November 2013

Caldwell Arts Council in Lenoir, NC, Offers Three New Exhibits

The Caldwell Arts Council in Lenoir, NC, is pleased to announce the exhibit Country Roads, Catawba Journey and Patches, featuring photography by Hickory, NC, photographer Clayton Joe Young; folk art paintings by Hickory artist Barry Gurley Huffman; and quilts by members of Lenoir’s Patches quilting group, on view through Nov. 22, 2013. A reception will be held on Nov. 1, from 5-7pm.

Clayton Joe Young says, “Nothing can be as rewarding as getting lost driving down a country road. You never know what you might encounter: an aging barn, a church whose steeple peeks out of a mountain top, a barred up general store, or an old automobile that has seen better days.”

Young is an award-winning photographer with a background in photojournalism, and is currently the Program Director and Lead Instructor for the Photographic Technology Program at Catawba Valley Community College. Young collaborated with poet Scott Owens on this project.

Owen, poet collaborator for Clayton Joe Young’s Country Roads photography series, says “There can be little doubt that the ‘country’ in which many of us were raised is disappearing. Often these days (to turn a phrase from John Denver) not only is there no ‘home’ for ‘country roads’ to take us to, but there is no longer a country road either.”

Hickory artist Barry Gurley Huffman began painting in 1972. Her paintings are mostly autobiographical, expressing the thoughts and daily life of a housewife. The 15 paintings in the Catawba Journey series which will be exhibited were included as illustrations in the book by the same name, authored by Linda Baker Huffman and published by the Catawba County Historical Association in 1982.

Quoting Betty Ray McCain, then Secretary of the NC Department of Cultural Resources, “In Catawba Journey, Linda Baker Huffman and Barry Gurley Huffman break from the traditional approach and adopt the philosophy of Frenchman, Anatole France, who said, ‘history is an art and should be written with imagination.’”

Five ladies represent The Patches Group, formerly known as Four Patch, Plus One. Patches is a group of fiber artists who love to quilt, but have eclectic tastes in their work. The group began almost 20 years ago with the idea of learning more serious quilting skills. Through the years, they have toured many workshops, shows and fabric shops, and still regularly learn from each other during their weekly meetings. This fellowship has grown to an enduring friendship producing beautiful quilts.

Patches members are Fletcher McNeil, Mary Ann Hopkins, Suzanne Sproul, Nora Chase, and Lavina Smith.

Caldwell Arts Council exhibits are supported by the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Council at 828/754-2486 or visit (www.caldwellarts.com).

[ | November 2013 | Feature Articles | Download Carolina Arts' Current Issue | Carolina Arts Unleashed | Home | ]