Arts & Culture

Dick Strohmeier Dick Strohmeier came late to acting after flying through global skies for 38 years: 11 years of military aviation ( USAF and ANG) and 27 years as an airline pilot. He came to North Carolina in 1982 with Piedmont Airlines (later US Air) following the bankruptcy of Braniff International. After retirement, he was a very effective Executive Director of [...]

Jan Hensley Jan G. Hensley began acting as a student at Mars Hill College. While achieving mightily as a professional photographer, he remained true to his early infatuation, performing hundreds of roles with various professional and non-professional groups in North Carolina for more than 45 years. He appeared annually in the Greensboro Ballet Company’s presentation of The Nutcracker, was an [...]

Elissa Fuchs Elissa Fuchs started dance lessons in 1922 at age three in her native New Orleans. She began training in classical ballet at age seven, acting in children’s productions and on radio. At 16, with her mother as chaperone, she went from schoolgirl to chorus girl, touring with a vaudeville show headed by Michael Todd. Stints on Broadway followed, [...]

Jayne Ericourt Jayne Ericourt began her piano studies when she was three years old and her mother discovered she had perfect pitch. She practiced daily until she was 18 when she decided to close the piano and play no more. “I was tired of playing. At last I was free to do what I wanted.” At age 30, after marriage [...]

Fred Chappell Last fall when Fred Chappell received the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities*, the state’s most prestigious humanities honor, he was described as a “man of letters.” He might decry that title, but his masterful versatility in writing more than two dozen books of poetry, fiction and criticism confirms that designation. Fred came to UNCG in 1964 [...]

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou, Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, continues to produce and accomplish in her 83rd year. Most famous for being an American poet and author, she continues to cross lines of race, gender, sexuality and culture as a historian, playwright, dancer, songwriter, stage and screen producer, performer, director, singer and civil rights activist. Born [...]

Dick Behrends rises with the sun, walks his eight-pound Shih Tsu around Forest Lake Circle at his Sedgefield Lakes home twice, then descends to “outback” (studio) to spend the rest of the day sculpting. “I do take off at noon for lunch and a nap,” he admits, but the rest of the day is spent among his sculptures, dozens of [...]

By: Linda A. Carlisle, Secretary, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources At the age of 93, the legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked by a student, “Master, why do you practice three hours a day?” His reply never fails to delight me. “I’m beginning to notice some improvement.” Here in North Carolina, we know that his words ring true. The arts [...]

By: Lauren Whitaker, NC School of the Arts For a woman born in Virginia who has lived most of her life in New York, Gezme de Lappe knows a lot about Oklahoma. And, at 89, she knows a lot about maintaining an active life. Her career as a dancer, actor, director and teacher has spanned seven decades. She has spent [...]