By Emily Enfinger | The Selma Times-Journal

Doors opened at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, at the Walton Theater for the third annual Art Jam, hosted by the Blackbelt Benefit Group.

The night kicked off with an art exhibition that was free to the public.

A.C. Reeves, realtor at Real Estate Gallery, which was a sponsor of Art Jam, said a majority of the artists were local, such as Peggy Allison, Kristen Jones and Kathleen McQueen Wright.

Kathleen McQueen Wright, Selma artist, had acrylic paintings on canvas as well as nontraditional surfaces such as a trumpet and guitar.

“I’m proud of being a part of this,” Wright said.

Artists sold their works with a 10 percent commission that went toward the efforts of the Blackbelt Benefit Group.

Beverages were served in an adjacent room, which included craft beers such as Railyard from Montgomery and Natty Greene’s from North Carolina.

At 7 p.m., Kate Hollingsworth and Taylor Hollingsworth of Dead Fingers opened the concert singing an acoustic set of their original songs and a John Prine cover. Afterwards Will Kimbrough, Grayson Capps and Corky Huges made their appearance. Kimbrough said that he, Capps and Huges also play in a group called “Willie Sugarcapps.”

“We all play together often,” Kimbrough said, “But we got booked separately for it and then we were like, ‘Hey, why don’t we play together?’”

Kimbrough said that he, Capps and Huges are all from the lower Alabama area and that his and Hugh’s fathers were born in Selma.

“I haven’t been in Selma in a long time so I was excited to come to Dallas County,” Kimbrough said.

Cory Taylor, KFC general manager, said that this is the second year his restaurant has been a sponsor for the event.

“Everything they do is to try to build Selma. I think it’s a great deal, a great cause,” he said.