Gallery News

Downtown Boone Art Crawl Friday

Compiled by Anna Oakes

Well, just like January, wintry weather is in the forecast for this month’s Downtown Boone Art Crawl, but until further notice, here are the plans for this Friday, February 5. Wear your boots, bring an umbrella and warm up inside with new, thought-provoking pieces of art.

Receptions at several downtown art galleries begin around 6:00 p.m. and continue throughout the evening. The Downtown Boone Development Association sponsors the Art Crawl. For more information, call 828-262-4532.

A new artist at ArtWalk—jewelry maker Kelly Colleen—is featured this month.

ArtWalk
611 West King Street
828-264-9998
ArtWalk continually adds new artists to its gallery. One such artist is Kelly Colleen, a jewelry designer who lives and works in New Orleans, La. Since childhood, Colleen wanted to be an artist, and finally after the birth of her first child in 2000, she decided to turn her hobby into her full-time profession.

To achieve this goal, Colleen drew on her 15 years of experience in marketing and sales management and her ongoing passion for designing.

Colleen keeps her jewelry line new and exciting. She claims that just as she is constantly evolving, so is her jewelry. Her favorite materials are Swarovski crystals, Swarovski pearls and sterling silver, as they offer an endless number of creation combinations. Her most popular items—a new arrival at ArtWalk—are her stretch rings. They make great gifts because the rings stretch to fit any finger.

Works by the Orchesis Expressive Arts Honor Society will be on display at the Jones House’s Mazie Jones Gallery in February.

Jones House Community Center
634 West King Street
828-264-1789
The Watauga Arts Council galleries at the Jones House Community Center will host receptions for two exhibitions from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. during this Friday’s Art Crawl. Refreshments will be served.

In the Mazie Jones Gallery will be works by the Orchesis Expressive Arts Honor Society. This is a group of about 18 artists that will have about 40 pieces in the exhibit. The artists are Kerry Albright Gersonde, Becca Campbell, Rachel Hawkins, Debbie Tallarico, B.T. Craig, Elena Johnson, Maloo Haynes, Ann Zenkel, Ben Asma, Pegge Laine, Meredith Casper, Elizabeth di Sarno, Rachel Siegel, Stephanie Kukich, Vicki Rodriquez, Sara Evans, Jenna Crawley and Kelly McConkey.

Orchesis feels that the human spirit is a creative dynamic force that seeks to heal the broken places within, growing toward wholeness. This belief is expressed in many media, including silkscreen, collage, watercolor, photography, sculpture, mosaics and more. The artists’ hope is to inspire all of us to find the artist that lies within each of us.

The Open Door Gallery will show the works of students from Two Rivers Community School. This school began serving Watauga and the surrounding counties in the 2005-06 school year. Students at Two Rivers are encouraged to be involved in community events and to take part in community service projects.

The art instructor, Kelly Snider, has been with the school for four years and she takes great pride in the work of her students. These young artists have used various media for their pieces and really enjoy having the community come to see their collective work.

Works by Matt Keefer and Austin Kowitz are featured at the Nthº Gallery and Studios this Friday, February 5.

Nthº Gallery and Studios
683 West King Street
Beginning around 7:30 p.m., the Nthº Gallery and Studios will host exhibitions titled Nilbog Is Goblin Spelled Backwards and If You Cared About Anything, works by Austin Kowitz and Matt Keefer.

“An overarching theme in my sculpture is often my own discomfort,” Kowitz said. “I've identified a few things that cause me to feel this way, and these are the things I find the most fascinating. It all seems to fall into an antique, strapped-together, other-worldly realm though. My illustrative work is a bit more lighthearted, still exploring one of my discomforts but in portraiture format. It’s all about humans versus inanimate and animate representations of humans, concentrating mostly on faces.”

Keefer said about his work, “If You Cared About Anything is about the amount of willpower it takes to turn someone into ice with glares of fury. Horrible one-sided arguments depicting the frank, if not sometimes damagingly blunt side of human contact. Well, yeah, there's that, and also it's...funny.”

The Nth Degree Gallery is located at 683 West King Street, across from the Post Office and above Loretta’s Vendetta. For more information, email nthdegreegallery@gmail.com or call 828-773-0895.

The Collective on Depot
125 South Depot Street
artists@thecollectiveondepot.com
Artists of The Collective on Depot will open their studio doors to the public around 7:00 p.m. Located on Depot Street in downtown Boone, through the doors left of Black Cat Burrito, The Collective On Depot is a work and studio space for local artists and musicians who contribute to the operation and management of the space. Collective members bring different media and perspectives to the group and foster a constant dynamic for collaboration, interaction and inspiration.

Current members are Brook Bower, Jamie Carroll, Chris Curtin, Dan Kaple, Brian Knox, Sean Matthews, Peter Oakley, Uijin Park, Melissa Reaves and Christian Smith. In addition to being an active studio space, The Collective on Depot is also a gallery and performance space for regional and nonregional artists and musicians and has been in operation since 2007.

Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
423 West King Street
828-262-3017
The Turchin Center will be open until 8:00 p.m. during the Downtown Boone Art Crawl.

Two new exhibitions are opening this Friday. The Appalachian Faculty Biennial opens and will remain on display through March 20 in Gallery A. Faculty exhibitions provide a great opportunity for students to view and discuss artwork produced by their teachers. They also give other faculty at ASU and the Boone community a chance to engage with the many ideas and practices being explored and taught within the Department of Art.

Also opening is an exhibition of work by abstract artist JinBao Han in Gallery B and the Mayer Gallery, also on display through March 20. Traditional Chinese painters and calligraphers inspire JinBao Han’s work. His style is both delicate and dramatic and embodies traditional Chinese painting, interpreted through his own contemporary style that includes vibrant color, resulting in what he describes as a “true, East-meets-West form of expression.” Originally from Beijing, China, JinBao Han lives in Asheville.

Friday is also the last day to view the following exhibitions: 225° F: Encaustic Encounters in the Main Gallery, Collective Dialogues: New Work from The Collective on Depot in the Mezzanine Gallery and Brush & Palette: Artists Unmasked in the Catwalk Gallery.