(upbeat jazz music) - In this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat", (indistinct chatter) sharing the story of a community, - The importance of collecting those stories is that they are now available for posterity, right?

We know this history.

(indistinct chatter) (upbeat music) - [Diane] Painting later in life.

- I definitely have slowed down, but I'm finally getting back all the interest and the desire.

(orchestral music) - [Diane] A spirited holiday celebration.

- [Jason] It's a really big production and it's really gratifying that Reno has really allowed me to usher in the Christmas season.

(audience cheering) (upbeat jazz music) - It's all ahead, in this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat".

Funding for "WLIW Arts Beat", is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to "WLIW Arts Beat".

I'm Diane Masciale.

For the exhibition "Black Pearls", Washington DC photographer Reginald Cunningham traveled to the historic Pearl City neighborhood of Boca Raton, Florida to capture a community with his camera.

Combining photography with oral history, the stories of generations are shared with the public.

(gentle upbeat music) - Pearl City mirrors what you see in a lot of cities around the country, right?

Historically, Black City at one time was a very populated, bustling area, very community focused, and they built a road right through the middle of it.

And over time the city has kind of become more and more run down and people have forgotten about it and drive right through.

My name is Reginald Cunningham and I am a photographer from Washington DC.

I Was brought to South Florida to work with the Boca Raton Museum of Art on some type of exhibit.

Through our discussions in a couple meetings, we decided to focus on a historically Black part of town called Pearl City.

(gentle music) Pearl City actually predates the founding of Boca as a city.

There were a lot of farms in this area.

Pearl City is actually, named after the Pearl Pineapple, and there were a lot of pineapple farms here.

So, there was a lot of work to be had here.

And so, what happened was that ad went into the paper and a lot of Black families from Georgia, from Alabama, from South Carolina, moved down into this area and bought plots of land.

The plots of land were not as desirable and more expensive and smaller than what they offered white settlers in the Boca Raton area when they founded the rest of Boca.

But so often in history, Black folks have been denied land ownership.

So, if this was an opportunity to own pieces of land that you lived on and worked on, these families obviously, didn't want to pass that up.

A lot of their descendants still live on those same plot of land.

(upbeat music) Coming into this project, I wanted to photograph everyone in front of their home.

I quickly realized that a lot of the people just don't live in the Pearl City area anymore.

There's still a lot of people that do, but a good population of people grew up, went away to college, or to work and live in surrounding areas like Delray Beach or Miami.

And so, the people who I could get in front of their homes, I did, but there's a community garden in Pearl City right across from Ebenezer Church.

And in that garden there's also like a butterfly garden there with these nice archways and things like that.

And it's just a really beautiful, beautiful area that reflects the same idea of community that the people there reflect.

- I would like to thank artist Reginald Cunningham and Dr. Candace Cunningham.

- I worked with Dr. Candace Cunningham, who's a historian from Florida Atlantic University.

And so, she recorded about 11 or 12 oral histories.

And so, they took some snippets of those and put together a loop that you will hear whenever you're in the gallery and many of them people that you see pictures of where they're telling, you know, about their upbringing or their experiences in Pearl City.

(upbeat music) (indistinct chatting) - What I wanted to do with my oral histories is get a sense of what has happened since then, so what has happened since its founding.

And also get a sense of what is the thing that's enabling the citizens of Pearl City to retain their property and to retain the sense of community that they have.

And I also want to get a sense of what their outlook was for the future.

And so, I think the importance of collecting those stories is that they are now available for posterity, right?

We know this history, but also we know what those residents want for their future.

- It is very difficult to get neighbors to actually tell their story.

So, it was very interesting to move around the neighborhood with Reginald and hear some of the stories.

Some of the stories I had never heard before from some of the people in the neighborhood.

And they were giving first time interviews, which I thought that was exciting too.

Telling their stories about how they grew up, how was life, what are they doing now.

It is important to know the story and to respect where you live.

So, we spend a lot of time trying to tell the history of Pearl City to all of the residents in their community.

They don't know the history.

Pearl City has received local recognition, but Lincoln Court hasn't, and Dixie Manor hasn't, and we would like to see that happen also.

- That designation means that Pearl City cannot be redeveloped, it must remain a residential area.

So, on the one hand, there are ways in which this history absolutely want to be preserved.

Some of it architectural details are going to be preserved.

On the other hand, although the area cannot be redeveloped, that does not mean it cannot be gentrified.

There are people who own their homes and they're being priced out of their homes, because of the cost of taxes, because of the cost of insurance.

And so, Pearl City is interesting, because it's representative what we see happening across the country, certainly across South Florida.

On the other hand, it is still an outlier in that they've managed to put off gentrification.

And it sort of gives the future a little bit of hope.

(high bass upbeat music) - I encourage people to not only come to this exhibit with a mind for action, but to also research Pearl City, one, 'cause it's in their own backyard, but these types of communities exist everywhere.

Hopefully, what my desire is, is for people to see these and for this to humanize what some of that struggle is, 'cause you know, on one hand you can hear, "Oh yeah, this area is being gentrified."

But then when you see a person who it directly affects and you hear that person telling their own story, while you're looking at this personal portrait of them, hopefully, that kind of puts a little fire in your belly to do something.

- When you look at them, I see pride.

I see pride and in my heart, (indistinct chatting) I know that they got a chance to get their message out here and to tell their story.

(high bass upbeat music) - Discover more at bocamuseum.org.

And now, the artist quote of the week.

(upbeat music) For over 30 years, artist Marilyn Shaker has expressed herself through painting, and it has transformed her life in a remarkable way.

We head to North Royalton, Ohio for the story.

(upbeat music) - I had zero talent.

I mean, I was not somebody even in school or in grade school, the kids they could all draw not me.

I was like always kind of, you know, and I never even thought about it.

I just accepted the fact that I didn't draw or paint well and so forth.

- My mom grew up in that era too where I think she was just 10 years earlier than she would like to have been as far as women being out of the home.

She never complained.

And it wasn't like she didn't choose to be a stay-at-home mom, but I sensed that for us, because she had four girls so she really encouraged us all to, you know, to be what we wanted to be.

- Then all of a sudden I had a little desire, like, I really want to do something more creative.

So, first of all, I went to Floral Design School with Bill Hickson and took classes and so forth.

And then I was hired at Higbee's and I was their floral designer, plus their customer arranger.

- [Pamela] Bill Hickson, who she trained under, he's quite renowned, he did the White House.

- I started out, I took some classes at Tri-C the one school that I was the most encouraged, and I wanna say almost to the point that I kind of grew, was they had an art school, and it was the Lighthouse School of Art, and this was in Jupiter, Florida.

So, I started out worst of the class.

And when I ended up and graduated from the class, I took best of the class.

So, I don't say that boastfully, but just to say there's always hope.

The beauty of what God created in the flowers and the colors, just the magic.

When you think of flowers, if you start to think of the hundreds of different kinds of flowers, you know, from purple, orange or red, yellow, blue, green, whatever, there's no limit to what God created.

- It's funny, 'cause I'll be going through my mom's work and then I'll find something totally unexpected, like those portraits.

- My mom had a spare bedroom upstairs that probably had 200 paintings in it.

You couldn't even walk in the room, literally.

There were paintings that were tilted up against each other so they wouldn't get bent.

And I said, you know, if mom's really gonna move, we're going to have to organize these paintings.

So, I went over there one day and moved all the paintings to the basement and organized them by size.

And once Pam saw that, I think that ignited her, like, "Oh?"

- My mom and I had some personal issues.

I still had a relationship with my father and my siblings, but it was a sensitive topic.

So, we didn't, with my siblings, I didn't really talk about my mom, because I didn't wanna engage them in my issues.

- My family was not the Brady Bunch.

I wasn't, you know, Miss Cookies and Dough when my husband didn't come home.

And, you know, we were what I would call normal, just average people.

You know, I have a son who has a business and the daughters and, you know, everyone is so unique.

And the issue that I had with Pam was 100% my fault.

And just the fact that she has come back into my life and she has been so kind and receptive and loving, it's a gift from God.

Anybody who has a relationship that isn't working, there's always time to make amends.

And that's what Pam did.

- I truly just wanted sincerity.

And then let's just move on, because, you know, relationships take two people.

- Pam really is the one that's marketing it.

I'm just helping her organize it, getting paintings signed, but I call her the Chief Marketing Officer.

- I asked her if she could paint this mountain scene for me.

I had a picture I had given her, and the painting came back very different than the photo, because she saw all of these colors in it that I didn't see.

I have done a couple smaller shows, they've been indoor, so it wasn't the big tent thing.

But it's been fun, because it's been the creative side of me.

So, I have submitted applications for the Boston Mills Brandywine Show.

I haven't heard yet.

So, I'm hoping to have my mom's work get accepted in that show.

She said that that's always been her ultimate dream to have her work accepted in that show.

- I definitely have slowed down, but I'm finally getting back the interest and the desire.

I'm kind of painting what I want, but I would like it to be enjoyed.

So, I would like people to like it, but that's not my first goal.

My first goal is what I want, and then hoping that it's life.

(somber music) - To find out more, go to marilynshaker.com.

Now, here's a look at this month's fun fact.

(upbeat music) During the holidays, the Reno Philharmonic puts on their annual concert called "Spirit of the Season".

In addition to an orchestral performance, audiences in Nevada are able to enjoy singing, dancing, and so much more.

Take a look.

(dramatic music) - The "Spirit of the Season" it's our annual holiday kickoff.

- It's an opportunity for our community members to kick off the celebration of the Christmas season.

- [Jason] Where we do kind of all of your holiday favorites with the Reno Phil Chorus, and also some local talent.

- [Jennie] We've had dogs, jugglers, hula hoopers, all sorts of community musicians performing, and just a big celebration of the Christmas season.

- It's a really big production and it's really gratifying that Reno has really allowed me to usher in the Christmas season and kind of be their ambassador for the holidays.

(dramatic music) (audience applauding) Reinventing the program every year is pretty tricky.

There really are a lot of moving parts.

We do plan it very carefully, so the pace of the show doesn't have any dead time.

We want to just have go, go, go and have a real brisk pace.

- It's fun to be a part of "Spirit of the Season", but it's a lot of hours of work.

Then concert week, we're there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights rehearsing with the orchestra and it's a big commitment of time, but I think all of them would say the performance is worth it.

- Working with professional musicians, it's a lot of fun, 'cause they can do everything.

They can do every style, and the Reno Phil, it's a pretty good band.

(Jason chuckling) (upbeat orchestral music) Welcome back to Reno, Whitney Claire Kaufman.

I think long and hard about every program that I do every year.

I want something I know that I would enjoy conducting, but that I also think that the orchestra would enjoy performing, as well as the singers.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience cheering) - The process of picking our pieces that the chorus is gonna collaborate with the orchestra on is similar yet different every year.

There's often a theme to "Spirit of the Season".

This year, it's music at the movies.

And Jason and I at first were like, okay, choruses and movies go like, (Jennie harmonizing) and that's not very interesting for the chorus to do.

And then, we broadened that out a little bit.

One of the pieces that the chorus is highlighted on is "Thankful" by Josh Groban.

And it really is touching about what we all have to be thankful for.

(orchestral choral music) - Now, for something completely different.

(audience laughing) Now, these talented musicians, you know, they're with us every "Spirit of the Season".

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome under the direction of Barb Walsh Tintabulations.

(audience cheering) (handbell music) - Tintabulations Handbell Ensemble is a group of people who play English handbells.

Handbells are individually pitched, so one note is one handbell.

So, if you imagine an entire piano keyboard and you take all the keys off and you spread them out, that's what all the bells are.

(upbeat handbell music) For this year's "Spirit of the Season", Tintabulations are gonna play a solo "Mary Did You Know?"

And then we will be playing with the Philharmonic "Gloria Hodie arr."

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat music) (audience cheering) - [Jason] We have our own little kick line, Kia Crader and Fascinating Rhythm.

Every year she auditions high kicking dancers.

- We called ourselves Santa's Tappers, which we're representing the Rockettes.

(upbeat tapping music) The biggest challenge that we initially had was we had some fast tap dancers one year.

You know, we set the choreography to the kicks at the end, because it's very aerobic, lots of kicks, you have to kick high.

And so, it has to be set, the tempo for the kicks.

And one year, this is the thing with working with live orchestra, some of the dancers were just a little ahead of the beat.

And so, then Jason was like, "Oh, we must be lagging."

So, we started going faster and I was sitting in the sound booth and I was going, "Oh my goodness, they're going faster."

When you have canned music, the beat's not gonna change.

But when you have live music and the dancers are a little ahead of it, then that's a huge challenge.

(upbeat music) Performing with a live orchestra is such a rare opportunity, and to be able to provide that to dancers is really a unique experience, and I'm really happy that I can be a part of that.

And there's such a give and take of energy, because the orchestra is giving you energy, you know, you're giving energy and it's really a collaborative feeling on stage of everybody representing the performing arts in some form or fashion.

And then the audience is giving you feedback.

It's an extraordinary experience.

(upbeat can-can music) (audience cheering) - Oh my gosh, the audience reaction at "Spirit of the Season" is just fantastic.

You look out into the audience and here are these kids all dressed up and families dressed up and excited to start the Christmas season.

- The audience is probably the most wonderful part, but they're super responsive.

They seem to really enjoy it.

And it's, I mean, and there's, I don't know how many, 1,000 more than that.

So, you know, that's kind of an adrenaline rush.

- We're thrilled that the audience is thrilled when we come out.

When we first started, we didn't think we'd be doing it very often.

And so, we were really surprised.

We appreciate the audience and their reaction to us, because we have become a part of their tradition as well.

- And I tell the chorus every year, "I know that we sing the title piece, 'Spirit of the Season' every year, but somebody's never heard it before."

And for some people that is just the official start of Christmas for them.

Coming to hear the "Spirit of the Season" concert is like, "Ah, it's Christmas" ♪ Happy Holidays it's Christmas time ♪ (orchestral music) (audience cheering) - [Cast] Merry Christmas!

- Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, happy holidays, everybody!

- Learn more about the Reno Philharmonic at renophil.com.

And here's a look at this week's art history.

(upbeat jazz music) That wraps it up for this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat".

We'd like to hear what you think.

So, like us on Facebook, join the conversation on X, and visit our webpage to watch more episodes of the show.

We hope to see you next time.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Thank you for watching "WLIW Arts Beat".

(upbeat music) Funding for "WLIW Arts Beat", was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues)