The phrase ‘Latte art competition’ sounds a trifle esoteric, but those who have tried their hand at creating what is known as a rosetta know how difficult it can be.  A rosetta is the fern or tree shaped design seen atop lattes poured by only the most passionate and skilled baristas. Pouring good latte art is almost like throwing pots. Remember the feeling you had as you watched the potter pull up the sides of the vessel, shape it, trim it?  For me and many others, it was the distinct feeling of somehow naturally possessing the ability to throw a pot.  “OK, now let me do it.”  Flop. Fail.

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Straddling a line between purely physical gaming components (such as foosball) and electronic gaming (traditional microprocessor controlled video games), pinball occupies a special place in the hearts of those who grew up in the era prior to computer and home console video games. Although I grew up with computer and console games, my first job was at a video arcade where I spent many nights cleaning and repairing coin-operated pinball machines.

Shortly after being reminded of this sentimental favorite, I embarked on a cross-town quest to play every pinball machine I could find.

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The gem on Hillsborough St. in 1962 — at night, the way Joe Cox intended it. (Photo courtesy the NC Office of  Archives and History, State Archives.)

Forty-seven years ago next month, Branch Banking and Trust Company  opened its  “State College Office” at the corner of Hillsborough St. and Oberlin Rd. The ribbon cutting ceremony was held with great fanfare, with the mayor of Raleigh, the chancellor of NC State and the president of BB&T in attendance.

Though the pick and shovel groundbreaking had occurred several months earlier, the bank’s opening “broke ground” in another, more significant way — it was the first Raleigh bank to feature a work of public art as an integral part of its design — a dazzling stained glass mural.

“The mural represents the growing cooperation between artist and architect that is rapidly spreading throughout the country,” the N&O reported in an article on the event in 1962.

The architect of the State College Office was F. Carter Williams; the artist who designed the stained glass mural was none other than the renowned Raleigh artist, color theorist and School of Design professor, Joe Cox.

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