Tomorrow is the big night for the 1st Annual Carrboro Community Art Project!

We will start our celebration of the 1st Annual Carrboro Community Art Project this Friday, May 14th during the 101st 2nd Friday Artwalk at Carrboro Town Hall. The Town's new Poet Laureate Jay Bryan will start the festivities at Town Hall with a poem at 6:30 followed by a performance by the Scene of Crime Rovers, a marching band unlike any you've ever seen. The Indy's Grayson Currin described them as "an evolving Durham collective of out-minded people, musicians or not, as a marching band unlike anything you could have imagined." Check them out here.

Lucky's Starlight Lounge, "an old fashioned jazz duo with a swanky modern twist" will play at the Century Center starting at 7:30 They play an eclectic mix of jazz standards, lounge music and unexpected revisions of old and contemporary favorites. Follow them on Facebook!

We will host receptions at both Town Hall and the Century Center where the 60+ pieces of art are hanging from 6-9 during the ArtWalk. We encourage artists to bring beverages or finger food (no utensils needed) to the reception.

Another thing: check out the great new 2ndFriday logo below!  My favorite part of the logo?  Obviously the patron walking off with a piece of art that left some money in an artist's pocket and a spring in her step!

Last thing: Read Debbie Meyer's column on the 101st ArtWalk here.  Here is a photo from the article of Ed Camp, Exec Director of the ArtsCenter and Jackie Helvey, our own Ms. Carrboro.

Final reminder on the Carrboro Community Art Project

We'll collect your art this coming Saturday, April 24th at the Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St. Remember the rules: basically anyone who, lives, works or plays in Carrboro is eligible, any 2 dimensional medium, 16" x 20" or less, and ready to hang. Our website www.communityartproject.org has all the details and a submission form.  You can also fill out the short submission form when you bring in your art.

You are free to price and sell your art though I am encouraging donating sales $s to a charity of your choice.

2nd Friday ArtWalk tonight in Carrboro and Chapel Hill & the Frank opening

Please join local art lovers on the ArtWalk tonight from 6-9.  More info here.  It's supposed to be nice and just a bit cool for the evening, so no excuses!  While there will be interesting art and people all over our two towns, the big event is the open of Frank, the Chapel Hill arts cooperative on Franklin Street.  Stop on by and support one of the biggest recent events in local arts!

Go to their website for more info on Frank and the opening.  If you need directions go here.

FRANK opening in downtown Chapel Hill!

Chapel Hill's new community non-profit art collective will open on April 9th during the 2ndFriday Art Walk.  There is not much yet on their website but put it on your calendar.  I'm hoping this a great opportunity to liven up the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Triangle art scene.  I also can see it positively improving the  economic impact of arts in the local community and putting more money in the pockets of working artists.

Handmade Travels blog post on Carrboro's NC Craft Gallery!

Handmade Travels is dedicated to finding and promoting handmade products.  Their latest post is on our very own NC Crafts Gallery.  It includes a fairly in-depth interview with owner Sara Latta Gress.  Stop by 212 West Main Street at the corner of Weaver Street in Carrboro and say hello or visit them during the 2ndFriday Artwalk.

Carrboro Community Arts Project

Check out Ron Stutts interview with Jackie Helvey (unofficial Carrboro woman of the century) about the upcoming Carrboro Arts Project.  More details forthcoming over the next weeks but we'd love to have great participation.  Start thinking about creating some art that reflects Carrboro and our community.

Being the inclusive folks we are, we are open to submittals from Chapel Hill, Orange County, Chatham County, etc.  That includes those of you who might not even live here anymore!  It will be a fun time.....

Steven Silverleaf at the Fleet Feet Gallery -- Wow!

I took a walk over to the Fleet Feet Gallery at 406 E Main St, Carrboro before my show at Weaver Street Realty last night during the 2nd Friday ArtWalk. I wanted to stop by and check out Steve's new collages.

You may have seen Steve's wonderful figurative pieces (drawings, acrylics and oils) of bightly colored bold and other times quiet and cool depictions of people in chairs and other settings and reposes. These often deceptively simple works are moving and thrilling, for example Conversation 1 to the right.

As good as these paintings are I've always been even more excited by his collages.  Still I was unprepared for this latest batch.  Most fairly small (say 12" wide by 36" tall) but a handful of a larger scale, they are playful, dramatic and compositionally strong and complex.  Some have colors that draw you in like an embrace.  Others grab ahold of your eyes like a magnet.  Most play with the image of a bird.  Really thrilling work of the highest quality.  The small photo to the right does not do them justice (but you can find the bird!)

Steve is one of the treasures of the Triangle artist community, much underexposed and often under appreciated.  This is a must see exhibit.  To see some of Steve's older paintings and collages go to his site but definitely make a point to stop by Fleet Feet!

A nice article on the 2nd Friday ArtWalk

Here's a nice article on the 101st 2nd Friday ArtWalk of Chapel Hill & Carrboro.  In nine years over a million people have attended the ArtWalk, in rain, shine, snow and heat.  Congrats!

Carrboro Art: where next?

The recent events surrounding the exciting Franklin Street Artist Collective have gotten me thinking. What about Carrboro? I know that Carrboro artists can apply to be in the Collective but I'm talking about a lively art scene here in the Paris of the Piedmont.

So any ideas? For example, how do we liven up the 2ndFriday Art Walk? We've lost a couple of places that used to be open such as Jessie Kalisher. Traffic is a little hit and miss. I think I'll propose that the Town Art Committee do a little survey of the downtown merchants and organizations who are on the tour and also those who have dropped off.

What about other issues such as inexpensive studio space, public art, mixing visual art with other media? We're creative, let's use that energy!

2ndFriday Art Walk in August

Okay this will be somewhat self serving but it is relevant. The next Carrboro/Chapel Hill 2ndFriday Art Walk will be August 14th from 6-9. Jackie has some of the info at the 2ndFriday website and I'm sure more will be added as we get closer to the big day.

Big day you say? For me at least, a last minute Art Walk show at Weaver Street Realty where I'll be showing mostly new pieces. Drop by 116 East Main Street in Carrboro for a glass of wine, friendship and a little art. Oh and go to the other shows too!

The Sea. Acrylics and ink on unprimed canvas mounted on plywood. 33 x 24.