Art Around Athens (and Beyond)

This weekend is another busy one for the art world in Athens!

Thursday, December 10, at the UGA Visual Arts Building, the Georgia Museum of Art will host a Holiday Shop and Book Sale in the lobby. The sale is sponsored by the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, the museum’s gift shop and the GMOA department of communications. The sale is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., December 10 and 11. Call 706.542.4662 for more information.

Friday, December 11, ATHICA will host the “Not So Silent Night” silent auction, with bidding on art, jewelry, weekend getaways, computer services and more. This is the second annual fundraiser for Clarke Central High School’s student publications, “Odyssey Newsmagazine” and “Iliad Literary Magazine,” so come out and support the students. The auction opens at 7 p.m. and will close at 9 p.m. and there is a suggested donation of $10. Visit www.athica.org for more information.

Also this weekend, Blue Tin Art Studio is hosting an art sale featuring affordable art by local artists Erin McIntosh, Sarah Seabolt, Denton Crawford, Craig Hawkins, Marie Porterfield and David Savino. The sale is Friday, December 10, from noon to 10 p.m.; Saturday, December 11, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday, December 11, through Sunday, December 13, Good Dirt is hosting its Annual Holiday Pottery Sale. This is the 12th annual sale featuring functional pottery and ceramic sculpture from a wide selection of Athens-area studio potters. The sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Also, every Friday Good Dirt hosts a weekly “Try Clay” class from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a “Family Try Clay” class on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for $20 per person. These are great ways to experiment with different types of art, so why not try something new? Call 706.355.3161 or visit www.gooddirt.net for more information.

Saturday, December 12, Crocker Pottery in Lula, Ga. (6345 W. County Line Rd.), is hosting its Christmas Kiln sale. This sale features over 150 pieces for freshly made pottery by Michael and other Crocker family members. There will be face jugs, "pigs," snake jugs, grape pots, ring jugs, Rebekah pitchers, miniatures and more with Meaders and other North Georgia pottery for sale! Contact 770.869.3160 for more information.

Also Saturday, White Tiger Gourmet is hosting a holiday art market from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be a variety of handmade jewelry from local artists and vintage items to choose from, along with some tasty treats from White Tiger. Visit their Facebook event page for more details.

Soup Studios (2140 S. Lumpkin Street) is hosting its annual holiday studio this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come and warm up with some hot apple cider and enjoy Soup Studios’ newest pieces. You can expect fun hats, clay and sterling jewelry, and an entire line of functional pottery. Call 706.340.1973 or visit www.soupstudios.com for more information.

Saturday as well, the Old Clarke County Jail (380 B Meigs Street) is hosting a free holiday open house. Charles Pinckney is opening up his studio to the public. You can find hand-crafted wearable sculpture, including earrings, pendants and bracelets, as well as unique furniture and decor. The open house is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call 706.614.6115 or visit www.charlespinckney.com for more information.

Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, Carter Gillies Pottery (572 Nantahala Ave.) is hosting the Absolute Crockery! pottery sale. The sale features work by local potters including Geoff and Lisa Pickett, Jeff Bishoff, Jim Peckham, Julie Greene and Juana Gnecco. The sale is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 706.546.7235 or visit www.carterthepotter.etsy.com for more information.

Also Saturday and Sunday in Elberton, at 3558 Ruckersville Road, is the 24^th Annual Jeanne Mack Studio Open House, offering food, new friends, and plenty of great new art! Each year, Jeanne designs a new snowman print for everyone who attends as a gift of appreciation. When you buy art you’ll receive a gift, as well as if you bring cat food in support of Jeanne and Glenn’s cat rescue. The open house is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Call 706.283.5959 for directions and more information.

Sunday, December 13, Brick House Studio is hosting another Holiday Market from noon to 5 p.m. You can expect jewelry and various other handmade goods from local artists. Visit www.lamarwood.com for more information.

More Art Around Athens

Since we posted our list of art events coming up in the area this weekend, we've found a few more, all taking place this Sunday (Nov. 22).

At the Brick House Studio in Crawford is a closing reception from 1 to 5 p.m. for the fall exhibitions, including work by Brian Reader (above) and Doug Makemson. Directions can be found by clicking here.

Hawthorne House, on Milledge Avenue in Athens, is hosting a trio of events the same day, beginning at 1 p.m., with a holiday open house (the rest of Five Points is participating, too!) and food drive benefiting the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Then, from 4 to 7 p.m., enjoy food and drink by Peter Dale of The National and check out the redesigned showroom by Lisa Fiscus, which features fine art by Jim Fiscus, Ann Smith, Renee Shoemaker, Eric Simmons and Jessie Merriam, as well as the pop-up gallery for Field Trip, by sisters Rinne Allen and Lucy Allen Gillis. Chef Hugh Acheson of Five and Ten will be signing copies of Coco, the new cookbook from Phaidon, in which he's featured, and you'll be able to see design boards for Empire State South, his new restaurant in Atlanta, from Lisa and Susan Hable.

Art Around Athens

The opening reception for the First Annual Juried Student Exhibition at the Lamar Dodd School of Art will take place on Friday, Oct. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. in galleries 101 and 307 of the Dodd, on UGA’s East Campus. Undergraduate and graduate students were asked to submit two works to be judged by Julian Cox, curator of photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Cox selected 82 works from 292 submissions, and they will be on display at the school of art from Oct. 23 to Nov. 10.



ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art will host the event “Head Lines: News-themed Stories and Poems,” on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. “Head Lines,” organized by Matt Forsythe, Andy Frazee and Ida Stewart, is part of the VOX Reading Series; in keeping with the theme of ATHICA’s current exhibition, “Free Press in Free Fall,” eight local writers will read selections that address the effects of news on the lives of its consumers. The participating writers are Erin Christian, John English (reading from “Good News, Bad News”), Jeff Fallis, Michael Ford, Matt Forsythe, Andy Frazee, Kyle Garrett and Nicole Higgins. Refreshments will be provided at intermission, and a donation of $3 to $6 is suggested.



This Saturday, Oct. 24, come see the scarecrows in the exhibition “Scare up a Harvest: Help the Hungry Scarecrow,” at the Lyndon House Arts Center. Bring your pop-top cans of ravioli to pay your entry fee and support the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Visitors will get the chance to vote for their favorite scarecrows and make their own miniature scarecrows with Georgia Museum of Art volunteers. This event is sponsored by the Lyndon House Arts Center, the Athens-Clarke County Recycling Division, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, the Junior League of Athens and the Georgia Museum of Art.



“Brick House Studio Exhibition, Fall 2009,” opens this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25, from 1 to 5 p.m. Works by Tex Crawford, D.M. Kirwin and Brian Reade as well as an ongoing sculpture installation by Doug Makemson will be on view through Nov. 22 at the Brick House Studio at 1892 Athens Rd., Crawford, Ga.



Sunday, Oct. 25, the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation will host its 10th Annual Wine Fest fundraiser at the Ashford Manor Gardens in Watkinsville, Ga., from 3 to 6 p.m. Along with the wine-tasting activities, there will be live music and a silent auction and raffle of original artwork, pottery, vacation properties and airline tickets. For more information, visit the OCAF Web site.

Mark your calendars

This Saturday and Sunday (May 2 and 3), from 1 to 6 p.m., Lamar Wood's Brick House Studio, out Highway 78 in Crawford, Ga., is having its Spring 2009 opening reception/exhibition. Artists Tim Adams, Andy Cherewick, Doug Makemson, Michael Pierce, and Wood will display new work, with an artists' reception Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m.


Artist and faculty member Jamie Calkin has been helping UGA's College of Education recognize its centennial year with an exhibition of his original watercolor paintings. The exhibition has featured a rotation of new paintings of Aderhold Hall, UGA’s campus and downtown Athens and runs through Sunday, August 30, in room 232 of Aderhold Hall.

This Thursday, April 30, Chung-Fan Chang, the Georgia Society of Contemporary Painters Visiting Graduate Artist, will speak at 6 p.m. in room S365 of the Lamar Dodd School of Art. According to the press release, "Chang creates large-scale, mixed-media drawings that convey motion, space and energy," but we can't find a website anywhere. At any rate, it should be interesting.



And Friday, May 1, from 7 to 8 p.m., is the closing reception for the exhibition by 11 advanced photography students that is currently running on the second floor of the Dodd.