By Donna Cornelius
Journal features writer
Caroline Hubbard has found a way to combine two passions.
The 31-year-old grew up in Montgomery but said she loves her adopted city, Homewood.
“It’s such a diverse and creative place to live,” she said.
Hubbard is also an artist in an unusual medium: glass blowing and design.
As chairman of the Homewood Arts Council, she’s able to support both her city and her fellow artists, whether they paint, sing or express themselves in other creative ways.
The council is “the voice of these people,” Hubbard said. “We want to make sure they’re recognized. And we want to create art experiences for the community.
“There’s so much talent in Homewood. It makes our job easy.”
Hubbard spent two years at Auburn University at Montgomery before deciding to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
“I started out in woodworking and furniture design but then swapped over to glass blowing and design,” she said. “I liked the fluid material used in glass blowing and the immediate results.”
While she loved her studies, she said, she missed Southern hospitality and warm weather. She eagerly returned to Alabama in 2003 to take a job at Bear Creek Glass, then located at Birmingham’s Pepper Place.
“We made glass sinks, pendant lights and chandeliers,” she said.
She also helped create major pieces to exhibit at KBIS, the annual Kitchen and Bath Industry Show–and discovered another talent.
“I had the opportunity to play around in all areas of the business,” she said. “I got into the marketing side.”
After pursuing other artistic jobs, including a stint with Eclectic Pottery, Hubbard joined the Homewood Chamber of Commerce as executive assistant.
“I fell in love with Homewood,” she said. “It’s one of the most accepting and welcoming communities around. There’s an energy here.”
Hubbard said Homewood Arts Council members make a great team.
“We all put in our equal share of work,” she said. “Everyone gets a say.”
The arts council actually had existed before but had become inactive, said Homewood City Councilwoman Jenifer Champ Wallis. She proposed reviving the council and asked to be appointed its city council liaison.
The new arts council “has been amazing from the get-go,” Wallis said. “They’re so excited to be reinvigorating the arts in Homewood.”
Wallis said Hubbard is an “amazing leader We couldn’t have had a better person for the job.”
One of the council’s first projects is called “Live@.”
“It’s a series that focuses on certain areas of art at different locations,” Hubbard said. “We just finished a music series in August. We hosted musicians at local coffee shops. We’re hoping to have a spoken word series in November and also a Painting in the Park series.”
Red Dot Gallery owner Dori DeCamillis and daughter Annabelle have agreed to teach outdoor painting lessons, Hubbard said.
The arts council is partnering with the city of Homewood and the Homewood City Schools Board of Education to host Symphony under the Stars, a free outdoor concert by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 at Homewood’s Central Park.
“A music ensemble from Homewood schools will open the show at 6 p.m.,” Hubbard said.
Also in the works is a community art gallery at Homewood City Hall.
Although Hubbard has loved the creative process ever since she took art lessons as a 3-year-old, she’s happy to have found a new niche. She recently became assistant director of development at Mitchell’s Place, which serves children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
“I feel like I’m a better promoter than an artist,” Hubbard said. “In developing and marketing, you have to think outside the box—just like an artist does.”
