First Friday to celebrate regional artists

Sandra ClarkFeature, Our Town Arts

It’s First Friday on Nov. 2 with art galore at The Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. The open house celebrating regional artists and new exhibitions is 5-9 p.m.

A featured artist is Eric Buechel, who worked in Manhattan as an illustrator and later as an art director. He now lives in Pleasant Hill, Tenn. His exhibition, “The Familiar – The Art of Eric Buechel” will run through Nov. 30 at The Emporium.

His artist statement: “My work focuses on sharing my vision of beauty found in the familiar and ordinary. A walk in nature, an outing to a local café, the face of a loved one: these are the things that bring me joy. Capturing those memories on canvas and sharing those memories brings me even greater joy.”

Buechel studied with Dr. Furman J. Finck, an official presidential portrait painter and author, when he attended the DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, New Jersey. He later transferred to Broward College in Florida where he earned his degree in fine art.

Also on exhibit is The Arrowmont Experience, in its third year at the Emporium. It features work by Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts’ current artists-in-residence. The program provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to experiment and develop a new body of work in a creative community environment.

Each year, five artists of different media are selected for the 11-month program. Arrowmont’s artists-in-residence will showcase works made using a range of media, and they are:

Sasha Baskin, who is focused on the integration of analog and digital weaving processes, including ikat, natural dye processes, hand-controlled damask, hand-manipulated glitch, and computerized weaving; from Ridgefield, Connecticut

Alyssa Coffin, interdisciplinary artist from Providence, Rhode Island

Everett Hoffman, whose current work examines everyday material debris reconstructed within the complex narratives of identity, gender, and sexual desire; from Southwest Idaho

Stephanie M. Wilhelm, pottery and ceramics; from Manchester, Maryland

Kari Woolsey, functional pottery and ceramics; from Boca Raton, Florida.

 

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