Emphasizing Alabama art in Mentone
Ray Padgett is committed to bringing the beauty and expressiveness of art to a place that's already brimming with natural beauty: the quaint mountain town of Mentone. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)
“Kamama” means “butterfly” in the language of the Cherokee.
To Ray Padgett, owner of Kamama Gallery in Mentone, the meaning is more than mere linguistics. The gallery is home to sculptors, painters, photographers, potters, stained-glass artists and jewelers.
Padgett relocated to Mentone in 1980 with his wife, Sandra, and renovated the Mentone Springs Hotel.
“We moved because of the people here; the artist community is so close-knit. Kamama also includes a coffee shop and an antique store offering the artists and musicians in the community a place to gather and showcase their work,” Padgett said.
Ray Padgett shines an Alabama Bright Light in Mentone from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Padgett is also a Mentone activist, involved with several nonprofits working to improve the art and culture scene in the eclectic town on top of Lookout Mountain. He is leading the effort to construct the Mentone Arts and Cultural Center.
“The MACC project began about three years ago with a group of people trying to fulfill a need for the community: to have an arts and music education center in Mentone that would be for the public, and by the public,” he said. “It would include the performing arts, an education center, exhibition space and a museum.”
After retiring from the Coca-Cola Co., Padgett fell in love with the Alabama town and decided to make it his home. Mentone is quaint, with many galleries, shops and attractions. It’s near Cloudmont Ski & Golf Resort and DeSoto Falls and is home to many arts and crafts festivals each year. Mentone has a population of about 500 people, and you start to believe Padgett knows every one of them by name.
“All of this work is very satisfying to me,” he said. “Everyone asks me why I work for the MACC and why I volunteer my time. I always say ‘it’s for me.’ It makes me feel good to do something that I believe is positive for the community that I live in.”
Padgett is working to keep the colors of Mentone art bright and beautiful.
Like a butterfly’s wings.
Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning photojournalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.
