At the invitation of my sweet friend Maria, with Lykion Ton Ellinidon Atlanta, I recently attended the regional premiere of the newly restored Academy Award-winning film (7 nominations, 3 wins) Zorba the Greek, featuring guest speaker Katherine Quinn, widow of actor and star of Zobra the Greek Anthony Quinn.
The film was screened in White Hall on the campus of Emory University. Across the quad from White Hall is the Michael C. Carlos Museum, which has a magnificent Greek art collection that spans thousands of years! Loving a themed excursion, I stopped by the Museum before going to see the movie.
I first met Maria at the annual Atlanta Greek Festival in 2013. We talked enthusiastically about the more than two years that I lived in Greece, when I was 19, and she has since very kindly kept me aware of Greek cultural events around town. Her kindness is exactly the kind of hospitality I experienced when I lived in Greece. So many wonderful memories!
Katherine Quinn shared with us the mission and some of the accomplishments of the Anthony Quinn Foundation, of which she is the Founder and President. She was wholly delightful and excited to present to the sold-out, nearly 100% Greek audience.
The Foundation's mission is "to advocate for the important role arts education plays in personal development and in the overall improvement of social, economic and cultural systems".
I learned, as I believe did many that day, that Anthony Quinn was a prolific artist. In fact, he did not want to be an actor, but wanted to be an architect or a painter. His acting life also was quite prolific, as well, starring in 180 films and winning two Academy Awards and one Golden Globe...all the while painting and sculpting more than 5,000 pieces throughout his life.
Quinn, who was born in Mexico—he wasn't at all Greek—to parents who fought in the Mexican Revolution, was raised in Los Angeles. In high school he won an architecture competition, the prize for which was being mentored by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright! Wright had Quinn enrolled in acting classes to improve his speech—for future professional opportunities in the architecture arena. As many of us have experienced, a single action can direct a lifetime.
The film, Zorba the Greek, takes place on Crete, the largest island of Greece. Crete was the last of my many, many excursions when living in Greece, and was one of the most fun!
The film, as brilliant as it is, brings to light certain archaic social injustices, which were difficult to watch. The magnificent Crete I knew in the mid 1980s was quite a different place from what was depicted in the movie. Again, the acting was brilliant and definitely deserving of its three Oscars, but my experience was nothing like what I saw on screen!
The above artifact, in the Greek collection at the Carlos Museum, is a discus. Seeing it immediately took me back to my visit to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and farther into the future when I attended some of the 1996 Olympic Games right here in Atlanta. That's to say that seeing the Greek collection on every visit to the Michael C. Carlos Museum is a special event for me.
As many know, Turner Field—home of the Atlanta Braves for one more season—was our Olympic Stadium in 1996 before being converted into a baseball stadium. With the move of the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County next season, the fate of our former Olympic Stadium is uncertain. I for one hope that it does not meet with the wrecking ball, as does too many of our treasures. In the meantime, I highly recommend a tour of Turner Field!
Whether a visiting tourist or a local, I encourage you to avail yourself of the many arts and cultural programs offered at Emory University through Arts at Emory, which features film, dance, music, theater and more.
This wasn't my first time to see a movie in Emory University's White Hall. In fact, I saw quite a few there when they hosted a series last year titled, "Movies Made in Georgia".
If you've not been to the Michael C. Carlos Museum, make your way there. You'll not only get to see their magnificent Greek collection, you'll see art and antiquities from all over the world, including quite a few Egyptian mummies!
The film was screened in White Hall on the campus of Emory University. Across the quad from White Hall is the Michael C. Carlos Museum, which has a magnificent Greek art collection that spans thousands of years! Loving a themed excursion, I stopped by the Museum before going to see the movie.
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
I first met Maria at the annual Atlanta Greek Festival in 2013. We talked enthusiastically about the more than two years that I lived in Greece, when I was 19, and she has since very kindly kept me aware of Greek cultural events around town. Her kindness is exactly the kind of hospitality I experienced when I lived in Greece. So many wonderful memories!
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
Katherine Quinn shared with us the mission and some of the accomplishments of the Anthony Quinn Foundation, of which she is the Founder and President. She was wholly delightful and excited to present to the sold-out, nearly 100% Greek audience.
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
The Foundation's mission is "to advocate for the important role arts education plays in personal development and in the overall improvement of social, economic and cultural systems".
I learned, as I believe did many that day, that Anthony Quinn was a prolific artist. In fact, he did not want to be an actor, but wanted to be an architect or a painter. His acting life also was quite prolific, as well, starring in 180 films and winning two Academy Awards and one Golden Globe...all the while painting and sculpting more than 5,000 pieces throughout his life.
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
Quinn, who was born in Mexico—he wasn't at all Greek—to parents who fought in the Mexican Revolution, was raised in Los Angeles. In high school he won an architecture competition, the prize for which was being mentored by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright! Wright had Quinn enrolled in acting classes to improve his speech—for future professional opportunities in the architecture arena. As many of us have experienced, a single action can direct a lifetime.
 |
| Stele of Glaukotas | Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
The film, Zorba the Greek, takes place on Crete, the largest island of Greece. Crete was the last of my many, many excursions when living in Greece, and was one of the most fun!
The film, as brilliant as it is, brings to light certain archaic social injustices, which were difficult to watch. The magnificent Crete I knew in the mid 1980s was quite a different place from what was depicted in the movie. Again, the acting was brilliant and definitely deserving of its three Oscars, but my experience was nothing like what I saw on screen!
 |
| Discus | Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
The above artifact, in the Greek collection at the Carlos Museum, is a discus. Seeing it immediately took me back to my visit to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and farther into the future when I attended some of the 1996 Olympic Games right here in Atlanta. That's to say that seeing the Greek collection on every visit to the Michael C. Carlos Museum is a special event for me.
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
As many know, Turner Field—home of the Atlanta Braves for one more season—was our Olympic Stadium in 1996 before being converted into a baseball stadium. With the move of the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County next season, the fate of our former Olympic Stadium is uncertain. I for one hope that it does not meet with the wrecking ball, as does too many of our treasures. In the meantime, I highly recommend a tour of Turner Field!
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
Whether a visiting tourist or a local, I encourage you to avail yourself of the many arts and cultural programs offered at Emory University through Arts at Emory, which features film, dance, music, theater and more.
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
This wasn't my first time to see a movie in Emory University's White Hall. In fact, I saw quite a few there when they hosted a series last year titled, "Movies Made in Georgia".
 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Greek Collection |
If you've not been to the Michael C. Carlos Museum, make your way there. You'll not only get to see their magnificent Greek collection, you'll see art and antiquities from all over the world, including quite a few Egyptian mummies!
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