WAC Gallery Information for March 2008

The Watauga Arts Council galleries in the Jones House Community Center during March offer two diverse exhibits.

In the Mazie Jones Gallery, Jamie Goodman is exhibiting a photography exhibit titled “Boone As I See It,” a collection of photographs designed to represent how one person views the enigmatic entity that is Boone, NC. Goodman, a long time resident of the area, was raised in Boone, graduated from Watauga High School in 1988, attended Appalachian State University, graduating with a degree in English and a minor in Photography, and after several false attempts to leave the area, eventually decided to remain in the mountains.

While primarily raised in the town of Boone by university professor parents, Goodman had the unique position of being caught between the university culture and the truly local one. Her father, Ted Goodman, was born and raised in Ashe County; his ancestral family settled in that county in 1792, and farmed land near Baldwin and Fleetwood.

"I grew up seeing two completely different sides of Boone," Goodman said. "It was a unique, and sometimes confusing, way to be introduced to the social structures of society. During my college years, I discovered multiple sets of unique cultures and counter-cultures in the region, and in fifteen years of working with local newspapers and the university, I was exposed to even more diverse social circles.

"This show is an attempt to reveal my favorite parts of what we call Boone, digging into the multiple personalities that make up this unique - and sometimes wildly divergent - place we call home."

The exhibit will be a series of photographs mounted in a mixed-media style presentation, with both black & white and color prints on watercolor paper.

"This area is extremely multicultural for a small, semi-rural setting," Goodman said. "if you move from one social montage to the next, it's almost as though you have changed locales, and yet the region simultaneously maintains a cohesive, small-town atmosphere. So often you hear people who have moved to the area comment on how there really is no place like Boone. Sometimes in our daily lives I think we tend to forget that."

"I am not trying to say I know more about Boone than the next person. This is just one individual's attempt to show the fascinating, humorous and bizarre nature of this town she calls, truly, madly and deeply, home."

Goodman is currently a freelance graphic artist and photographer living in downtown Boone. She is a member of the Nth˚ Gallery & Studios, and was editor of the now-defunct nightlife publication, Shout Magazine. Goodman enjoys a mean digital Scrabble game, and spends her free time inventing new ways to cheat. She is a whopping 38 years old and finally, finally will actually drink all of her milk.

In the Open Door Gallery, a student exhibit of artwork from High Country Christian Home Schoolers (HCCHS) is on display. The art in this exhibit represents the efforts of about a dozen students who attend art classes taught during the Thoughtful Thursday program. Other offerings during this time are New Testament Greek, Guitar, knitting, karate, Latin, Science, Spanish and Drama. Art Teachers are Rebecca Burnett, Tara Belk, and Holly Soukup.

High Country Christian Home Schoolers (HCCHS) exists to provide encouragement, support and guidance to home schooling families in the High Country of North Carolina.

HCCHS endeavors to weave a tapestry of support that covers the needs of both the beginning and the veteran home schooling family. “Our heart’s desire is to cultivate lasting relationships and long-term commitment to Christian home education in the lives of HCCHS member families,” a spokesperson said.

”Our growth as a support group has been rapid. We continue to endeavor to maintain the focus on HOME, not SCHOOLING. Christ is the head of your homes and the center of our schools. Therefore, in 1997 the membership overwhelmingly decided to change their name from High Country Home Schoolers to High Country Christian Home Schoolers, thus reflecting our faith and beliefs.”

About 400 children representing 130 families are a part of the HCCHS.

Both exhibits are on display from Tuesday, March 4 until Friday, March 28 from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. The Arts Council galleries are also open Thursdays from 7:30 to 11 p.m. during the acoustic jams at the Jones House .

The gallery reception to welcome these exhibits is Friday, March 7 from 6:30-8 p.m. and is held in conjunction with downtown Boone’s First Friday Art Crawl.

The galleries are sponsored in part by Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff and Grassroots Funds of the North Carolina Arts Council. The WAC’s offices and galleries are located in the Jones Jones House Community & Cultural Center, owned by the town of Boone.