December Exhibit Review: White Christmas

Ornaments from the Arts Center’s “Community Tree”

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. . .” Bing Crosby’s voice might have been drifting in subtle waves over the radio, dreaming of snow, but it didn’t seem to have much of an influence on Kentucky weather patterns.  We were about as far from a white Christmas as we could possibly be with some of the warmest winter weather that I can recall.

Although there wasn’t a White Christmas in the bluegrass, there was plenty of the theme to go around at the Community Arts Center this month.  “White Christmas” was the title of our first open invitation exhibit.  By open invitation, I mean that any artist that had work relevant to the theme of “White Christmas” could have their work be part of the exhibit for the month of December.  I was willing to accept almost anything.  On the flyer for the exhibit, I added that artists could submit artic abstractions, winter landscapes, Christmas and holiday themed work.  If someone went as far as to submit something that just happened to be painted white, I would have accepted it.  My main reason for doing this was to make the arts more accessible for both artists and viewers.  As an artist, I often get frustrated by the hoops that I must jump through to get my work out of the studio and into a gallery.  Some curators require that artists slides of your images, some want digital images, while others want to see the real work in person.  For most group exhibits, artists must pay a fee to submit their work to be reviewed by a panel before they even get considered for the exhibit.  With this exhibit, I wanted to get as many local and regional artists to participate as I could as a way of celebrating the holidays.  There were no prizes, no entry fees, just a great opportunity for artists to show their work. 

After sending the emails to artists and hanging the flyers for the “call to artists”, I was beginning to get a bit nervous that we might not have enough work for the exhibit.  But one by one in the days leading up to the exhibit, artists started contacting the Arts Center and leaving work behind.  We eventually had enough art to fill both the Grand Hall and the Gallery with “White Christmas” themed work.  Around thirty artists submitted over sixty works for this exhibit.

The work in the exhibit ranges from children’s art to professional regional artists and there is no shortage of variety.  There are snowy landscapes (in oils, acrylics, and watercolors) fiber art wall hangings, installation style sculptures, assemblages, abstract paintings, glass jewelry shaped like snowmen, even folk art gourds painted to look like Santa.  Also, a large part of the exhibit and the centerpiece for the holiday season at the Arts Center was the “Community Tree,” a twelve-foot Christmas tree donated to the Arts Center, decorated with all kinds of ornaments from community organizations.  The Creative Tree House, a children’s group that meets at the Arts Center, displayed Christmas themed work in Studio 2 or the “Elevator Gallery” as I like to call it.  This exhibit featured excellent Christmas tree paintings in the style of Gustav Klimt.

(above) An abstract painting from Baby Bear Daycare. 

I was pleased to learn that the Heart of Danville had chosen to have their Christmas Parade on Main Street share the theme of “White Christmas.”  After the parade, streams of excited children and parents flooded into the Arts Center to have their photos taken with Santa.  The Heart of Danville provided the Santa photo-op and CASA at Woodlawn provided the refreshments for the reception.  Although the numbers were too high to count, I would guess the number of people at the parade after party to be around 550. 

I would like to thank all of the artists who submitted work for the exhibit and all of the organizations that donated ornaments for our tree.  With so many different artists on display, the Community Arts Center had many visitors over the course of the month to view the exhibit.  Hopefully, we can do a similar exhibit next year with even more entries.  May all your Christmases be white.

The following artists displayed work in the White Christmas Exhibit:

Linda Lalor, Gaynella McGuire, Jack Carey, Susan Black, Marlene Martin, Dan McGrath, David Farmer, Judy Howard, Connie Goetsch, Carolyn Ellis, A. Jack May, Jenna Eickmeier, Jane Brantley, Debbie Baird, Ethan Birney, Baby Bear Daycare, Nancy Martindale, Brandon & Kristin Long, John Robinson, Yolantha Pace, Kris Marnon, Ray Wireman, Robert Apple, Linda Neal, Mary Noelker, Sherrie Cocanougher, and Christine Humphrey.

The following individuals and organizations donated ornaments for the Community Tree:

Big Brothers Big Sisters, Garden Club of Danville, Girl Scout Troop 738, Lancaster Road Homemakers Club, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Boyle Middle School FMD, Crazy Quilters, Families First Cradle School, Southwood, Brownie Troop 1174, Advocate Homes, Streamland Homemakers Club, Linda Gustafson, Danville Independent Schools Library Media Specialists, Tillie Sowders, Pieceable Quilt Guild of Danville.  Special thanks to Judy Sweeney and Mary Ann Griffin for decorating the tree.

Thanks,

Brandon Long

Executive Director

Community Arts Center