HAMLET — Bringing people together through the arts is Gerard Morrison’s goal.
And for eight years, he’s been trying to do that through the John Coltrane Music Edu-tainment Festival.
This past weekend’s event at Wayman Chapel Faith Center combined musical acts, art and an opportunity for everyone to share who they are and what they do.
The stage was flanked on either sides by paintings of Coltrane, a Hamlet native and jazz legend, by Eric Kelly III.
Coltrane was born in Hamlet on Sept. 23, 1926 and played saxophone with a variety of jazz artists — including Miles Davis and Cheraw, South Carolina native Dizzy Gillespie — before forming his own quartet in 1960, according to his biography at johncoltrane.com. Following his death from liver disease in 1967, Coltrane was awarded a Grammy for best jazz solo performance (1982), a lifetime achievement award (1997) and a special citation from the Pullitzer Prize Board for his work (2007).
Kelly, an abstract expressionist artist, spent his childhood in what is now Dobbins Heights, before moving to Durham. In addition to his Coltrane canvases, Kelly featured his collections of President Barack Obama and the metamorphosis of the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Laurinburg native Steve Pipkin, who now lives in High Point, sang a gospel tune; Hamlet’s Mario O’Farrill-Walker read a poetry selection about being a young Christian; and Tasha Sheppard of Greensboro, who performs as T-Shep, delivered an original piece of inspirational hip hop that dealt with several issues, including domestic violence.
Discussing those types of issues was also something that Morrison encouraged, especially with October being both Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The upcoming election was also a hot topic, with several people in the audience speaking out about the importance of voting and plans to help get people to the ballot box.
“If it doesn’t stimulate the mind, I won’t touch it,” Morrison told the Daily Journal prior to the event. “I’ve done a lot of work with political campaigns, so I’ve learned that. I wanted to fuse all those things together. This way we have fun, and we get things done.”
The festival also featured a list of artists and other celebrities with roots to the Sandhills and Pee Dee regions of North and South Carolina.
Morrison is hoping the event will continue to grow in the coming years.
For more information on the annual event visit www.jcmef.com or follow @JCMEF on Twitter.