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July Issue 2008
Somerhill Gallery Moves Into New Space
in Durham, NC
Somerhill
Gallery has had the moving experience of a lifetime, packing its
paintings and sculptures from the Eastgate Shopping Center in
Chapel Hill, NC, to move to its exciting new gallery in Durham,
NC, at the Venable Center, owned by Durham-based real estate development
firm Scientific Properties.
In the new heart of what was once the wrong side of the tracks, Somerhill Gallery is now located at the intersection of Roxboro and Pettigrew Street, two blocks from the new Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the American Tobacco District, as well as two blocks from Durham's new Performing Arts Center, which will open in Dec. 2008. Somerhill Gallery is located at 303 South Roxboro Street in Durham off Exit 12, Durham Freeway (NC 147), and had a soft opening on June 14, 2008, to celebrate its first day of business at its new location.
The one-story gray block building now housing Somerhill Gallery was built in 1952 as a shipping and receiving warehouse for the historic Venable Tobacco complex, which dates from 1905. The tobacco complex, now redeveloped as the Venable Center, is also home to the Independent Weekly, the region's leading arts and entertainment weekly, and is located in the heart of the Durham's vibrant arts and culture scene.
This makes the sixth incarnation of Somerhill, spearheaded by Gallery Director Joseph Rowand and is the largest and the most architecturally significant. "The gallery has always worked in constant evolution of what it is," Rowand said. "I'm standing at the edge of shift and change. The gallery continues to redefine itself."
Updated news is available on Somerhill's website at (www.somerhill.com), with a click to the "About Us" tab to see the link to the News Blog, as well as pictures of the gallery's current look and of its construction. Also available are videos from the continuing video series from videographer Wil Weldon of Growler Productions, which include Gallery Director Joseph Rowand with special guests giving a walkthrough of the space and meeting with new customers on the first open day of business.
One of the Southeast's premier fine art galleries, Somerhill celebrated its 36th anniversary in 2008. Featuring paintings, sculpture, fine art photography, studio glass, fine art craft, and studio jewelry, Somerhill Gallery is breaking new ground for commercial art galleries in the Southeast with not only its impressive stable of artists, but its new architecturally important space in Durham's most exciting district.
Designed by Szostak Design, Somerhill's exciting new space has over 9,000 square feet of new white oak floors with over 40 skylights in an architectural gem of a space featuring 14 foot ceilings with an unexpected and dramatic newly created open-air, glassed-in sculpture Atrium.
The Grand Opening celebration for Somerhill Gallery is planned for July, 2008. Live Jazz will be provided by the Martha Cecka Trio, which includes Martha Cecka, Scott Moore and Bill Fairbanks.
Concurrently, the inaugural exhibit at Somerhill Gallery will be for painter Richard Pratt and will feature 17 of his most recent paintings on canvas. Pratt was born in Gainesville, GA, and received his Bachelors in Art History from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Based out of Knoxville, Pratt has exhibited at galleries throughout the South and his work exhibits skilled craftsmanship and highly edited landscape configurations. Pratt's paintings have been described as "neat, meticulous, and contemporary" (The Tennessean, Nashville, TN, June 28, 1987).
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/688-8868 or visit (www.somerhill.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.