Sunday, February 23, 2014

Closing Reception and Food Tasting Event at Salisbury University

Palette

A Juried Food Art Exhibit

I just got back from this event, which was very indulgent. Combining a themed exhibit that focused on art that obsesses on food as both subject, material, and content, with a local gastronomical tasting and competition involving local chefs and eateries was about the best idea ever. I had three of my larger Gastronomical Excess paintings included.
The entrance to Salisbury University Downtown Gallery. Jan Kirsh's resin sculptures filled the windows
panorama of the left gallery alley. My 4' x 4' painting"Polished Key Limes" is 2nd from left
"Flying Mangoes on the Baroque Palace Ceiling" looks down on Evolution Public House's decadent dessert ingredients
closer up to "Flying Mangoes on the Baroque Palace Ceiling"
"Donuts Behaving Badly: Drunks" hovers over grilled scallops with greens and pureed beets
a frame from Anna Garner's single channel video
Installation by Lea Wise-Surguy , foreground, a Kira Greene painting on the wall, and standing in the middle: Maarten Pereboom, Dean of the school of Liberal Arts,  and Marisa Sage,
Galleries Manager.
Torching the marshmallow before adding a sauce that included a reduction from a local beer.
Details from Kira Greene's mixed water media/pencil pieces
A David Willison print behind some kind of fancy bacon dish being plated.
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Palette artists include: 
Andi Fink,  Kira Greene, Anna Garner, Alyssa Hayes, Susan Holt, Jan Kirsh, Annell Livingston, Benjamin Madeska, Tim McCourt, Stacy Swinderski, Denise Stewart-Sanabria, Sarah Swist, David Willison, and Lea Wise-Surguy.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Why Nashville Gets High Art Ratings

When Nashville came in 6th in a mylife.com  statistical research analysis to find the top cities for artists to live in, I wasn't surprised. They looked at all kinds of criteria from percentage of job opportunities for artists to cost of living. This put cities like Las Vegas and Austin in the top ten, and NY, NY way down off the top list. One of the things Nashville has done, along with many other cities, is have a percentage of all public building budgets be spent towards original art to be placed within the building as part of the architectural plan. However, this has proved so successful that private businesses, from banks to hotels, have been following suit.

In keeping with this spirit, there is a growing business of art leasing, along with sales, that many local businesses have been using to develop energized and esthetic workplaces. Paramore, the Digital Agency, is one that I just found out has a bunch of my plywood people on lease from my gallery, The Arts Company. I got to see how they look in the Feb. Nashville Arts Magazine article below, which can be read a bit better on their website, Nashville Arts
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My plywood people making friends, top picture.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Upcoming Regional Exhibit

 2014 Dogwood Regional Fine Art Exhibit

I will be having work in the 2014 Dogwood Regional Fine Art Exhibit , housed in the historic Emporium Center at 100 Gay Street, Knoxville, TN this April. Opening Reception is April 1st Fri.
People 29, 30, 31  charcoal and pastel pencil on plywood   78"H x 48"W x 24"D
 I'm really pleased to finally be a participant IN this exhibit. For the past five years, I've been the chairperson FOR this exhibit, and have as such been unable to have work in it. (The 1st year I was co-chair with Chris McAdoo). The two new chair-people replacing me are Kelly Hider  and Dale Mackey, who I am so excited to have running this exhibit. Kelly Hider is a past award winner in the exhibit (2013)
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Juror: "Julie Levin Caro is an art historian and curator specializing in African American art and material culture as well as American and European modernism and garden history. She has served at numerous museums since 1992 including the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, TX, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, WA, and the Colby Museum of Art in Waterville, ME. One of her most recent curatorial projects was displayed at the Colby College Museum of Art in the spring of 2010 and was entitled “Freedom of Expression: Politics and Aesthetics in African American Art.” She boasts an extensive list of publications and scholarly presentations, and has been awarded numerous awards and fellowships. Ms. Levin Caro received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ms. Levin Caro is also a professor and has lectured at a number of academic conferences as well as museums. She recently lectured at an international symposium in Berlin, Germany, and is presently a professor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. Moreover, she actively publishes on numerous African American artists and designed landscapes. She is currently working on a book project: “The Imaginary Studio: The Self-fashioning of Artistic and Social Identity in the Studios of Thomas Cole, Allan Rohan Crite and Winold Reiss.”