Exhibition dates ó Nov.2 ń Feb. 13, 2010
Opening reception: 6-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4
Waterworks Visual Arts Center presents Strength in Unity, a group of exhibitions celebrating the bonds that bring artist and community together. These artists and groups represent the spirit of togetherness that makes a vibrant art community more than the sum of its parts.
Phyllis Steimel has been an important member of Salisbury’s art community for many years, not only as an artist, but as a teacher and an enthusiastic friend and proponent of all Salisbury’s artists. She is a co-founder of Plein Air Carolina and a member of many arts organizations including the Waterworks, and many aspiring artists have been inspired by her leadership. But it is the paintings themselves that speak loudest about her accomplishments.
Viewing Steimel’s oils on canvas, the first thing that strikes most people is the color. Inspired by the Fauves, she is a profoundly gifted colorist, imbuing her works with a palette so vivid that it borders on the otherworldly. The color is used to breathe life into the details of unobtrusive, everyday objects and scenes.
“Colors breathe beauty and happiness to the often overlooked sights around me,” Steimel says. “I portray a glance at our world; a snippet, fresh and unlabored; a scene that is fleeting, familiar and memorable.”
“Appalachians, End to End” features a series of paintings of the Appalachian mountain range, from the Labrador coast to the Smoky Mountains. An avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast, Steimel gathers impressions from her travels up and down the mountain range, interpreting each moment with her bold, fervent brushstrokes and inimitable palette.
A native of Rochester, New York, Phyllis Steimel received her BFA from Syracuse University. She has lived in Rowan County for over 25 years. A retired swimming coach, she has dedicated herself to painting for the last sixteen years.
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“Selections from the collection of Katharine W. Osborne” will be on view in the Osborne and Woodson galleries. Osborne was a longtime patron and loyal friend of Waterworks. A large number of the pieces included in the show were purchased from Waterworks over many years. At the time of her death in 2008, her collection held more than 150 unique works of art. Her children loaned them to this exhibition so that the community might have a window into her tastes and her interests.
The works that make up the collection and the exhibition come from internationally established artists and from local craftsmen and everything between. A Dale Chihuly glass piece glimmers near a small painting by local legend Clara Childs, and a cluster of ceramic vessels and wood sculptures hover underneath a large canvas by Philip Moose, a globally renowned landscape painter. All of the pieces have in common the fact that they struck Mrs. Osborne’s fancy enough to become part of her collection, and that notion in itself provides an interesting point of view for audiences. – – –
“Abundance/Abundance Lost” is an exhibition of artworks made by the ARPA 10 Art Collective, a group that came together while they were artists-in-residence at the McColl Center in Charlotte, one of the region’s most esteemed residency programs. ARPA (Spanish for Harp), a Spanish restaurant located a few blocks from the Center, was the site for many thoughtful discussions which created a lasting bond between these 10 regional artists. The group’s working relationship became so fruitful that they continued to meet as friends and colleagues long after their residencies had ended, naming the collective after the site of their stimulating conversations.
Working across a wide variety of media and with very little in common in terms of theme or content, these artists are brought together by a dedication to the unique.
David Edgar’s sculptures of reappropriated domestic containers bear little resemblance to Linda Luise Brown’s lyrical abstract paintings but in their juxtaposition they activate one another and encourage an imaginative response to both the individual pieces and their pairing.
The group includes Alyssa Wood and Felicia van Bork (Davidson), Linda Luise Brown, David Edgar, Laura Alma McCarthy, and Amy Sanders (Charlotte), Jennifer Gilomen (Clover, SC), Paula Smith and J. Michael Simpson (Rock Hill, SC), and Charles McMurray (Miami, FLóformerly of Charlotte).
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The 2009 Artists Invitational Exhibition is the sixth version of what has become one of Waterworks’ most popular events. The talents of ten local and regional artists comprise this year’s exhibition. These artists are selected by Waterworks because they represent excellence in their techniques and innovation in their ideas, and there is always a stimulating and beautiful result in the unity of their works. The annual invitational has often proved a platform of success for the participating artists, with many going on to have solo shows at the Waterworks and other institutions. Audiences are always able to find something appealing in the Artists Invitational, and many local collections have been enhanced by this event over the years.
Featured in the exhibition are watercolors by Dr. Saleef Kafajouffe, pastel drawings by Adele Goodman, ceramic sculptures by Theresa Glisson, oil paintings by Cheri Simmons, jewelry by Kirsten Reynolds, watercolors by Glenn Yost, concrete sculptures by Julie Joslin, charcoal drawings by Emily Clare, mixed-media paintings by Joshua Cross, and oil paintings by Ellen Turner Christian. Waterworks is located at 123 E. Liberty St. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call 704-636-1882.