FEATURES

Artists, Photographers show work at ARTifacts
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

For the first time since 1987, the South-Central Regional Conference of the national organization, Society for Photographic Education, will be held Thursday through
Saturday in the Wichita Falls area.
The conference, hosted by Dr. Gary Goldberg, professor of arts at Midwestern State University, will include an exhibition at the Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center, a day of screening, discussion, and performance at Archer City’s Royal Theater, as well as the opening reception of ARTifacts, an invitational photographic exhibition assembled specifically for this conference, in the Lamar D. Fain Fine Arts Center.
The MAC will host Robert Hirsch’s “World in a Jar: War & Trauma,” Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. Hirsch, a photographer, author, educator and curator, has written three widely-used books dealing with light and photography. He will also present a slide lecture on Saturday in room C111 of the Art Department wing of the Fine Arts Center.
On Friday the day’s activities will begin with a screening of Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Larry McMurtry’s Academy Award-nominated film, “The Last Picture Show” at 1 p.m. in the Royal Theater in Archer City.  The film, shot in the 1970s in Wichita Falls and Archer City, stars Cybil Shepherd, Jeff Bridges and Randy Quaid.
There will be a panel discussion starting at 4 p.m. with Texas-born singer/songwriter Steven Fromholz, whose platinum-level songs have been recorded by the likes of John Denver, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, and Jerry Jeff Walker, Craig D. Hillis, a former professional guitar player/songwriter who earned a gold record for playing lead on Jerry Jeff Walker’s album “Viva Terlinga!” and Bruce Jordan, an Austin-based documentary photographer and educator.  Following the discussion, at 7 p.m. Fromholz and friends will perform in concert.
The finale of the conference will take place in the fine arts center on Saturday with a series of lectures, workshops, and exhibitions. Featured speaker, William Christenberry, a professor of Art at Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., will give a lecture at 7 p.m. in Shawnee Theater in the Clark Student Center.
Saturday evening is the 8 p.m. opening reception of the ARTifacts exhibit, which features the photographic work of 24 artists from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. The “artifacts” in the exhibit are displayed in plexiglass boxes next to the artists’ photographic displays.  They are the inspirational source for the artists’ work. “The idea is ‘where do ideas come from?’ and that is what the exhibition is about.  It not only shows you the artwork, but it shows you the idea of the beginning point for the artwork,” said Goldberg, a 30-year member of the Society.
The exhibition at the MAC, Christenberry’s lecture and the ARTifacts exhibition are all free of charge and open to the public.  The cost of full access to the conference is $40 per student, $60 for Society members, and $80 for non-members.
For more information on any aspect of the three-day conference, contact Gary Goldberg at 397-4382.


Local Thai Restaurant offers Tasty, Inexpensive Cuisine
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

After seeing the menu insert in the city paper, I was curious to see what the Thai Orchid restaurant, a non-smoking facility located across from the
Hawthorn Suites at 1912 N. Elmwood, had to offer me.
Upon entering, guests are greeted by the sound of flowing water from a fountain seated in a rock bed and framed by seven archways.
Past this is a large, delicately-colored mural along a wall leading to the main floor, which looked to seat about 120 people in its four-seater booths, topped with simple latticework adorned with realistic ivy. 
In the front part of the restaurant were two large banquet rooms with seating for several more people.
Clear glass chandeliers provided the subdued lighting over the tables and above the booths hung silver-bottomed bulbs in simple domes.
Though we entered a short time before afternoon closing, the restaurant’s staff was quite pleasant and accommodating. We were promptly asked where we would like to be seated and led to a booth. Our friendly waitress immediately produced menus and took our drink orders.
Artificial lilies and trees were placed strategically near the kitchen doorway and the hall to the bathroom, and bright, plastic orchids sat in small pots behind the collections of tabletop condiments, which included the usual granulated additives (sugar, salt, pepper, and sweetener), as well as soy sauce, Thai mustard, and sweet and sour sauce.
I had asked my husband, Mack, to join me in sampling the cuisine. We each ordered the two-entree lunch special, which included any two of nine entree choices available with the special, fried or steamed rice, and an egg roll for $5.25.
First I sampled something unfamiliar. The green curry, a sort of soup made with coconut milk, green curry paste, bamboo slices, green peas and bell peppers, is available with your choice of pork, chicken, shrimp, or, as I chose, beef.
The dish is not only colorful and attractive to the eye, but quite possibly the best food I have ever tasted.  It was creamy, spicy and sweet, mild but not bland, and, strangely, rather refreshing.
The second entree of choice was lemon chicken, a dish of which I am something of an expert, having ordered it at every Oriental restaurant my parents have taken me to throughout my life and in both Nebraska and Texas. It was, by far, the best I have had.  The chicken was lighter and less greasy, and the sauce was much less sticky and thick than most I have sampled.  My husband’s sweet and sour chicken had much the same effect on our palates. We agreed that it was better than others we have tried, in both meat and sauce.
The fried rice didn’t have that overwhelming fried-MSG (a preservative often used in Oriental food) flavor and was sweeter and milder than any other fried rice I have tried.  The beef and broccoli entree was much the same; again, the too-powerful MSG flavor was thankfully absent and, as with the chicken dishes, the sauce was thin and clear, without any of the weird, too-thick clumpiness sauces can get.
Rice, whether fried or steamed, was served in a bowl-rounded mound and topped with a bit of parsley.  The steamed rice was not sticky or congealed.  Each grain of rice still looked like a grain.  The egg rolls were fresh and soft, noticeably grease-free, and very good.
Detailed here are just a few of the many menu choices.  Several appetizers and entrees, nine different soups, noodles and rice (and/or meat) in varying combinations, seafood, chef’s specials, and child’s plates are offered.  Any meal can be prepared vegetarian and take-out is available.
Lunch specials are served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Restaurant hours are Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
to 9 p.m.