Andre Christine Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Mooresville, NC, Adds New Sculpture by Dana Gingras to Its Grounds

Andre Christine Gallery & Sculpture Garden in Mooresville, NC, has added a new sculpture to the Sculpture Garden. The work is entitled, Composition # 5, by Dana Gingras. This painted steel red, orange, and yellow sculpture is approx. 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

Dana Gingras grew up surrounded by nature at the foothills of the Berkshires in Northwest Connecticut.  After traveling extensively throughout Europe and the states he received his degree from The University of Connecticut. Continuing his education he spent the next four years apprenticing with noted glass and steel sculptor Larry Livolsi. Ever since he has maintained a studio focusing on large-scale work and custom interior pieces. Gingras’ primary mediums are glass, metal, and wood. His work comes from the process of understanding these materials, their intrinsic properties, and inherent beauty. He currently resides in Mooresville.

The Andre Christine Gallery & Sculpture Garden is located at 148 Ervin Road in Mooresville, NC. Hours at the gallery are Tue.-Sat., 10am-5pm or by appt.

For further information call 704-664-1164 or visit (www.andrechristinegallery.com).

Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg in Spartanburg, SC, Calls for Entries for Its 2012 39th Annual Juried Show – Deadline is Aug. 1, 2012

The Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg is now accepting submissions for its 2012 39th Annual Juried Show, which will be in the Spartanburg Art Museum at the Chapman Cultural Center, in Spartanburg, SC, from Sept. 20-Nov. 3, 2012. An opening reception and awards ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 29, 6-8pm. The show is open to all artists in South and North Carolina and Georgia. More than $4,000 will be awarded in various categories. The deadline to submit work for consideration is Aug. 1, 2012.

All entries must be mailed and postmarked to the Guild by Aug. 1 and include a compact disk with up to two images, the application, and the entry fee. No hand deliveries, please. Entry fee for Guild members is included in the membership. Non-members must pay a $40 fee. Applications are available in the Guild Gallery at the Chapman Cultural Center, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It may also be downloaded at the Guild’s website at (www.ArtistsGuildOfSpartanburg.org).

Media categories are 2D-Painting, 2D-Drawing and Mixed Media, 2D-Photography, and 3D-Sculpture, which includes ceramics and jewelry. The juror this year will be Mana Hewitt, MFA, director of the McMaster Art Gallery, as well as Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Art Department of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. Her studio work has been in ceramics, painting and metals. Hewitt received the South Carolina Arts Commission Artist Fellowship, was named a Southern Arts Foundation Artist, and in 2012 her work was included in the 100 Southern Artists.

For more details, please visit the Guild’s website or contact its director Robin Els at 864/764-9568 or e-mail to (ArtistsGuildOfSpartanburg@Gmail.com).

Matthews Artists Guild in Matthews, NC, Calls for Entries for the Matthews Alive! Art Show – Deadline Aug. 28, 2012

The Matthews Artists Guild in Matthews, NC, is calling for entries for the Matthews Alive! Art Show, which will be on view at the new McDowell Arts Center in Matthews, Sept. 1-3, 2012.

Works in oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylics, photography, and mixed media are eligible. This show is NOT juried and will be judged by TBA.

Awards include:
1st Place (Best of Show): $800 Cash & Ribbon
2nd Place: $400 Cash & Ribbon
3rd Place: $200 Cash & Ribbon
6 Honorable Mention Awards: $50 Gift Certificate & Ribbon
Mayor’s Award: Ribbon

Entry Fee: $30 (Pay when you bring in your artwork with entry form.)

Take In: Tuesday, August 28, 3-6 PM, McDowell Arts Center

For further info contact: Debbie Yacenda 704/321-1523; e-mail at (dyacenda@aol.com) or Kevin Brown 704/604-3132; e-mail at (Kevin@kevinfineart.com).

Click here for Rules of Integrity: (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6ryeT3BfM8LRnJENmNxSGpZNWc/edit)

Click here for Matthews Alive! Art Show Entry Form: (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6ryeT3BfM8LNjRsWjR5NmpGb00/edit).

For more info about the Matthews Artists Guild visit (http://matthewsartistguild.blogspot.com/).

Arts Council of Henderson County Announces Call for Entries for Annual Open Exhibition – Deadline Aug. 3, 2012

The Arts Council of Henderson County announces a call for entries for the ninth annual Bring Us Your Best, an all media visual art exhibition. The exhibit will be opening with an awards reception on Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, from 5-7pm. Visual artists from across the spectrum, from part-time hobbyists to full-time professionals, are called to enter their work in Bring Us Your Best IX.

This popular show has grown considerably since its inception in 2004, now drawing artists from throughout western North Carolina, upper South Carolina, and eastern Tennessee. The exhibition will again be hosted by Blue Ridge Community College, 180 West Campus Drive in Flat Rock, NC, in the Conference Hall of the Technology Education & Development Center. The show will run from Wednesday, Aug. 15 through Saturday, Sept. 1, 10am-4pm weekdays, 1pm-3pm on Saturdays.

2011 Photography Category Award Winner “Summer Breeze,” by Barbara Sammons

A juried and judged competition, Bring Us Your Best IX will offer greater prize monies than ever before. First, second, and third place cash prizes will be awarded in each of four categories:  two-dimensional work, three-dimensional work, fine craft, and photography. A “One Planet, One World” prize will be selected by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville and awarded to the artwork that best exemplifies respect for our interdependent web of all existence of which we are all a part. In addition a “People’s Choice” award will be selected from the votes of gallery visitors. This award will be announced on the final day of the show, and will be presented in the form of a $250 gift certificate by, and for, The Starving Artist Fine Art Supplies and Custom Framing.

Deliver entries to BRCC Conference Hall within TEDC Building, Thursday, August 2 and Friday, August 3, 10am – 4pm each day.

Artists can find the prospectus with additional information at (www.acofhc.org), or by contacting the Arts Council by e-mail at (acofhc@bellsouth.net) or call 828/693-8504.

“Last year, this event was a huge success in numerous ways. Based on the quality and diversity of the past artwork submitted, I anticipate that we will once again witness record participation and attendance,” said John Flinchum, Arts Council Board President.

The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public, and handicapped accessible. All artwork will be priced for sale during the exhibit.

Bring Us Your Best IX is sponsored by The Ira Wax and Lynne Wax Memorial Funds, which has underwritten the show for several years.  Additional support is provided by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville and The Starving Artist Fine Art Supplies and Custom Framing.

The Arts Council of Henderson County is a community organization that promotes, advocates for and nurtures the arts in Henderson County and western North Carolina. Its office is located in Hendersonville, NC. The Arts Council is supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources; funds administered by the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Henderson County, and Henderson County Travel and Tourism.

For more information please contact The Arts Council by e-mail at (acofhc@bellsouth.net) or call 828/693-8504. The web address is (www.acofhc.org).

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Gallery Talks on Current Exhibitions

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, will offer visitors insight into “Mystical Visions, Divine Revelations: Religion and Spirituality in 19th-Century Art” in gallery talks on July 12 and July 19, 2012, at noon. Managing Curator Allison Slaby will lead the discussions of a small, focused exhibition of works from the museum’s collection that illustrates a portrait of American religion and spirituality during a dynamic period in the nation’s history.

Cost of the gallery talks is free for museum members and students, included in the price of admission for non-members.

During the 19th century, artists, writers, poets and philosophers contemplated the divine and the mystical, and the era was marked by both religious fervor as well as interest in the occult, myth and paganism as archaeological discoveries were made in the ancient world. Furthermore, transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fostered the idea of the divine in nature. How these manifold visions were displayed in the work of artists such as Edward Hicks, George Inness and William Rimmer will be revealed in these gallery talks.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection.  Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events.  The museum is located in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

For information about this and other museum events, please call 336/758-5150 or visit (www.reynoldahouse.org).

Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation Library in Florence, SC, Calls for Entries for Magic City Survey – Deadline Sept. 30, 2012

The Dr. N. Lee Morris Gallery at the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation Library in Florence, South Carolina, announces a call to artists for the first semi-annual Magic City Survey, a juried art competition. This art competition is open to all amateur and professional artists ages 16 and up who reside in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. The exhibition will showcase the highest caliber of art relating to South Carolina and will provide a venue by which artists can express their talents and achievements. The theme for this year’s Magic City Survey will be “Southern Impressions- Depictions of Life in the South.”

Entries for this competition may be submitted from July 2, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2012. The competition will be judged in two phases. Initial judging will be based on digital images of the works submitted. Finalists moving on from the first phase will be invited to participate in the Magic City Survey Finalists’ Exhibition which will be on display in the Gallery from Nov. 5, 2012 to Jan. 4, 2013. On December 3-4, 2012 celebrated watercolorist, Mary Whyte, will jury the finalists show and select winners of the 2012 Magic City Survey. Those artists will receive awards at the artists’ reception during the presentation of Whyte’s new book Down Bohicket Road on Dec. 4 at 5:30pm. Prizes include invitations for solo exhibitions in the Dr. N. Lee Morris Gallery.

Artists who wish to submit work may download the Magic City Survey instructions for submission and entry form from the Dr. N. Lee Morris Gallery’s page at (www.florencelibrary.org). Instructions and entry forms may also be picked up from all branches of the Florence County Library System and inside the Dr. N. Lee Morris Gallery.

For additional information, please contact the Gallery Curator, Hannah Davis at 843/292-7393. Submission of artwork for this competition is FREE.

Last Call for Flower Show Entries for The Bascom’s 2012 Mountain in Bloom Garden Festival in Highlands, NC

Don’t miss your last chance to enter the 2012 Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival Flower Show at The Bascom in Highlands, NC. Entries are being accepted for the flower arrangement, photography and horticulture divisions.

On Friday and Saturday, July 13th – 14th, 2012, from 10am-5 pm, at The Bascom campus, don’t miss the free-admission, juried Flower Show with nationally recognized judges. The magnificent juried flower arrangement and photography entries will be showcased throughout the art center’s early 1800s hand hewned post and beam barn.

The Her Impressions exhibition’s White Fox by Jeanie Gallup Mottet (pictured) will be the focal point of the Flower Arrangement division’s Interpretation class at this year’s Mountains in Bloom Flower Show.

The Flower Arrangement division includes six classes: Interpretation of Jeanie Gallup Mottet’s White Fox; In the Biedermeier Style; “V” is for Vase; Fired and Flowered; Mass Blass; Waterfalls of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau (professional class); Who’s Wearing Flowers (youth); and the Celebrity Challenge. Photography classes include “Focus on Flora” and “Scenic Settings”.

The show will also feature juried horticulture entries in the Dave Drake Studio Barn. Horticulture division entry cards will be available at The Bascom prior to the show. Balentine, the lead sponsor for Mountains in Bloom, will present the award in the Horticulture Division for most outstanding display of a native plant, single or collection, that is indigenous to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.

To submit an entry in the flower arrangement or the photography division, please visit (www.TheBascom.org/mountainsinbloom) and visit the flower show registration page or stop by The Bascom and pick up a form.

The 14th annual Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival is a multi-day garden festival (July 13-15, 2012). For more information, visit (www.TheBascom.org/mountainsinbloom) or call 828/787-2896.

Balentine is the lead sponsor for the 2012 Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival. Additional support is provided by Delta Air Lines, Old Edwards Inn and Spa, The Outdoor Lights, the Laurel Magazine, Franklin Ford and Moss Robertson Cadillac.

The Bascom is open year-round – Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm. Enjoy workshops, exhibitions, special events and quality programs throughout the year at The Bascom.

For more information, to register for Bascom workshop offerings or for more details on all Bascom activities, visit (www.TheBascom.org) or call 828/526-4949.

First Thursday on Main in Columbia, SC, Takes Place July 5, 2012, from 6-9pm

For details about any of this info contact the Frame of Mind at the contacts at the end of this posting.

Frame of Mind: FOM Series presents “ArchiTography”

Famously Hot or Famously Weird?? July’s rendition of the FOM Series and First Thursdays on Main is asking just that. First, Frame of Mind is presenting a nontraditional art form (Architecture) through the eyes of a traditional art form (Photography). ArchiTography is a merging of the minds between architect, Michael Haigler, and photographer, John Herrel. Their intent is to explore architectural details in macro view; they will celebrate texture, form, shape, and placement in such ways so as to create alternative art and graphic forms. Within this collaboration, the close-up views are intended to extend appreciation beyond their original context of architecture.

Michael Haigler has worked as an architect for over 35 years since graduating from Clemson with an undergraduate degree in Architecture and a Masters Degree from UC Berkeley in California. Currently a licensed architect in both Carolinas, he offers a full range of architectural services from schematic design to construction administration for a variety of project types. His current specialty is custom residential design, including remodels and new construction.

John Herrel is an award winning photographer and one of the first 14 certified professional photographers specializing in Portraits and Weddings in South Carolina. His images capture the essence of real life. With his ever evolving style, he covers the gamut from classic to hyper-reality. John opened Herrel Photography in 2007. His other diverse experiences include: film photographer, Eagle Scout, low handicap golfer, race car driver, skier, wine enthusiast, chemical engineer, corporate business manager and entrepreneur. As a way to give back to his community, John offers a complimentary portrait each month for children in palliative care at the Palmetto Children’s Hospital and selected families in Hospice Care of Tri-County.

OH AND IT IS FRINGE THURSDAY!
So, prepare yourself! July’s First Thursdays on Main welcomes the “weird.” You’ll receive a sneak peak…a preview of next year’s Fringe Fest. The streets will be taken over by a combination of performing and visual arts.  The Columbia Fringe Fest is all about bringing the non-traditional, unexpected, possibly darker, and sometimes “un-PC” side of the arts world to Columbia. The First Annual Fringe Fest is coming next July, but the minds behind the festival have joined with the First Thursday crew to give you a little taste of what you can expect.

FOOD OUTDOORS?
Yes: Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse-outside service, Bone-In Artisan Food Truck, 2 Fat 2 Fly Food Truck, KC’s Hotdogs…then right down the street to Paradise Ice for sweet treats!

Performers/Artists Include:
Lyon Hill
Jennifer Stephens Hill
Kimi Meada
Michael Krajewski
Cedric Umoja
Tim MC
Happiness Bomb
Mike Amason
Robin Souls
DJ Deft Key
Alternacirque
Columbia Hoops

Anastasia & Friends:  The Eclectic Collector

For the month of July at Anastasia & Friends, we are very excited to host a diverse exhibition of paintings, sculpture and mixed media, with a strong emphasis on South Carolina artists, The Eclectic Collector.

A prominent collector, who has amassed a substantial art collection over the last 30 years, is downsizing from a large home and won’t have room for his entire collection. The show will feature a portion of spectacular original paintings and sculpture from his existing collection by prominent South Carolina artists such as David Yaghian, Rodgers Boykin and Jean McWhorter and work from artists from other parts of the world like Carole Feuerman, Charles Fazzino and Charles Azbell.  This show is going to be a knock out!

The gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, please contact Anastasia Chernoff at 803 665 6902 or via email at (stasia1825@aol.com).

S&S Art Supply: The Art of Recovery

S & S Art Supply is proud to present a special exhibition for July’s First Thursday. The Art of Recovery Exhibition organized by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health is a group exhibition of works created by talented people living with mental illnesses. Art and its creative outlets can play a huge role in the recovery process. This exhibition features artwork by people who receive care through SCDMH programs by framing and displaying pieces in the central administration building in downtown Columbia as well as traveling exhibitions throughout the state. This opening reception on July 5th is sponsored by Long’s Pharmacy. For more information about the Art of Recovery Program, go to (http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/aor/aor_home.htm).

This exhibition is sure to have a huge eclectic mix of colorful and beautiful pictures reflecting the breadth of skill and range of experiences of the individuals who live with mental disorders. Their talent reminds us that they are more than just a diagnosis. This program and its artists will be the direct benefactors of the 2nd Annual Fundraiser & Silent Art Auction being held at S & S Art Supply on Saturday, July 21st. There will be a separate event page and invite for this soon!

The Art of Recovery features competitions open to people receiving services through the department. Winners of the competition, judged by local artists, are initiated into the “Order of the Brush”; some of the program’s outstanding artwork is displayed in galleries and shows.

Mental illnesses are treatable, medical disorders. They are real. But so is recovery.

Tapp’s Art Center:

Atlanta-based figurative oil painter, Lorraine Brennan’s work will hang in the main gallery space at Tapp’s. Her modern scenes of figures invite the viewer to relax, chill, or just bask in the light. Over the last 20 years, Brennan has explored the figure in many environments, and studying the body and the infinite expressions it can display is a passion of Brennan’s. Visit (www.lorrainebrennan.com) for more information about the artist and her work.

Also exhibiting during July’s First Thursday: Fielding Moore, Craig Carlson, Matt Catoe, Lindsay Barnes, Kristyn Larsen, Charles Bristow, Don Zurlo, Rebecca Poland, Jean Johnson and Bill Sander.

We are having a sound installation downstairs in the Fountain Room with the band “Storms of Jupiter” and videos by Jason Stroud.

Workshop Theater will be performing a few numbers from their upcoming “Camp Rock” play.

Wine Down on Main: Leslie Bennett

We are thrilled to have Columbia’s very own Leslie Bennett showing with us for the month of July. In addition to her previous work, she will be showing off her brand new pieces.

Bennett says, “This show represents my body of work as it has evolved over the years, from abstracts and portrait commissions to more recent figurative and landscape paintings. After years of working as a portrait artist, I am attempting to break away from the precision of that type of painting. It is a process, and in many ways a re-teaching of oneself. The most recent works show a (looser) quality, where I am allowing the organic shapes, colors, and textures that develop lead the painting in different directions.”

For more information on Leslie Bennett, please visit our website!

Frame of Mind is open Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday 12 pm to 4pm, and is located at 1520 Main Street across from the Art Museum in Columbia, South Carolina.  You may contact Mark Plessinger by calling 803/988-1065 or via e-mail at (frameofmind@sc.rr.com).

Black Creek Arts Council and Hartsville Memorial Library in Hartsville, SC, Call for Photography Entries – Deadline – June 29, 2012

The Black Creek Arts Council and Hartsville Memorial Library in Hartsville, SC, are looking for your photographs for their fifth annual photography contest, Carolinas V.

This year’s categories include:
-Photographers 18 and Under
-Darlington County Traveler’s
-Small Photos
-Large Photos
-Digitally Enhanced

To enter, bring your photo(s) to the Arts Center or the library between June 20 and 29, 2012.  Cost is $15 for one entry, $25 for two entries, and $30 for three entries.

Community opening reception and gallery crawl will be held on July 12, 2012, from 5:30- 7pm, with works being shown at both Black Creek Arts Council and Hartsville Memorial Library. Opening events will be sponsored by Sonoco.

For more information and to find a submission form, click here (http://www.blackcreekarts.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35:carolinas-v&catid=2:event-descriptions&Itemid=3).

Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, Extends Exhibits by Curtis Phillips and Christopher Gamble to June 26, 2012

Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, is extending the exhibits in Gallery 80808:  Duality-paintings by Curtis Phillips and Retrospective-photography by Christopher Gamble, one week with a closing reception Monday 25th of June from 6-9pm.

Paintings are now 50% off through next Tuesday.

For more information call 803/252-6134 or 843/442-5655.