Modern Movement
Finding our rhythm, moment by moment
THESE FALL DAYS, in the wake of a ravaging hurricane and head-spinning election, our corner of the globe feels tender. I suggest taking solace in daily joys—walking, working, drinking something warm. Creativity grounds us, offering a way to center ourselves in challenging times. May we stay curious, inspired, and open to the movement of our lives.—Blair Knobel
ON VIEW » Interior Motives
Columbia artist Brittany Watkins transforms the Greenville Center for Creative Arts
A LONE CHAIR ON THE SIDEWALK, STACKS OF DEFUNCT ELECTRONICS, TRASH BAGS BURST OPEN—multi-disciplinary artist Brittany Watkins sees everyday personal refuse in an unconventional light. “We fill our voids with stuff,” she explains, her tone charged with subtext. For Watkins, stuff is a loaded term. It’s both the target and the substance of her high-concept artworks, which take on the effects of consumption on our habits, socio-economic standing, and mental states. She keeps a perpetual eye out for the ephemera that comprise her installations and paintings, ever speculating on the very complicated relationship that humans have with stuff.
When Watkins shows up at an installation site, it is often with only a concept, raw materials, and gut instinct. “The installations are built on-site,” says Watkins. Typically, she will visit the streets and neighborhoods surrounding a site, gathering objects solely from that area.
For more on Watkins and her work, read Angie Toole Thompson’s story on our website. Watkins’s installation, Impermanence & Abject Space, will be on view at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts through Nov 27, and the artist will perform and discuss her work on Nov 16 at 2pm.
ROOM SERVICE » High Marks
Skyline Lodge in Highlands, North Carolina, is an architectural marvel and mountain retreat
CREATIVITY, HISTORY, and SUSTAINABILITY weave their way through Highlands, North Carolina, up its Appalachian ridges. Perched high in the Nantahala National Forest, Skyline Lodge is a boutique hideaway and a revived landmark.
In the 1930s, owner Howard Randall commissioned Arthur Kelsey, a friend of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, to design a luxury hotel for travelers to Highlands. After Randall’s death and years of disrepair, Skyline was purchased in the 1950s and revived, flourishing for decades. Years later, the Indigo Road Hospitality Group bought the lodge and renovated extensively, including filling in its former outdoor pool to create a festive gathering space and opening the group’s famed Oak Steakhouse on the property. The renewed Skyline Lodge reopened in 2021, nearly 90 years after its founding.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie-style designs pay homage to place, bridging material with the native environment. This ethos encapsulates the lodge, which is practically an extension of the ridge itself, with wood paneling meeting granite fireplaces and large picture windows inviting in the surrounding woods. Architect Arthur Kelsey followed Wright’s style to a tee, his minimalist touches maximizing the property’s aesthetic.
After a weekend at Skyline, my balance feels restored. Just like naturalist John Muir, “Into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul,” though a dash of sophistication never hurts.
For Blair Knobel’s full story on Skyline Lodge, visit our website.
FEATURE » Club Mentality
Switchyards is redefining the future of where, and how, we work
YOU AND I, ALONG WITH A MAJORITY OF ADULTS BETWEEN 21 AND 65, spend a lot of time thinking about work.
Brandon Hinman and Jared Erickson are no different. But as the creative director and head of design of Switchyards, these two are thinking about work in a very different way. They’re thinking about the future of work.
To be fair, thinking about this stuff is their job. Switchyards is “the world’s first neighborhood work club,” and Hinman and Erickson are central to defining what that looks and feels like—not to mention the role it plays in people’s lives.
Coffee shops, libraries, and other third spaces are one answer. Specialized co-working spaces like WeWork and Industrious are another. But with Switchyards, Hinman and Erickson are exploring something a little more nuanced, combining the productivity-focused amenities of co-working with the appeal of coffee shops. “We’re not just providing tables, chairs, and Wi-Fi. We’re crafting environments where people genuinely want to spend time,” says Hinman.
Read all about Switchyards in Andrew Huang’s story on our website.
FINE PRINT » Books Over Drinks
Two authors bond over cocktails and a passion for detective fiction
A COUPLE OF MONTHS BACK, STEVEN TINGLE BECAME MY MARTINI FRIEND.
We’ve decided, over martinis, to meet regularly for martinis, and to lightly and loosely discuss the art and craft of being fiction writers while drinking martinis.
Steven grew up in the shade of his parents’ second lives; they married when he was a toddler and settled down in Cruso, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Smokies, where his father built a golf course. This golf course became something Steven managed as his parents aged and later became fodder for his novels.
His first, Graveyard Fields, was published in 2021. It’s the story of an ex-cop, Davis Reed, a man with some anger-management issues and a pill problem, escaping to the little town of Cruso for some “peace and quiet.”
Davis is back in Buried Lies, which published in October.
If possible, this book is funnier than the first one. It’s a rare thing, to write a second act. We’ll be raising a glass to that real soon.
Read Ashley Warlick’s full story on our website.
DATEBOOK »
Upcoming events on our radar
Thru Jan 4, 2025. Candlelight Christmas Evenings at Biltmore. Asheville, NC.
Thru Feb 16, 2025. Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks.” High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.
Dec 3–28. In the Company Of. Art & Light Gallery, Greenville, SC.
Dec 7–May 4, 2025. Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South. International African American Museum, Charleston, SC.
DULY NOTED »
A new podcast—Upstate Trail Talks—recently featured our founder, Blair Knobel. Listen to the full interview, conducted while walking on Greenville’s Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail.
We are obsessively reviewing our next print issue, which will be in subscribers’ mailboxes and select locations in December!
If you are in the Asheville area, you will be able to pick up a copy at East Fork and Farewell (also at East Fork’s Atlanta store); in Conyers, Georgia, at The Book Cellar; and at all Methodical Coffee locations and M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville. All Switchyards work clubs—20 locations and counting throughout the Southeast—will also stock Vessel for members to enjoy in its spaces.
Beautiful cover art.