Feature Articles


September Issue 1999

Millennium Art Show Upstairs Gallery in Tryon, NC

As the 20th century moves inexorably towards its close and a new century dawns, the auspicious passage of time is serving as theme for an exhibition coming soon to the Upstairs Gallery in Tryon, NC.
Art for the Millennium opens on Sept. 17 and continues through Oct. 16. The invitational show highlights 38 artists who have exhibited at least twice at the gallery in the 1990's. Some artists whose work may be familiar to regional patrons are Mark Mulfinger, Mike Vatalaro, Jane Allen Nodine, Dale Lee McEntire, Donna Goodman, G. Carol Bomer, Teresa Prater, Phillip Dusenbury and Phil Garrett.
"Artists like theme shows," says Nancy Holmes, president of the gallery's Board of Directors. "But this particular theme has generated more excitement than usual. Everyone wanted in on the act."

The art includes painting in a wide range of media as well as sculpture, photography, ceramic art, fabric and glass. Each work of art will be displayed alongside a statement describing the inspirational connection between the art and the millennium. For example, Ron Mosseller explains his wool tapestry of twin comets as symbolizing "the promise of equality of the new era of the millennium." The Lynn, NC artist is in many collections including the North Carolina Museum of Art and The Smithsonian Institute.

Robert Poe's photomontage, Road Cactus, is all about the haphazard deconstruction of the environment as well as a "new organic order." Poe, who is Associate Professor of Art at Lander University, was recently juried into the 1999 Magic Silver Show, an international photography competition.
And Carol Pittman's colorful graphite panels are "a homage to the progress made by women and by art over the past 2000 years." Pittman is a distinguished artist who teaches art history and appreciation at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

An exhibition to celebrate the millennium seems appropriate for a gallery that is poised on the threshold of major change in the year 2000. The Upstairs is planning to increase the facility from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. The expansion will provide gallery space for fine art photography and regional craft as well as the regular exhibitions of painting and sculpture which change every five to six weeks in season.

"I think we're also celebrating the fact that the Upstairs has made it to the millennium," says Holmes. "When the gallery began in 1976, I doubt that anyone dreamed it would become an 'establishment' gallery for contemporary art." Indeed, the non-profit gallery, which is operated entirely by volunteers, is a significant cultural organization in Tryon offering programs as stimulating and diverse as art itself. During the month of the millennium art show there will be a literary coffeehouse, a Pickin' Parlor, a Spanish guitar concert and a wine tasting.

The Upstairs Gallery is located at 409 N. Trade Street (Highway 176) in downtown Tryon. Gallery hours are Wed.-Sat., noon to 3pm and by appointment. Family Day is always the first Sun. (Sept. 19) following the opening of a show; hours are 1-4pm. Gallery members receive regular announcements about shows and other activities and a 10% discount on purchases of art. For information call 828/859-2828.

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