiday gifts. The results were so successful that they decided to create their own boutique winery committed to producing world-class wines from California grapes. The partners now have several years of bottlings and have been endorsed by Gary Vaynerchuk of winelibrary.com, who called Tobacco Road Cellars’ 2005 Private Reserve “stupid good.” The winery’s 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon received the 2008 Gold Medal in the International Wine Competition held in Riverside, California. For more information visit www.tobaccoroadcellars.com.
The origin of the word Bacchanalle
Bacchanalle – pronounced bak-uh-ney-lee-uh – was coined by the Tobacco Road Cellars owners and Raleigh interior designer Clark Hipolito. It incorporates the root word bacchanalia that, in Greco-Roman religion, refers to any of the several festivals of Bacchus, or Dionysus, the wine god. And it mixes with the word, “Biennale”, which is Italian for “every other year” and can be used to describe any event that happens every two years. It is commonly used within the art world to describe an international manifestation of contemporary art — for example, the Biennale de Paris, which was created in 1959 by André Malraux. The term is most commonly used in the context of major repeating art exhibitions. According to Jason Earnest of Tobacco Road Cellars, it also refers to Hipolito’s visual style for his design projects: “faux paint effects, banquet-hall tapestries and lighting, large furnishings, etc.”
Design Team Member Becomes Registered Architect
May 26, 2009 at 5:03 pm | In architecture, downtown Raleigh, environmentalism, green architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: American Institute of Architects, North Carolina architects, Raleigh architects, registered architect
Matt Griffith, AIA, of Frank Harmon Architect PA
May 26, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, is pleased to announce that Matthew Griffith has successfully completed his registration exams and is a registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Griffith joined Frank Harmon, FAIA’s award-winning firm in November of 2006 after moving to Raleigh from Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is a 1996 graduate of Davidson College (BS Mathematics) and a March 2002 graduate of the NCSU College of Design where he concentrated in Urban Design and was awarded the Kamphoefner Fellowship for outstanding service, the Faculty Design Award, and the AIA School Medal. In 2004, he received the Boston Society of Architects’ Unbuilt Architecture Award for his design of a community center for Camden, New Jersey.
As an intern architect/designer and project manager, Griffith has served on the design team for many of the firm’s significant projects, including the North Carolina Botanical Garden Visitor Education Center in Chapel Hill, First Presbyterian Church renovation and addition in downtown Raleigh, and the future headquarters for the North Carolina Chapter/American Institute of Architects in downtown Raleigh, a project the firm won in a professional design competition.
Griffith’s areas of expertise include programming and site analysis, schematic design, construction detailing, physical modeling, and graphic design.
Before joining Frank Harmon Architect PA, Griffith worked in the office of Marlon Blackwell Architect and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Arkansas from 2002-2004. He is currently a Visiting Professor of Architecture at the NCSU College of Design, teaching design studios.
Frank Harmon Architect PA is a nationally recognized leader in modern “green” architecture. The firm was recently included in Architect Magazine’s annual ranking of the top 50 firms in the nation in terms of design innovative and commitment to sustainability. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.
posted by blueplate pr
Frank Harmon Architect PA Makes National “Top 50″
May 20, 2009 at 2:15 am | In downtown Raleigh, environmentalism, environmentalist, green architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: architect, green architect, North Carolina architect, Raleigh architect
L-R: Erin Sterling, AIA; Matthew Griffith, AIA; Ashley Ozburn; David Cole; Frank Harmon, FAIA; Judy Harmon, ASLA
MAY 19, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Frank Harmon Architect PA, a Raleigh, NC-based architectural firm headed by Frank Harmon FAIA, is one of the top 50 firms in the nation, according to Architect Magazine’s 2009 “Architect 50” ranking.
The professional journal’s annual ranking of the top U.S. firms is intended to promote “a more well-rounded definition of success,” according to senior editor Amanda Kolson Hurley. “The criteria for inclusion comprise a trifecta of critical goals for every practice: profitability, sustainability, and design quality.”
Harmon’s small firm, headquartered in a revamped warehouse in downtown Raleigh, is no stranger to design awards and professional rankings. In 2005, Residential Architect selected Frank Harmon Architect PA as the “Top Firm of the Year.” In 2008, an award-winning “green” vacation home in the Bahamas Harmon designed was included in a Wall Street Journal list of “the most influential and inspiring houses built during the past decade.” That same project was featured in a special exhibit on green architecture in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Harmon’s firm has received more North Carolina design awards than any other firm in the state and recently won three national accolades: two Custom Homes Magazine’s 2009 Design Awards for residences in Raleigh, NC, and Charleston, SC, and an American Institute of Architect’s 2009 Housing Award for the Charleston home.
As one of Architect Magazine’s top 50, Frank Harmon Architect PA is in the company of such large and luminary firms as Rafael Vinoly Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Perkins+Will; William McDonough + Partners; and Gwathmey Siegel & Associates.
“Most ranking of firms is by dollar volume,” observed Frank Harmon, who is also an adjunct professor of architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design. “The Architect ranking, by contrast, includes design and sustainability, two things we love best.”
Harmon’s firm ranks 26th. The only other North Carolina firm to make the list is Little Diversified Architectural Consultants in Charlotte at 43rd.
Frank Harmon is recognized nationally as a leader in innovative, modern, and regionally inspired “green” architecture, and every project that emanates from his firm embraces the principles of sustainability. The Raleigh architect’s work has been featured in numerous magazines, journals, and books on the subject and he is a regular speaker at design conferences and conventions across the country.
Architect Magazine is one of HanleyWood LLC’s publications that focus exclusively on North America’s residential and commercial construction industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the online version of the journal is also available at www.architectmagazine.com.
For more information on Frank Harmon Architect PA, visit www.frankharmon.com.
posted by blueplate pr
Raleigh Artist Jason Craighead Launches New Website
April 30, 2009 at 10:42 pm | In North Carolina arts, Raleigh arts scene, art, downtown Raleigh, news | Leave a CommentTags: abstract artists, artist website, Jason Craighead website, North Carolina artists, Raleigh artists
Jason Craighead in his studio.
April 30, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) — After years of having his work available for viewing online solely through gallery websites, artist Jason Craighead of Raleigh, N.C., has just launched his own website: www.jasoncraighead.com.
Designed by 8 Dot Graphics, the new site features a continuous slide show of the artist’s recent works on the landing page, along with notices of current and upcoming exhibitions. The muted background suggests the “passionate and emotionally charged evolving exploration of line and space” that Craighead says defines his current work.
From the landing page, visitors can click on “works on paper” and “works on canvas and panel” to see more available paintings. “Press and reviews” takes visitors to a selection of media critiques of Craighead’s past exhibits and to a chronologically list of news items generated by the artist’s publicist, Kim Weiss of blueplate pr, including his work for charities and community arts organizations.
The new website’s “contact” page features the names, addresses and websites of the galleries that represent the artist — including Somerhill Gallery in Durham, Broadhurst Gallery in Pinehurst, Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bucks Gallery of Fine Art in Newtown, Pennsylvania – and contact information for Craighead’s publicist.
The site also features an “about the artist” page that offers more detailed background into the evolution of a painter who has become a recognized leader in the North Carolina art scene. The page includes listings of group, two-person and solo exhibitions, publications where Craighead’s work has been featured, select public and private collections, and his professional experience serving as a juror for art exhibitions and as a member of the Public Art Committee for the City of Raleigh Arts Commission until 2011.
The new website will also allow the artist to post new works as they are finished.
Jason Craighead’s next major exhibition of his work will be a solo show at Somerhill Gallery in August. More details will be available this summer at www.somerhill.com.
For more information on the artist and to see his most recent work, go to www.jasoncraighead.com.
posted by blueplate pr
Nigel West To Present Keynote Address at 6th Raleigh Spy Conference
March 4, 2009 at 1:14 am | In downtown Raleigh | Leave a Comment
March 3, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) — Nigel West, noted espionage author, military historian, and former member of British Parliament, will discuss his upcoming book “The Historical Dictionary of Sexspionage” as the keynote speaker for the 6th Raleigh Spy Conference www.raleighspyconference.com) at the North Carolina Museum of History in downtown Raleigh March 25-27.
The theme of this year’s event is “Sexspionage: Famous Women Spies and the Ancient Art of Seduction.”
Nigel West, a leading expert on modern espionage, intelligence, secret service and security, has published over 25 books on the subject of intelligence. He is also the European editor of the World Intelligence Review, published in Washington, DC, and the editorial director of St. Ermin’s Press in London.
In 1989, the Observer of London voted West “The Experts’ Expert.” The Sunday Times of London wrote, “His information is often so precise that many people believe he is the unofficial historian of the secret services. West’s sources are undoubtedly excellent. His books are peppered with deliberate clues to potential front-page stories.”
“Nigel is an old friend of the Raleigh Spy Conference,” said conference founder and host Bernie Reeves, editor and publisher of Raleigh Metro Magazine. “He is a popular and engaging speaker sure to offer telling insights and entertaining stories on this intriguing subject.”
West will present his keynote address on Friday, March 27 at ll:30 a.m.
Other speakers for this year’s conference include Ron Olive, the special agent who served on the team that captured Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard; IC Smith, former FBI special agent who worked to capture Chinese female spy Katrina Leung; British espionage writer and researcher Terry Crowdy, Cold War journalist Jerrold Schecter and his wife Leona; and former CIA officer Brian J. Kelley.
Sponsors for the 6th Raleigh Spy Conference include Rosemary and Smedes York and Florence and Charles Winston. This year the conference is presented in association with NC State University’s Department of Political Science, Andrew Taylor, Chairman.
For more information, including registration, ticket prices, speakers biographies, sessions schedule and local accommodations, go to www.raleighspyconference.com.
Purple Armchair In Downtown Raleigh Presents Vintage Clothing Collection
July 16, 2008 at 6:55 pm | In downtown Raleigh | Leave a Comment
Vintage by Cecelia Murphy at Purple Armchair in downtown Raleigh
July 16, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) – Some people love the flattering styles, high-quality fabrics and meticulous detailing. Others appreciate the history and the impact the designers made on the fashion industry. Still others see it as another way to live “green” by recycling yesterday’s clothes rather than buying new.
Whatever the reason, vintage clothing from the 1930s through the ‘70s has become widely popular. And collector/vendor Cecelia Murphy of Raleigh intends to offer Triangle area fans a gold mine of pristine vintage apparel at Purple Armchair, an emerging marketplace in the heart of downtown Raleigh on West Street.
Her current inventory at Purple Armchair includes women’s dresses, pants, skirts and blouses, and a collection of men’s shirts that have been pressed and packaged as if they were brand-new. Prices are moderate, ranging from $10 to $50. Sizes run from extra small to extra large.
“We’re delighted to have Cecelia’s vintage clothes among our inventory,” said Patrick Lawton who owns and operates Purple Armchair, an open market and membership association of artists, craftspeople and other vendors of unique merchandise. “With our careful attention to merchandising and interaction with customers, her items are selling very well.”
According to Murphy, seven of her dresses sold in the first seven days of her membership.
“I started with Purple Armchair because it gives people who have some entrepreneurial energy a chance to open up for business on a small scale, without assuming the risks of the entire retail space, marketing, staffing, etc.,” she said.
“I approached Patrick with some bravado, not hinting that I’d never sold vintage before. He took a leap of faith on me, and I think we are both glad he did. Since I started, the staff has been so supportive. They even providing me with a new spiral clothing rack — which are hard to find and not cheap!. They are encouraging and flexible, and their enthusiasm about the store is contagious and inspires confidence.”
Purple Armchair also carries handmade clothing and jewelry, Mid-century and Danish modern furniture, antiques, pottery, tableware, and fine art, among other items.
“There’s a great synergy in the store among all the different items for sale,” Murphy said, “which are professionally arranged for merchandising by an interior designer. Patrick likes to refer to ‘props,’ which is an apt term, because with all that space, you can really get almost theatrical in your presentation.”
Purple Armchair is a member of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, DowntownRaleigh.com, and First Friday Art Walk. Business hours are Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. (closed Monday and Tuesday). For more information, including membership opportunities, visit http://www.purplearmchair.com.
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