Art for Healing Gala on February 23

In-Town Gallery member Cam Busch initiated the annual Art for Healing Gala for the Memorial Health Care System and the Cam Busch Endowed Arts for Health Lecture Series. The event raises awareness of the arts therapies and the arts in healthcare movement nationally.

For more information, see this Chattanooga Times Free Press article and this article from The Chattanoogan.

Copperplate Artist Mary Whittle’s Update on Art Classes

The five-day copperplate etching class at John Campbell Feb 10-15 was near capacity. In over ten years of teaching at the Folk school this class had as much enthusiasm as any, and students came away with some of the best works I’ve seen. The copper plates were as gorgeous as were the etchings that were produced. We covered etching, aquatint, drypoint, open bite, and a variety of acid resists in a short period of time, but rather than being exhausted, we all came away energized and pleasantly amazed at the results.

Following the etching class, came a workshop in photopolymer printmaking. Some students from the etching class stayed over for this class too. Unfortunately, there was more interest than we had room for, so we had to turn people away. As is always the case, I had things to learn from my students, and one interesting tidbit was finding that the medium was of interest to people using precious metal clay. One of the students is a teacher of that medium, and I learned how she planned to apply the medium to her art. There is such diversity in art and craft, and yet the mediums so often overlap. The photopolymer printmaking class attracted photographers, painters, mixed media artists, and others. The atmosphere was crackling with energy, and no one wanted to stop when the class was over.

The artist needs to be fed too, so after returning home from the two aforementioned classes, I headed out the next day to Appalachian Center for Craft for my own dose of metalsmithing. After years of working with copper to do etching plates, it seemed like it was time to stretch the old creativity muscle. This spring I am working on how to translate past experiences in metal into jewelry.

Plans are to start up another photopolyer printmaking class locally. Stay tuned for the details.

For more information on Mary Whittle, visit her webpage at http://whittlestudio.net

Lorri Kelly’s New Website!

Acrylic artist Lorri Kelly now has a new website. It is www.lorriykelly.com. Please check out her beautiful site and learn more about this In-Town artist!

The Passion Flower Project

In-Town’s Spider Webb will be the featured artist for March 2008 in a silent auction exhibit. Virginia is one of three local artists involved in a multi-media performance involving local dancer Ann Law, and her powerful use of the arts to aid in her healing after a diagnosis of breast cancer and the resulting double mastectomy.

Ms. Webb will be donating a portion of the silent auction proceeds to the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

Ms. Webb will be choosing photographs from the actual installation of the tattoo across Ann Law’s chest along with a photo of a Passion Flower.

Don’t miss this exciting, ground-breaking local event. Visitors can meet Virginia at a special “First Friday” reception on March 7, 2008 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. After the reception, the “Passion Flower” multi-media performance will be held at Barking Legs Theater.