Walk upstairs to the Hanes Gallery in the Scales Fine Arts Center and you will step into a town "frozen in time."

"Corapeake," an exhibition by Kendall Messick, '87, inspired by Brenda Parker-Hunt, '89, offers a glimpse into the life and history of a coastal Carolina community rich in spirit and tradition. The exhibit includes photographs and a documentary featuring the people of Corapeake and their stories. Messick learned about the town from Parker-Hunt, who lived there until she was eight years old, and returned in the summers to visit her relatives.

"She was definitely my best friend," Messick said of Parker-Hunt, whom he met when he was a senior and she a sophomore. "She had always talked about Corapeake."

In 1995 she took him there for the first time to meet and photograph her aging relatives. It was a rewarding and inspiring experience for him. "In the people of Corapeake, I found unconditional acceptance and love that had been born amidst hardship and faith," Messick said.

Like many rural southern towns, Corapeake is kept alive by its close-knit inhabitants. Herman Eure, professor and chair of the biology department and Parker-Hunt's first cousin, also grew up in Corapeake and speaks passionately about his hometown. His mother, known to those in Corapeake as "Aunt Sarah," is a prominent maternal figure in the community. Eure and his siblings often had to contend with cousins and friends for her attention.

"It was a very supportive system," Eure said. "There was not a lot of money, but it was supportive."

As one of the few residents to go to college and earn an advanced degree, Eure served as a representative for the community.

"I was getting my degrees for the black community of Corapeake. Failure was not an option," he said.

Despite the increased pressure, there was also the sense that his success was for everyone back home. In the face of hardships like poverty and death, the people remain strong. Eure said of the Corapeake documentary, "What comes through is a close-knit, spiritual group of individuals who face adversity religiously and with heart."

Both Eure and creator Messick feel that the story of Corapeake is not about racism or the black community, but that it is a story common to any small coastal Carolina town.

"It is more about everyday life, home and a time that is passing away; it is a universal story," Messick said. He was actually inspired by the stories of his own grandfather; especially Eure's mother Sarah and a woman named Eley Otelia Demiel, who celebrates her 107th birthday next month.

"Corapeake is about love and loss and hope and faith," Messick said. "It follows the circle of life from cradle to grave. It explores the nature of memory in that it is about what is remembered as much as what is forgotten."

Downstairs in the gallery you will find a completely different take on the world in "Pattern and Possibility," the poems and watercolors of alumnus A. R. Ammons, '49. Ammons, who passed away last year, was a North Carolina native. A professor at Cornell University for 30 years, he published many books of poetry, garnering accolades including a National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Ammons was "generally considered by critics as possibly the finest American poet for the latter half of the twentieth century," said English professor William Moss. "He was certainly a very fine poet and a very good friend to Wake Forest and to the English department."

The watercolor paintings that accompany selected Ammons poems are a visual extension of his literarture. The exhibit contains 54 paintings from the private collection of Winston-Salem resident Emily Herring Wilson. The works range from Picasso-style portraits to more abstract works.

Ammons paid several visits to the campus, including two stays as poet in residence. "When he was a poet in residence he really brought the whole poetry scene at Wake Forest alive; aspiring poets came out of the woodwork," Moss said. The English department recently dedicated its lounge to him.

Both "Corapeake" and "Pattern and Possibility" will run in the Hanes Gallery in the Scales Fine Arts Center from Oct. 11 to Nov. 13.

The opening reception showcasing the exhibitions will be Oct. 11 from 7 - 9 p.m. There will also be a screening of a video documentary accompanying Messick's "Corapeake," which has won several awards.

Get a sneak preview of the show at www. corapeake.com.

Learn about A.R. Ammons at http://www.ncwriters.org/arammons.htm.