Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Downtown Boone Art Crawl Joins July 4th Activities

Compiled by Anna Oakes

For a well-rounded holiday weekend, be sure to include the monthly Downtown Boone Art Crawl in your Independence Day activities. Taking place on Friday, July 4, beginning at 5:30 p.m., the Art Crawl will dovetail perfectly between afternoon events and fireworks in the evening.
The Downtown Boone Development Association sponsors the Art Crawl. For more information, call 828-262-4532.

Jones House Community Center
634 West King Street
828-264-1789

The Watauga Arts Council’s July gallery exhibits in the downtown Boone Jones House Community Center appeal to the nature lover in everyone. The gallery reception to welcome these exhibits is from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. during the July 4 Art Crawl. Free food and beverage will be served and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Anne Hardin’s exhibit, The Color of Summer in the Mazie Jones Gallery, evokes a feel of warm summer days in full bloom. From fruits to flowers to beautiful mountain scenes, her love of painting and nature is evident.

“I like simple and uncluttered and I think that reflects in my work,” she said. “I see color and texture in everything. Most of what I paint comes from my imagination, although sometimes I see something in a photo or a vista that sparks me to create and I will carry that into the present piece.” Hardin said her art is a combination of realism and impressionism that she uses to convey not so much a scene, but a feeling.

Raised on Cape Cod, the oldest of ten children in an Irish Catholic family, Hardin moved to North Carolina in 1993 and to the mountains in 1996. She lives in Ashe County with her husband Tim and her three children, three cats and one dog. View Hardin’s art on her website at www.annehardinfineart.com.

In the Open Door Gallery, another exhibit showcasing the beauty of nature features the work of Sidney M. Boss titled Great Grandpa Sid’s Collection.

Boss was born in Superior, Wis., in 1911 and was accepted at the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 1929. During the Depression, he supported himself painting signs for local merchants in Chicago’s South Side. His first job was with the Southtown Economist newspaper doing layouts and art ads. He formed a partnership to do advertising and eventually started Sid Boss & Associates. His firm grew and he contracted work for several artists at his studio in the historic Marquette Building in Chicago’s Loop. His most notable client was Sears Roebuck.
At retirement, he found his passion as a painter of landscapes. He and his wife Mary divide their time between Linville and Sarasota.

ArtWalk
611 West King Street
828-264-9998

Richard Kolb, Miller and 2 Chicks, Pam Mitchell, McKinney Forge and Virginia Tocaben are just a handful of ArtWalk artists who take pride in creating durable artwork fit for the home or backyard. This Independence Day, spice up your backyard with artwork for your friends, family and neighbors to enjoy. Check it all out from 5:30 to 8:30 during the July 4 Art Crawl.

Rich Kolb of Kentucky creates fun and whimsical animals from reclaimed metal scraps. The artwork can either keep the original finish or let the weather take hold and transform it into a beautiful deep orange. See ArtWalk’s entrance level for Kolb’s dogs, cats, mice, moose and more.

Miller and 2 Chicks, based in High Point, give customers the opportunity to have flowers in bloom year round. With their reclaimed license plates and miscellaneous metal parts, they create colorful flowers to be displayed in the garden or used as interior décor. Some flowers have moving parts that allow them to spin like windmills with a good summer breeze.

Pam Mitchell in Florida also has some great options for yard decor. Mitchell transforms tin pieces into indoor/outdoor signs with quotes and themes of summer. Marian McKinney of McKinney Forge in Missouri hand forms copper into unique birdfeeders. These whimsical birdfeeders stand high in the form of a sunflower attracting various breeds of birds. Over time, the outdoor air and moisture will change the feeder into an elegant green patina, matching any landscape.

Virginia Tocaben is an artist of multiple skills. With her metalsmithing background and knowledge of fiber processes, she forms copper baskets. These baskets can be used as wall hangings or as serving dishes for that July 4th get-together or you can line them with moss and use them as plant pots.

Hands Gallery
543 West King Street
828-262-1970

The Hands Gallery will feature artist Sharon Bass, who creates lovely woven wire jewelry. The gallery will serve refreshments during the Art Crawl.

Nth Gallery and Studios
683 West King Street

Starting at 7:30 p.m., the Nth Gallery will host the second ever funcional furniture show, titled “More Things to Put in Your Home Show & Nth? Gallery Fundraiser.” The event will feature a collection of flat art and 3-dimensional “functional” furniture specifically designed for the exhibit by Nth studio members, The Collective studio members and special guest artist Tim Salt. Money spent on the furniture will feed the coffers of both the artists and the Nth. And buyers take home a unique, functional piece of art. Everyone wins!

During the July 4 reception, the gallery will have grilled hot dogs and not-dogs with fixin’s, chips and salsa and tasty cold beverages.

The Nth will also feature a second night reception on Friday, July 11, concurrent with the Turchin Center’s big summer opening.

If you would like to purchase furniture the Nth recommends not procrastinating. During the last functional furniture exhibit, “Things to Put in Your Home Show,” the show sold out in the first 15 minutes. The Nth will also accept individual donations during this time. Monies donated to the Nth help to pay for utility bills, paint, light bulbs, nails and other supplies for gallery maintenance, and cleaning and food supplies for shows, among other things (Nth members pay for their own rent).

The Nth Gallery & Studios is an independent art venue featuring exhibits by local emerging and established artists on the first Friday of each month. The gallery is located at 683 West King Street in downtown Boone, across from the Post Office on the second floor. For more information, please call 828-264-7429.

Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
423 West King Street
828-262-3017

The Turchin Center will be closed for the Friday, July 4, Art Crawl for the state holiday. The art museum will hold a Summer Exhibition Celebration the following Friday, July 11, to welcome three new exhibitions to its galleries, including Dancing with the Dragon: Contemporary Art from Beijing.