By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson’s monthly Final Friday event was held on April 26 at the Grayson Gallery & Art Center. The event showcased artists across a wide medium from photography, sculpture, traditional art, and outsider art.
“We try to work out our schedule to meet the artist’s needs,” gallery director Dan Click said at the event, while live music courtesy of The Return entertained patrons. “We are open mainly by appointment, and several times a month when we have art coming in,” Click added. “And we are open by appointment no matter what, in case someone needs to get with us.”
Recently they have been doing a call-in line at 606-474-7651 to facilitate that, Click said, and it also serves as an announcement line so people will know what the gallery has coming up. There is a website coming in the future, but for now the best way to follow is through Facebook or Instagram. Anyone can submit their art to the gallery, he said, and of course everyone can enjoy the art whether they are an artist or not.
Click said from the very beginning that the Grayson Gallery & Art Center decided that they were not going to be a gallery that held to any sort of rigid criteria for submissions.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone was eligible,” he said. “We have everything from artists who bring things in on notebook paper to college professors who are retired. Any way they want to contact us; by email (graysongallery@gmail.com), look for us on Facebook, or sign up for our contact list.”
Currently the contact list is between five to six hundred, but it is growing, Click said.
The gallery is all about helping the artists themselves grow as artists as well, Click said. The gallery volunteers help with things such as presentation and polish and Click said that many of the artists have done just that. They have grown within their individual mediums, tried other mediums, and generally spread their creative wings. And for those who are interested in art but don’t know where to begin, the gallery also has art classes available. Click encourages everyone to come check out the gallery, especially during Final Fridays.
“Come and see us, and bring a few friends,” he said. “We don’t bite.”
The contests at Final Friday yielded winners in several different categories. Synde Manning Salley won for her charcoal drawing ‘Disruption’. Brittany Applegate won for ‘Shine’. Newcomer Ann Marie Mason won for her pastel ‘Take Flight-Bluebirds. Lynn Ann Burnette won for a large acrylic, ‘Monkeys Point of View’. Click said that the judging was really close and difficult because there were so many excellent entries.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
