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Watauga Arts Council Announces New Downtown Gallery Space at Old High Country Bank Branch on King Street

By Jesse Wood

This is the building of new gallery space for Watauga County Arts Council. Enter double doors and take left to enter space.

May 20, 2012. In an email from Watauga County Arts Council Executive Director Cherry Johnson, the arts council is “thrilled” to announce donated gallery and retail space in downtown Boone.

The council’s new gallery space is located where High Country Bank’s downtown branch used to be at 798 West King Street and where Paolucci’s Italian Bar and Grill resides.

“Many thanks to our generous donors: John Winkler, Roger Wright, and Ken Wilcox,” the email said.

This donated gallery space adds to the donated office space at the Appalachian Enterprise Center on Poplar Grove Connector near social services and donated storage space, shared with Cheap Joe’s. Talking with Johnson last week, she said. “We are extremely fortunate that we have a community that believes in the Arts Council and what we are doing,” Johnson said. “There are so many different directions [we can go in].”

A brainstorming session is planned for Thursday, May 24, 2:30 p.m. in the new space and the community is invited. In an email sent to High Country Press stated, “We will need lots of help from our artist friends to make this space an exciting and lucrative gallery and retail location … You are encouraged to come join us if you can……and even if you can’t we hope you will very quickly share your artwork, your energy, and your involvement as we launch this new phase in our ongoing effort toward ‘Making the ARTS a Presence in Our Community.’ An RSVP is not required, but it would be helpful to know about how many people we’re expecting.”

For more information, call Cherry Johnson at 828-264-1789 or click to www.watauga-arts.org.

Read past article regarding Watauga County Arts Council’s fresh start here.