Fairhope, Alabama: Windmill Market Will Host Independent Films Outdoors
Starry Night Theater will present newly released, award-winning independent films every third Thursday of the month through Sept. 16. Tickets are $10 and seating at The Windmill is limited. Season tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available.
Patrons are encouraged to arrive early and hungry. Moe's barbecue will open its Windmill Market location for Movies at the Market to serve Alabama-style barbecue along with beer and wine. After the film, those who attend can trade their ticket stubs for a complimentary beer at My Place Bar across the street.
All proceeds from Movie at the Market benefit Jones-Gallaspy's BayART Project, a local nonprofit organization promoting the creation of public artwork by youth. The BayART Project is currently collaborating with the Baldwin County Trailblazers to create 14 murals to be installed on the map kiosks stationed along the Eastern Shore Trail, from Battleship Park to Weeks Bay Reserve.
When she began mulling over the idea of a film series, Jones-Gallaspy didn't have far to look for a location. The Windmill Market is across the street from her studio on Bancroft Street.
I think I just looked over there one evening and thought, That would be a good place to show a movie,' she says. It just sort of evolved. My interest (is) in looking at film as an art, which is part of the mission of the BayART Project, to expand public art in Mobile and Baldwin counties and film and performance art is something I don't see a lot of here.
To have something on the Eastern Shore sort of fits in with the summertime atmosphere of Fairhope, visitors and the locals, kind of an easy, laid-back lifestyle, she says. It made sense to try it. I wanted it to be something that people would enjoy and get something out of.
Thomas B. Harrison