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Tastemakers return to Antiques at The Gardens

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Photo courtesy of The Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

Antiques at The Gardens is taking things further from tradition with its 2013 show.

Following last year’s success introducing visitors to “Tastemakers,” The Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ show is refining and advancing the concept. According to event chair Tricia Holbrook, this year’s Antiques at The Gardens will feature more than a dozen themed spaces that have been designed through collaboration between antiques dealers and local architects and designers.

“The concept we have here, which I think is still unique in the country, is that these Tastemakers are given a scene or a theme and asked to curate their space in the show around it,” Holbrook said. “So, you get the benefit of having designers sort through a world of goods and edit a selection for you.”

Holbrook took over the show prior to last year’s event and helped introduce the concept of Tastemakers. She said it was necessary, as the show had seen declines in attendance and needed to focus on attracting a younger audience. People age 30 to 55 currently dominate the home interiors market, she said, and drawing them out required adding a few big names to the marquee.

However, the change worried some antiques dealers. The concept of pairing with a designer he or she had never worked with – or heard of, in some cases – produced a crop of skeptical sellers. As the show’s new concept attracted the interest of the press, it was the designers who ended up in the spotlight.

“But then, that was what brought people in,” Holbrook said. “So dealers did better than they had done before, simply because we attracted younger people than a traditional antique show.”

And this year, everyone is definitely on board.

Montgomery architect Bobby McAlpine is anchoring the slate of participating Tastemakers. He supplements his renowned structural styling with an interior design firm and two lines of handcrafted furniture, and he’s pairing up with North Carolina’s Cindy Smith, owner of Circa Interiors and Antiques. For the 2013 Antiques at The Gardens, the pair will design and present a space with the theme “Welcome Home.”

Also pairing up are Birmingham’s Paul Bates and Jeremy Corkern of Bates Corken Studio with Betsy Brown, owner of Betsy Brown Interiors in Mountain Brook Village. In all, 14 themed areas with goods selected from Birmingham and other regions of the country will be on display for the event, and everything will be for sale.

“You can go to an interior designer and pay by the hour or by the piece,” Holbrook said. “But in this case you get a feel for each designer or architect as you meet them. So, you can go to any particular space in the show and find things hand-selected by a person you’d normally be paying. You get their good taste for practically nothing.”

The eighth annual Antiques at The Gardens – and second showing of the Tastemakers – is scheduled for Oct. 3-6. The event is sponsored by IBERIABANK and since 2006 has raised more than $2 million for The Gardens’ educational’ programs.

For more, contact Shelly McCarty at 414-3965, email smccarty@bbgardens.org or visit bbgardens.org/antiques. Tickets can be purchased at bbgardens.org/antiques or by calling 414-3950.

This Year’s Tastemakers

Schedule

Oct. 3: Red Diamond Lecture Series. 1:30 p.m. Featuring Bobby McAlpine

Oct. 4: Sterne Agee Gala in The Gardens. 7-11 p.m. Black-tie event with private shopping.

Public Show Hours

Oct. 3: 1-5 p.m.

Oct. 4: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Oct. 5: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Oct. 6: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Tickets

Show: $10 non-members, free to members

Sterne Agee Gala in The Gardens: $150

Red Diamond Lecture Series: $30

Visit bbgardens.org/antiques or call 414-3950.

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