GREENHILL AND THE GREEN BEAN PARTNER FOR SUMMER EXHIBITIONS

"(GREENSBORO, NC) In conjunction with Greenhill's summer exhibition, Jonathan Brilliant On-Site (June 19 - August 30), The Green Bean is hosting a call for artists for Grounding Grounds on display June 13 – August 1.

Jonathan Brilliant On-Site, curated by Edie Carpenter, explores the work of Jonathan Brilliant who will create a site-specific installation from repurposed materials sourced primarily from coffee shop culture such as disposable wooden stir sticks, iced coffee straws, paper cup sleeves and plastic cup lids. In the spirit of Brilliants exhibition, Tricia Cooke, curator at The Green Bean is announcing a call to artists for Grounding Grounds | A Community Art Project and Exhibition comprised of works submitted by artists of any skill level using similar coffee house materials; coffee cups, lids, straws, stir sticks, filters, used coffee grounds, etc. Cooke said, “It’s exciting to be able to work together – to have the support from Greenhill as we support their ideas and vision.”

In Jonathan Brilliant’s work he explores the ideas his work “that the coffee shop and related consumer environs are more organic and nurturing than the ‘real’ natural environment.”  At Greenhill, he will develop a site-responsive work focused on the unique features and architecture of The Gallery. The installation, containing between 30,000-50,000 stir sticks woven entirely with tension and compression without adhesive, creates an uncanny sculptural environment for the viewer where they are literally immersed in an environment formed from nothing but the repurposed materials.  His work reflects his interests in the effects of labor, performance and materials applied to an exhibition space.

More about the Call to Artists

The Green Bean is looking for artists who are interested in creating works made out of materials and supplies found in coffee shops; cups, lids, straws, stirrers, filters, used coffee grounds, etc. Finished pieces need not be solely comprised of these items, but these items must be somehow incorporated into pieces. Any and all are encouraged participate, from the novice to the professional.  Works will be on display at The Green Bean located on Elm Street, downtown Greensboro, from June 13 – August 1.  All work is for sale.  Artists receive 100% of commission.

To register go to www.etsy.com/shop/groundinggrounds. Purchase any of the $25 packages on The Green Bean’s Etsy store. Materials package can be picked up at The Green Bean on May 15. To use personal coffee materials, choose the “REGISTRATION ONLY” package. (NOTE: This option does not include a materials starter kit. It will simply be your registration fee.)"

- A Press Release

Greenhill Announces Learning ART Together Exhibition, a Partnership with Guilford Child Development

"(GREENSBORO, NC) Greenhill will host Learning ART Together:  Bridging Cultures Through Art, an exhibition on view from April 12 – April 17, 2015. The exhibition will include photographs, program activities and women’s journals, artworks, culture cards and a cookbook entitled, From My Table to North Carolina.  

Starting in Spring 2014, Greenhill and Guilford Child Development implemented Learning ART Together, a program designed to help low income immigrant and refugee women create an art or craft they can sell, exhibit and/or share while their children, under the care of Guildford Child Development caregivers, participated in hands-on art activities in ArtQuest Studios. An outgrowth of Guilford Child Development’s Learning Together, a family literacy program that serves immigrant and refugee families with preschool age children, Learning ART Together aimed to build community, strengthen literacy practices and channel the creative spirit of women and children through visual arts.  

Administered by Liz Busch, the Director of the Art Alliance, facilitated by Jaymie Meyer, Greenhill’s Director of Adult and Youth Programs, and overseen by Molly Betton, Guilford Child Development’s Learning Together Program Coordinator, this program was made possible by a grant awarded by Women to Women, a permanent grant making endowment of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.  Upon reflection, Meyer remarked, “I have personally gotten just as much or more from facilitating this program as the women who have participated. My curiosity about what is happening in the world has grown exponentially. Every time I met someone new I learned something about a place that I have never been. It also has made me appreciate just how culturally diverse our community is.”

The women of Learning ART Together brought a unique history and creative drive and were encouraged to make links between their native cultures and American culture. They searched the Internet for arts and crafts that appealed to their own aesthetic, kept a journal, visited  The Gallery and learned new techniques shared by visiting artists Senora Lynch, Kathryn Gauldin, Suzie Cooke, and Betsy Renfrew who provided instruction in printmaking, watercolor painting, embroidery, collage, jewelry making, and paper making.

An essential component of the program, women learned to value art processes, ideation and collaboration. Exposure to entrepreneurial practices and opportunities was yet another important aim of the program. Throughout the year, Learning ART Together participants went on field trips to learn about avenues by which artists sell their art. The social interaction alongside art making proved to be equally as valuable as the art making. The women from vastly different cultures discussed everything from their children and food to how black made them look thinner--all over coffee and munchies. The intertwining of cultures revealed commonalities that led to From My Table to North Carolina – a recipe book and “culture cards” featuring collages, recipes and stories created by the women as a means for learning how to develop a  product to sell. The culture cards are currently being sold at Scuppernong Books and The Shop at Greenhill. The book will be available in April 2015. An opening reception will be held at Greenhill on April 12^th from 2:00-5:00 pm featuring a tasting of a selection of recipes from the cookbook."

- A Press Release

Greenhill Announces Pop-Up Residencies, a Call for Triad-based Artists

"Greenhill is excited to announce a call for proposals for 2015 Ten-Day Pop-Up Residencies in ArtQuest at Greenhill.

ArtQuest is Greenhill’s one-of-a-kind hands-on education studios for children and families. Filled with sunlight, the NC Studio, a socially charged educational space, will serve as a pop-up studio for selected artists. Greenhill is looking for artists who have a genuine interest in sharing their techniques and processes with children and families who frequent the space. If desired, artists can invite visitors to participate in art making activities alongside them. Artists will be expected to work in the studio during regular business hours for a minimum of five to seven days to include one Family Night, which takes place on Wednesdays from 5-7 PM, and First Friday 6-9 PM offering artists a unique opportunity to share their work with visitors.

The goals for the Pop-Up Artist Residency program at Greenhill are two-fold: 1) to provide a space and materials for emerging Triad-based artists to create and exhibit artworks in a family friendly education setting and 2) to deepen Greenhill visitors’ experiences by engaging artists in discussions about their creative practices so that they can make connections between processes and works in The Gallery.

Selected artists will receive a $200 material stipend, exposure, networking opportunities, internet access, plus, close proximity to The Gallery at Greenhill and use of ArtQuest materials and equipment. The first artist residency is May 27 – June 5, 2015.  Applications are due on April 1, 2015. All interested applicants should go to www.greenhillnc.org/PopUp to fill out an application. 

Prior to submitting an application it is recommended to view information about ArtQuest and exhibitions that will be taking place in The Gallery during scheduled residencies which can be found at www.greenhillnc.org/upcoming.  Applications are accepted year round and will be reviewed bi-monthly. If selected, a background check will be conducted.

For more information, contact Lynn Sanders-Bustle, Ph.D., Director of Programs at 336-333.7460 x 103 or lynn.sanders-bustle@greenhillnc.org.

2015 Available residency dates include:

AVAILABLE RESIDENCY DATES	APPLICATION DUE DATE
May 27 - June 5, 2015	April 1, 2015
August 26 - September 4, 2015	May 15, 2015
September 23 - October 2, 2015	June 15, 2015
October 28 - November 6, 2015	July 15, 2015

GREENHILL ANNOUNCES DANIEL JOHNSTON & HIROSHI SUEYOSHI: SCULPTURAL CLAY EXHIBITION

Daniel Johnston with his large pots in process. ©Daniel Johnston

"Greenhill announces the 2015 Spring exhibition, Daniel Johnston | Hiroshi Sueyoshi: Sculptural Clay, on display May 1 – June 10, 2015. The exhibition brings together two ceramic artists who come from different parts of the state: Daniel Johnston from Seagrove and Hiroshi Sueyoshi from Wilmington. Johnston and Sueyoshi are nationally recognized ceramic artists with distinctive styles.

In Daniel Johnston │ Hiroshi Sueyoshi: Sculptural Clay “visitors will see remarkable examples of wood-fired, wheel-thrown stoneware and hand-built porcelain and clay by nationally recognized ceramic” explains Edie Carpenter, Director, Curatorial and Artistic Programs at Greenhill. Working in distinctive styles, Johnston and Sueyoshi are combining clay traditions from East and West to create works that reference the vessel as a functional object, but are ultimately representational or sculptural forms.

Johnstons’ monumental jars are created from hand-dug local North Carolina clay and ash glazes evoke the tradition and history of the storage vessel. He is one of the newest “large-pot” ceramicists living in the Seagrove clay community to come to the national forefront and will present a site-specific installation for thirty large jars designed for Greenhill’s space. Johnston explains, “Visitors will enter a 60-foot long tunnel to view my jars.  They will experience light playing through the tunnel’s interior and perceive the monumental jars aligned in a series reflecting their production on the wheel. The architecture of the structure is built from the same wood that feeds the crucible where the pots were created— and evokes the design of the groundhog kiln of the American South. At the end of the corridor one last jar, I select, and will be displayed on a pedestal in a seamless cube, resembling a modern gallery space.”

In a separate part of The Gallery at Greenhill, works never before seen of Sueyoshi’s will be on display including his clay “stones”, which are handmade versions of the stones of the “dry landscapes” of 14^th century Japan.  Sueyoshi, who has worked as artist in residence at Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington’s Pancoe Education Center for the past nine years, will present a condensed version of his recent retrospective exhibition there, “Matter of Reverence”,  covering four decades of his production in hand-built porcelain and clay.  The bowl or vessel is reiterated in many different ways by Sueyoshi in works that suggest architectural structures or plant forms, often combining textured exterior walls with smooth interior surfaces washed in saturated colorful glaze.  In an interview in The Living Tradition, North Carolina Artists Speak Sueyoshi states that for the most part his forms always “leave something open so you can see inside” (2009, The NC Pottery Center, p. 165) leaving a visible reference to the vessel. 

The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, May 1, 2015 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm.  The first hour is time reserved for Greenhill members and sponsors to engage with the artists and curator.  Starting at 6:30, the public is welcome to join.  Free and open to the public. For more information on becoming a member of Greenhill, visit www.GreenhillNC.org/Join.

ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATED PROGRAMS

Artist Talk: Wednesday, May 20 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Daniel Johnston and Hiroshi Sueyoshi will each speak for 45 minutes and answer questions about their works.  Free and open to the public.  Refreshments

First Friday, June 5 from 6:00  - 9:00 PM

Join us for First Friday and live music by the Diego Hillbillies from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Diego Hillbillies, an Americana band, play a mixture of tunes from many genres played like only hillbillies can! The band features William Hicks on mandolin, Charlie Murphy on bass, and Frank Fratoni on guitar and vocals. First Friday free and open to the public. Cash Bar. 

Adult Workshop | Clay Rattles: Make a Joyful Noise, May 7 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm or 6:00 – 9:00pm

Lynn Sanders-Bustle, Ph. D, Director of Programs at Greenhill, will be instructing this adult workshop. Lynn will share her experiences working with clay and other three-dimensional processes and will present a brief history of clay rattles. Participants will tour The Gallery and learn hand-building techniques and strategies which will be used by participants to create a one-of-a kind rattle. Lynn fondly remembers where her fascination with clay began, Lynn has taught ceramics and other three-dimensional processes to others. Sign up online at www.greenhillnc.org/adult-workshops.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Daniel Johnston’s 2010 “Large Jar” project utilized Thai techniques to produce one hundred large 34-40 gallon pots in as many days. The physical experience of forming the hundreds of pounds of clay used in the project took on a heroic dimension comparable to descriptions of Abstract Expressionist painters’ battles with their paint.  Johnston has been recognized by invitations to speak at the Smithsonian Institute’s Freer Gallery and the acquisition of major works by the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte.  

A native of Japan, Hiroshi Sueyoshi studied at Tokyo Aeronautical College and served as apprentice to potter Masanao Narui in Mashiko before coming to North Carolina in 1971 to help design and build Humble Mill Pottery in Asheboro where he has worked for more than four decades. On his Eastern heritage Hiroshi has stated:  “Some people say, ‘Oh, your work is very Japanese influenced.’ And sometimes Japanese friends come here and see my pots and say, ‘Very much westernized.’”  (The Living Tradition, p. 161)  In recent years Sueyoshi has looked more closely at his Japanese heritage and his retrospective exhibition included two installations reflecting a restrained Zen esthetic:  "Empty Bowls" a meditation on the Japanese tea ceremony, presented 68 stoneware soup bowls, each marking a year of Sueyoshi's life.  "Rock Garden," featured stoneware "rocks" some resembling natural forms and others figures of the imagination, arranged in a configuration resembling a Japanese Zen garden. Hiroshi Sueyoshi’s works have been exhibited nationally in private, corporate and institutional collections, including the Renwick Gallery in the National Museum of American Art. In 2006 he was honored with the North Carolina Living Treasure award. "

- A Press Release

FRITZ JANSCHKA’S PORTRAIT MUSEUM AND SELF-PORTRAITS BY 33 NC ARTISTS AT GREENHILL

Fritz Janschka, S.A. Commissioned to Paint F.J.¸

2011, acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 14 inches

"Greenhill announces Fritz Janschka’s Portrait Museum and Self-Portraits by NC Artists on display January 30 – April 2, 2015. This dual exhibition explores contemporary approaches to self-representation in painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation.

Fritz Janschka’s Portrait Museum will contain Janschka’s collection of fifty portrait oil paintings in which he has emulated the styles and techniques of famous artists he has admired during his lifetime of painting. Janschka taught for 36 years at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and was named Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts as well as Fairbank Professor Emeritus of the Humanities. While teaching and creating art, he often created works inspired by literature including numerous drawings relating to the writings of James Joyce, a selection of which toured Europe and the United States in the 1970’s. Like other parts of Janschka’s works which include sculpture, painting, collage and drawing, the works in the exhibition reveal his classical training with Albert Paris Gutersloh at the Academy of Fine Arts in his native Vienna. 

Janschka began his homage to the masters and mistresses during his ninth decade. The relationship between artist and model is the prevalent theme in this collection whereby Janschka often interjects himself into paintings. For example, in his painting “Fritz Janschka, as Sofonisba Anguissola, S.A. Commisioned to Paint F.J.”, Janschka is being painted by 16^th century artist, Sofonisba Anguissola, one of the most accomplished women artists of her period.  In the work, the figure looks out at the viewer as if she has just been disturbed while painting a portrait of Janschka in modern dress, effectively linking the centuries that separate them. According to curator Edie Carpenter, in these works, viewers “overhear a wonderful conversation between artists from different ages in works that as a collection comprise a pictorial equivalent of the process of reimagining and reinvention that itself has a long history.” In a later work in this collection “Self Portrait as a Moonflower” (2012) Janschka paints himself “emerging from a flower at some indeterminate age in the past,” claiming that he has “not always succeeded in ‘mastering the masters,’ I hope they will forgive my lack of skill and continue revealing their secrets to me.”

In a separate portion of The Gallery at Greenhill, Self-Portraits by NC Artists will present works by 33 NC artists who explore self-perception in traditional and conceptual self-portraits. Artists include: Dean Allison, Michael Ananian, Hagit Barkai, Saba Barnard, James Barnhill, Katherine Bernstein, William Bernstein, Deneé Black, Steven M. Cozart, Maia Dery, Alia El-Bermani, Rebecca Fagg, Richard Fennell, Darren Douglas Floyd, Tim Ford, Tony Griffin, Michael Klauke, Elizabeth Matheson, Darlene Mcclinton, Don Morgan, Michael Northuis, Mark Nystrom, Maureen O’Keefe, Eric Olsen, Alla Parsons, Juie Rattley III, Barbara Schreiber, Leah Sobsey, Brad Spencer, Jack Stratton, Richard Stenhouse, Michael Van Hout, and Betty Watson.

In the work of Hagit Barkai, the figure is recognizable, yet portrayed as vulnerable through the use of erasure blurring and ambiguous spatial settings. In striking contrast, Rebecca Fagg’s crystalline realism represents the artists’ quiet interior scenes, using absolute calibrations of color. Respectively, artists Steven M. Cozart and Juie Ratley III use the self-portrait as a platform to pose questions about preconceived stereotypes or to as described by Carpenter “evoke personal narratives which reveal a larger sense of social, political or psychological conflicts.” Mark Nystrom represents the portrait conceptually by incorporating digital technologies in his work “Personal CO2 Emissions” which is composed of 435 balloons whose inflated volume represents the artist’s daily CO2 emissions.  In a painting, Saba Barnard represents a QR code which when accessed on a viewer’s phone reveals an elaborately painted portrait.

Associated Programs

Take a Selfie #1512SelfiePortrait

Friday, January 30 – Sunday, April 2, 2014

Starting at the Public Opening, viewers are invited to help mark the 1512 hours the exhibition is up by submitting a selfie through Instagram or Twitter by using hashtag #1512selfieportrait to @greenhillnc.  Printed versions of the self-portraits will be on display in Greenhill throughout the exhibition.

Public Opening

Friday, January 30

Greenhill will host an opening reception, where guests can join the artists for the opening of this dual exhibition. Free and open to the public.

Fritz Janschka and Friends

Wednesday, February 18 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm

Join artist Fritz Janschka and a gathering of very talented friends for an hour interactive music, poetry and performances of all kinds in “homage” to the master. Free and open to the public.

Adult Workshop |  Self-Portrait Tapestries

February 26, 2015, 1-4 PM or 6-9 PM

Jaymie Meyer, Director, Youth and Adult Education Programs at Greenhill will be instructing this adult workshop, “Self-Portrait Tapestries.” The workshop is offered at two different times,  a “Tea Time” session from 1-4pm and an “After Hours” session from 6-9 pm. After Hours sessions includes wine and light refreshments. Tea Time sessions includes coffee, tea and light refreshments. $45 for members/$50 for non-members. To reserve your space go to: www.greenhillnc.org/adult-workshops.

Greenhill is located at 200 North Davie Street, in the Greensboro Cultural Center.  Greenhill promotes the visual arts of North Carolina by engaging a broad community of artists, adults and children through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs while providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. For more information visit www.greenhillnc.org."

- A Press Release

GREENHILL EXPANDS PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS, OFFERING WORKSHOPS AND COFFEETIME

On October 30, Following Threads artist Jason Watson

led an adult workshop called "Inventing Histories: Mixed Media

Collages with Found Photos and Objects."  Participants were

led through The Gallery at Greenhill where they asked questions

about Jason's work and then in ArtQuest had a hands-on experience

where they created their own narrative work using found objects

and anonymous photographs. Photo Credit: Lauren Davis

Gordon, Marketing & Design Guru, Greenhill

"Greenhill is pleased to announce an expansion to their adult programming.  The new programs consist of Adult Workshops and CoffeeTime. For over 17 years Greenhill has been known for strong educational programming offered for children and families through ArtQuest.  While this programming remains central to Greenhill’s mission, the organization recognized there was an opportunity to expand programming to engage adult audiences in hands-on creative activities, prompting the expansion of adult programs beyond artist talks and exhibitions.

“At Greenhill, education is at the heart of what we mean when we say ‘art is essential to the human experience.’ To be educated in the arts means experiencing art through looking, making, responding and connecting. While much is said about the educational benefits of the arts for children, adults benefit in profound ways,” said Lynn Sanders-Bustle, Ph.D., Greenhill’s Program Director.

Adult Workshops are designed to provide a socially charged space that will rejuvenate the spirit and increase understandings of art materials and processes. Three hour workshops led by trained facilitators and artists who introduce a concept, walk through The Gallery at Greenhill to explain the connection to the current exhibition and then follow up with a hands-on workshop in the ArtQuest studios. Workshops are available at two times afternoon “Tea Time” sessions include coffee, tea and light refreshments ($45.00 per person) and evening “After Hours” sessions ($50.00 per person) include wine and light refreshments.  A materials fee will be added based on the cost of supplies used.  Material fees will be $15 or less.

“A report by the Rand Corporation about the visual arts stated ‘the intrinsic pleasures and stimulation of the art experience does more than sweeten an individual’s life’ (2005). Regardless of age and/or skill level, participation in the arts significantly improves quality of life, brings people together and shapes communities, challenges and improves thinking, surprises, raises us up and transforms our existence,” stated Sanders-Bustle.

Silk Scarf Painting and Dyeing Workshop will be held December 9 at 1PM or 6PM . The workshop will begin with a private tour of Winter Show by Greenhill's curator Edie Carpenter where she will discuss some of the fiber works in the exhibition. This will be followed by an interactive session led by Laura Maruzzella, who has her MA in Art Therapy and is Greenhill’s Art Educator; she will discuss her work, the history of fiber art and practices and lead the group through a number of techniques, with each participant able to create and take home their own scarves. For Maruzzella, she believes making art is “a very freeing experience...that's exactly why I like making art in general.  I'm excited about this workshop because I think people will feel very successful after participating.  It will be very social, plus you can make one scarf for yourself and another for a friend - just in time for the holidays." Limited space available.  To register go to Greenhill’s website www.greenhillnc.org/adult-workshops. An additional material fee will be collected, $10 for one scarf or $15 to create two scarves.  A video from the last adult workshop on October 30^th can be found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niaqfzHJYIQ&feature=youtu.be.

A second new adult program is CoffeeTime, held each Wednesday from 1-3PM. Adults are welcome to drop in at Greenhill to relax and socialize while experimenting with art materials and techniques, with a new art activity offered weekly. Participants will spend as much time as they would like, enjoy a hot cup of coffee/tea, meet new people, make art or just visit. Admission to CoffeeTime is $8.00 for non-members and $7.00 for members.  Coffee and tea are sold for $1.25 per cup.

Greenhill is located at 200 North Davie Street, in the Greensboro Cultural Center.  Greenhill promotes the visual arts of North Carolina by engaging a broad community of artists, adults and children through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs while providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. For more information visit www.greenhillnc.org."

- A Press Release

GREENHILL PRESENTS FOLLOWING THREADS, A DRAWING & FIBER EXHIBITION

"Greenhill announces the exhibition Following Threads: Fiber Art and Drawing on display from September 19 through November 9, 2014.

Following Threads highlights four artists, Harriet Hoover, Becky Joye, Leigh Suggs, and Jason Watson, who investigate the drawn and stitched line in figurative and abstract works that stretch the definitions of drawing. Hoover, Joye, Suggs and Watson all have artistic practices that embrace several mediums, producing studio drawings as well as works utilizing fiber, collage, hand and machine sewing, and installation.  Thematic threads link their graphic and fiber work as well as their multidisciplinary approaches which explore personal narrative spaces.

Line, Touch, Trace, an exhibition presenting 13 North Carolina artists focusing on draftsmanship curated by Edie Carpenter, was developed concurrently with Following Threads and is on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art from August 31, 2014 through March 4, 2015. 

Harriet Hoover’s works combining several media are informed by the artist’s desire “to uncover stories of a place and its history.” In Following Threads Hoover associates drawing and collage in a new group of works that may be viewed from two sides, including large-scale floor to ceiling collages. Hoover’s assemblages, like her 2-d works, are composed from found materials and often bear the names of the places where the artist gathered them.  These cast-off remnants are “manipulated, stitched and bound” by the artist in free-standing sculptural pieces that possess a strong material presence and poetic resonance. Greensboro-based artist Harriet Hoover has attended the Penland School of Crafts and studied landscape architecture at The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. She holds a bachelor’s degree in textile technology and fiber arts focus from NC State University and a MFA from UNC-Greensboro. She currently teaches at NC A & T State University. Recent exhibition venues include LIGHT, Art and Design in Chapel Hill, Art in Odd Places in Greensboro, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro. 

Becky Joye’s acrylic and pencil drawings on paper depict imaginary structures resembling farm silos, communication towers, or fairgrounds.  Nostalgic machine-age constructions are depicted with precisionist line.  Ductwork and pylons are often festooned with floating kite-like appendages in bright colors evoking aerial circuses and dreams of flight.  At Greenhill Joye will present a new group of larger drawings on paper inspired by “industrial winding towers and vintage toys” from a recent trip to Germany.  These works on paper will be seen in association with the artist’s machine-sewn fabric collages in vivid patterns and new three-dimensional works. Charlotte native Becky Joye graduated from the UNC-Charlotte with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2003. She is currently a member artist at Artspace in Raleigh after being a Regional Emerging Artist-in-Residence in 2013. She recently was in the exhibition Thought Maps & Ladders with artist Ray at Artspace. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including The Drawing Show, Pump Project, Austin, TX; a solo exhibition at Designbox, Raleigh;  Unraveled at the Block Gallery  in Raleigh and Contemporary South at the Visual Arts Exchange in Raleigh.  She was a 2014 Artfields finalist, in Lake City, South Carolina.

Leigh Suggs produces painstakingly crafted works involving “the use of singular pattern producing gestures such as weaving, wrapping, stitching, and adhering.” Ink pen line drawings in geometric patterns form polyhedrons and subtle variations in the flow of ink create pulsating effects of light line against a dark ground. In some of Suggs most well-known works, hundreds of petal shaped paper elements of are stitched in concentric circles, overlapping petals varying in opacity and density forming large circular wall constructions.  Seen together Suggs’ works reveal a practice both precise and obsessive, in which light as much as line is enlisted by the artist to produce subtle shifts in reading and evoke organic as well as celestial metaphors. Leigh Suggs is currently an MFA candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University and holds a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Leigh is a recent recipient of the NC Arts Council Fellowship Grant and has shown her work at LIGHT, Art and Design in Raleigh, the Weatherspoon Museum, and the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh.

Jason Watson is a mixed-media artist, whose work combines interests in the figure, found objects, and text fragments as visual material.  Watson’s drawings and collages are visual assemblages of remnants of our collective cultural past. Starting with historic statues and portrait busts sketched in museums or at historical monuments, his works serve as storybook-like illustrations providing a pictorial space for various cultural artifacts to inhabit. The artist’s interest in the object is pushed to the extreme in new works combining drawing, stitching and assemblage.  Watson has exhibited in galleries, universities and non-profit spaces including in Drawing Revisited at Greenhill in 2010 and Jason Watson: A Second Look, at the Jersey City Museum in 2007-2008.   Watson recently completed an artist residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC where he was the Wesley Mancini Artist in Residence for 2013. 

Associated Programs and Events

·        Public Opening: Friday, September 19 | 5:30-8:30 pm

Between 5:30 – 6:30 pm Greenhill Members are invited to hear Curator Edie Carpenter’s comments in The Gallery.  At 6:30 pm The Gallery opens to the public. Cash Bar and light hors d'oeuvres provided by The Fresh Market.  

·        First Friday: October 3, 6-9 pm: Live music at 6:30 pm by Farewell Friend

·        Artist Talk: Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Presentations by Leigh Suggs and Jason Watson where they will discuss the themes, intentions, and material processes employed in their artworks.

·        Artist Talk: Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Presentations by Harriet Hoover and Becky Joye where they will discuss the themes, intentions, and material processes employed in their artworks.

·        First Friday: November 7, 6-9 pm, Live music at 6:30 pm the Triangle Improvisation Collective

About Greenhill

The mission of Greenhill is to promote the visual arts of North Carolina by engaging a broad community of artists, adults and children through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs and providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. Greenhill is the only non-collecting organization dedicated to presenting, promoting and advocating for contemporary visual art and artists of NC.  Since its founding in 1974, the organization has presented and sold artwork of over 9,850 visual artists and engaged nearly one million visitors through free access to The Gallery, The Shop & ArtQuest, the award-winning education program for children & families. Greenhill is located in downtown Greensboro in the Greensboro Cultural Center. www.greenhillnc.org"

A Press Release

Greenhill plans "Artini Contest" for June 19

"Greenhill announces the Annual Meeting and “Artini Contest”, taking place on Thursday, June 19^th, from 5:00 – 8:00 pm in The Gallery at Greenhill.

Guests will arrive at 5:00 pm.  Cash bar will be available from 5:00–5:30 pm for guests arriving early for the Annual Meeting.

Each year, Greenhill holds an Annual Meeting to give members and other guests an overview of the past year, preview the year to come and allow the membership vote on the roster of new board nominees. The Annual Meeting will begin at 5:30 pm. This years’ theme is “Synchronicity: The Artist, Collector & Museum, a conversation with Peter Oakley, Allen Thomas & Larry Wheeler”.

Peter Oakley is a self-taught sculptor who has worked in masonry for decades. Allen Thomas was born and raised in Wilson, NC.  He's been collecting contemporary art for almost 30 years and in 2005 the North Carolina Museum of Art produced an exhibition of contemporary photography drawn from his collection.  Since then he has loaned work to numerous institutions and continues to add to his collection. Larry Wheeler is in his 20th year as director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. During his tenure he secured $70 million in public funding for the new 127,000 SF gallery building, obtained a gift of 30 Rodin sculptures to create the largest center for Rodin in the south, created a 162-acre art park and added major contemporary masterpieces to the collection. Together, Peter, Allen and Larry will join Greenhill Members and guests to talk about the importance of supporting artists and arts organizations and how meeting collectors and making contacts matter in the business of being a professional artist. 

After the Annual Meeting, Greenhill is hosting an "Artini" Contest for artistically inspired cocktails pleasing to both the eyes and the palate. Immediately following the Annual Meeting, "Artini" Contest participants will start making, shaking and stirring their cocktail to present to the jurors and offer samples to audience members.

At 7:30 pm the jurors will announce the winner. Jurors include, and Chip Callaway, Landscape Architect and Renowned Party Expert, Julia S. Hunt, Fine Wine Specialist, American Premium Beverage and Tony Smith, WFMY. $10 at the door or FREE entry if you attend the Annual Meeting. Drinks will be judged based on the following criteria: (1) Creativity and Originality, (2) Presentation and performance, (3) Taste and complexity of ingredients and (4) an artful title.

First prize includes:

·       An article in YES! Weekly featuring the winner and their "Artini" recipe 

·       The "Artini" will be featured at Collector's Choice 2014 & the winner receives two complimentary tickets 

The "Artini" Contest is open to the first eight people who sign up. Contestants can sign up online at http://greenhillnc.org/artini-contest. Please address any questions to: Lauren.Gordon@greenhillnc.org. Greenhill is located at 200 North Davie Street in the Greensboro Cultural Center in Downtown Greensboro. For more information visit www.greenhillnc.org."

A Press Release