B-metro - The magazine of metro Birmingham living

B-Metro highlights the hot Arts & Culture events on the calendar this fall.  The best of music, dance, theatre, visual arts and more is collected here for your review. (And so you don’t miss the good stuff this fall!) Open publication – Free publishing – More arts

This Southside cottage wears its history well. Written & photographed by Graham Yelton Styling by Kathy D’agostino In the midst of Birmingham’s bustling Southside community sits a quaint and happy cottage. Perched on a small hill, it’s surrounded by a perfectly curved hedge, manicured patches of creeping fig on the home’s exterior and colorful flowers… Read More

Pickled Words and styling by Mindi Shapiro Levine Recipes and food styling by Marian Cooper Cairns, Photography by Mary Britton Senseney Making pickles is easy. It’s a matter of brine and spices added to a main vegetable, a mix or even fruit. You can make them as plain or as elaborate as you like. Keep… Read More

The city’s Muslim community finds a home. Written by Annalise DeVries, Photography by Stephen DeVries It is nearly sunrise, and within more than a thousand Birmingham households, Muslim families are praying. This is the fajr, the first of five daily Islamic prayers. In a city in the Bible Belt, time can be marked by religious… Read More

Carrying the Flame Writting by Rosalind Fournier, Photography by Beau Gustafson The allure of Paralympic sports has come into its own, with more tickets sold for London 2012 than for any previous edition of the Paralympic Games. These three Birmingham athletes will put their heart and soul into the games, running through September 9th in… Read More

Written by Gabby Bates Photography by Liesa Cole I grew up as a white girl in one of the most racially diverse school systems in the Birmingham area with parents who listened to NPR, read Martin Luther King Jr. sermons on Sundays and encouraged me to participate in anti-prejudice organizations like the Heritage Panel. I… Read More

Birmingham Childrens Theatre costume shop makes magic happen. Article by Chuck St John and Megan LaRussa for Southern Femme, Photography by Chuck St. John “I am not an actor! I’m a movie star!” With that perfectly placed shout by Peter O’Toole in the film My Favorite Year, we see how the actor can place himself… Read More

One-on-One: Matt Kilpatrick, Craft & Imports, Birmingham Beverage and Will Pearson, Founder Mental Floss Magazine The topic was beer and obscure knowledge. Or maybe it was obscure knowledge about beer. Either way, this month’s One on One conversation was a lot of unexpected fun. Will Pearson founded the magazine, Mental Floss, while he and co-founder… Read More

Wedding and party planner Meghan Cease celebrates life’s moments, big and small, with panache. Written and Photographed by Kelli Hewett Taylor In three short years, Birmingham event planner Meghan Cease has turned a love of all things fabulous into one of the largest event planning firms in the Southeast. Handling more than 60 events a… Read More

Royal Cup’s H.C. Valentine Coffee Company is setting a new standard. By Joe O’Donnell Photography by Beau Gustafson Real excellence lies in doing the ordinary extraordinarily well. That is a paraphrase of something that Booker T. Washington once said about the nature of achievement. In one sense there is nothing more ordinary than a cup… Read More

Jennifer Harwell’s art comes from the heart. By Cindy Riley Photo by Beau Gustafson There is a sense of grace in Jennifer Harwell’s art that comes from deep within. “I paint from a very open place, a receptive spirit, that has been broken and mended ,so it now holds out to others hope, healing and… Read More