Juried Arts Show Opens Sunday

The presents the 25th annual National Juried Arts Exhibition, selected by Angela Nichols, director of Education and Public Programs at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth. The exhibition opens on Sunday, Nov. 6 and will be on view through Nov. 27.  Hosted by the Douglas County Art Guild, the reception will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6, from 3 until 5 p.m. Nichols will present a special exhibition tour and gallery talk during the opening from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the general public.

Of the 204 artworks submitted by 69 artists living and working in nine states, the 2011 juror selected 62 pieces by 43 artists from five states for the current exhibition. Those selected included many artists who have participated in the exhibition during the past 25 years and newcomers to the Douglasville venue as well. As has often been the case with this show over the years, prints, paintings and photographs are usually the great strength of the exhibit. Of the few prints included this year, Mariana Depetris’ two extraordinary screen prints in her current series, examining maternal emotion and archetypal powers, along with her drawing, “The Little Matchgirl,” are genuine show-stoppers. 

Brittany Watson’s two woodblock prints somewhat similarly present a darker side of fairy tales in “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” and “The Prophet II.” Local artist Mary Ann Carney shows two very different small canvases, one balancing rococo curls and liquid drippings, while the other is a bright and brilliant hillside, composed with charming colors and echoing curves. Two other Douglas County artists, Marsha Chandler and Carol Collins, are well-represented by watercolors, Chandler with a lovely still-life and Collins with a charming seaside scene. Decatur-based painter Richard Clark displays a touching genre scene of a woman washing clothes in a river, Atlanta artist Kathy Yancey continues her cartoonish studies of contemporary interiors with “Twist and Shout,” and Carol John from Athens presents a bright burst of colors in “A Burst of Wow.” Wisconsin-based Christine Alfery has one of her joyous color-filled large paintings, North Georgia artist Rosalind Webb offers two energetic abstractions, and Atlantan Donte Hays engages viewers with two paintings on panel, “Severed” and “Foreclosed.” West Georgia folk artist Elizabeth Henry shows one of her memory paintings, this one all pastels like an Easter egg decoration in “Are We There Yet.” West Georgia artist Susan Burns is represented by a characteristically energetic, action-filled painting, a great horse charging, swirling beyond the canvas, and a quieter portrait, while her daughter Julia Burns shows a playful ceramic rocking horse, one of several toy tributes in the current exhibition.

Many of the photographs are exceptionally painterly–Decatur artist John Sumner’s two portraits depict a sideshow character in one, dark skin detailed against white walls, and in the other a floating girl awash with color; the magical landscapes of Cumming resident Timothy McCoy’s pure palladium prints printed on vellum enchant the viewer with their unusual, antiquated print process as much as their subject matter; and equally atmospheric, Natasha Stansel’s dark image of haloed lights across a foggy landscape, and her exquisite print of a pastoral idyll  illustrate digital photography’s potential. Another highlight of the selected photographs is the work of Henry Moore whose “Strongman Truck Pull” demands our attention by both its hefty topic and his respectful treatment of it, while his “The Talking Hats” elicits at the very least a chuckle from viewers. 

Although there are fewer three-dimensional works included this year (possibly reflecting the cost of shipping sculpture for artists), both crafts and sculpture are well-represented. Missouri artist Peggy Wyman continues her wonderful reinterpretations of Native American basketry traditions in her two fine contemporary fiber sculptures; local artist Mack Porter offers a fresh and charming street scene in his stained glass; Douglas County-based wood turner Steve Pritchard shows a handsome tall lidded vessel, and Jane Ballou offers a beautifully decorated gourd in “Black Orb.” Ceramic sculpture is represented by a familiar graceful seated nude by Mary Barkis who has shown often in the CAC’s national juried exhibit. Both clay and stone are used in Athens artist Didi Dunphy’s terrific one-of-a-kind skateboards, one of Italian marble and the other incorporating brilliantly colored Italian ceramics. Another toy, Fisher-Price telephone, is commemorated in Charine Dowdell’s “Relic of the Nephilim, Genesis 6,” while artist Mike Stevens presents another faux-folk sculpture in his “Eagle,” portraying the national bird composed of cigarettes.

 “We are delighted to work with someone like Angela Nichols as the juror of our  annual National Juried Exhibition in Douglasville,” stated Laura C. Lieberman, Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Council. “We admired the exhibitions she developed for the Madison-Morgan Cultural Arts Center, and we have been very impressed with her achievements at the Hudgens. She has a great eye and an astute and informed aesthetic. She has selected an outstanding show of diverse art works created by a wide variety of talented individuals from across the country just as we had hoped.”

Nichols earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and she received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia in Athens, also in Printmaking. Nichols taught at the University of Georgia as an adjunct professor in Athens and in Cortona, Italy, as part of the university’s acclaimed Studies Abroad Program there. She has also taught at the Louisiana New School Academy, served as director of the Middleton Library Printmaking Gallery, and worked as a teaching assistant at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.  Since moving back to Georgia, Angela Nichols has also served as a visiting artist at the Atlanta College of Art (2004), the juror for Arts Clayton’s 2007 national juried exhibition and the Averitt Center for the Arts’ annual regional exhibit the same year, and a panelist for the Georgia Council for the Arts in 2008.  As Director of Education and Public Programs at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth, Angela Nichols has been managing its multifaceted arts education department, overseeing its visual arts programming, and overseeing its collections since 2009. During her tenure there, the Hudgens introduced the largest and perhaps most prestigious award to an individual artist in Georgia. She previously served as the Visual Arts Curator at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. During her stay in Madison, she oversaw a major renovation of its galleries, established an outdoor sculpture park at the facility, managed its major national juried exhibition, and implemented the museum’s craft and music festival as well as developing its visual arts programming.