First Ever Public Art Hanging!

Just a quick note before everyone turns off their computers for the weekend.

We have extended the deadline for entries!!! Since Steve and I will be in The Gallery on Monday, July 5th hanging and labeling artwork, we have decided to accept entries with artwork on Monday. We have a few spots remaining and we wouldn't want anyone who is interested to be left out. Call The Gallery before you make the trip downtown 843-5511 and let us know you are on your way. We'll leave the light on for you!

Gallery Hop Night

The second Gallery Hop of 2010 took place last Friday evening. We had a great time and a great turn out. Libby Browning graciously agreed to be our celebrity bartender for the evening. She looked lovely and did a fine job with the Margaritas and the wine! She also had a great time meeting old friends and making some new ones. We look forward to having her back for the August Hop.

Verdi catered the event and Mirza had a wonderful assortment of hors d'oeuvers that included, my favorite, salmon croquettes. This is the second year that Cabot Creamery has sponsored our events. All of the galleries including "916" had an assortment of Cabot Creamery cheese on hand for everyone to sample. The food and the wine went well with the art! Overall, it was a nice mix.

Several clients left with Lynette Haggbloom's slumped wine bottle cheese trays. A great gift idea at $35.00. Kay Zoretic, A Sterling Performance, was another crowd pleaser. Her new line of museum inspired sliver jewelry ( $65 and up) got a lot of attention. Kay created several etched silver necklaces with a different Kanji symbol on each. Pieces by Lloyd K. Hughes, Shanna Paul and Bill VanTassel also left with happy Gallery Hoppers.

The Hop Passport was introduced during this month's event. All Hoppers received a special "passport" that has a numbered circle for each venue. When you visit a participating studio or gallery a representative stamps on their number. Participants who have all 16 circles stamped by the end of the December Hop are eligible to win a grand prize. If you have not received a Passport and would like to participate, all venues will have additional Passports available for the August Hop.

So now that the big event of June is behind us we are feverishly working on the Public Art Hanging scheduled for July. If you haven't heard about it ...head for our news page and check it out. It's going to be fun!

Public ART Hanging!

Downtown Bowling Green will be the place to be during July. Concerts in the Park will move from Wednesday at noon to Friday evening at 6:30. Verdi and 440 Main are working on special events and Mariah's continues with its 30th anniversary celebration.

Not to be outdone, The Gallery has decided to create its own special event. We will be hosting the First Public Art Hanging in Bowling Green. This exhibit is open to any one. We will be accepting entries until July 1st and will begin hanging the work on July 6th. The opening reception will take place on Friday, July 9th beginning at 6pm to coincide with the first Concert In the Park. From that moment until August 5th at closing time the public is invited to vote for their favorite piece of art. All during the exhibit, we intend to keep the voting tally on our Facebook page. That way the artists and our patrons can keep tabs on their favorite entry. Each vote costs a dollar and the $$$ will be donated to our neighbors, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for children) to help them carry on the wonderful work they do for children in South Central Kentucky. They will also keep weekly Facebook postings on the exhibit.

All the necessary entry information can be found in the news section of our website. Print the entry form and mail it or come by The Gallery, Monday through Friday 11-5 or Saturday 11-2, and meet Steve and me. (Sorry, we are not set up for you to enter on line.) We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have about the show, call us 270-843-5511 or send us an e-mail.

We are really looking forward to this exhibit and this is your chance to have your work in The Gallery at 916. This is for everyone! We just reserve the right to refuse anything offensive, but that is just a minor detail and we hope we won't have to turn anyone away.

So get our your brushes and create something wonderful or take that piece off the wall that everyone always tell you how good it is and enter it in The First Public Art Hanging in Bowling Green, Kentucky!

Summer's Almost Here

Seems like Spring is quickly turning into summer. School is almost out! WKU graduation is Saturday and the local schools only have two weeks to go! Memorial Day will open the pools and there we are! Summer for us means great things happening in The Gallery and on Fountain Square.

We are gearing up for the next Gallery Hop which will be held on June 4th. For this Gallery Hop we have put together a collection of 2D and 3D art from various artists who hail from all around Kentucky. We have metal work from Lloyd K. Hughes from Lexington, pottery by Fred Weisner from Maysfield and Thoms Porter from Philpot. Jewelry by Rad Relics based here in Bowling Green and The Purple Rabbit Studio from Scottsville. Our yard art is created by Karen Hart of Louisville and Jana Johns from Louisville designs our Derby Babes. And of course we continue to inspire Bill Van Tassel from Morgantown to create novel art forms in glass. The Gallery Hop, Friday evening June 4th until at least 8pm. After that good music at 440 until the wee hours!

The Concerts in the Park will begin Wednesday June 2nd at noon. The band will be "Blue Light Special" who rock with music from the 60's, 70's and 80's. So grab a lawn chair and a picnic lunch (don't know if Rapid Rick will be on hand) and plan to spend an hour or so on beautiful Fountain Square. Big thank you to BB&T who once again has stepped up to title sponsor for the 31st Annual Series! And in a much smaller way, The Gallery at 916 is once again proud to be a sponsor of this great program.

Summer is starting and it's looking good!

"Did you know that laughter heals the heart, increases your metabolism, makes you happy and touches even the grumpiest demeanor?" Austin photographer Lorri Honeycutt has produced photo-illustrations for a real estate firm, hair salon, sign company, medical group, software company and, of course, many restaurants and wineries. Honeycutt’s work is sold at Fortneys and Sparks, both on 6th Street in Austin, and is available at art festivals in Texas and along the East Coast and I was lucky enough to encounter her work on a trip to Tampa, FL. "I think that a sense of humor is a gift. Meeting those who share your odd sense of humor is joyous. Which means, I think we would get along famously. "All the photos were taken with a Nikon SLR digital camera macro lens, and a lot of little figures. None of the photos have been digitally enhanced or created." I just love the little figures! "At the very least, I hope my photos bring you a smile." And smile you will when you window shop at The Gallery at 916. Three of Lorri's photos are for sale at The Gallery. Or visit her online gallery at www.bigworldphoto.com.

Tis the Merry Month of May

May is just a week away and we are busy collecting art to honor the two great May traditions of Kentucky: The Derby and Mother's Day.

Brenda Brown, our Russellville artist, keeps our gallery bright and cheerful with her mixed media horses and cows. Our newest piece is titled "254." It is a mixed media piece that features a black and white Holstein named, "254." We also have "Calvin" on display. It is also a mixed media piece that features the "winningest" jockey from last season, Calvin Borel. We are looking forward to several more pieces from Brenda for this most exciting of seasons.

Faye Christian Phillips promised me that she planned to set yesterday aside to paint, paint, paint. I haven't heard how successful she was but I am looking forward to seeing her new work. She has quite a followingher at The Gallery and her admirers anxiously await new work as eagerly as I do. She had several ideas that she wanted to commit to canvas for Spring. We will photograph and post as soon as we can, so stay tuned.

Working on an exhibit with Angela Kuprion, Helen Nash, Rhonda Hartis Smith and others for the fall. It takes a while to go from the talking stage to an actual exhibit and I will keep you informed as we progress through the process.

Gallery News

The exhibit for Cindy O'Daniel and Bob Goodwin is sadly coming to an end. It has been a wonderful show and The Gallery has never looked so striking! We continue to have clients come in who have seen the exhibit not once but three or four times! They usually have a "first timer" in tow and they do the gallery talk for me! It is that amazing.

Although Bob and Cindy have been in several art shows, this is the first time they have exhibited in a gallery. Not knowing what to expect at an artist reception, they were thrilled with the turn out and the interest displayed by the guests. They were gracious to the end, explaining the process and philosophy behind their art.

They did not meet until the reception on Friday evening and after spending several hours enjoying each others work, they made plans to get together and work! Bob is most interested in learning more about oil painting and from the first time he saw Cindy's work, he said, "I want to take a few lessons from this lady!"

After the exhibit closes, The Gallery will continue to have a limited number of Bob's pieces available and we are currently working with Cindy to feature her prints on canvas.

Nashville Art Debut for Amanda Sears

On Saturday, March 6th Amanda Sears will be making her Nashville art debut during the First Saturday Gallery Crawl, at The Arcade downtown.

She will be showing a few pieces in a group exhibition at the Davis Art Advisory/The Showroom, is located upstairs in The Arcade. She invites you to stop by anytime from 6-9 p.m. It's FREE and it's FUN!

She is excited and we are excited for her and for our clients who already have her work in their collections. She is a tremendously hard working and determined young woman whose art speaks of strength and depth.

We have several new pieces of Amanda's work and we will post photos next week. If you would like to view the art now, visit her website and look for Dirty Money, Pangaea, and Butterfly Tree. Prices are available on request through The Gallery at 916

ARTWORKS * MEMBERS 3RD ANNUAL FINE ART EXHIBIT

The Gallery looked fabulous, the refreshments were fabulous, the music was fabulous and the artwork was divine! Last evening a select group of art lovers had the opportunity to preview the ArtWorks Members 3rd Annual Fine Art Exhibit. The classical guitar of Wyatt Roselle and the outstanding artwork by 44 Artworks members had the guests in a very mellow mood. Steve and I made our guests as welcome as possible as they sipped their favorite beverage, courtesy of FLUID and munched on spring rolls and the award winning spinach dip from 440 Main.

Steve took lots of photos and if they do not appear with this blog, check out the news section of the website. He also took a photo of each and every piece in the show, all 88 of them! Some pieces are already sporting the classic "blue dot" that signifies sold but should you see one you like let us know and we will get you all the information you need to make it your own.

The exhibit was juried by Amanda Dillingham from The Renaissance Center in Dickson, TN. I wasn't in on the jurying (cleaning in the back studio) but I know she was quite impressed with the high quality of work she was judging. At this time the list of winners is being guarded by Price Waterhouse (if they still exist) and the awards will be announced at 7pm on Saturday evening. You are all welcome to join the throng that will be assembled here for the excitement and merry making! So either way...say tuned or come on down to The Gallery at 916

Let it Snow!!!

January ended with a small explosion of snow here in South Central Kentucky which was welcomed by every kid, young or old, I know. The newspaper had multiple stories about sledding on this hill or that; how many sledding injuries made it into the hospitals and whose car slid into whose. The photos that accompanied these stories featured smiling red cheeked faces. My favorite photo has about six kids on one sled on the hill behind the junior high school. Hospital Hill, which is in the center of town and in my estimation the scariest of sledding spots, due to multiple trees and boulders, was the scene of a traffic jam for most of Saturday! Cars were parked on both sides of all the streets leading up to it. Oh, it was fun. Gallery was closed and I took the cross country skis out to the golf course for a little ungroomed trail blazing in the bright sunshine.

I grew up in the Buffalo, New York area and winter rolled in around November 15th with one big gray cloud that stayed until April. I thought every one's winter looked just like mine. When I was a kid, I never could figure out how photographers got those gorgeous shots of blue streams flowing through pristine white snowbanks with the sun shining through the pines. And then, thank God, I moved. I had never until then seen the sun come out after a snowstorm! It was heavenly! Although that was many years ago, I continue to marvel at that natural wonder made up of kids, sunlight and snow. And so it was this weekend. And it was fabulous.

Valentines Day

The weather outside is frightful but Mary Lou's Valentines are delightful. I know those aren't the real words to the song but today it's the truth! The weather has been wild all day. First rain, then snow, then beautiful blue sky, a blizzard, hail, more blue sky, more snow and now as night falls all is quiet with soft grey clouds.

Mary Lou's Valentines on the other hand are lovely. We received 19 originals note cards! Some are pink, some red, some sport handmade glitter hearts. What a truly personal way to say you are loved. Mary Lou has never marketed her cards before and we are really happy that she has chosen The Gallery for her debut. Each cards sells for $4.75.

If you are in the Bowling Green area and the weather permits, stop by and take a look, I have several of them in the window.

So count up your Valentines and send us an e-mail, we will be happy to ship as many as you need to make them all happy!

Wow...What a Season!

I promised our web designer that I wouldn't let the blog down...and that is just what I did during the crazy time between Halloween and the New Year! Where did the time go? I can tell you, Steve and I spent a lot of time together and all of it in the gallery.

Saturday, October 31 st. had us dressed in appropriate costumes handing out trick and treats to the little art lovers who visited the square. Six days later we were decked out for the Downtown Christmas Open House! All during November we stocked the shelves and walls with goodies for Christmas art lovers.

We accepted Tom Pfannerstills work and readied the gallery for the December 4th Gallery Hop. Tom's work delighted everyone who came into the gallery during the duration of the show. Steve, with the help of our other good friend Steve, succeeded in hanging one of Tom's 3d pieces from the ceiling. I stuck around watching them for awhile but when it came time to hoist the $3800 still life, I went out for coffee. They did an amazing job and Tom was so pleased when he saw our installation.

The December Gallery Hop was sandwiched between The Downtown Lights Up, on Thursday night, and the Christmas Parade on Saturday morning. A very festive time for all.

Tom's official reception was held on Sunday afternoon, December 13th. Despite the draw of a Titan's home football game, there was barely room to move as Tom and Jessica Snodgrass gave their gallery talks. And so the month continued.

Business was brisk and as we got closer to Christmas we were both feeling in the spirit of the season. Lots of folks liked what we had to offer in the way of art and good will.

Christmas over I took some time with Dennis to visit the daughter and her family in Madison, WI. We loaded Christmas presents and the cross country skis and spent 5 days enjoying the snow, great beer and the most adorable grandchild in the world.

So here we are somewhere in the middle of January. Steve has repainted the WHOLE gallery and we have ordered a new hanging display system. The majority of Tom's great work has gone back to Louisville, new work by Amanda Sears has arrived, the 3rd Annual Artworks Juried Exhibition is due to open in February, and the final plans are falling into place for the 2010 Gallery Hops which begin in March.

So now with the new year begun I have you up to speed And...I will promise our web designer one more time, I won't let the blog down! I promise!