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Athens Uncovered
NUQI’S SPACE CELEBRATES ATHENS MUSIC LEGACY
By Sam Lipkin editorial@flagpole.com
N ufi’s Space, the local mental health
nonprofit and musicians resource cen
ter, launched Athens Uncovered in 2018 as
a live music event held on “Giving Tuesday”
featuring prominent Athens musicians
playing their favorite cover songs. However,
this year the event has taken on an even
bigger purpose with Athens Uncovered:
Steeple Edition taking place on Sunday,
Nov. 27 from 12-10 p.m. and celebrating
Athens’ multi-generational music legacy.
St. Mary’s Steeple under reconstruction.
At the center of the full-day festival’s
entertainment remain local bands covering
local music, with performances spanning
from musicians with deep roots like Pylon
Reenactment Society, Bloodkin and Squalls
to young bands that are part of Nufi’s
Space’s Camp Amped program like Women
in STEM and Panic Wave. The full line-up
includes Monsoon, Jay Gonzalez, John
Fernandes, Good Grief Trio, David Lowery,
AD Blanco, Sex Cells and newly formed The
Bad Ends, composed of R.E.M.’s Bill Berry
and Five Eight’s Mike Mantione. There will
also be food trucks, beverages and activi
ties commemorating Nufi’s Space and the
uniqueness of Athens’ music scene.
As “Steeple Edition” suggests, a primary
motivation for the change in celebration
this year was the completion of Nu$i’s
Space’s St. Mary’s Steeple reconstruction
campaign. The nonprofit acquired owner
ship of the steeple, most famously known
as the place where R.E.M. played its first
show in 1980, in 2013 before launching the
Steeple Campaign and a building expansion
project in November 2014. The reconstruc
tion and expansion were completed at the
beginning of 2020, but due to the pan
demic, an official celebration and tour were
indefinitely postponed.
“We see the Steeple as this lighthouse
of sorts that kind of guides the arts and
music scene. It’s not just a monument or a
landmark,” says Abigail Winograd, public
relations and communications manager
at Nu^i’s Space. “We wanted to save the
Steeple forever and also don’t want the
symbol of that to get lost as generations get
older.”
During the Steeple reconstruction, a
portion of the brickwork had to be replaced.
Two thousand of the removed
bricks from the original church
have been and are currently
being sold with an attached
authenticity medallion, a paper
certificate of authenticity and
name recognition on the stee
ple’s donor wall. During Athens
Uncovered, the community is
invited to view the updated
steeple and donor wall, and
remaining bricks will be avail
able for purchase. All proceeds
from the event and the brick
sales are in benefit of Nufi’s
Space continuing its mission,
and previous brick sales contrib
uted to the reconstruction costs.
There is also an online auction
currently running with special
collector’s items, donations
from local businesses and con
tributions from local musicians.
This year’s Athens Uncovered
event is meaningful as Nufi’s
Space’s first opportunity to
invite the community and public
back into its space since COVID
began, to share in the main
building’s revitalization efforts
and honor the city’s music his
tory. This year also marks the
40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s Chronic Town
album release. Because of R.E.M.’s con
nection to the steeple, Winograd explains
that it felt like the perfect time to plan an
event around the reconstruction, and the
Athens Uncovered series already repre
sented similar values of intergenerational
connectedness.
“The way we’ve been saying it is kind of
like passing the torch. Letting people in
the younger generations feel like the torch
is being passed to them and that they’re
important and that they’re part of this
history. And having the older generations
know how much we love them and value
them, and how much their music still
means to everyone,” says Winograd.
Although Athens Uncovered will con
tinue on as an annual event, this year’s
planning is a unique, one-time opportunity
before the event returns to its “Giving
Tuesday” tradition. ©
WM0: Athens Uncovered: Steeple Edition
WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 27,12-10 p.m.
WHERE: Nugi’s Space
HOW MUCH: Donations suggested
Hugh Hodgson
School of Music
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 p
Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS:
$25 / $10 with UGA ID
706-542-4400
www.music.uga.edu
/«5r.y
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♦▼
Featuring UGA Symphony Orchestra,
Jazz and Brass Ensembles and more!
Hodgson Concert Hall UGA Performing A
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