Arts in Rockingham

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Click here for our post about online links for young artists and performers!

The BEST excuse EVER!

Snow.

When it snows I get to drag out all of my art supplies and my sketches. No one really expects me to get to the office, keep those budget meetings, update the website and social media.. do they?

Maybe I can do both…

making paper choices

Because, those budgets are important.. they are part of the big plan for 2014 and there are deadlines to be met. And this year is a huge year for local art, music, writing and theatre. 2013 was a wonderful year to meet new folks and make big plans.. now comes the line-item time of year where it is so important to put all of those sketches for a year of art in place. Calling folks now is great.. of course people are home! There is ice and snow outside!

So this week is a week of planning, counting, checking those sketches and putting it all in place — saving a bit of time for painting and dyeing. I found a blog that features a heart-shaped book that dates from the 15th century. One of my Pinterest trollings and i cut out the bookboard, mixed the paste, got out papers and fabrics, cut and assembled signatures.. I’m excited. I haven’t paused to make a book for some time.

And sledding. What are you doing with your inbound time? Having a creative day, I hope! Please share what you have been working on! See you later this week in the Art Market!

2014- the Year of the Wood Horse

The new Moon on January 30 at 11:20 pm PST  begins the year of the Wood Horse.The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people’s ethos making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able.

Well, I do love horses.

One of my favorite horses is the horse drawing done by Kitty Williams. While this image is beautiful, it is nothing compared to the vision of the original drawing.. and you can visit it in the new Rockingham County Justice Center (it is being re-installed, but that is a quick change!). This has been a wonderful public art project for the county and everyone is invited to support the next level that includes Pavers for Lady Justice.

As the beginning of a new year, January holds its’ own significance in the year. The beginning of our calendar, a time of decisions and goals that are usually set to secure improvements and optimistic outcomes for the future and some quality indoor time! Today is Monday, January 6 and as everyone else, I have enough milk, bread and catfood (well, maybe everyone is not worried about cat food but it has been brought to my attention that this is necessary for all of us living in my house, including the birds.. who also have plenty of seeds and nuts..) working on indoor tasks. For the Arts Council, this is a time of planning for the warmer weather by generating grant funds, donations and collaborations to keep our county saturated in wonderful artful projects that educate, bring folks together in comfortable social surroundings and try on some new ventures.

This year, the Arts Council is looking toward:

• 6 exhibits, the current is County Crafts, the next exhibit in April titled “Down to Earth” illustrating in several media the importance of water in the environment. (Contact us for more info, interest in participation, etc).
• We are looking forward to the projects funded through the RCAC and the NC Arts Council’s partnership with Regional Artist and Grassroots Grants- we have six Grassroots Grant recipients this year in our community and schools.
• New workshops designed to help artists with the Business of Art, drawing and painting classes for adults and youth, poetry and prose workshops and a few more that are being finalized. (Sponsorships are welcome for these projects- we always offer stipends to our instructors, materials are needed and we try to keep our workshop fees to a minimum.)
• The 2014 Studio Tour is implementing many of your suggestions (the committee is meeting soon. We’d love your assistance!)
• and it will be sooner than we expect to have the Holiday Open House in December.

As we settle into the full gallop of the Year of the Horse, take time to enjoy the arts in our community. January is full already.. the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County begins their production of Dixie Swim Club, the Digital Imagery Workshop is January 23, the Fine Art Festival’s Wine Winter Wonderland is January 25 and “High Tea and Haiku” on January 30— and there are more that we don’t have the press for yet!

Stay warm, stay in touch and Happy New Year!

Small Holidays

Holidays inspire many folks to begin the tradition of celebrating at dinners, with gift-giving and even hunkering down for the eminent cold weather. Large families gather for intimate parties, offices give token gifts, food banks and toy banks do their best to include all the community members that need their help and some individuals take the time to pause, collect their thoughts and re-charge. These are times that are distinctive, unique and custom-made.

Our economic times have caused many people to be more specific with their gift giving. One way to do that is choose a special hand-made gift that has no “production line” or “gimmick”. Whether you create that gift yourself or visit the local Art & Craft Gallery to see local artworks that support the creative economy close to home, the thoughtful handcrafted present is usually the one most appreciated.

Closing out 2013 with handcrafted ornaments, crafts like pottery, hats and scarves or special paintings and photographs are a great way to share creatively crafted items, convey how much you care about the person receiving the gift and remain supportive of your local arts and crafts in the community.

Each year the Dan River Art Market &  Gallery presents the Holiday Open House to feature artwork, craft, music, books and more by our local artisans with a weekend celebration of music, poetry, new artwork and light refreshments. It’s our way thanking this creative community with an artful family weekend! And many of our local shops carry art and craft by our local creative workers.

We hope you will join us for this free and festive weekend. The Art Market will remain open through December 21, opening again in the new year. Happy Holidays!

Colorful Days Ahead

With the beginning of August the days are shorter and many of us are waking up before the sun rises. Leaves are starting to fall to the ground, the Joe Pye weed is blooming and it is time to start watching for some of those small bits of color that will arrive with Autumn.

We have some great color options for you here at the Arts Council! Coming up is an exciting workshop with Eden paper artist Elizabeth Treadwell and a two-day adventure in the world of Paste Paper. Join us September 13-14 for a fun class in this technique that brings color, texture and not-very-expensive materials to create sheets of papers that can be used for collage, cards, covering items and more. Cost is $75 and all materials are included in the workshop. Pre-registration is required (supplies are included, but must be ordered) Call for more details.

Do You Dig Deep? or Just a Little Off the Top?

The excitement of new inspiration! How can you see this in a different way? I recently went to a pretty awesome workshop put on by the Durham Arts Council and it covered a huge spectrum of thoughts about the arts- community art, entrepreneurship in the arts and corporate economies, use of social media, individual artists and marketing with a lot of discussion from the new Secretary of Art and Tourism, Secretary Susan Klutzz as a keynote speaker.

While I am a good listener, I am not a quick believer and truly benefit from mulling things over in my mind. One of my favorite quotes (paraphrased because I am not the greatest note-taker) by Samuel Johnson, pointing out that many times people only need to be reminded of what they know and not taught new information. This quote by the speakers was a segue to inspire creative entrepreneurship between the arts community and the corporate sector. Many times the rules are different but there are levels of flexibility and insight from which both subgroups can benefit.

Enter the new Exhibit! Thin as Paper

Artists are encouraged to submit works that have a transparency about them, are created on paper, may have more depth than first realized. The opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, June 30 from 5-7. With this exhibit we have several workshops planned and the dates should be confirmed soon. Please plan to exhibit, attend and find out more about paper crafts in our workshops! And find out what  lies beneath the surface!

Warm Spring Days are Ahead! Time to step out and support the arts in our community!

Have you noticed how many great events are coming up in April this year? I was chatting with some folks that stopped by the Art Market over the past few weeks and they are all surprised to find out that there is so much going on in Rockingham County. I think there have always been things going on but we are becoming more connected. Partly because of the internet, news publications, radio and mailings and partly because it is so dang expensive to drive very far! We are seeking out local events to support!

Here are a few places to look:

At the Arts Council we have the upcoming

• “Still Life” classes beginning on Fridays for six weeks from 1-3:30. Joe Garner is teaching this with all media invited, cost is $60/6weeks.
• Celebrate Poetry month with Bob Wickless for an Evening With Poetry on Thursday, April 18 from 5-7. Readings, open mike night and hopefully the beginning of a wonderful relationship!
• Spring Fling exhibit through May 30- and we have new artwork coming in weekly!

Three Reasons to Just Stay Home Tonight

Now, when I speak of home, I don’t really mean in the house. I mean in Rockingham. There is stuff. There are things. There are people to see, events going on and why in the world would anyone want to miss them? Here on the Arts Council pages we try REALLY HARD! to let everyone know what we know. Let’s try some bullets.

• We like to support our community. 

This means you need to move – physically go THERE. Wherever there is. And when there is here (ha! this is getting fun!) it is much closer! A trip to our surrounding cities and counties and states is always a blast- a good journey is good for the soul- you meet new people, find new destinations and often realize you were pretty happy at home in Rockingham! If folks don’t participate will the events continue? Did you just hear that tree fall in the forest? For a list of upcoming arts-related events always check our website and if you are interested in a particular organization get on the organization’s mailing list!

• The world is not on television.

We have great folks in our communities. Friendly, concerned, intelligent, talented, beautiful… really. If you doubt me, come out to one of the festivals close to your home. Better yet- one of the events in another township! These are people that we have more in common with than talking heads on the tube, nattering voices on the radio and I am pretty weary of the naysayers. I drive by lovely gardens, stop in shops, chat with folks in line and these small rituals of engagement are what I look forward to every day.

• Please. Share what you know.

We all do different things in different ways. And we always hear how knowledge is power. Maybe sharing your knowledge gives the whole community more power and enjoyment. Perhaps a good way to experience life is to become part of the solution, part of the process and share your experiences. Art is a great way to share..whether you are making art, loving art, trying on a new art (art is a small word with large opportunities) it is ready and available  for everyone. The Arts Council, our community arts organizations and our artists are all investing time, funding and energy to create great venues for music, fine art, crafts, drama, dance, literary arts and much more in great social events. Bring your children. Bring your parents. Come alone. Please join us!

The Arts Council has a reception on the third Thursday of March from 5-7. The Spring Fling Exhibit runs through May in the Dan River Art Market & Gallery. The Art Market is open Thursdays, 10-4, Fridays 11-2 and Second Saturdays. Please call for an appointment or special tours.

And, in April we have Still Life Composition with our local artist Joe “Zak” Garner. More events are planned.To stay abreast of arts in Rockingham events, please sign up for our newsletter,  follow us on Facebook and Twitter, stop by or call for our latest schedule card and visit the website. We list events on local newspaper calendars and participate in Community Accents on WLOE on the “odd” months. Lots going on in our home, Rockingham County! See you here!!!

Let the Artful Blogging Begin!

With the development of our creative workforce in Rockingham County, perhaps posting links to other local bloggers of interest might be just the first-of-the-year inspiration we all need to get started on our 2013 projects! When defining the creative workforce, the general consensus is to emphasize the word “creative”. While some job descriptions are loose and others are very specific, over 26% of the workforce in Rockingham County fits into these categories, demonstrating how significant the contribution is to our economy. These occupations include writing- poetry, blogging, books, articles, journalism and content, visual art- painting, drawing, graphic design, advertising images, photography, printmaking, craft that includes pottery, glass, woodworking, textiles, jewelry and other embellishments, music in a variety of styles, theatre and drama, dance and much more.

Within this Arts in Rockingham blog you can find a few links that include authors that write about their passions- fitness, pets, drawing, clay work, sculpture, handweaving, surface design, mixed media, art education and others. We plan to add more as we find new links.

Do you have a blog you’d like to share? Want information on how to start your blog? Please let us know! We are excited about making more connections with the artists in Rockingham and surrounding counties! Let the artful blogging begin!