‘Black Rainbows’ and ‘brilliant color’ in Art Crawl Friday

Charlie Slack will have an opening reception for his new body of work, “Black Rainbows,” at the Nth Gallery on Friday, May 1 at 7 p.m. as part of the Downtown Boone Art Crawl.

His paintings are figurative and an attempt to record a presence, created for interacting with the architecture of specific spaces.

A major conceptual concern of the artist is the subject of memory. He is interested in memory as it relates to time and space because it is phenomenological, both psychological and physical. Currently, Slack’s work deals with cultural identity masks that emerge during childhood.

The Nth Gallery is located at 683 W. King St. in downtown Boone.

Kovalcin exhibits at ArtWalk

ArtWalk welcomes a new artist to its gallery, Cindy Kovalcin of Blowing Rock. Kovalcin’s experience in watercolor painting ranges from figural to landscape. “With diversity of content, brilliant color and the finishing touches of professional framing, her work is bound to appeal to you and make a wonderful new addition to any home or office,” a gallery spokesperson said.

Excited to find a new outlet for her energy, Kovalcin has been painting for only a short time. Always wanting to learn the art of watercolor painting, she was inspired by her mother, who was also an artist. Moving to the High Country 14 years ago from south Florida, Kovalcin now calls the High Country home and enjoys the natural peace and beauty of the mountains.

It has been a lifelong dream to one day paint with watercolors. As a young girl, she took several art lessons using oils and pastels, but never continued. Between raising three sons and being devoted to her career, there was not much time for anything else. One day in 2007, a friend invited Kovalcin to join a watercolor painting class, and this was the beginning of a new passion. After accomplishing the basics of watercolor, she continued to experiment and study on her own.

Kovalcin’s work is displayed on the lower level of ArtWalk and will be available for the Downtown Boone Art Crawl on Friday, May 1.

ArtWalk is located at 611 W. King St. (across from Mast General Store) Boone, N.C. 28607. For more information, call (828) 264-9998, email artwalkboone@yahoo.com or visit www.artwalkboone.com.

Turchin Center opens three exhibitions May 1

Appalachian State University’s Turchin Center for the Visual Arts opens three exhibitions on Friday, May 1.
On display in Gallery B of the Center’s West Wing is Faculty Selects 2009, the Furniture Society’s Annual Student Juried Exhibition, presented in conjunction with the university’s Department of Technology and The Furniture Society’s 2009 Annual Conference.

Faculty Selects is an annual exhibition of student work sponsored by The Furniture Society, an international, non-profit organization based in nearby Asheville, and presented in conjunction with The Furniture Society’s 2009 annual conference.

Faculty Selects will be on display through Aug. 29.

Featured in the West Wing’s Mayer Gallery and the grounds of the Turchin Center is Gillian Christy: Inside and Out. Sculptor Gillian Christy holds a BFA from the University of Northern Iowa. She has created commercial graphics for the NFL on CBS, as well as works for NBC’s The Apprentice, NBC Sports’ Gravity Games and HBO.

Christy has exhibited her work in numerous outdoor collections, museums and galleries. Her sculpture focuses on ideas and related images of home. Her work is influenced by the surrounding environment.

By combining these forms in her sculpture, Christy continues to find new and refreshing images of home, incorporating details into her work that tell a highly illustrative story.

In the West Wing’s Gallery A is the Halpert Biennial. A national, juried, two-dimensional art competition and exhibition program, the Halpert Biennial is designed to recognize new works by emerging and established artists residing in the United States. An integral part of An Appalachian Summer Festival, the Halpert Biennial is made possible through a generous endowment from the late Buddy and Charlotte Halpert, and is dedicated to the couple’s memory.

The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, prints, photography, mixed media and works using traditional and non-traditional materials, and has grown to feature some of the most exciting new visual art in the country. Awards for the competition total $5,000 and include two Juror’s awards, a Director’s Award and multiple Purchase awards that allow the expansion of the Halpert Biennial Collection within the Turchin Center’s Permanent Collection.

Faculty Selects, Gillian Christy and the Halpert Biennial are all on display through Aug. 29.

The Turchin Center’s Summer Exhibition Celebration will also feature Steven Seigel: Wonderful Life and Harlan Toole: Recent Work.

The Turchin Center is located at 423 W. King St., in Boone. For more information about the Turchin Center’s exhibitions, its Community Art School or about becoming a member, call (828) 262-3017 or visit www.tcva.org.

BFA Senior Studio Exhibition

Appalachian State University presents the BFA Senior Studio Exhibition: Spring 2009, at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery in Boone.

The exhibition will be on view from April 30 through May 8, 2009 and includes work by 10 candidates for the BFA in Studio Art. Works in this show are composed of a variety of materials including painting, ceramics, metals, prints, photographs and found objects.

The gallery is pleased to present works from the following artists: Jackson Campbell, Alex Carter, Kerri Chambers, Rebecca B. Farris, Kristin Foley, Heather Lela Graham, Charlotte R. Jennings, Zach Lindley, Heather Owens and Ben Wesemann.

For the past year, these students have been working with Margaret Yaukey, a professor in the Department of Art. “Each semester the Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition at

Catherine Smith Gallery gives the Art Department, the university and the community an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating BFA Studio seniors.

“I believe we have an exceptionally strong show of work this semester,” Yaukey said. “The depth, breadth and diversity of ideas encompassed by these works is inspiring and a testament to the talent and devotion of each of these young artists. I look forward to the evening of the reception when they will have the honor of welcoming their families, friends and community to their exhibition.”

The reception for the BFA Senior Studio Exhibition: Spring 2009 is on May 8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The public is invited to join the artists to celebrate their achievements at Appalachian State University.

Gallery Times

Gallery Times is a weekly news feature of the Focus section of The Mountain Times, featuring short news items submitted by local galleries.

For more information, contact entertainment editor Frank Ruggiero at frank@mountaintimes.com or (828) 264-6397.