ALABAMA ARTS DOCUMENTARY TO AIR IN MAY

(Contact: Brent Davis, 205-348-8629)

MONTGOMERY--"Coat of Many Colors: A Tapestry of Alabama Artists," a 90 minute documentary funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, will premiere at 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 9, on Alabama Public Television (APT).

Videographer Wade Woodall captures image of artist/photographer William Christenberry as producers Michele Forman and Carolyn Hales look on.

The program showcases 31 musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, and others who combine the state’s rich artistic traditions and their own unique vision to create fascinating, innovative, and memorable works of art.

"The story of the arts and artists in Alabama is a colorful one, rich in tradition and dynamic in contemporary expressions," says Al Head, ASCA director. "The arts contribute to the quality of life in Alabama and portray the state’s positive personality perhaps better than any other of our resources. The story of the arts in Alabama can be and needs to be told."

"As you watch I think you can’t help but be impressed by the remarkable number and variety of Alabama artists," says Carolyn Hales, who co-produced the documentary for the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R) with Birmingham independent filmmaker Michele Forman. "And then, you realize this program just scratches the surface."

"We hope ‘Coat of Many Colors’ encourages viewers to discover more about the arts in Alabama," adds Forman.

Among the artists featured in the documentary:

• Frances de la Rosa, whose inventive paintings are influenced by her childhood at an antebellum plantation home, and by Alabama’s natural environment.
• Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, bluegrass/gospel musicians, known for their distinctive interpretations of traditional forms.
• The Louvin Brothers, a North Alabama songwriting duo whose striking harmonies reinvigorated country music.
• Pinky Bass, who says living in Alabama is "essential" to her work as an experimental photographer.
• Mary Ward Brown, author of short stories including the collection "Tongues of Flame," and winner of the 1987 PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award.
• Michael Gagliardo, director and conductor of the Etowah Youth Orchestra.
• Willie King, who plays the blues in elementary schools and uses that music in projects to revitalize his West Alabama community.
• Albert Murray, novelist and essayist, who writes about how mythological themes such as The Quest and The Lament can be found in both literature and musical forms such as jazz and blues.
• Yvonne Wells, a self-styled quilter who eschews pattern quilts and instead uses pictures and words to tell stories in her bold and colorful creations.
• Mark Childress, novelist and screenwriter, born in Monroeville and firmly connected to Alabama literary figures such as Harper Lee and Truman Capote.

This ambitious portrait of Alabama artists is one of the first locally produced high definition television (HDTV) programs in the South.

HDTV programs feature a remarkably detailed and realistic picture in a widescreen format. While APT is not yet broadcasting an HDTV signal--and very few viewers in the state have the new televisions needed to receive these superior images-- even when seen on a conventional television the program contains strikingly beautiful pictures.

In the past 18 months CPT&R producers and videographers have logged thousands of miles with state-of-the-art HDTV cameras to capture images of artists for the program.

The federal government has mandated that all television stations convert to digital transmission, which makes HDTV broadcasts possible, by May 1, 2002. Then stations will be required to broadcast using both today’s standard, analog signal and a digital signal. Under current plans, in 2007 the conventional, analog television stations will be turned off and all broadcasts will be made using a digital signal. At that time consumers will either have to buy a new digital television set or a converter for their standard TV.

Additional information about the program can be found at www.alabamaarts.org, a web site produced with the assistance of Walls New Media, Inc., of Birmingham.