Arts Council to host first concert at Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School

MARS HILL - The Madison County Arts Council will host a first-of-its-kind event as part of a weekend featuring back-to-back concerts July 27-28.

The weekend will kick off July 27 with WestSound, a band comprised of two of the sons of Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School's alumni, Sarah Roland Weston Hart

On July 28, The Nick Garrison Quintet will perform at the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center at 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance.

WestSound

The WestSound show will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the historic Anderson Rosenwald School, 225 Mount Olive Drive in Mars Hill.

The band's guitarist and vocalist, Oscar Weston, is a Mount Olive Drive resident. Weston's brother, Randy, plays keyboard and sings.

The free show is paid for with funding from the North Carolina Arts Council's Grassroots Program, according to Madison County Arts Council Executive Director Brandon Johnson.

"We're super excited," Johnson said. "One of my goals for the Arts Council is to get out into the county more. I taught at Mars Hill and spent a lot of time there, and have connections to a lot of people who are involved with the Anderson Rosenwald School.

"I've been there for some meetings, and given some money to them because I think it's a great cause. So, it was like, it's a great facility so we can do some music, and I know WestSound is right there, as like an all-included community kind of package. So, it's kind of a plug and play. It all worked out."

Johnson said he reached out to Willa Wyatt, the Friends of Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School's chair, about collaborating on a concert at the historic school.

"The community is tight, and that church is a big part of that community, and music is a big part of that," Johnson said of Mount Olive Baptist Church.

According to the Arts Council executive director, the free event was initially scheduled to be a gospel show, but WestSound's style is more expansive, as the band plays rock, R&B and blues, as well as other genres.

The WestSound show will mark the first time the Arts Council has presented a concert at the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School.

"It was like, hey, what can we do to showcase some different elements of our county that haven't been showcased before. And we thought, let's do this," Johnson said.

"Willa called Oscar and got them on board. Hopefully we'll just get some people out to the Anderson Rosenwald School who haven't been there before, and help them know about the good work that's going on there, and maybe hear a cool band from the community they haven't heard before."

Wyatt said the building typically operates a 40-person capacity, but "if necessary, we can open the windows."

The Rosenwald schools were named in honor of Julius Rosenwald, former president of Sears and Roebuck who collaborated with Booker T. Washington ‒ a renowned educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute ‒ to aid Black colleges and preparatory academies.

The Mars Hill Rosenwald School's impact has reached other areas of the country, as a group is aiming to bring a national park to Chicago to celebrate Julius Rosenwald, and the Mars Hill school is being considered for selection as one of five satellite facilities.

Additionally, the school is listed on the group's promotional literature for the national park.

"The group wants five satellite facilities among the 11 Southern states, and this is one of the ones that's being considered," Friends group member Ray Rapp said in the Mars Hill Board of Education's February 2023 meeting at the school.

"Some would say, 'Well, there's still 10% of those 5,000 schools left in different stages.' That's true, but this is the school that's pictured on the cover of the promotional literature in the national park."

Johnson said he hopes the WestSound concert will help to spread the news about these and other ventures.

"It's something not everybody knows about, and they're doing great work at the school," Johnson said. "Hopefully this can bring some folks who might not have been there and help raise awareness about some of those efforts."

More: MHARS getting national publicityMars Hill Historic Anderson Rosenwald School bringing national attention to Madison County

More: Mural tells two sides of historyNew Mars Hill art mural celebrates county's beautiful and complicated history

More: School renovations completeMars Hill community celebrates completion of historic Black school's rehabilitation

The Nick Garrison Quintet

According to a release from the Madison County Arts Council, The Nick Garrison Quintet celebrates the music of New Orleans, from traditional Black American Music of Louis Armstrong to the street sounds of brass band jams.

"Trombonist and vocalist Nick Garrison brings the energy of the Crescent City onto stage, incorporating his original arrangements of swing tunes from the 20's- 40's, bebop burners, blues, and ballads. This is a super talented band," the Arts Council said in the release.

Garrison also serves as an adjunct music professor at UNC Asheville.

The Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center is located at 271 Laurel Valley Road in Mars Hill. For tickets, call 828-649-1301 or visit madisoncountyarts.com.

Johnny Casey has covered Madison County for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel for three years. He earned a first-place award in beat news reporting in the 2023 North Carolina Press Association awards. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.