It’s not every day that someone gets to shine both as an actor and an artist in the same movie, but Adaria Coulter, a freshman in art and design, was lucky enough to get to do both.

Coulter was recently cast, along with pieces of her art work, in a movie called Whistling Pines. In the role of an art gallery owner, Coulter’s character has to teach art appreciation to two people who possess no artistic sense at all.

“While writing the script for the movie,” Mark Grady, the film’s director, said, “I already had this vague idea of these two people being sentenced by a judge to learn art appreciation, and knowing about Adaria’s strong art background, it was a no-brainer to add her as the gallery owner.”

According to Coulter, she has been passionate about drawing since she was a child. She also wanted to be an actress when she was younger, and had done some theater work as well.

Now she gives most of her time to pursuing art, which is her primary passion. Doing her major in design, she has tried her hand at a wide variety of forms, ranging from water colors, Photoshop and acrylic to pen and ink drawings.

The movie, which is a southern comedy, is set in a small town, and follows a big city reporter who comes to do a story about the town. However, what the residents of the town do not know is that he has come to make fun of their small town and its people.

The idea for this movie, according to Grady, himself a native of the south, was conceived through the “embellishments of the various characters typical of the south” he has known throughout his life.

This is not the first movie Coulter has done with Grady, having had a role in his first movie, Blaire’s Bridge as well. According to Coulter, she landed that role by sheer chance.

“A friend of mine wanted to try out in the auditions which were being held at Clayton Center after seeing their ad in the newspaper,” Coulter said, “so I just went along with her. I tried out, and luckily got the part.”

It then naturally followed that she would be offered a part in Grady’s second movie as well; the director has a penchant for using the same cast in all of his films. Coulter’s mother, Alnita , also had a role in the film.

“The cast is like a big family, which is not always true on every movie set”, Alnita Coulter, a seasoned actress, said. “We all have very good chemistry, which I think is due to the efforts of Mark Grady to bond us all together.”

Alnita is very proud of her daughter’s work in the movie. According to her, Adaria’s role in this movie is smaller compared to the one in Blaire’s Bridge, but much more significant.

“Adaria is a conscientious, dedicated person,” Grady said. “As usual, she did a great job. The cast and crew of the movie love her to death, she is such a delightful and outgoing person.”

Alnita thinks the movie was a wonderful chance for Adaria to showcase her art. The art gallery in which the movie scene was shot had its actual art taken down, and Adaria’s paintings were put up instead.

“Mark Grady was very open to the idea of highlighting her talent and her work,” Alnita Coulter said. “I think it is a very good opportunity for Adaria as an artist, because you never know who is going to notice it in the movie, and how it might affect her.”