WAC Gallery Information for May 2009

The galleries of the Watauga Arts Council in the Jones House Community Center in downtown Boone have two groups of artists’ works on display throughout May - one a trio of friends and the other an Appalachian State University class.

In the downstairs Mazie Jones Gallery, Marsha Holmes, Tara Belk, and Beth Andrews come together for a collaborative show called “Three Point Perspective”

Over the course of the last 18 months the artists have been meeting once a week to paint, share ideas, encouragement and explore outside of their comfort zone. Each have a different medium of preference, but are bridging one another’s favorite medium in order to stretch their visual voices and grow. The work they are presenting encompasses collage, charcoal, graphite, pastels, watercolor, acrylic and oils. They balanced their time working in plein-air as well as in the studio.”

“At one point, we all noted how exciting it was to view the three different perspectives that we each brought to the same scene or subject. Our weekly art sessions together have provided great opportunities to take risks we might not otherwise have tried, and at the same time, we provide each other with fresh insights and perspectives,” the artists said. “We have grown close and become as sisters on this journey.”

“We feel this collection of work celebrates our unity and support of one another as artists, while it emphasizes our individuality. It has become our personal visual voices harmonizing in the singing of the same song,” they said.

In the Open Door Gallery, ASU students will exhibit experimental works created this spring in the introductory pilot course, Technology for Art Education, taught by Dr. Janet Montgomery.  The digital images, animations, and movies were created by both students and instructor using either open-source software available to anyone via Internet, or free, downloadable software.  The goal was to research and try out the various software and technologies as cost-effective alternatives for use in teaching art in the K-12 classroom.  Other works by the students will also be exhibited.  The digital portion of the exhibition may be of interest to local K-12 educators, as Dr. Montgomery is holding a technology workshop for teachers in July.

Both exhibits are on display from Tuesday, April 28 until Friday, May 29 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, April 3 from 5:30-8 p.m. and is held in conjunction with downtown Boone’s First Friday Art Crawl. The music, food and beverage are all free and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.

As a special musical treat the evening of the reception, the Watauga Arts Council will have on hand two musical features.

From 5:30- 6:30 p.m., members of the ASU African Music and Dance Troupe and the ASU-Community Music School will perform on the Jones House Lawn. The performance is free and the public is invited to participate in learning Yankadee, a full moon dance from Guinea, West Africa, led by Nia Dickens.

Also, throughout the evening, Sharon Mitchell, songwriter, singer, and musician, will entertain gallery patrons playing popular standards and old favorites on the antique upright piano in the parlor.

The Watauga Arts Council 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 downtown Boone at the Jones House Community & Cultural Center, owned by the town of Boone.