Pancaked

A line of hungry customers often wraps around the Pancake Pantry building on the southern edge of the Hillsboro Village neighborhood in Nashville. The restaurant opened in 1961 and quickly became a place where locals, tourists and the stars mix for breakfast and lunch.

Too Weird to Franchise

Bongo Java is a gathering place for all of Nashville. Located across the street from Belmont University in the hip Belmont-Hillsboro Village neighborhood, Bongo attracts musicians, students and artists.

Ghost Dancer

Artist Alice Aycock’s sculpture “Ghost Ballet for the East Bank Machineworks” was funded by the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and unveiled along the banks of the Cumberland River in 2007. Ghost Ballet is 100 feet high, 100 feet wide and 60 feet deep, and is made of steel, industrial metals and neon.

Country to Cupcakes

Gigi’s Cup Cakes is a gourmet cupcake shop owned by Gina Butler, a former country singer turned baker. Butler’s passion for baking came from years of baking with her mother and grandmother.

Vander-Built Green

Vanderbilt’s Freshman Commons is an environmentally friendly building and certified as a a Gold level building from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

Art or Not?

The Color as Field: American Painting, 1950-75 exhibit at the Frist in Nashville challenges visitors to decide what is art. The exhibit has 41 paintings by artists like Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella and Sam Gilliam.

Pop Up Art

A new pop up art book exhibit at the Nashville Public Library mixes literature and art. The new exhibit appeals to library visitors of all ages.

Trail West

Trail West, near Second Avenue South and Broadway in Nashville, Tenn., has sold Western wear for 28 years. The store—one of three Nashville locations—has been in its current spot since May. It specializes in boots, belts and “anything to go honky-tonking with,” says employee Michael Schoff.
Schoff, during an April 7, 2008, store tour, explains the craftsmanship behind making a custom boot and describes hats worth thousands of dollars. Though Nashville is not in the Western United States, its legacy as a city with roots in the country endures.

Spring in Nashville

Springtime in Nashville is a time of change in weather, fashion and activities, captured in photos and sound.
Vanderbilt University students and workers talk about their personal springtime experiences as they go about their day on campus April 7, 2008.

Aaron Douglas at the Frist

Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas (1889-1979) evoked the history and future of African Americans in his work. Douglas used oils and gouache, a pigment suspended in water, for his illustrations and large-scale paintings. His subjects ranged from celebratory scenes in Southern jazz clubs to dancing in the hot jungles of the Congo.
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tenn., is presenting an exhibit of Douglas’ work through April 13, 2008. Museum curator Katie Delmez discusses the artist’s depictions of African American life.

Botany Buff

Overlooking the Vanderbilt University quadrangle, Jonathan Ertelt is in a world of his own as he manages seven of the school’s greenhouses. His passion for plants began when he nurtured a sweet potato vine and, as a college student, got his first orchid to flower. The plants don’t belong to him, but he perseveres through a ragweed allergy and frustration with program funding because they have grown on him.
During a visit to the greenhouses on April 7, 2008, Ertelt describes how his love of botany extends to his home life. His house is a jungle of shoots, sprouts and shrubs. His wife draws pictures of plants. His son is “botanically correct.” He has rooted his family in the plant kingdom.

Star Power

Jess Matthews gives a behind-the-scenes look at Star Photo Inc., a photo production company on Nashville’s Music Row that has been in business since 1969. The company serves musicians nationwide by providing publicity prints of various sizes.
As technology has advanced, the business has generated more profits over the years and the staff has been reduced. On April 7, 2008, Matthews works alone in the Star Photo office, which is located at 38 Music Square East.

Rock Block

(Soundslide by Mary Ann Hogan and Colleen Fitzpatrick, the Coaches)

A Chipster’s Experience

Watch Diana Diroy’s photojournalism come to life in the pages of the Oakland Tribune. Diroy, a Summer ‘07 Chips Quinn Scholar, turned everyday photo assignments into page one features and multimedia journalism during her Oakland Tribune internship. Read more

Chips Quinn Scholars Program Spring ‘08 Internship Orientation

Orientation for Chips Quinn Scholars, who pursue journalism careers after completing newsroom internships throughout the United States, is a magical experience for young journalists. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the Spring 2008 Chips Quinn Orientation held in January at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The Freedom Forum administers both the Chips Quinn Scholars Program and the Newseum, which officially opened on April 11, 2008. Read more