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Only Three Weeks Left to Visit the Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition at the Boone Mall; Photos Included

by Madison V. Fisler

Aug. 26, 2013. For six weeks, the artwork of 29 exceptional young artists will be on display in the Boone Mall. 

The Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition has provided an outlet for learning disabled artists to display their exceptional artistic talent to the world for 16 years.

“Brian Ayers was a severely dyslexic but extremely talented young man who lived in Avery County,” said Meredith Golden, curator of the exhibition.

Ayers struggled with dyslexia in school, but found his home in the artistic world with art therapy. After his death in 1994 at the age of 19, the Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition was started to provide somewhere for other learning disabled children with artistic talent to showcase their work and receive the recognition that they deserve.

The students’ artwork will be on display for six weeks in the Boone Mall sponsored by the H.L. Libby Corporation. This year’s entrants come from all around the country and one from Canada. 

The artists in the exhibition are eligible to win prizes for their pieces including $50 awards for artistic merit and $25 local artist awards. Artists may also put their artwork up for sale, with the artists receiving 100 percent of the profits. 

The exhibition is capped off with an artists’ reception on Sept. 15, the last day of the exhibition. 

“We hope that this exhibition is encouraging and inspiring to young artists,” Golden said. 

The exhibition is open to the public and will be on display until Sept. 15. 

If you haven’t had a chance to make it to the exhibit, here are some photos of the exceptional artwork that is being presented. 

Photos by Ken Ketchie

Photo by Ken Ketchie
From left to right: Ella Von Drehle, Andrea Bull, Toshiyona Jones and Samuel Sweatt

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Samuel Sweatt

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Michael Hobbs (left) and Gabriel Burchett (right)

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Taylor Styles

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Tina Massie

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Marissa Carvana

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Kathryn Peu

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Andrea Bull

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Mackenzie Taylor-Cormier

 

Photo by Ken Ketchie
by Anderson Marchetti

 

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The exhibition’s namesake, Brian Ayers, and his artwork.