costumes

Halloween in Hale

November 2, 2021

Happy Halloween! Rural Studio wasn’t the same last year without our annual traditional Halloween celebration. This year, we made up for it tenfold by carving pumpkins with our neighbors and friends again, and holding outdoor reviews during which everyone could show off their elaborately-handmade costumes.

  • the front facade of a two-story old red barn with a group of people carving pumpkin on a blue tarp underneath the porch
  • the front face of an old barn with rows of pumpkins underneath the front porch, the candle-lit pumpkins glow in the nighttime darkness

Our annual Pumpkin Carve was held on Wednesday at Red Barn, and the event would not have been possible without our partnership with the incredible Newbern Library Team. Thank you to Barbara Williams and Mary Jane Everett for helping put together a successful event, and shoutout to the Braxton family and Chris Carter for providing hotdogs fresh off the grill!

  • two row of glowing candle-lit carved pumpkins
  • two rows of glowing candle-lit carved pumpkins
  • a group of people of all ages sit together under porch roof and smile at the camera with pumpkins and carving tools in their harnds
  • a girl and a boy stand smiling in front of two carved pumpkins

We held Halloween Reviews on Friday, where current student teams presented their projects to special guest reviewers. Our fantastic crew of reviewers included Marlon Blackwell and Meryati Johari Blackwell of Marlon Blackwell Architects; Tulane University’s Assistant Director of the Small Center, Emilie Taylor Welty; Auburn University’s Assistant Professor, Jen Pindyck; and Auburn’s Front Porch Initiative Team: Betsy Farrell Garcia, Mackenzie Stagg, and Rusty Smith.

four costumed people stand in front of drawings and a large tv screen while talking to an audience wearing sweaters and jackets

Most importantly, students all wore their costumes while presenting their projects to the talented team of reviewers. There’s nothing like presenting design work to an AIA Gold Medalist while wearing a fake mustache and bowl-cut brunette wig.

  • a large group of people in colorful costumes stand clustered together on a set of stairs
  • a male student covered in brown leaves leans over and another student holds a large cardboard cutout of a leaf blower
  • a red pepper and two human-sized cactus cardboard cutouts stand in front of three people
  • three costumes made of cardboard boxes to look like the wooden and steel bathrooms at perry lakes, one male student uses cardboard to make the paths between the other boxes
  • a group of four people stand in a row, dressed in colorful jackets and homemade beetle ears
  • a man dressed in pink with a blonde wig stands next to a woman with a cardboard costume that reads "publix" stands next to a man in a box that reads "girl scout moundville mudpies" stands next to a sitting woman in girl scout attire
  • a woman in a black dress and purple headpiece stands and a man stands in a purple skirt and blue shirt costume with gold accents
  • a man, a woman holding a baby in a dragon costime, and two children in dragon costumes stand smiling together
  • a group of 16 people stand together wearing assorted colorful costumes

At the end of the day, we announced winners for the Pumpkin Carving Contest and the Costume Contest. Thanks to the Newbern Mercantile and the Newbern Library for providing amazing prizes! Congrats to all and thank you to our judges!

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