CCC&TI Presents Winter Into Spring Art Show at High Country Press Friday

Story by David Brewer

This Friday, April 3, the High Country Press will host Winter Into Spring, a visual and performance art show presented by students enrolled in Watauga Opportunities, Inc.’s Community Classroom through CCC&TI’s compensatory education program. The artist reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by a performance at 8:10 p.m.

This Friday, April 3, Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute presents Winter Into Spring, a visual and performance art show at the offices of High Country Press in downtown Boone. The event is sponsored by the Watauga Arts Council and High Country Press and will be in conjunction with the monthly Downtown Boone Art Crawl.

The visual art opening and reception will last from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., followed by a performance art piece at 8:10 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Artists who contributed pieces to Winter Into Spring are enrolled in the visual and performance art classes as part of the Watauga Opportunities, Inc. Community Classroom through CCC&TI’s Compensatory Education Program. Local artist and teacher Mary Anne Maier is the show’s organizer and will direct the evening’s performance.

Graphic artist and photographer Jill Smith is the show’s curator.

The Compensatory Education (CED) Program at CCC&TI serves adults with developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injury. Classes are designed to help students acquire basic skills to develop abilities needed to become more independent and self-directed. The two community classrooms serve from 10 to 14 adults each and classes are held for six hours per day, Monday through Friday. Students learn to manage social, work and personal adult responsibilities by engaging in activities throughout the community that promote self-determination. The GED program is part of the Basic Skills Department at CCC&TI.

Last year, Maier was asked to hold a creative movement workshop for students enrolled in the CED program, which led to an ongoing residency at CCC&TI. Although she wanted to hold the show as early as last fall, Maier and others have worked diligently to pull together the pieces and sponsors to make Winter Into Spring possible.

“My goal is for people that aren’t normally able to show their art to be allowed a venue for expression,” said Maier. “My goal for teaching these art classes is that when they get home from work or doing what they have to do, they can express themselves through art and that that’s a fulfilling thing in their lives.”

All students in the CED program have at least one piece in the show. Pieces range from small to medium-sized paintings to mixed media pieces and texture collages that employ a variety of materials. Some of the artists also plan to enter their work in an upcoming exhibition through Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.

Maier described the performance piece as a 3-D visual art expression with people and music.

A grassroots grant from the Watauga Arts Council aided considerably in pulling the show together. Other local businesses and organizations that helped make the show possible include High Country Dance Studio, Purveyors of Art & Design, Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, Earth Fare and Stickboy Bread Company.

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