Spring Arts Round-up

Spring is gearing up to be packed with great local art events happening all over town. We asked art galleries, shops, and locals one question: “What should we look forward to at your upcoming arts events this Spring?” Catch a glimpse of what the galleries, shops, and locals are saying cannot be missed!

Source: The Bridge PAI

The Bridge PAI | Matthew Slaats, Director of The Bridge and Artist

Matthew: “I am really excited about our collaboration with Habitats for Artists and artist Simon Draper who is an artist in residence for the Tom Tom Festival. Nine 6ft by 6ft studio spaces will take on different shapes and be placed in different areas around Cville. Each studio is also a collaboration between local artists and non-profits. We are curious about what the gallery space could become and experimenting with the gallery as a community space. We want to unleash creativity into Charlottesville.”

The Garage | Sam Bush, Curator of The Garage and Local Musician

Sam: “We’re thrilled to host St. Louis-based artist John Early for his exhibit “Objects in Mirror,” which opens on Friday, April 11 as a part of the Tom Tom Founders Festival.  John works largely out-of-studio, often using everyday materials for his sculptures, installations, and drawings. “Objects in Mirror” will consist entirely of found car parts from the Charlottesville area.  That’s where you come in, people: be on the lookout for car parts you see along your daily travels, collect whatever you find (when possible), and bring these found car parts and pieces to The Garage on Thursday, April 10.  John will then create a life-sized version of a car using these found items!

The Makers Series, Source: New City Arts Initiative

Additionally, The Makers Series is a quarterly event hosted by Christ Episcopal Church (and co-sponsored by The Garage and New City Arts Initiative) during which three artists present their work and then briefly speak about their creative process. Our aim is to cultivate an artist salon that is both informal and thoughtful. Simply put, The Makers Series is meant to be a platform on which artists can present their work in an honest way.”

• April 11 – Garage Art Exhibit w/ John Early // 5-8PM
• April 12 – Tom Tom Founders Festival, Picnic in the Park (featuring Austin Miller, Gold Light and Elim Bolt) // 6-9PM
• April 22 – Rebekah Todd w/ James Moore // 8PM
• April 23 – Brett Haris // 8PM
• April 25 – Maggie Thornton // 8PM
• May 1- The Makers Series, Meade Hall // 7-9PM

New City Arts Initiative | Maureen Brondyke, Executive Director

Source: New City Arts

Maureen: “I’m looking forward to our First Fridays opening this week because Michael Heivly’s paintings at WVTF this Friday are made from site-specific soil (from places like The White House and Disneyland) and acrylic paint. The largest piece covers an entire wall. Most of these works were made in the 70’s, but formally, they take on an incredibly contemporary look. Plus, there always great cheese and wine from Feast! and Early Mountain Vineyards! I’m also incredibly stoked about our upcoming Shape Note Singing event with the Charlottesville Sacred Harp Singers. Shape note singing is a vibrant, rural tradition that requires no vocal experience and is remarkably powerful— especially in a live, acoustic space like The Haven’s Sanctuary. What could be better than singing in a square with your neighbors?”

• April 4 – April First Fridays Exhibit featuring Michael Heivly // 5-7PM
• April 15 – April Readers Guild // 7PM
• April 22 – Shape Note Singing with New City Arts // 630-8PM
• May 1 – The Maker’s Series, Meade Hall // 7-9PM
• May 2 – May First Fridays Exhibit featuring Isabelle Abbot // 5-7PM
• May 20 – May Readers Guild // 7PM

McGuffey Art Center | Kate Samworth, Founder of the Art and Ecology Club

Kate: “There are five new exhibits opening at McGuffey on Friday, April 4th. The “Art Meets Ecology” show is one of them. I founded the Art and Ecology Club in order to initiate conversation and collaboration between artists and anyone else interested in protecting the environment. The “club” is open to all. “Art Meets Ecology” is our first exhibit, timed to coincide with Earth Day. We have focused on plastics and their effects on our environment. Over 50 people have contributed to this show. The Marine Species installation shows just a fraction of the birds, fish, and mammals affected by plastics in the oceans. We have been collaborating with Better World Betty, a local organization dedicated to increasing sustainability. Our hope is to inspire increased community involvement in protecting wildlife and conserving resources.”

PCA Round Table Create2 Installation | Keith Alan Sprouse and Guillermo X Ubilla, Local PCA Artists

Keith: “Create2 formed as an artist roundtable as part of the PCA’s ongoing efforts to foster a creative community in the area. Among our nine-member group are photographers, painters, mixed media artists, and even an opera singer. The April exhibit will include photographs, paintings, drawings, videos, and mixed media installations, and at the opening reception, our singer will be performing.  The reception will be at the CitySpace gallery on April 4th, and the reception will last from 5:30pm-7:00pm, with the performance taking place around 6:00pm.” Guillermo: “I am excited to see (and hear; we have a singer in our group that will be performing a few songs) a variety of work by a variety of artists. We all have different backgrounds in art and different levels of experience, but we’ve all come together to be a part of this round table and this is our way to showcase that collaboration and diversity.”

• April 4 – First Fridays Create2 Opening Reception, CitySpace // 530-7PM
• April 23 – PCA’s annual fundraiser party, Spring For The Arts // 530-8PM

Telegraph | David Murray, Local Artist and Part Owner of Telegraph

David: “I’m really psyched for our next two upcoming shows – EPIC ENCOUNTERS, opening April 4th, which is a sword & sorcery themed print show, and a Prince Tribute show opening on Friday, May 2nd. The weekend of Tom Tom will be a fun blur, with a live screen printing event on Saturday April 12th, which is always a good time, and a Zine Swap and a Comics Panel with some of my favorite artists on Sunday, April 13th.”

Tom Tom Founders Festival | Carolyn Zelikow, Tom Tom Marketing

Carolyn: “We have some really cool stuff this year. I am especially excited about New Collectors, which is going to be a fun, down to earth intro to buying art with some reasonably priced pieces to match (plus free food!). I’m also very proud to be working with Fleaville and Craft C’ville, two separate and equally awesome markets of eclectic handmade and vintage goods. The pop up sculpture is also going to be amazing – you can already start to see some of it going up at The Bridge!”

• View a full calendar of arts events as a part of the Tom Tom Festival.

UVA Arts | Emma Terry, Assistant to the Vice Provost for the Arts

Artist David Cook, Source: UVA Arts Ruffin Gallery

Emma: “We are really excited about what’s upcoming. 4^th and 5^th years will be exhibiting throughout the spring in Ruffin Hall beginning with the first closing reception this Friday on April 4^th from 5:30 to 7:30. These students have been working all year toward these shows. Also coming up, the U.Va. MFA in Creative Writing Program is pleased to welcome novelist Tayari Jones to grounds this week. There will be an informal author Q&A session and a reading on Thursday, April 3.”

Tagged: april first fridays cville, art charlottesville, art cville, brett haris, caroyln zelikow, charlottesville art, charlottesville art gallery, charlottesville art scene, charlottesville artists, charlottesvilles first fridays, craft cville, create2, create2 charlottesville, create2 installation, cville art, cville art galleries, cville art scene, cville arts, cville first fridays, david murray, david murray telegraph, early mountain vineyards, emma terry, feast, Feast! Charlottesville, first fridays at mcguffey, first fridays telegraph, fleaville, Guillermo X Ubilla, James Moore, john early, john early art, kate samworth, Keith Alan Sprouse, maggie thornton, matthew slaats, McGuffey Art Center, mcguffey first fridays, new city arts, new city arts cville, new city arts first fridays, new city arts initiative, new city arts readers guild, pca, pca charlottesville, pca spring for the arts, piedmont council for the arts, rebekah todd, ruffin hall, ruffin hall gallery, sam bush, sam bush music, screen printing, screenprinting, spring for the arts, telegraph, telegraph art and gallery, telegraph charltotesville, telegraph cville, telegraph first fridays, telegraph gallery, telegraph prints, the bridge, the bridge charlottesville, the bridge first fridays, the bridge habitat city, the bridge pai, the bridge progressive arts initiative, the garage charlottesville, the garage cville, the garage first fridays, the haven, the haven at first and market, the makers series, tom tom art workshop, tom tom fest, tom tom fest 2014, tom tom festival, tom tom festival 2014, tom tom founders festival, uva arts

Posted in: community, {art}