(ambient music) - [Jason] Next on Curate.

- [Caroline] Hey pay attention because what's on the other side of this is going to be crazier and more interesting than you could ever imagine.

- [Emily] It's ended up being a pretty good metaphor, thinking of an idea of a place of comfort and security.

- [Jarrell] At the end of the day, a small local business is someone's dream, so we're buying into someone's dream.

- [Heather] This is Curate - Hey everybody, I'm Jason Kypros - And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

Thanks for joining us on Curate.

This season, we've been working our way around Hampton Roads' arts and cultural spaces.

This week, we come to you from a special place, The Landmark Center at ForKids in the South Norfolk bureau of Chesapeake.

- And art is a big part of their mission.

And we'll have more on that coming up, but we start with a fantastically unique musician with a talent for multiple instruments.

Williamsburg native, Caroline Scruggs is influenced by a fast world of off the beaten path ideas that contribute to who she is as a person and as a musician.

- [Heather] So you see her out performing, catch one of her YouTube videos, or discover her teaching an online music class, you are sure to be impressed.

But maybe most impressive is her talent for playing a particularly fascinating instrument.

For all that and more, Caroline Scruggs is our 757 featured artist.

- I have the video of this actually of me playing a theremin for the first time.

(theremin hums) I was terrible, but it was like one of those light bulb moments in life.

This is it.

This is my instrument.

And here it is, and it's the weirdest instrument in the land.

(theremin hums) I started doing virtual music lessons.

- This is my second time doing ukulele camp.

I'm super excited.

♪ Never ending parades ♪ - You're just greasing the old machine, the gears.

♪ Dirty dishes ♪ The biggest one for everyone is fear, like fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough when we're about to put ourselves out there, do something really vulnerable, which is what art is because you're literally making something out of nothing, and that's very scary.

Instead of using that fear as a sign to like run as far as you can in the other direction, if you can instead use it as a sign, "Hey, pay attention because what's on the other side of this is going to be like crazier and more interesting than you could ever imagine."

(jazzy music) (Caroline scatting) Trying to make my own jazz band, I had no idea what I was doing.

Matt, my fiance, I started singing with his band and he has taught me a lot.

- Got to love.

- And he's amazing, you won't meet a better band leader.

It's all New Orleans inspired, so Louis Prima and Louis Armstrong, of course, that's like a very high energy, super fun like swingin' band, just fantastic musicians.

One of the many projects in my head that I have planned is to do a jazz album with the theremin being the main instrument.

(jazzy music) It is the first electronic instrument that was ever invented.

It was invented in 1920, so 101 years ago.

This is actually the last theremin that Bob Moog had a hand in designing before he passed away.

This is called the Etherwave Pro.

So this is how it works.

You have two antenna on either side.

This is the pitch antenna.

This is the volume antenna.

How you are maneuvering your hands is basically like your fret board as it were, your line of pitch is from your collarbone, just about, to the pitch antenna.

And then with the volume antenna, you're moving this hand up and down to create sound.

So it's a very like pat your stomach rub your head kind of deal.

(theremin humming) It was such a frustrating process learning the theremin.

Like I can't stress that enough, that it is so difficult to play for many reasons.

One of the only instruments in the world played without touch.

And I had heard of this in music school, but it just like went over my head, didn't care, until I had one in front of me.

But this is my most requested song.

(theremin hums) I like to say that I was put into an arranged marriage with music because I've had it all my life and we've gone through all of these phases together.

When I was five my mom got me this teeny tiny little violin and said, "Caroline, you're gonna play violin."

That was the beginning of my musical career.

My mom wouldn't let me quit, (laughs) so I just had to kind of go with it.

My youngest memories of running through colonial Williamsburg are with my mom.

My family's been in this area for a very long time, and my great grandfather built this building right here.

His name was Webster Hitchens.

This is the Hitchens building.

And my parents, both being entrepreneurs, it runs in the family, they opened this hot dog stand, hot dog hamburger joint, called Retro's, back when I was in middle school.

And so this was my real job, I guess as it were, other than being a colonial Williamsburg performer.

(Caroline singing operatically) The most recent gig that I had at colonial Williamsburg was I was the vocalist for their candlelight concerts at the governor's palace.

So it's like in the ballroom and I'm completely dressed to the nines in like the gown and the corset and hoops and I'm singing this Baroque music like Handel and Scarlatti.

(Caroline singing operatically) Just playing this gorgeous music with a group of musicians playing really authentic Baroque instruments.

It was one of the coolest musical experiences of my life.

(Caroline singing operatically) I think the reason why I connected with it that first time, it felt like a second voice, which I've, like I said, I've always just identified as a singer first and foremost, and so that's really what clicked.

There are very few like, people play this like technically, like as an instrument.

I think I'm up there.

I think I'm on par.

I can hang.

(laughs) That's not my main concern either.

Obviously, like my concern is how can I use it to enhance my music and to experiment and to keep me inspired with sound.

There are not a lot of people out there writing songs with the theremin.

(laughs) So I think automatically that just established a part of my style because this is such a rare thing.

It's just endlessly experimental.

Like you can do so much with it and it's so versatile in ways that people don't realize because they just see it kind of as a novelty, like woo-oo, weird kind of instrument, which it is, but it can be so much more than that.

I've definitely dreamed about making a theremin opera or something like that.

So I know that I'll spend my whole life just pushing those limits and seeing all that it can do, all the possibilities.

(theremin humming) Yeah, it's just so magical and weird and spacey.

(theremin humming) - [Jason] You can see Caroline's story again on our website.

It's whro.org/curate.

Now that's the place to go to find any 757 featured artist from our nearly six years of Curate, as well as every broadcast episode and other great Curate content.

(gentle music) - I'm Emily Herr, and I created this mural.

(gentle music) As a mural painter, my artwork is visible to a lot people all the time, but it's not something that I can move around or put into a show very often.

So having the museum here organize this, I think is amazing and important as well as participate in something that could be reaching a different audience, and just in a different context than my normal work.

I submitted a proposal asking to do a wall that was specifically collaborating with a third party organization.

I got in touch with ForKids, which is this incredible homeless services organization, and their whole angle is ending the cycle of homelessness.

My goal with the wall was to connect more people with their mission and with the ability to visualize the possibility that they believe in, which is the end of that cycle and to use art to that, get people participating in that process.

So in the same way here, I wanted to engage people in a more individual and active way.

And so my guidance here for people that came to volunteer was you can paint whatever you want.

Like, I simply want this wall to be covered in contributions from all kinds of different people.

The blank wall is an intimidating surface, and having that seed of what am I talking about, like, what am I starting with, is vital to the creative process.

That's where ForKids came in.

So with that focusing, then we could sort of turn around and engage with the surface and start to create artwork.

We've got all these community events layering up and creating this amazing texture of what it feels like to be at home for a lot of people.

I wanted to kind of shape that and frame that in a way that presents one piece of artwork that looks like a true composition, but also frames all of the work that everybody else has done as the centerpiece of the work.

The way that I approached that is creating these negative space silhouettes around everything everybody else has done.

And something that came up a lot was people painting houseplants.

Thinking of home, thinking of an idea of a place of comfort and security, a lot of people think about the aloe plant that they've managed to grow for a few years and not kill yet, or the jade plant that they've like nurtured and really made flourish and visit all the time and make sure somebody takes care of when they're away.

I thought that idea was an excellent one to sort of bring to the larger canvas.

So all of the images that I've painted over top on the second layer of the mural are sort of portraits of real house plants in homes, all growing out of the surface of what everybody else has contributed to the mural.

It's ended up being a pretty good metaphor for like once you've established a place of comfort and security for yourself, you're able to support and nourish something else.

But also in the idea of sustainability and helping everybody flourish means that they can then turn around and contribute back into the same community that we all share.

And that little microcosm of that, of somebody having a stable place means that they can grow a plant, feels like a good metaphor to kind of remind everybody how it works.

(light-hearted music) - And here is Emily's mural now.

It's panels spread across the rooftop garden of The Landmark Center at ForKids.

Joining me to talk more about this project is ForKids CEO, Thaler McCormick.

Thaler, thank you for having us here today.

- Welcome to The Landmark Center.

- What does ForKids do in our community?

- We're a nonprofit organization who's mission is breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children.

And that means families come to us when they're experiencing homelessness and housing instability, but we work with them long-term, both the children and the parents really, to create a path for self-sufficiency so they can be on their own and independent longterm.

- And how did you connect with Emily for these murals?

- Well, I got an email one day from our friends over at the Hermitage Museum and they said they had a cool project they were working on that related to social justice and an artist that particularly wanted to be able to do art that centered around homelessness and children.

So we met Emily and had this great experience creating the panels, but our bigger request from them is when we're all done can we have them here at The Landmark Center, and they did.

So we're just delighted.

- And walking through this building, it's impossible not to be inspired by the art and design everywhere in this building.

- Well, art's always been really important to us at ForKids.

We started with an art therapy program for our children over 25 years ago.

And since then, it's really evolved and has become such a big part of our culture.

For us, the art of our children demonstrates their creativity, their tremendous potential, all of the wonder of our children.

And for the kids, it helps them build confidence, work in an environment that they wouldn't otherwise work in, and it's just wonderful to see how they thrive and grow when they do their art.

- Thanks again for having us here today, the work you're doing is so important for our community and we are thrilled to help get the word out.

- We're so glad you could be here.

We love WHRO and the Curate series, and it's always a wonderful partnership with you guys.

- Thank you.

- For several years now, we at WHRO have been working with film students at Old Dominion to help nurture their skills and give them real life experience.

These budding documentarians produced short films that we show on Curate.

This is one of their productions, highlighting Jarrell Williams, who you may know from social media as Nomarama, Jarrell celebrates Norfolk and Hampton Roads' culture and cuisine with his video series City with Bite.

(funky music) - What's going on you guys, this is you boy, Jarrell from Nomarama.

♪ Hey ♪ (funky music) Creator and owner of the company brand Nomarama, N-O-M-A-R-A-M-A, it's a mouthful.

It's supposed to be like nom nom nom nom.

(laughs) I'm a creator, artist, designer, proud father of two.

Welcome to my home.

(funky music) Nomarama is more explained as a brand, just showcasing a vibe of local love.

Normally when I'm capturing content, I like to just shadow the professionals.

What I do with is capture what they got going on to then showcase that on social medias.

I want all of it Janessa, all of it.

The purpose of Nomarama is to give people a platform to really showcase the hardworking individuals that we have here.

Local businesses are all about community, people who live within that community open their businesses where they live.

And I try to encourage people to patronize and support those businesses more so than the big box chains because at the end of the day, a small local business is someone's dream, so we're buying into someone's dream.

So whatever they're making, promoting, curating in this space, it's my job to come in and, in essence, capture all of that to then deliver it as photos, videos, reels that they can then use to post on their social media accounts.

I moved here in 2006.

A lot of my friends were complaining about the area being boring, or there was nothing to do as far as entertainment, food, or whatever.

People were looking at LA and New York, and they were always dogging and talking trash about the 757.

But like I said, moving here, I found a different vibe that I didn't have where I grew up.

And I recognize there are seven different cities here, right?

If you can't find something in seven different cities to do, it's not so much the area that is the problem, it's probably you.

Right now I've got two shows.

One of them is with the city of Norfolk called City with Bite.

The concept is just showcasing the city of Norfolk as a food destination that it really is.

So with City with Bite I walk around the area and just showcase those restaurants for who they are and the things they're doing.

I've always had aspirations to have my own show.

I was a big Food Network, Travel Channel kind of guy where I would always watch stuff like Samantha Brown traveling the world, and I thought, "Wow, like you can do that for work?"

I gotta be able to do that one day.

And I love showcasing and being able to tell people's stories and it just snowballed there.

I did events, I was doing kitchen takeovers, and then producing my own show on like YouTube, for example.

So we're working directly with the city or indirectly with the city, they finally recognized what I was doing and they approached me and said, "Hey, we have an idea that we want to see if you're on board with."

Thus, City with Bite was born.

All right, what workin' on Lennon?

What are you building?

- My pants for my Skid costume.

- So we are working on a costume that he created himself.

I didn't think I was gonna be a homeschool dad, like ever.

Looking back on it, thee idea was like, "Man, that's a lot of work," but then COVID hit.

My son, I love my kids, love my kids, but I could never understand.

He was always getting kicked out of daycare, and I had never heard of kids getting kicked out of daycare.

I was like, what?

This is Lennon.

(laughs) My nine year old.

He has attention deficit disorder, ADHD, which I think we all do to a certain degree, especially with technology the way it is now, him getting kicked out was like another reminder of the kind of kid I was in school.

ISS, detention all the time.

Do you like being homeschooled?

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

Because get to be more comfortable.

I have all the respect for school staff who really want to be there and teach kids, but I just don't like the one size shoe fits all institutionalized way of teaching.

My son is my only pupil.

I can a hundred percent focus on the things that he loves to do and things he has hard times working on.

He loves the piano.

He loves to draw.

He loves being outside like I love being outside.

Being in a typical, traditional school setting, you don't get those kinds of things.

My dad had a small business and he took me with him to work all the time.

To jump to now where I'm at, and I take my son to work.

Daddy has a photo shoot, come on buddy, let's go.

Get your journal, get your flashcards, we'll work on stuff on the way.

I'm gonna be over here, you can see me still, I'm right next to you, but get your worksheets done.

I'll check them in our breaks.

Again, with homeschooling, everything is education.

Going into work with daddy is school.

My hope and my goal is that it'll broaden his horizons or his ideas of what he can do for himself.

We tend to glaze over our own personal endeavors, our personal aspirations because we lack the self-confidence to do it for self.

But for me, I got beat down so many times and laid off so many times I was like, enough is enough, man.

I didn't want to repeat a process and him to look at me and think that that's okay.

I took my own initiative and did for self.

And again, it was very scary.

I had no money for the first few months.

It's important to recognize, like we are gonna struggle.

We gonna bootstrap.

We're smart about it, but like I believe in this.

You have to believe in it.

My favorite food, man, that's a loaded question.

(laughs) Any kind of food that someone is willing to make me.

If someone's gonna go out about their busy day to stop what they're doing to make me an item from their culture, from where they're from, and want to share that with me is like, yo, I don't care what it is, I'm gonna eat it.

(funky music) They want you to be part of their life, part of their culture, their society, like this is what we do, here's a level of it for you to taste it.

It's on point.

If it looks delicious and smells delicious, and you're putting the effort and the time to make it for me, bring it on.

If you hear the name Nomarama, just know that I'm all about local love.

It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter where you're from.

If you're about positivity, peace and love, I'm all for it.

When you're creating for yourself, creating for others, the biggest thing is just to continue to be creating no matter what it is.

- Performance artist Cooper Bayt lights up the Nevada desert with his very unique style of movement that combines stance with a burning energy that makes for a combustible performance.

(primordial music) - I would describe flow arts as a visual art, much like dance, but you're combining modern dance with prop manipulation.

So it's adding that extra element where it's kind of an extension of your body, and you're able to tell a story and create shapes.

(hip hop music) My name's Cooper Bayt and I'm from Reno, Nevada.

I am my flow artist and professional fire spinner.

I was gifted a pair of juggling sticks when I was really young and I spent countless hours at the park training this thing that I had no idea would really kind of take over my life later on.

Controlled Burn, which is a local fire spinning group, had a workshop when I was only 13 years old, and so I was able to fire spin for the first time when I was 13.

And my grandma, she was a professional photographer, she actually captured that first time.

She instilled a lot of that fine arts background in me, and I had to be dynamic.

When you dip the prop into the gas, that's like a moment of mindfulness, like you're counting, you're measuring the amount of fuel that you soak and you hold it there and you let the excess drip out.

And in that moment, you know, you're collecting yourself, you're getting ready.

And when you're ignited, that poof, that initial rush is like, okay, here we go.

Everything just starts to fade away.

You just get that internal rush of the fire around your body, the sound of it, wooshing past your head, it's an amazing feeling.

I love to interpret like hip hop dance with creating shapes that are extensions of my body with the props.

So it's kind of that mix of dance and prop manipulation, very much inspired by hip hop and modern dance.

A lot of it is improvisational when it's just a solo flow performance.

I do also choreograph and write shows with multiple fire artists.

So it becomes a choreographed dance that is very structured, that we all have to hit the certain notes on certain eight counts in order to create the illusion, create the shape that we want the audience to see.

What I get out of flow arts, juggling fire spinning is the fact that it's good.

It's good for my mental health.

It's the flow state that we refer to and it's mindfulness because you're able to move your body in a certain way that you're able to release.

You're able to let go of everything else and train relentlessly to give me some kind of purpose in this crazy world, like even if it's just as silly as learning a new trick that night, it's doing the problem solving, the going through the motions and the failure in order to pick it back up and start again.

And so that translates into my life tenfold.

(hip hop music) - [Jason] Watch Curate anytime, it's online whro.org/curate.

- You can also follow us on social media for additional content.

Curate content comes through the WHRO social media stream.

Look for WHRO public media on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

- Thanks for joining us.

We're going to leave you with more from the super talented Caroline's Scruggs.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

We'll see you next time on Curate.

- Cool?

- Mhm.

(theremin humming) (birds chirping)