Downtown Wilmington , North Carolina is the place to be in September to experience arts and cultural events that complement the destination’s history, culture, and natural beauty. The inaugural ARTblast Festival makes its debut September 8-12. During the five-day festival, a host of musical, theatrical, and dance performances, as well as art, literary, and film events will be staged at various Downtown venues. The 9th Annual Downtown Wilmington ArtWalk & Parade (Sept. 11), one of Downtown Wilmington’s signature events, also takes place during ArtBlast.

The ARTblast Festival includes theatrical performances at Cape Fear Playhouse at Newcastle (“Shadowlands,” Thurs.-Sun.), Front Street Brewery’s Beam Room (“Murder on the High Seas,” Thurs.), Nutt Street Comedy Room (“The Nutt House” Wed. & “Quarter Life Crisis Comedy Tour” Fri.-Sat.), and Thalian Hall (“The Secret Garden,” Thurs.-Sun.). There will also be a Danceblast (Fri.) and a Contra Dance (Sat.) at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. Live music will be featured at Bellamy Mansion (jazz, Fri.), The Soap Box Laundrolounge (Fri.-Sat.), as well as other restaurant and nightlife venues. Film screenings will take place at Thalian Hall (Wed.) and The Beam Room (Wed.). Art galleries with special events include Projekte (Thurs.), Opera Room Bar & Gallery (Thurs.), Bottega Gallery (Fri.), and New Hanover County Public Library (Sat.). Events are still being added to the lineup, so be sure to check out the complete ARTblast Festival schedule at www.artblastwilmington.com .

This year’s Downtown Wilmington ArtWalk & Parade takes place during ARTblast on Saturday from 10am until 5pm. The ArtWalk features local and regional artists who display their treasures along six blocks of Front Street . Here you’ll find one-of-a-kind paintings, photographs, handmade jewelry, and sculptures. This day-long event draws over 10,000 people. Back by popular demand, The Grand Procession of Peculiar Pets (an art parade) will take place on Saturday during the ArtWalk at 1:30pm (corner of S. Front St. and Orange St. ), making its way north along Front Street . This year’s parade theme is “peculiar pets.” Participants are invited to make their costumes in advance during four free costume-making events: Aug. 27 at Art Box (255 N. Front St., 2nd floor, 6pm-8pm); Sept. 2 at Wilmington Children’s Museum (116 Orange St., 3-5pm), Sept. 4 at Riverfront Farmers Market (Water & Market sts., 9am-11am); and Sept. 4 at Projekte Gallery (523 S.3rd Street, 4pm-6pm). Workshops include art supplies. Participants may also create costumes using their own supplies. Art Blast and the Downtown Wilmington ArtWalk & Parade are presented by Downtown Business Alliance (DBA), Do It Downtown, and CoolWilmington.Com Productions. For details and vendor applications, call 216-374-8884, email: artandantiquewalk@hotmail.com or visit website www.dbawilmington.com.

Another important news reminder – Arts Blast Juried Art Exhibit: Projekte is pleased to host the first Annual Arts Blast Juried Art Exhibition at 523 South 3rd Street in downtown Wilmington . This juried exhibit will focus on the many talented Wilmington artists, so any subject and/or theme is acceptable. Artists are encouraged to submit 1-5 .jpeg images of 2D work in any medium for consideration. Requirements for entry are:
· Artists must be at least 16 years old
· All work must be original
· All work must be recent within past six months
· Artists must reside within 100 miles of Wilmington
· Any theme/subject is acceptable
· Deadline for submission is Sept 1, 5pm.
Winners to receive recognition, ribbons and prizes. Arts Blast events will take place September 8-12 with the Juried Art Exhibit Reception on Thursday September 9, 6p-9p at Projekte.

Please call Bonnie England for further information at 910.352.0236 and submit artwork to theprojekte@gmail.com.

More Important News – Call to Authors/Poets

Art Soup, a non-profit arts organization in Wilmington , NC is currently seeking published or self-published authors and poets to participate in an annual, large outdoor arts festival, Saturday September 11th in downtown Wilmington . The Wilmington Art Walk is an artist market throughout the streets of the historic downtown area, featuring visual artists, crafts, music and more. Literary participants are welcome to sell and sign copies of current or previous work at individual booths in a special section of the festival dedicated to writers. Spaces available at a discounted rate of $35 per participant. Call 910.620.2047 or email info@artsoup.org for more information.

For those of you coming in from out of town, I have two hotels that are offering discounts to any one coming in for the Art Blast festival. Check the accommodations page of the Art Blast website for more details.
Art Blast & ArtWalk2010
A CoolWilmington.Com Production
P.O. Box 208
Wilmington , NC 28402
artandantiquewalk@hotmail.com
www.artblastwilmington.com
216-374-8884

"Secret Hours" by Allison Overton

Davenport & Winkleperry are very excited to announce not one, but two featured art shows for the month of September. “Secret Hours” is the first in a series of three exhibitions showcasing North Carolina artist Alison Overton’s new foray into the digital photography medium. This recently created body of work reveals a great departure in subject matter, style, and size for Overton. Previously she had worked exclusively with analog (wet) processes in photography, creating medium format silver gelatin prints of architectural landscapes and statues, subsequently hand-tinting the prints with oil paints.

The new subject matter of the photographs consists of antique dolls and curious objects juxtaposed with unusual flora and fauna. The dolls and other objects are items, which Overton found this past year while clearing out her childhood home in Vance County, North Carolina. Her parents had collected all manner of things obsessively for decades. For Overton, the objects attracted her as she came to realize that they represented both real and imagined childhood memories, for both her and her parents.

Saturday Morning Cartoons ReImagined

And! There’s no denying it, but many of us were raised by that glorious invention, the Television. We marched down the stairs on Saturday mornings to eat cereal and watch endless hours of TV. There was no need for childhood imagination because there were cartoons. These cartoons raised us, they created us, and they still influence us today. With “Saturday Morning Cartoons ReImagined”, a group of artists salute some of the characters that shaped their childhood & their artistic vision.

Opening reception – Saturday, September 4th, 5 – 8pm

What: ‘Secret Hours’ & ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons ReImagined”
Where: Davenport & Winkleperry 18A East Salisbury Street Pittsboro, NC
When: Sept. 4, 5-8pm

If you would like more information on the ‘Secret Hours’, ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons ReImagined’ or Davenport & Winkleperry itself then please contact Emma Cabrera at 919.533.6178 or davenportandwinkleperry[at]gmail.com

The Raleigh artist will show four works-on-paper in Green Hill Center show.

Studio Floor

Self and System, Jason Craighead

Raleigh artist Jason Craighead has been invited to participate in a major group exhibition at the Green Hill Center for NC Art in Greensboro, NC, entitled “Drawing Revisited.” The show will run from September 10 through October 31.

“Drawing Revisited” will showcase over 50 North Carolina artists who work “in a medium, which, in the digital age, may appear to be a slow and intimate art form,” according to the Center’s website. “Over 200 works on paper in graphite, watercolor, artist’s crayon, wash, charcoal and ink will attest to the ongoing vitality of drawing.”

Craighead will contribute four 22 by 30 mixed-media-on-paper works that he created “one Saturday morning on my porch while a friend was playing his guitar.” These particular pieces first appeared in a 2008 exhibit at the Fayetteville Museum of Art.

“These particular works represent a very specific moment in my past as an artist and human,” he said, “a moment of clarity and honesty — becoming confident in ‘feeling’.”

The opening reception for “Drawing Revisited” will be held Friday, September 10^th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Jason Craighead will present a lecture on the subject in the Center on October 13.

Jason Craighead is currently represented by Broadhurst Gallery in Pinehurst (www.broadhurstgallery.com) and by Flanders Gallery in Raleigh (www.flandersartgallery.com). For more information on the artist, visit www.jasoncraighead.com.

The Green Hill Center for NC Art is located at 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro, NC 27401. For more information visit www.greenhillcenter.org.

About the artist:
A professional artist for over a decade, Jason Craighead is a recognized leader in the North Carolina arts community. His work has been included in many solo and group exhibitions throughout the Southeastern United States. He has received numerous awards and served as a juror for various art shows. He has been selected as Signature Artist for major charitable art auctions, and his work has been featured in a number of publications, including Artists & Art Galleries of the Southeast. He is also a member of the City of Raleigh Arts Commission and the Raleigh Public Arts Committee.www.jasoncraighead.com.

The Battleship is pleased to host the Battleship Arts Fest, Saturday, July 10, 2010 in Battleship Park from 10am to 2pm.   Arts Fest features creations for sale by local artists working in ceramics, metal, wood, and other media.  The DREAMS Center for Arts Education, whose focus is offering free-of-charge arts programming to youth, will have young artists selling their work, face painting by donation, entertaining the crowd with African drumming, and offering bottled water and baked goods for sale.

The “Second Saturdays” program was created by the Department of Cultural Resources to provide fun things to do for families on a budget.  This event also gives North Carolina artists the ability to showcase their talents.  This event is free at the park and open to the public with ample free parking available but does not include the tour of the ship.

On August 14th the Battleship will also host the Blue and Gray Navies which will conclude the “Second Saturdays” program.  At this event displays of ship construction and navigation will be available for viewing.  Visitors will be able to view reproductions of period small arms and working models of steam engines amongst many other things.  Guild members will discuss the history of naval and military technology and will be available for questions. The final event is free with admission.

Located at the junction of Highways 17/74/76/421 on the Cape Fear River.   Visit www.battleshipnc.com, call 910-251-5797 or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

Self and System, Jason Craighead

Jason Craighead, an artist and the newest member of the Raleigh Arts Commission, is one of only 16 local artists who were invited by Builders of Hope to recycle discarded materials into works of art for “Green Frame: An Exposition in Reclaimed Materials” fundraiser. His composition, entitled “Self and System,” will be up for auction on April 24 at the Raleigh City Museum in downtown Raleigh along with the other artists’ works.

Builders of Hope CDC is a non-profit, tax-exempted corporation that works to provide quality affordable housing in cities and towns across the United States to stimulate revitalization and develop health, safe communities. “Green Frame, An Exposition in Reclaimed Materials,” is a fundraiser that, according to the website, “celebrates the mission of Builders of Hope through the vision of local artists. Using materials reclaimed from Builders of Hope, 16 invited artists have created unique interpretations of what it means to recycle, rebuild, and renew hope.”

Craighead and the other artists were asked to use items and materials that would otherwise be thrown away to create something of beauty and function. “Self and System” is a mixed media on encyclopedias and column sculpture. The artist describes his inspiration:

“This piece is commenting on education and the renewal of belief in the human self, how we lose it in our educational system and our efforts to achieve ‘status,’ then find ourselves feeling empty, even worthless, by this society’s definition. Returning focus to the self and not the struggle can bring about a community that works collectively and honestly. Less division and competition….no more good, better, best….education vs. inspiration.”

An accomplished artist who has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums, Jason Craighead was appointed to the Raleigh Arts Council earlier this month. Before that, he served on the Council’s Public Art Program. He has also donated numerous paintings to charitable art auctions for many years, including the Works of Heart auction for the Carolina AIDS Alliance and Visual Art Exchange’s annual fundraiser.

Builders of Hope’s Green Frame Exposition began with an “Official Opening Bash,” free and open to the public, at the City Museum on Friday, April 9. The Auction Party will be held in the Museum at Saturday, April 24, from 7-10 p.m. Auction tickets are $100 each or $175 per couple. The City Museum is located at 220 Fayetteville Street. To reserve tickets, call 800-277-6138 or email: Emily[at]buildersofhope.org.

For more information on the event, including the list of all participating artists, visit www.buildersofhope.org/events/green-frame.

For more information on Jason Craighead, go to www.jasoncraighead.com.

About Jason Craighead:
Jason Craighead has been named Best Artist in Raleigh Metro Magazine’s annual MetroBravo reader’s poll for five consecutive years. His paintings have been featured in numerous gallery exhibits and belong to many public and private art collections. An active member of the North Carolina arts community, he has worked with the Raleigh Arts Commission on its plans for future public art and frequently donates his paintings to charitable causes, including Works of Heart, the Triangle area’s annual premiere art auction to benefit The Alliance of AIDS Services – Carolina. For more information visit www.jasoncraighead.com.

The Lonely Life of the Modern Artist

Gabi's World

The art of Chad Beroth, current Surry Community College student, will be on display at The Uptown Wine & Gallery, 240 E. Main Street, Yadkinville, Friday, February 5th through February 28th. The public is invited to an opening reception from 4:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on February 12th. Chad was the creator of the logo that the Yadkin Arts Council uses.

Chad is a painter, sculptor, photographer, illustrator, designer and an artist.  Although he is self-taught, he still considers himself a student of the arts.  When he’s not creating, he’s researching new ideas, practicing new mediums, learning from his peers, or studying the work of the great Masters of the past. Chad describes his work as being Contemporary Art using Mixed Media/Acrylic on Canvas.

He states, “My expressive outsider style of art isn’t for everybody.  If you’re one of the people who doesn’t like or understand this backward world of art — I’m sorry.  And who knows? Maybe it will grow on you eventually; if you’re one of the people who understands and appreciates it. It sure is a beautiful world isn’t it!  Thank you all for sharing it with me!”

For more information, please call (336) 679-2941.

About Surry Community College
Surry Community College was founded in 1964 and is located in Dobson, North Carolina. As one of the state’s 58 community colleges, it services Surry and Yadkin counties. Currently, Surry offers thirty degree programs, sixteen diploma programs, and twenty-four certificate programs; with hundreds of continuing education courses and seminars. The college, under the direction of President, Dr. Deborah Friedman, has a mission to promote personal growth and community development through excellence in teaching, learning, and service.

“House with Red Curtains” by Kenneth Eugene Peters, whose work will be on display in the “home/journeys” exhibition.

Embarking in its 26th year, the Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery managed by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission is presenting its 2010 exhibition series “Exhibiting Dichotomies.”

Featured exhibitions include “dual/focus,” Feb. 4 to March 22; “home/journeys,” April 8 to May 24; “earth/sky,” June 3 to July 26; “over/under,” Aug. 5 to Sept. 20; “rew/ffwd” (rewind/fast forward), Sept. 30 to Nov. 22; and the National Arts Program, Dec. 2 to Jan. 17, 2011. All of the exhibits will be displayed in the Block Art Gallery on the first and second floors of the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, 222 W. Hargett St. A reception will be held the first Thursday of each exhibit’s opening month.

Launching this year’s program is “dual/focus,” curated by Rachel Berry and Sarah Powers. “Dual/focus” explores the roots of printmaking and photography in both technology and fine art. Artists featured will be Jason Arthurs, Gabriella Corter, Mary Shannon Johnstone, Judy Jones, Mary Kay Kennedy, Julie Niskanen, Alison Overton, Kristianne Ripple, and Susan Soper. The second-floor cases will showcase digital fiber art by Tricia McKellar.

Following “dual/focus” is “home/journeys,” which looks at how familiar landscapes are altered by light, shape, and sound through the paintings of Kathy Brancato and Kenneth Eugene Peters. The cases will display Mikel Robinson’s mixed media work, centering on ideas of home and landscapes.

In the next exhibition, “earth/sky,” Gene Furr and Anna Podris come together to examine the natural world, but with two disparate methods. Mr. Furr utilizes the realistic eye of the camera lens to capture moments, like those of an egret returning to her nest, while Ms. Podris focuses on the intuitive vistas of the mind to create fantastical depictions of the natural world and its inhabitants. Handmade wooden vessels by Bill Wallace will be featured in the second floor cases.

Eduardo Lapetina and Kristan Five Skinner build up and dig down into multi-layered tonal surfaces in their textural paintings featured in the “over/under” exhibition. While Mr. Lapetina looks inward for inspiration, Ms. Skinner examines the external world, often by surveying the patterns created in vast aerial views of the Earth. The cases will feature pottery by Maureen McGregor.

“Rew/ffwd” (rewind/fast forward) will highlight the mixed media works of Georges Le Chevallier, the prints of Brian Gonzales, and the stencils of Garrett Scales. Their work reflects on American culture and its fascination with the glitz of celebrity and hi-tech media amidst the routine of everyday life. A display created by textile and apparel technology and management students at North Carolina State University will be showcased in the gallery’s cases.

Jean McLaughlin, executive director of the Penland School of Crafts and a former exhibiting artist in the Block Art Gallery, highlights the importance of the gallery in her essay, “Twenty-Five Years of Engaging the Public.”

“How many people came to pay a bill, meet with a public official, or attend a City Council meeting and found themselves surrounded by visual ideas that made them laugh, challenged their point of view, calmed them, or opened up their minds to questions sparked by an artist’s skill or attention to the world we share?,” Ms. McLaughlin said.

For 26 years, the Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery has served as a pivotal exhibition space in the City of Raleigh, connecting local artists to community through ongoing exhibitions and public outreach. The gallery was dedicated in 2006 to honor Miriam Preston Block, a former Raleigh City Council member and community leader.

Established in 1977 as the official advisory body and advocate for the arts to the Raleigh City Council, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission holds the distinction of being the first municipal arts commission created in North Carolina. Serving as the leading force to champion the arts with Raleigh citizens and their representatives, the Arts Commission’s myriad activities foster, support, and promote the arts in the Capital City.

The Block Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., except on holidays.

For more information, contact the Raleigh Arts Commission office at 996-3610 or email Hannah Costner, gallery coordinator, at hannah.costner[at]ci.raleigh.nc.us.

“Trees of the Eno” by Jude Lobe

On Friday, January 29th from 6-9pm, the public is invited to the opening reception for “Fresh Start” new work by the gallery’s member artists. The show will run through February 20th.

The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is located at 121 N. Churton Street, Hillsborough.

Regular hours are 11-6 Monday through Saturday and 1-4 Sunday.
Phone 919-732-5001, www.hillsboroughgallery.com

Ornaments by Lisa Oakley

The Show provides the public the opportunity to see and purchase a diverse selection of jury-selected, one-of-a-kind fine crafts. Fine crafts displayed at this year’s Show will include pottery, clay, sculpture, wearable fiber, blown glass, jewelry, metal work, wood work, furniture, photography, printmaking and mixed media. There will be something for every taste and budget at the 40th Annual Show

Michele Alexander

Exposition Center
North Carolina State Fairgrounds
1025 Blue Ridge Road
Raleigh, North Carolina

Friday, Nov. 27, 6pm-9pm
Saturday, Nov. 28, 10am-6pm
Sunday, Nov. 29, 11am-5pm

$7 Daily Admission
Children under 12 Free

Tickets may be purchased at the door.

http://www.carolinadesignercraftsmen.com/
http://www.facebook.com/carolinadesignercraftsmen