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Blowing Rock Art and History Museum to Host Reception for Seven New Exhibits on Dec. 3

The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of seven new exhibitions with a reception on Thursday, Dec. 3 from 5:30-7 p.m., with a members and special guest preview beginning at 5 p.m. The museum will provide refreshments, a cash bar and live music throughout the evening.

The museum will reveal seven new exhibitions at the reception. The Permanent Collection and Elliott Daingerfield will be on-going throughout the year. Other exhibitions on view for the Winter season include Ward Nichols: Look Again, A Retrospective of Eliot Clark, The Sculptor’s Voice, and Truth Beneath These Hills: Uncovering the History and Heritage of Mining in Western North Carolina. The Alexander Community Gallery will also feature Origins: Works by Chastan Swain, Christopher Lin, Samuel Brown, and Nicholas Osetek.

“This season introduces a change in how we are using some of our spaces,” says Lee Carol Giduz, Executive Director. “Several galleries will house long term, on-going exhibits gathered largely from our Permanent Collection, while other galleries will continue to host seasonal shows. We will also be opening up new gallery spaces in our atrium, balcony, and rotunda spaces. I encourage you to come enjoy what the winter season has to offer at BRAHM.”

ThePermanentCollection
Gustave Wiegand. By the Lake, c. 1905. Oil on canvas. Gift of Welborn and Patty Alexander. Permanent Collection, Blowing Rock Art & History Museum.

Selections from the Collection, on-going exhibition opening Nov. 27

The museum has dedicated three exhibition spaces to its Permanent Collection. Works in the collection range from prominent American Impressionists, such as Elliott Daingerfield and William Charles Anthony Frerichs, to works by more locally based artists, including as Philip Moose and Herb Cohen. The opening display is guest curated by Jonathan Stulhman, Senior Curator of Modern, American, and Contemporary Art at the Mint Museum, Charlotte.

Elliott Daingerfield, on-going exhibition opening Nov. 14

Elliott Daingerfield
Elliott Daingerfield. Portrait of Anna Grainger Daingerfield and Unidentified Figure. Oil on canvas. Gift of Rolfe and Ann Neill. Permanent Collection, Blowing Rock Art & History Museum.

The work of American Impressionist Elliott Daingerfield remains closely tied to the history of the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum. A generous donation of his paintings and drawings from Cora Ann and Lamont Hudson created the framework upon which this Museum was founded. Until recently, this preliminary collection was stored in the Museum’s vault, but with this exhibition, the Museum will honor and reintroduce selections from its founding collection of Daingerfields and several additional Daingerfields acquired since then. Works on view for the grand opening of Elliott Daingerfield were selected by guest curator Jonathan Stulhman, Senior Curator of Modern, American, and Contemporary Art at the Mint Museum, Charlotte. The exhibition will also feature several of Daingerfield paintings collected by the artists’ grandson, Joseph Dulaney, through Fall 2016.

Ward Nichols
Ward Nichols. Old Blue. Oil on canvas. Photograph (C) Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC.

Ward Nichols: Look Again, Nov. 14 – March 26

A native of West Virginia, Ward Nichols (b. 1930) made his home nearby in North Wilkesboro, NC. His hyper-realistic paintings are visualized from photographs he takes of everlasting landscapes, abandoned structures, and everyday objects. Spend a little more time with his paintings, however, and Nichols offers rewards through quirky details, such as humorous compositions, nonfunctional door hinges, and hidden eyes that lock unexpectedly with the viewers. Ward Nichols: Look Again encourages visitors to ponder the mundane and experience the beautiful within it.

A Retrospective of Eliot Clark, Nov. 27 – March 26

Eliot Candee Clark (1883-1980) was born in New York and was poised to become a prominent artist at a young age. After a rock was thrown at his head and cracked his skull at age eight, he became bedridden for a time and immersed himself in his art. After his recovery, he exhibited at the New York Watercolor Club, the Society of American Artists, and the National Academy of Design, where he eventually became an active member, exhibitor, and president (1956 – 1959). Influenced by his father and mother, both artists, Clark graduated high school at 15 and traveled the world, from France and India to Georgia and North Carolina, and painted plein air along the way. He became best known for his naturalistic landscapes, but was also a skilled writer and published several books on artists and arts organizations of his age. Clark died at the age of 97 in his second home in Charlottesville, Virginia, but his paintings remain in collections across the country, including the Metropolitan and Smithsonian. The works on display at the Museum are loaned by Lamont Hudson, a close friend of Clark, and show a broad range of his work.

The Sculptors Voice, Nov. 21 – Feb. 20

Responding to popular demand, The Sculptors Voice, BRAHMs first retrospective of contemporary sculpture, is being revisited and and will reopen on November 21, 2015. This second look at the exhibition, guest curated by Bill Brown, Jr., will remain on view through February 20, 2016, and will feature a one new additional work of art from each of our five exhibiting artists. The exhibition showcases work by five leading and rising sculptors across the south, including John Acorn of Pendleton, SC; Rick Beck of Spruce Pine, NC; Tinka Jordy of Hillsboro, NC; Hanna Jubran of Grimesland, NC; and Corrina Sephora Mensoff of Atlanta, GA.

Geology Exhibition
Geology Exhibition

Truth Beneath These Hills: Uncovering the History and Heritage of Mining in Western North Carolina, Dec. 3 – April 23

Geologists have a saying: “Whatever cannot be farmed, must be mined.” Few regions demonstrate this better than Western North Carolina. From the Native Americans who first uncovered minerals and gems thousands of years ago to the miners who today excavate materials crucial to the Silicon Age, mining has profoundly shaped the technology, environment, culture, and community of the High Country. The exhibition is guest curated by the following graduate students of Dr. Andrea Burns at Appalachian State University: Kathryn Burke, Jessica Cottle, Caitlin Finlayson, Jackson Osborne, Bonnie Roane, Carson Sailor, Colby Stevens, Jimmie Vaughn, and Nicholas White.

The Alexander Community Gallery will also be open and features artwork by four students of the Department of Art at Appalachian State University. The exhibition, Origins: Works by Chastan Swain, Christopher Lin, Samuel Brown, and Nicholas Osetek, will be open through January 2016.

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General admission to the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum is $7 for adults and $6 for students, seniors, active military, and children ages 5 and up. Donations are accepted for full admission to the Museum on Thursdays. Located at 159 Chestnut Street on the corner of Chestnut and Main in Blowing Rock, NC, the Museum is open 10am – 5pm Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am – 7pm Thursday, and 10am – 5pm Friday and Saturday. The Museum is closed on Sunday and Monday. For more information, please call (828) 295 – 9099 or visit www.blowingrockmuseum.org.