Photographer Chip Cooper on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Join Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes and Mocha Market Magazine during April as we spotlight out of the box thinkers who are change agents. From serial entrepreneurs who will not allow the word “no” be a stumbling block on the road to success to leaders of organizations who challenge the status quo by leading by example to military men and women who are taking their military training that helped rebuild foreign countries and now applying their skills in their communities to photographers who allow their lens to tell stories about individuals and culture that inspire us to appreciate the beauty in all people. Tune in to hear best practices, how they became overcomers, and how they turned missteps into opportunities.

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, renown photographer and scholar Chip Cooper will talk about his latest book,Old Havana, La Habana Vieja. For three years Chip and Cuban photographer, Nestor Marti, photographed a city that is undergoing a culture rebirth that have many longing to visit Cuba. Throughout the 228 pages coffee table book you will see proud, happy people ages nine to ninety nine that are living out thriving and vibrant lives. Hear Chip share about the inspiration behind the book and Cuba's rich heritage. Chip will also give us updates on the rebuilding of his hometown, Tuscaloosa,Alabama.

Living Your Best Life, is a radio show that empowers, inspires, and motivates one to live their BEST life. Living Your Best Life can be heard on 760AM in the Middle TN Region, Inspirational Networks, military bases, and UStream.TVfrom 9-10AM CST.

More about Chip Cooper

Chip Cooper was the former Director of Photography for the University of Alabama for 33 years and is now artist in residence in the Honors College, as well as a faculty member in Arts & Sciences.

He received his BA from the University in 1972, followed by post-graduate work in photography.

While working for the University of Alabama, he published the following books: Hunting: The Southern Tradition, Taylor Publishing, Dallas Texas; Alabama Memories, WH Smith, New York City; Silent in the Land & Common Threads, CKM Press, Tuscaloosa Alabama, Crimson: The University of Alabama, Booksmith Group, Nashville Tennessee}; and Charlie Lucas, The Tin Man, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa Alabama.

He recently had a photography exhibition in Havana, Cuba, and one in Alabama with Cuban photographer Nestor Marti entitled "Side by Side." They have finished Habana Veija, (Translation: Old Havana) published by Alabama Press in February 2012.

Cooper won an award of excellence for his book, Silent in the Land, from Communication Arts Magazine, and is a past recipient of an Artist Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. He has shown his work nationally and internationally, and his work is in many museums, and private and corporate collections.

Text INSPIRE to 99000 questions or comments for Chip and to win a copy of his book. Other prizes $50 gift certificate to Barnes and Nobel and dinner for 4 to Ellendale's.

Dr. Tommy Frist, Chinese Arts Alliance Nashville, and Professor William Luis on Living Your Best Life Radio Show

Living Your Best Life Show with Genma Holmes celebrates Artober Nashville with the Frist Center. Tune in as we shine the spotlight on art, culture, community and the Frist Center’s leadership that "inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways." Each week, we will hear from individuals who will share how the Frist Center carries out its mission to present and originate high quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach that have been recognized throughout Middle Tennessee, nationally, and around the world.

On Saturday, October 8, 2011, we will be joined by Dr. Tommy Frist, Jr., Chairman of the boards for The Frist Center and The Frist Foundation and Chairman Emeritus of Hospital Corporation of America; Jen-Jen Lin, Director of Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville; and Dr. William Luis Professor of Spanish at Vanderbilt University and Editor of Afro Hispanic Review. In the Nashville-Middle Tennessee region, Living Your Best Life Radio can be heard live on 880AM and on Ustream.TV worldwide from 10am-12pm CST.

Dr. Tommy Frist, Jr.

Dr. Tommy Frist will share from the annals of Nashville’s history about the Frist Center's early years. Hear how his family and the Frist Foundation embarked on a venture to transform an old post office into an art museum that started in the 1990s. They implemented an interesting public/private venture between the Frist Foundation, the U.S. Postal Service, and the city of Nashville. The Frist Center opened its doors as a non-collecting museum to the public in April, 2001.

Chinese Arts Alliance Nashville, Director Jen-Jen Lin


The Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville (CAAN), a Frist Center community partner organization, was organized to promote the awareness, understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of Chinese visual arts and performing arts by presenting fine Chinese visual arts, crafts, performing artists and culture to the public. Their activities include seminars, art exhibitions, classroom teaching, educational workshops, and public programs for children and adults.

Jen-Jen will share about her involvement with the Frist Center’s Connecting Cultures Exhibit and the upcoming show at the Nashville Public Library, We Are One. We Are One celebrates the diverse ethnic groups in Chinese culture with various dances. This presentation includes dances representing Han people, Manchu people, Mogols, Chinese Muslims, and Tibetans.

To learn more about CAAN click here


Afro-Cuban Chinese Heritage

William Luis is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Spanish at Vanderbilt University. He has held teaching positions at Dartmouth College, Yale University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Binghamton University. Luis has published thirteen books and more than one hundred articles. His authored books include Literary Bondage: Slavery in Cuban Narrative (1990), Dance Between Two Cultures: Latino Caribbean Literature Written in the United States (1997), Culture and Customs of Cuba (2001), Lunes de Revolución: Literatura y cultura en los primeros años de la Revolución Cubana (2003), Juan Francisco Manzano: Autobiografía del esclavo poeta y otros escritos (2007), and Bibliografía y antología crítica de las vanguardias del Caribe: Cuba, Puerto Rico y República Dominicana (2010). Also, Luis is Editor of the Afro-Hispanic Review. Born and raised in New York City of a Chinese father and a Cuban mother, Luis is widely regarded as a leading authority on Latin American, Caribbean, Afro-Hispanic, and Latino U.S. literatures.
Read William Luis Curriculum VITe here

Photo Credits: Dr.Tommy Frist with Genma Holmes and Terriance Moody, CEO of Dream Systems, LLC courtesy of the Frist Center
We Are One-CAAN
Professor William Luis and Mayor Karl Dean-Vanderbilt Press