Chastain Arts Center a Shopping Oasis

Karen Lowe believes it's important to make things with our hands. It's an innate activity that sometimes gets lost in a high-tech world.

As the new director of Chastain Arts Center, she's bringing new ideas to the city's oldest arts center.  Just in time for the holidays, Lowe opened a year-round gift shop called The Shop at Chastain to showcase the talents of her instructors and their students. 

She saw a need to sell one-of-a-kind ceramics, jewelry, paintings and textiles as a meaningful way to support  emerging artists.  On a recent tour, Lowe zeroes in on an especially good buy – an elegant silver and jade necklace by student and Dunwoody resident Karen Jensen – for just $70.  She's also fond of instructor Louella Simpson's intricately beaded bracelets.  Simpson has taught every aspect of jewelry making at Chastain for 20 years.

The annual holiday sale is another bonus for shoppers, running through Dec. 23.  The main gallery is filled with affordable art by students and their teachers, representing every discipline the center offers, including more jewelry, ceramics, hand-painted silk scarves, watercolors and oil paintings.

Ceramics is one of the most popular classes offered.  John Roberts, an accomplished potter himself, has directed the program since 1999, overseeing recent renovations to the spacious, well-equipped studio. A native of the Philippines, Roberts earned his MFA in ceramics from Georgia State University.

There's a warm family atmosphere among Roberts and his students who say they constantly learn from each other and benefit by openly sharing their experiences. Buckhead resident and ceramics student Beth Micek has a potter's wheel at home yet she's found "it's a lot more fun to work here instead of working in isolation."  Micek adds, "I've been coming here for four years because there are so many darn good artists working here."

Facing Micek at another potter's wheel is Masako Kelly who moved to Buckhead from Tokyo for her husband's job.  She has loved ceramics since childhood yet was too busy raising her children to ever begin.  When they grew up and moved out, she says, "I never thought I'd find a ceramics class that makes me feel so comfortable."  She enjoys donating her pottery to Goodwill and giving it as gifts to friends.

Karen Lowe has extensive experience in the visual arts world beginning as an intern at the National Portrait Museum in Washington and the Whitney Museum in New York.  When asked if she's an artist herself, she says, "absolutely not."  Her trained eye and curatorial strengths are just as essential for a vibrant arts scene.

Lowe previously was on staff with the Office of Cultural Affairs, the city of Atlanta department that also manages Chastain Arts Center.  From 1999 to 2003, Lowe directed the vast City Gallery East located in the former Sears Building on Ponce de Leon.  She continues to serve as curator for the Rialto Center for the Arts downtown where she features the work of local artists in the Rialto lobby, an assignment she has had for the last five years.

Lowe's next priority for Chastain is to add more classes for young people.  Packages for hosting art-themed birthday parties are catching on.  Some involve scavenger hunts to inspire their inner Picassos. 

She knows first-hand the power of involving children in art at an early age, and believes it's essential for developing youngsters' curiosity about any subject.  After all, her 8-year-old son recently asked, "Why haven't we been to the Dali show at the High Museum yet?"

Details:  The Shop at Chastain is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in December.  In January, The Shop will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  135 W. Wieuca Road in Chastain Park.  404-252-2927.