Upcoming December Events

Chrome and Stone: Opening Reception
December 4 - 6-8:30 PM - Gateway Gallery - Winston-Salem
This exhibition will feature digitally enhanced photographs of hotrods and muscle cars by Walker Lewis, Jr. and infrared film photographs of England, Cornwall and South Wales by James C. Williams. The exhibition will contrast the vanishing media of infrared film photography with the burgeoning field of digital photography, a media that threatens to replace film. The Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble will perform during the reception. The exhibition will remain on display through January 16.
Cost: Free. 777-0076 x238.

Our Journey Your Destination
December 10 - 7 PM - Enrichment Center - Winston-Salem
The Enrichment Center will present "Our Journey Your Destination," an original performance, on December 10, 7pm in Gateway Gallery. A dress rehearsal on December 9, 11am, will be open to the public. The program, a dramatic blend of dance, acrobatics, drama, and street entertainment with whimsical characters, will feature actors and dancers with and without disabilities and music by the Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble. The show highlights the journey of the main character, "The Fallen Sparrow," a metaphor for the struggle between acceptance and denial suffered by a young woman who loses the use of her legs and is suddenly confined to a wheelchair. The performance was choreographed by Laurette Henry, director of the Enrichment Center Performance Company. A reception and sale of holiday gift items created by the Enrichment Center's artists will follow the performance.
Cost: Free. Seating is limited. 777-0076 x238.

Signing Artist/Gallery Contracts
December 11 - Noon- Associated Artists - Winston-Salem
Steve Virgil of the WFU Community Law Clinic will lead a conversation on the artist contract."The Artist and the Gallery - questions to consider before signing a contract."
Cost: Free. 722-0340.

ArtQuest: Community Arts Sundays
Sundays Through December 20 - 3-5 PM - Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art - Greensboro
Sponsored by Lincoln Financial. Explore the many cultures of your community. Each month features arts and crafts activities of cultures from around the world that contribute to our local community.

Inspiration Hailing from New Orleans

Couldn't resist reblogging this post from the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, which always has envy-worthy programs going on. Ashé will be hosting a book signing of Men We Love, Men We Hate, an anthology of writings by students from Students at the Center (SAC), a program that works with New Orleans public schools in teaching English and elective writing classes.

Adrinda Kelly, an alumni who participated in the first year of SAC, provides this introduction: "This book is pregnant with love, but it is a love overburdened by secrets, disappointments, repression, confrontation, accusations, forgiveness, and loss." (Students at the Center Writings. Men We Love, Men We Hate. Students at the Center: 2009.)

The book can purchased for download or hardcopy online at SAC's website.

New Downtown Middle School Features Gallery Space

A new segment of the population will soon be selling art on Trade Street, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. So glad to hear that the new middle school downtown will feature a space to sell students' art work. What a message to send to kids that art can be a viable (and paying) career.

Along with the Community Arts Cafe, Winston-Salem now has two new locations to explore local artists (of all ages).

Local Artist Jan Detter Featured in The Chronicle

Local artist Jan Detter was recently featured in The Chronicle for a project she leads at Kennedy Learning Center, a school which specializes in assisting immigrant and ESL students. Detter spent time at Kennedy leading a weaving project. She chose weaving because of its universal presence in many cultures. Click below for a full image of the article.

Unity in Motion

Kicking off Kwanzaa festivities this year, the Urban League Young Professionals, Triad Cultural Arts, and the National Association of Black Veterans sponsored the celebration of the concept of Umoja, or unity.

Read more in Todd Luck's Chronicle article.

Asian Sensation

While websurfing I discovered three amazing girls aged 13-15 who have already entrenched themselves in community arts.

Rae-Yao is a local student who, along with two other students, received a grant through DoSomething.org which has enabled her to perform classical music for many community groups. Inner-city children, elderly residents, and many other members of our local community have benefitted from hearing the"Asian Sensation" trio. Check out Rae-Yao's summary of the project online.

New Faces: Immigrants and Refugees in NC

Monday, November 16, 3 pm.
Diggs Gallery- WSSU - Winston-Salem
Presented by the Center for New North Carolinians at UNC-Greensboro
Sponsored by The Office of International Programs and Club Latino

Focus on education and community outreach programs for youth and children, and opportunitiesfor internships and service learning.

Young Americans by Sheila Pree Bright

In Conjunction with:
YOUNG AMERICANS: Photographs by Sheila Pree Bright
This dynamic new series of photographs by Atlanta-based photographer Sheila Pree Bright explores the identities of U. S. citizens and immigrants pursuing citizenship by presenting portraits of Americans aged 18- 25, each posing with the American flag. The exhibition features 49 large format chromogenic prints, several accompanied by statements from the subjects revealing their unique conceptions of patriotism. The project began in 2006 and features 15 WSSU participants.
Young Americans: Photographs by Sheila Pree Bright is organized by The Amistad Center for Art & Culture, Inc., Hartford, Connecticut, in collaboration with the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia. Made possible by generous grants from Aetna and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources and the WSSU Office of Student Affairs.

Downtown Winston-Salem Blog: Lighting Project

Reblog from the DWSP Blog: Lighting Project on the Pepper Building

Downtown Winston-Salem Blog: Lighting Project (Click on the Photo for a Link for more info)

The Gallery of the Arts Opens in Downtown Winston-Salem

The Community Arts Cafe recently opened a space at 411 W. 4th Street in Winston-Salem called The Gallery of the Arts, which is part of a larger project to expand interest in local arts. Read up on their future plans at the Winston-Salem Journal. Community Arts Cafe is also an online newsletter with separate editions for Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point.

Image from Gallery of the Arts website

ACCORD Grant Concept Proposals Due in Mid-November

What is the ACCORD Initiative?

ACCORD is an acronym for Artists Contributing to Civic-Oriented and Responsive Democracy. It is a project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, which, according to Kenan Institute materials, "sparks dialogue about the essential role of the arts and civic-minded artists within a thriving democracy.

It is an effort to encourage collaboration between nonprofits, community organizations, charitable groups, and governmental agencies with local college students to create arts-based projects that address community needs and/or social issues.

Organizations can apply for grants for up to $2,5oo to complete this type of local, collaborative project. Concept proposals are due November 19, 2009. The most important thing is for organizations to identify the social issue they would like to address.

Please e-mail Amanda Balwah at amandab@kenanarts.org for more information on guidelines. Training workshops are available for organizations who would like assistance in writing their grant proposals.

Intersections with Photographs from Gaze by Michael Meyersfeld

A series of photographs from a book titled Gaze by Michael Meyersfeld accompanied the unveiling of a new local organization, Intersections of the Triad. Intersections is an organization devoted to social support for the local HIV/AIDS population. The organization plans to promote HIV awareness, encourage testing, and open a center where homeless men and women can use computers and consult with case managers. Read the September 24th article in The Chronicle by browsing through the archive for the September 24th edition and reading page A2.

Michael Meyersfeld's book Gaze is a collection of portraits of a spectrum of South Africans who identify with many different sexual identities.

The exhibition of these photographs was the first in the United States. Although the event was private, the public will have more opportunities to view Meyersfeld's work in the future. The exhibit is abroad for several months but will eventually visit the U.S. again.

Artists Tell the Story of Sex Trade Victims in Shipping Containers

Simon Clark/Eyebox, NPR's "Emma and Elena, Exposing the Sex Trade," October 31, 2009.

Actress Emma Thompson and sex trade victim, Elena, bring seven artists together in an exhibit called Journey. The exhibit will be available to the public November 10-16 in Washington Square Park in New York City.

Read the NPR article for an explanation of the exhibit as well as a video tour of Journey with Emma Thompson.

After the exhibit, be on the lookout for photographs from visitors to the exhibit. We would love to post them here.