Shopper Blog: Restoration craftsman leaves work all over town
BEARDEN
Restoration craftsman leaves work all over town
John Shearer, Shopper News
Michael Pizzolongo is popularly called the Pizza Man for phonetic reasons, but the longtime plaster and stucco craftsman has also been like a historic building or home’s equivalent of a makeup man.
Since moving to the Knoxville area in 1995, he has developed quite a reputation for his touchup and restoration work on some of the city’s most noted historic structures and other buildings.
For Pizzolongo, the detail work is simply a calling. “It has just been in my blood ever since I was in high school,” he said. “It’s a trade nobody wants to do. People do stucco (on the outside) but not inside plaster.”
The longtime artisan recently found himself in additional unique company when he was the recipient of Knox Heritage’s Spirit of Kristopher Award at the nonprofit group’s annual awards celebration last month. Named for the late local preservation enthusiast Kristopher Kendrick, the award is given to a person who has made significant achievements in the field of historic preservation, according to Knox Heritage.
He was also involved in some work with a recently restored structure that was one of four winners of the group’s Preservation Merit Award. The home at 631 Scenic Drive in Sequoyah Hills and which dates to 1926 was recognized for its detailed restoration work that maintained the historic look.
Pizzolongo admitted being touched by all the recognition. And it has come at a good time for him to reflect, as he recently retired and handed the business over to his son, Mike, with his 70th birthday nearing.
As he chatted over the phone recently, he said that he has had a very enjoyable career. He said it began in 1971, when he was finishing high school in New Jersey. “A week after graduation, I started working up in Trenton for a family friend,” he said. “Nobody in my family did it. But my parents said to go work for Uncle Louie (a moniker for likable Italian friends who are not relatives). I was already into doing things with my hands.”
The work figuratively stuck to him like drying plaster to a wall, and that began a long career. He later moved to the Tampa, Florida, area to live for a while but eventually found his way to East Tennessee.
“A cousin said that we’ve got to see the Smoky Mountains, and my wife, Cheryl, fell in love with it,” he said. “I’m a mountain man now.”
The upbeat and amicable craftsman said the Knoxville area has been good to him, as he found plenty of work and has been highlighted in magazine articles and featured on the DIY Network. He has also been in a TV commercial for Roger Cunningham’s Bed Store.
Among his projects have been working on the Tennessee and Bijou theatres, the Blount Mansion, and Knox Heritage’s Westwood home off Kingston Pike. He also has had some high-profile personal clients.
“When Gov. (Bill) Haslam was finishing up the governorship, I totally replastered the old house he grew up in and was going to be moving back to,” he said. Pizzolongo also did some work on the fellow Bearden area home of former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, adding with a quip, “I’ve been all over this town.”
He has also done some newer type work for clients, such as wine cellars and other re-created looks. One place accessible and visible to the public is Gavino’s Pizzeria off Kingston Pike in Bearden, where he did a Tuscany-style back wall. He jokingly said he carved “Pizza Man” into a countertop there. He also did some replastering of the downstairs lounge, The Vault, below the Vida restaurant in the old Holston Building off Gay Street.
With the Scenic Drive home that was recognized, that was quite meticulous work, he said. Instead of a smooth plaster coat, he did some replastering work using glove-covered fingerprints and then going over it with a sponge for a unique look.
The overall work on that home also involved enclosing the attic and extensive rewiring and replumbing. Also involved were Johnson Architecture, F.E. Trainer Construction, Studio H Design and Bender & Associates. Pizzolongo said he was touched that Trainer officials said the project would not have been possible without the Pizza Man.
Pizzolongo, who said Sequoyah Hills has many unique homes and he got to concentrate much of his work there, added that his daughter, Laura Hunter, has chronicled his work on an Instagram page.
The craftsman, who plans to enjoy bass fishing and going to the gym and maybe helping his son on some big projects after years of keeping busy every Monday through Friday, has also enjoyed the scenes in his mind of his years of work. In fact, he has retired with mixed feelings, he added.
“I hated to see it end,” he said.
WEST KNOXVILLE
Summer programming in full swing at Karns Library
Nancy Anderson, Shopper News
Summer programming at Karns Branch Library is “back in full swing, I’m happy to say,” said Library Manager Anna Wooliver-Phillips, with the LEGO Club meeting at the facility June 10.
“We have completely recovered from the pandemic. ... We have programs for adults, teens, and children … even little bitty ones,” said Wooliver-Phillips.
The LEGO Club sometimes sees 12 to 15 participants, but with summer camps, athletics and activities, the attendance this month was down. However, those in attendance seemed thrilled with the variety of LEGOs available.
It’s a monthly LEGO spree featuring thousands of LEGO pieces, including tiny people and platforms.
The creations are not to take home, but are on display for a month at the library. The pieces are then placed back in the buckets for the next LEGO Club.
Post-pandemic the library hasn’t changed much. During the pandemic they didn’t charge late fees, but those have been reinstated. There’s a new operating system and a whole new staff.
“I feel like we’re back and stronger than ever,” Wooliver-Phillips said. “Here at Karns we’re really close to the community; there are so many schools within walking distance. We see a lot of families, especially during reading. We’ve just kicked off summer programming with the Reading Festival and we’re now in full swing. The reading program is a year-round project, but we’ve divided it into three sessions, with summer being the big fun session. We want summer reading to be a big, vibrant thing.”
The LEGO Club started with grant, but then an alumni group from Karns High School donated thousands of bricks. Sometimes there’s a theme, but mostly it’s free-build so the kids’ imagination can flourish.
“We also have a Mega Bloks Program with larger blocks made for the really little kids. They don’t have the manual dexterity to play with the regular blocks so the Mega Bloks are perfect for them,” Wooliver-Phillips said. “That’s a monthly program, too. We usually get quite a few little kids to play with the Mega Bloks. It's for kids and parents and helps to build strong bonds during fun playtime.”
Wooliver-Phillips started the Mega Bloks program because she has a 3-year-old who enjoys them and parents often bring a younger sibling to the LEGO Club.
“We love things that get children in the building. Modern libraries are not places to come and sit and be quiet anymore … they’re community centers. If we get kiddos and their parents in, they’ll learn that the library is a place to come to find all kinds of interesting things, not just LEGOs and print materials. That goes a long way to become lifelong learners. Learning creativity at a young age is very important.”
Keep an eye out on the new website for programming across the Knox County Library System.
Info: www.Knoxcountylibrary.org
WEST KNOXVILLE
Summer theater camp a big hit at Knoxville Catholic
Nancy Anderson, Shopper News
Director and drama teacher Jessica Magers-Rankin made Irish Art Camp a powerhouse of summer fun at Knoxville Catholic High School.
Magers-Rankin is holding two summer sessions of theater camp. The first session is for rising first graders through rising sixth graders. The 36 littles seem to be having the time of their lives preparing to perform Disney’s “Jungle Book Jr.” Last year the camp was just as booked, when they performed “101 Dalmatians Jr.”
“The shows are specifically written for kids, so the lines are easy and the songs are easy enough. We can do this in two weeks,” Magers-Rankin said.
“Theater camp is an excellent summer activity for kids of all ages. It builds skills, relationships, and community. They get to interact with kids they don’t go to school with. They make lifelong friends. It helps with reading and literacy, social and emotional skills such as how to collaborate, how to get along, how to follow directions. These are lifelong skills.”
The second summer session is for rising seventh graders through rising college freshmen. It will be held July 10-28. The kids will perform “Legally Blonde Jr.” with a few sets.
The first-session campers will perform in show shirts with a few stage accessories to give the hint of a jungle atmosphere.
The second session includes a simple set. The older kids’ camp is a little more structured. They’ll have singing in the morning and choreography in the afternoon. The choreographer is Felicity Hunt, who recently graduated from Knoxville Catholic High School and is now attending ETSU. She has an extensive background in dancing and is making her choreographer debut.
“I’m so excited about Felicity. This is her first choreography job and I know she’s going to do great,” said Magers-Rankin.
This is the second year of summer camps for the new St. Gregory the Great Auditorium. The new auditorium has become a theater community hub. It’s been put through its paces with “The Music Man” on stage just days after it opened. Tennessee Valley Players are renting the auditorium to perform “Beauty and the Beast.”
“It’s a beautiful auditorium that has really become a community hub for the arts,” Magers-Rankin said. “We knew when we built the auditorium that it would become a place for kids to come and develop their talents.”
Magers-Rankin has taught at Knoxville Catholic High School for seven years. She said she’s found a home in this special place. “I love every single day. Even the hard days are joyful. Every child has at least one adult that knows them and checks in on them.
“I just want to give them a place where they can voice their talents and develop their skills.”
POWELL
Northwest Middle School sends 17 students to STEM national competition
Al Lesar, Shopper News
At the start of the school year, when Tracy Anderson is looking for good fits to her STEM program at Northwest Middle School, she’s not necessarily looking for the best students.
A veteran of nine years at the school, Anderson is in charge of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics curriculum.
“This is a Title I school,” Anderson said, referring to the school’s inner-city status. “Most of our parents haven’t gone to college.
“I’m looking for kids that are the most creative, students that can think for themselves. I’m looking for the diamonds in the rough; a student with a problem-solving mind.”
Once she pinpoints the right students, she spends the school year developing them.
“Northwest is the kind of school where you can see the difference you make every single day,” said Anderson.
That difference will take a big step forward this summer when Anderson takes 17 students to Louisville in late June for the Technical Student Association national competition.
Tougher competition
Northwest did well in the middle school state competition earlier this year in Chattanooga. It had five state champions among the 37 categories. The number of competitors at the state level was limited in most areas.
The state champions were Sarah Dawson (Essays on Technology), Francisco Sebastian-Domingo (Foundations of Information Technology), Beaux Reiner and Ronnie Davis (Microcontroller Design), Logan Hollingsworth and Thomas Milligan (Coding) and Nashayla Hall, Peyton Bosworth, Firdaus Arimiyaw and Keyla Fuentes-Arita (Vex IQ Robotics).
“Originally, we were going to have a robot that delivered cat food to a bowl,” said Reiner. “It had to be educational, so we figured out a color-coded way for a robot to identify blocks. Once we got the basic coding down, it worked.”
“I’ve tried to tell our students how much tougher it’s going to be at the nationals,” Anderson said. “This will be the first time for me and the students. We’re hoping this will get some of them hooked.”
One major focus of the competition is the autonomy from adult help. Anderson said judges in the flight and structural engineering categories will have the students present their work, then have them build their project on site. A stringent line of questioning will make it obvious whether or not the students did the work on their own.
“Our ‘COVID kids’ have been struggling for a while,” Anderson said. “I’ve told them this is their time to become more independent.”
Anderson’s classroom is filled with about 25 students during a STEM session. They regularly work in one of the 37 areas.
“Each student sets a goal each day,” Anderson said. “I’ll focus on the ones who have the most impending competition. The others will do their own thing.
“At the end of class, after we clean up, they’ll all write a reflection; what happened in the class. What do I need to improve? Or, yeah, I got it.”
Science-based
A 1988 graduate of the University of West Florida, Anderson earned a history degree. When most of the history teaching jobs went to football coaches, she took science classes.
“I taught science my whole career,” said Anderson, who moved around with her family to several places. “My first job I was teaching high school science in a tiny private school. I was learning along with the students. It stuck with me.”
Anderson also got involved with coaching the Science Olympiad. That’s something she continued to do in all her jobs and is now on the board of directors of the State of Tennessee Science Olympiad.
“Whenever my students competed, we had to forfeit the robotics because I didn’t know about it,” she said. “I took a seminar on it and learned so much. I can handle it on a middle school level, but now my students who have gone on to high school have come back with so much more knowledge that helps the younger students.”
That relationship is one of Anderson’s favorite aspects of the job.
“The high school students give them someone to look up to,” Anderson said. “My former students at Karns and Powell offer to come and help train the younger students. That’s so neat.”
“I got interested in mechanical engineering and automotive design here,” said Brian Galvin, who graduated in May from Powell High School.
After presenting his dragster in the national competition, he will study those areas at Tennessee Tech.
“I learned coding when I was here,” said Evis Lopez, another recent grad who has entered the U.S. Navy.
Representing Northwest at the national competition are eighth graders Brayden Balboa, Ronnie Davis, Sarah Dawson, Keyla Fuentes-Arita, Nashayla Hall, Thomas Milligan, Zach Nix, Beaux Reiner and Cristian Villatoro-Cueto, along with seventh graders Savannah Benson, Peyton Bosworth, Amia Burris, Kerwin Galvan-Zambrano, Alexandra Mendez, Amelia Reisner, Anderson Vasquez-Francisco and Sam Wilson.
HALLS
Want to swap? Artists trade miniature works of art
Ali James, Shopper News
There are only two rules when it comes to creating and trading artist’s trading cards. Keep to the size requirement – no bigger than 2 ½ by 3 ½ inches – and don’t complain about the card you get when you trade, according to artist Tim Wiegenstein. “In terms of medium and how you do one, there are no real hard and fast rules,” he said.
“Artist trading cards are really interesting. They started out in 1997 by a Swiss artist, M. Vänçi Stirnemann, who came up with this concept and described himself as a performance artist,” said Wiegenstein. “He wanted to make art accessible to people and created cards like baseball and Pokémon cards.”
The ideal size is not too intimidating or time consuming either. “He made 1,000 or more in advance of this particular show and asked people to make cards to trade and the idea just kind of caught on,” said Wiegenstein.
The concept of artist trading cards can be found around the world. Various artist trading groups have sprung up and they host meetups. “Artists gather periodically and talk about their artwork,” he said.
“Trading cards are a way for me to do something without a lot of risk. You can try an idea and if you don’t like it, just pitch it in the waste can. What have you lost?”
Since creating his first artist trading card three years ago, Wiegenstein has started teaching a class on the subject at the John T. O’Connor Senior Citizens Center and participates in regular meetups.
“I am hoping to get people excited about them. I have some from Ireland and Scotland and lots from different states across the country,” he said. Wiegenstein mounts his tiny art collection in the same clear pockets used for regular trading cards. When he creates his own cards, he writes details about the art as well as signing and dating the back.
Various mediums are used, from watercolor to pencil to markers and gouache paints. Wiegenstein has a degree in mechanical arts and often takes a 3D approach to art, so one of his favorite techniques is collage.
“You can choose any medium you want to work in,” he said. “A lady I follow online makes even smaller trading cards called ‘Inchies’ with positive messages, and wherever she goes she leaves them as a little surprise.”
Wiegenstein has lost track of how many artist trading cards he has made. “A couple hundred at least,” he said. “Sometimes I make a big batch; it’s more fun when I have a series.”
Art is Wiegenstein’s fourth career. Since retiring from his work as a school administrator, he has returned to his artistic roots. “I started out as an art teacher in the Ozarks in Missouri,” he said. “I would do artwork with the kids, and while working on a project they would start talking about their lives and open their hearts. Art is a way of getting to your feelings.”
After training to be a counselor, Wiegenstein and his wife moved to Knoxville in 1986. In 2015, he retired from his job as an administrator at Halls Middle School. He now spends time painting and repurposing metal and cans into jewelry and sculptures.
Browse Wiegenstein’s art @tinmanartsandcrafts on Instagram and Etsy.
NORTH KNOXVILLE
Linda Parsons will launch ‘Valediction’ at Union Ave Books
Carol Z. Shane, Shopper News
North Hills resident Linda Parsons will present her latest book – her sixth – on June 24 at Union Ave Books.
“Valediction” is her first collection that includes both poems and prose. Like so many creative people, Parsons found a new direction during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve never done much prose,” she says. “There are 13 short pieces that I call ‘visitations.’ I did them as part of an online workshop called the COVID Garden Story Project.” Led by Rebecca Gayle Howell, the American writer who is known for her 2019 appointment as United States Artist Fellow, participants were encouraged to write a short prose piece based on “a delight” every day.
“So many people went outside during the pandemic and that was a saving grace for them. The garden is my teacher, and I try to work out those lessons in the poetry.” But the “essayettes” that Howell assigned, Parsons says, revealed a whole new way of writing and thinking for her.
“It showed me that I could work beyond poetry – that I can create this little world just from observations, from my experience in the garden, and keep it to about 300 or so words and have it be a complete piece. Now I’ve gone on to write larger essays.”
Parsons’ family moved from Nashville to Knoxville when she was 11, then was uprooted to Wisconsin during her teen years. She graduated from high school while in Wisconsin.
“I was a true ‘stranger in a strange land,’” she says. “It taught me so much. It taught me what it was to be a Southerner; being an exile, I understood a lot more. I had wonderful teachers. They really opened me up to poetry and literature in a way that – who knows? – I may not have been open to down here. I’m very grateful for that in hindsight.” She returned to Knoxville, earned an English degree from UT, and has lived in North Hills for 40 years.
The word “valediction” means the act of saying goodbye, and Parsons has had her share of farewells, having lost all three of her parents – father, mother, beloved stepmother – in the past four years.
“I always feel that within every goodbye there are always the seeds of hello, seeds of new beginnings; that is the way it happens. You have to look toward that new beginning.”
The book’s cover art is done by Gary Heatherly, who is, among many other things, the photographer for the Big Ears Festival. “It so beautifully depicts the message of the book. With the surrounding dark trees, it’s like a portal or an entrance into this beautiful light. And that’s what I hope the book depicts as well. That was my aim.
“In the midst of loss, there’s always the light, and it’s the light that we are. We carry it within us. And I feel that it’s our purpose and our service to share that light with the world.”
“Valediction” will have its launch at 3 p.m. this Saturday, June 24 at Union Ave Books, 517 Union Ave. Parsons will be on hand to sign copies. The book is also available online at madvillepublishing.com/product/valediction/, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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NORTH KNOXVILLE
Urban League shares Juneteenth with Summit Towers residents
Carol Z. Shane, Shopper News
This week Americans celebrated one of our country’s newest federal holidays – Juneteenth, signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021.
Tammy Johnson, service coordinator for Summit Towers downtown, wanted her residents to understand exactly what the holiday celebrates. So she and her staff put together a delicious buffet – including a decadent dessert table – and invited representatives from the Knoxville Area Urban League to attend and offer a history lesson.
Charles Lomax, president and CEO of KAUL, has led local discussions about the holiday several times.
“We’ve had a number of different conversations around the holiday of Juneteenth, and now that it’s a federal holiday, people just don’t know the history.
“One of the things KAUL is extremely passionate about is education: making sure we understand our history and who we are and how we’ve gotten to where we are. And Juneteenth is in and of itself a holiday that has been recognized for a long time in the state of Texas. It was a state holiday for them but is now starting to branch out and really be understood by the masses.”
Lomax explained that the American Civil War lasted for four years – from April 1861 to April 1865. Many people erroneously think that President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation after the Confederate forces surrendered, at the end of the war. But Lincoln’s promise to issue the Proclamation first appeared in preliminary format in September 1862, before the war had entered its third year.
“He said, ‘I’m going to issue this Proclamation, but it won’t take place until Jan. 1, 1863,’” said Lomax. “And so all of those that were enslaved in the Southern states gathered on Dec. 31, 1862, in houses and in churches. They were praying that the Emancipation Proclamation would happen and that the president would sign it.
“That’s actually a practice that still happens a lot within churches, especially African American churches. It’s called ‘Watch Night Service.’ On New Year’s Eve, people will gather in church around 9 or 10 o’clock and they will have service all the way into the New Year. They pray the New Year in. That’s something that we ultimately get from the Emancipation Proclamation.”
As students of history know, the Proclamation did happen as promised, but it took time for news to spread. Tennessee was actually one of the earlier states to get the word out, when Military Governor Andrew Johnson freed enslaved people on Aug. 8, 1863. That date has its own statewide celebration every year.
Texas was the last state to recognize the Emancipation Proclamation – on June 19, 1865, after the war had officially ended. And that, said Felix Harris, KAUL’s vice president of program and community engagement, became the date that all Americans, regardless of race or former enslaved status, were proclaimed free.
“At that point in time, back then, everyone didn’t know. So now we know, and we see the significance of it. Now we can all celebrate independence.”
“I’m a history fan, myself,” said a resident during the discussion after Lomax’s presentation. “I think it’s great how everyone should be free.”
“I agree,” said Lomax.
For more info about KAUL, visit thekaul.org.
OPINION
Is Knoxville welcoming to all?
Leslie Snow, Shopper News
It wasn’t that long ago that my friend Jane and I giggled on the phone while we imagined what life would be like if she relocated to Knoxville. “If I can find a job, I’m coming,” she said with a smile in her voice. I promised that when she was ready, I would help her with her move.
Then, suddenly, it seemed like the stars aligned. Her sisters were moving south, and the timing seemed right. I called to ask if I should put out feelers for job openings or housing options. But this time when we talked about her move, she gave an unexpected response.
“I would never move to Knoxville now,” she said, firmly, “not with Tennessee being such an intolerant state.”
Her words took me aback. I wanted to defend the people in our state, but I stayed quiet, at least initially. I needed time to consider her response. Because Jane is gay, and I don’t really know what it’s like to be a gay woman living in Tennessee.
But her words stayed with me. I thought about them each time I read an article about the state’s efforts to curb drag shows or restrict transgender care. I thought about them when Pride festivals in Franklin prompted protests instead of acceptance.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jane didn’t have the whole story.
“I know I’m not gay, so maybe I’m not tuned in,” I texted a few weeks later, “but what you read in the news doesn’t reflect what I see living here. The community feels friendly and welcoming. The downtown population seems diverse and accepting. Plus, Knoxville is a college town; there are a lot of young people here with a wide range of viewpoints. I don’t think Knoxville is a repressive place to live, even if our state lawmakers make it easy to think so.”
While I waited for her to respond I added: “Think of it this way, when you read about Chicago in the news, every story is about gang violence. But every day, people there go to work and live their lives safely. The gang violence in the city is real, but the media attention magnifies the problem. It makes it seem like it’s not safe to even go out to dinner there.”
I let my words sit and hoped for a positive response, but even after I’d written them, I didn’t know if they were true.
I want to believe in the kindness of strangers because, most days, that’s what I see. I want to think that because people have been kind and welcoming to me that they are kind and welcoming to others. In my world, the state legislators with their so-called “slate of hate” are the outliers. The people I know, personally or even casually, don’t assess a person’s sexuality before offering kind words or friendship.
I don’t know if Jane will ever move to Knoxville, but I do know it will be a shame if she doesn’t. She’s a wonderful, capable person. But if we want all kinds of people to feel welcome here, we have to find a way for more moderate voices to be heard. And I’m not sure that’s possible in today’s political climate.
I want to believe what I see with my own eyes. I want to believe that Tennesseans aren’t intolerant and that all kinds of people are welcome here. Maybe it’s true. Or maybe, we are what our legislators and our laws say we are.
Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.
State persists in costly war on drag shows despite 'most conservative' judge's ruling
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