Friday, December 3rd ,as part of the Downtown Boone Art Crawl, the Watauga County Arts Council located in the Jones House at 604 W. King Street will host two new exhibits as well as our Senior Gallery Exhibit.  There is a reception from 6:30 pm until 8:00pm and as usual the Jones House is decorated from top to bottom with wonderful Christmas decorations that add so much to the season as well!

The Mazie Jones Gallery will feature the work of Joe Miller this month. Most people know Joe as “Cheap Joe” the owner of Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.  Joe was born and raised right here in Boone. When he graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy , he returned to have a career at Boone Drug. He started Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff in 1985 located in the upstairs of  the Boone Drug Store in downtown Boone.  Now retired from pharmacy, he still paints, teaches workshops, and hangs out at  Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, now located off Hwy. 421 on Industrial  Park Drive. What you might not know is that Joe was instrumental in starting the Watauga County Arts Council, which will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2011.

Joe has had several one-man shows, and has won several awards, including the American Watercolor Society’s highest award, “The Dolphin Medal”.  He has written two books, Joe’s Journals and Old Watercolorists Never Die, They Just Wet Their Sheets.  His paintings are in the collections of presidents, congressmen, and many private and corporate collections.  Joe is a life member of the High Country Watermedia Society, the Watercolor Society of North Carolina, and the Florida Watercolor Society. He resides in Boone with his wife, Lynda. Come out to the gallery reception on Friday evening and meet Joe as you enjoy his wonderful artwork!

The Open Door Gallery will showcase the work of the employees of Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff. Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff is an internationally known Art Supply Company headquartered in Boone.   Employing nearly 60 staffers, one third of the employees are practicing artists. The work of several of these employees is featured for the month of December.  The artists are locals and some are graduates from Appalachian State University.

A variety of mediums will be represented including watercolor, gouache, acrylic and photography.  One of these employees is Terry Henry, Graphics Manager at Cheap Joe’s, who has been with the company over 15 years and creating art for over 25 years.  Terry states, “Every piece of art I have ever done is still waiting for the next step.”

Though the artists are employed in many different positions with the company, their love of art is evident in their unique artwork. Come in this month and see the diversity and interesting subject matter of each of their pieces!