Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 1, 2007 issue
Take to the Streets on Friday Night
Plenty to See at Boone’s Monthly Art Crawl
Story by Kathleen McFadden
Plan to take to the streets of downtown Boone on Friday, March 2, for the monthly Art Crawl. Along with major openings at the Turchin Center, the other galleries and art shops downtown are gearing up to welcome visitors with refreshments, specials and loads of new art.
Complete your art experience by taking advantage of one of the music or dance events offered at Appalachian on Friday night: a performance by the Charlotte Symphony at 8:00, a student voice/violin recital at 6:00, another student voice recital at 8:00 and the Appalachian Dance Ensemble at 8:00.
Turchin Center Reception Celebrates Spring Exhibitions
Get your springtime dose of art at the Turchin Center’s Friday, March 2, Spring Exhibition reception, sponsored by Cheap Joe’s and held in conjunction with the Downtown Boone Art Crawl. The Spring Exhibition reception is 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., and a shuttle will be available from the Broyhill Inn between 6:45 and 9:15 p.m.
At the Turchin on Friday night, you’ll get first peek at three opening exhibits: The Graphic Imperative: International Posters of Peace, Social Justice and The Environment 1965-2005; 4th Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition and Exhibition; and Gwendolyn Nicole Allen’s Walking History. You can view three additional exhibits that opened February 2: The 86th National Watercolor Exhibition, Anne Kesler Shields’ Earthly Delights in the 21st Century, and Watercolor Works from the Turchin Center’s Permanent Collection.
The Graphic Imperative: International Posters of Peace, Social Justice and The Environment 1965-2005 is a select retrospective of 40 years of international sociopolitical posters. Themes include dissent, liberation, racism, sexism, human rights, civil rights, environmental and health concerns, AIDS, war, literacy and tolerance, collectively providing a window to an age of great change.
Also on exhibit from March 2 to June 2 is the 4th Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition and Exhibition. This competition provides amateur and professional photographers the opportunity to showcase their interpretations of the unique character, people, places and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians.
ASU Graduate Gwendolyn Nicole Allen will feature Walking History in the Catwalk Community Gallery, March 2 to April 21. Allen, who graduated in December 2006 with a bachelor of fine arts in studio art with concentrations in painting and printmaking, exhibits her most recent work exploring materials and processes associated with mixed media work.
The 86th National Watercolor Exhibition and Watercolor Works from the Turchin Center’s Permanent Collection are open through March 17. Anne Kesler Shields’Earthly Delights in the 21st Century is open through May 19.
The Turchin Center is located at 423 West King Street. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, and 12:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday. The center is closed Sunday and Monday and observes all university holidays. No admission is charged, although donations are gratefully accepted. For additional details about the Turchin Center or the upcoming exhibition program, call 828-262-3017 or click to www.tcva.org.
Photography and Art Attic Sale Preview at the Jones House
The Watauga Arts Council galleries in the Jones House Community Center in downtown Boone welcome a photography exhibit in the downstairs gallery and a preview of an art attic sale in the upstairs gallery.
In the Mazie Jones Gallery, photographer Kirk Gulden, a native of New Jersey and a resident of Wilkes County since 1980, will exhibit his photographic images titled Shadows: Enlightening the photographic image with darkness. A physician by profession, Gulden has been an increasingly serious photographer for the past 25 years. His images of flowers, architecture and landscapes emphasize the colorful textures and sensuous lines of nature’s floral creations, the sharp edges and angular shadows of architectural themes, the awesome structures and inspirational symbols of places of worship. His photography reveals the vibrant simplicity and subtle complexities of our world.
In the Open Door Gallery, a preview of the April 14 Art Attic Sale will be on display. Donated, left and forgotten art has accumulated in the attic over the years, and the time has come to let the public have a chance to collect some original art at extremely good prices. The exhibit will offer a sampling of the art that will be on sale at the attic sale.
Both exhibits will be on display through March 30 from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. The galleries are also open every Thursday during the acoustic music jams from 7:30 until 11:00 p.m.
The gallery reception to welcome these exhibits is Friday, March 2, from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The Watauga Arts Council galleries are sponsored by Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff. For more info, call 828-264-1789.
Big Specials at Purveyors of Art
Purveyors of Art & Design Materials, Inc. welcomes the National Watercolor Society traveling exhibit to the Turchin Center! In conjunction with the March 2 Downtown Boone First Friday Art Crawl and the Watercolor Society opening, Purveyors is promoting its exclusive M. Graham & Company fine artists' watercolors. Handmade with pure honey, gum arabic, glycerine and the most lightfast pigments available, each color is individually crafted to develop its own unique character. Because of its love of moisture, honey absorbs water from the atmosphere. Colors made with honey do not dry up in the tube or on the palette and always dilute easily, often after months or years of disuse. Honey has been used extensively throughout the history of art as an ingredient in water-based colors of all types.
All NWS members and artists will need to be sure and stop in during the art crawl, when M. Graham artists' paints will be on sale at 40 percent off Purveyors’ everyday low prices, plus the store is giving away a FREE tube of M. Graham Artists' Gouache with every tube of M. Graham watercolor purchased!
Also featured at Purveyors are Black Velvet brushes by Silver Brush Limited at 50 percent off! The unique blend of natural squirrel tail hair and black synthetic filament creates ideal working tools for the watercolorist, silk painter and artists working with inks, dyes, acrylics or gouache. Squirrel hair holds large amounts of color and releases it with perfect control. By itself, squirrel is delicate. So it’s blended with a synthetic to resist wear and maintain a wonderful snap and spring. This soft blend allows multiple-layer glazing without disturbing previous colors, yet it is firm enough to lift color with a gentle scrub. Black Velvet features polished black ferrules, carefully fitted to gloss black handles, each with a distinctive silver neck band, and at 50 percent off suggested retail, Purveyors invites artists to compare and find the store has the best prices anywhere on this fine line of watercolorists' tools!
Store hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The store will be open late on Friday for Art Crawl. For more info, call 828-265-0209 or click to www.artpurveyors.com.
The Cave and The Nth: The Coffee Shop Show
On Friday, March 2, Liz Roberts and Kate Grendler present The Coffee Shop Show at The Cave in the Appalachian Antique Mall and at the Nthº Gallery and Studios. Roberts and Grendler will headline a group show of painters, photographers and mixed media artists.
Both Roberts and Grendler display a love for loud colors, vague images, sharp lines and explosive paint application. Roberts’ work has most recently been displayed at the Jones House, the Wired Scholar and Black Cat. Her new work includes tiled tables and paintings. Grendler has shown her abstract work most recently at the Turchin Center, Lees-McRae College and Boone Florist.
Plan to join Roberts and Grendler as part of the Boone Art Crawl. The Cave will present the music of The King Street Jaywalkers at 6:00 p.m., and the festivities will continue at the Nthº Gallery and Studios at 7:30 p.m. with a poetry reading, coffee and refreshments.
Grendler and Roberts founded The Cave at the Appalachian Antique Mall, with the assistance of Justyn Michelle and Misty Alunda. The Cave presents the work of new and local artists. The Appalachian Antique Mall is located at 631 West King Street.
The Nthº Gallery and Studios is a cooperative endeavor that seeks to promote emerging artists and old friends who reside in the High Country. The Nthº Gallery and Studios is located at 683 West King Street across from the Post Office and is open during the Boone Art Crawl and by appointment. For info, call 828-719-9493.
ArtWalk Features More than 300 Artists
ArtWalk is always open during the downtown Boone Art Crawl, featuring refreshments and three floors of original art, pottery, photography, jewelry, fiber art, furniture, glass work, wood work, stained glass, sculpture and more.
The 9,500 square foot gallery represents more than 300 local, regional and national artists and displays their work in a completely renovated historic building in the heart of downtown Boone. ArtWalk has an inspiring collection of artistically crafted works of art and outstanding gift ideas and is conveniently located at 611 W. King Street, across from Mast General Store. ArtWalk is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, call 828-264-9998, email artwalk@artwalkboone.com or click to artwalkboone.com.
Music and Dance on Art Crawl Friday
ASU has three music events scheduled on Friday night, March 2, along with a dance performance. Any one of them offers a perfect complement to the Art Crawl experience.
6:00 p.m.—Student Voice/Violin Recital, Lillian Jones and Chloe Gude perform in the Recital Hall, free, 828-262-3020
8:00 p.m.—Appalachian Dance Ensemble, seven new works at Valborg Theatre, $10 adults/$6 students, 828-262-3063
8:00 p.m.—The Charlotte Symphony performs works by Mozart and Beethoven, Farthing Auditorium, $16 adults/$8 students, 828-262-4046
8:00 p.m.— Student Voice Recital, Lauren Maxwell and Harrison Bumgardner perform in the Recital Hall, free, 828-262-3020