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.