The Folk Keepers. Image by Carmen Eckerd.
Lenoir, NC – The Caldwell Arts Council is pleased to host an exhibition of folk art created by several local artists, including Charlie Frye, Susan Frye, and Theresa Gloster during the “Just Folk” exhibition June 7-29.
An opening reception will be held Friday, June 7, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., hosted by Foothills Performing Arts. The exhibition will continue through June 29 – free and open to the public – Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Charlie and Susan Frye are the proprietors of Frye Art Studio and Folk Keeper Gallery & Antiques in Historic Downtown Lenoir, North Carolina. Charlie’s focus is on creating great folk art, while Susan balances her time between creating art, curating antiques, and running the business side of the operation. You can read more about them on their website: www.folkkeepergallery.com.
Theresa Gloster is a ‘memory artist,’ a self-taught painter whose works exuberantly chronicle her childhood years in the small African American community of Bushtown in Lenoir, NC. Quoting an article by Glenn Hinson, Ph.D. (Professor, Public Folklore, Art of Ethnography at UNC Chapel Hill):
As she paints, she finds herself caught up in reveries of memory, with sharply remembered moments from her past vying for expression. “There’s so much in my mind, that—it’s like, you’re trying just to get it out,” she says. When she chooses which moment to portray, she finds herself stepping into that moment, inhabiting it with an intensity that never fails to surprise her. “It’s like, you can paint the whole picture in a few minutes,” she muses. “But then you say, ‘Now, I’m going to enjoy this picture. I’m going to go back in it.’ And then I’m going to take my time, and just work on it. . . . Because in your mind—you feel like your mind is going in there. And the only way that you can connect, is with the paintbrush, and your mind. So you feel like you’re going into that painting.”
The Caldwell Arts Council presents the arts in all its forms to Caldwell County. Located at 601 College Avenue in Lenoir, the Caldwell Arts Council is open Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm, free to the public. Phone 828-754-2486; Website www.caldwellarts.com.
