September Issue 2000
The Watauga County Arts Council in Boone, NC, Offers New Exhbits
The Watauga County Arts Council in Boone, NC, is hosting an exhibit of mixed media works by artist and instructor Mary Prather, of Boone NC, in the Mazie Jones Gallery. The Open Door Gallery is featuring an exhibit entitled, The Brown Prints, alternative process photographic works by Jules Keith.The exhibits will be on view through Sept. 30, 2000.
Mary Prather graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pembroke State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education. She received her Master of Arts Degree in Studio Art from Western Carolina University in 1981. Currently, she is serving as an Adjunct Instructor in the Appalachian State University Department of Art. Her work has been published in Art Today, Profile, Who's Who in American Education, and Foothills Scene. Her work has been exhibited recently in the ASU Faculty Show (January 2000), the 22nd Annual First Tennessee Bank Art Competition and Exhibition (where her piece, Iron Series VII took 3rd place), and at the Carroll Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University.
Prather usually works in themes or series. In her work, she has explored the arch, the pointed arch, the shield, the target and of course the iron on a two-dimensional surface. Three-dimensionally, she has produced the stacked clay sreies, the cage series, and the iron series. Prather manipulates images by drawing, painting, or smoking the surfaces. Her artwork incorporates handmade paper, textured-surfaced clay, and found objects. A strong use of color, shape, and line is evident in her work, which offers a different view of images that are usually taken for granted. Humor is an element found throughout all Prather's various series, many of which offer an element of surprise.
In the center's Open Door Gallery, Jules Keith is presenting, The Brown Prints, an exhibit of alternative process photographs.
Keith is a senior at Appalachian State University, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in photography. She is originally from Charlotte, NC, and has resided in Boone for three years. Her work has been exhibited in such venues as the Nth Degree Gallery in Downtown Boone, and the Light Factory in Charlotte, NC.
Keith is a portrait photographer who loves alternative processes. Her images are documentary, and invite the viewer to examine the world of the people she photographs. She studied under Byron Baldwin during High School, and became obsessed with photographing the sub-cultures around her. Currently she is working on a project dealing with the effect of American Society on women's bodies. The images on display at the Jones House are a collection of sepia toned portraits taken between 1996-2000.
Keith plans to move to Gainesville, FL, next year to obtain an MFA in Creative Photography. She is the president of S.T.O.P. (Society To Organize Photographers) and runs a freelance photography business, Redhead Productions.
For more information contact the Watauga County
Arts Council at 828/264-1789.
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