The Kentuck Art Center will be presenting its Art Night in Northport Ala., Thursday. This week’s Art Night will be dedicated to different types of art including metal casting, pen and ink, music and 3-D printing.
Emily Leigh, assistant director of Kentuck, said she expects Art Night to help the art center reach its main goal.
“Art Night is to help us meet our mission,” Leigh said. “We’re a nonprofit organization dedicated to perpetuating the art, empowering the artist, and engaging the community.”
Art Night allows visitors to experience art both visually and hands on. Those who attend will have several choices of art to observe and experience.
“We’ll have open artist studios. We’ll have live music. We’ll also have our Cobb Oven Crew,” Leigh said. “They’ll make pizza dough for us and give away free pizza.”
University of Alabama students will also have a part in Art Night. The College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences have collaborated and will be showcasing an exhibit with 3-D printing.
There will also be art exhibits by different artists that people can observe.
“We have receptions for the artist and people come and talk about what they like and what they think the art is,” Leigh said.
One artist who will have an exhibit is Gary Chapman, a professor of painting and drawing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Chapman said he has been an artist for 27 years, not counting college and graduate school.
Chapman was introduced to Art Night by Kentuck executive director Shweta Gamble.
“[She] had been aware of my work for over the past 10 years,” Chapman said. “She recently called to inquire if I would be interested in showing The HELMET Project in the Kentuck Space.”
Chapman’s exhibit, The HELMET project, is inspired by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Chapman said his project’s purpose is to stir thoughts in those who view it.
“[The purpose is] to provoke a thoughtful and authentic exchange between viewers concerning where we find ourselves early in the 21st century,” Chapman said. “A time when we find ourselves bombarded with imagery that is often deceptive, contradictory and ultimately obscures our search for meaning and truth.”
Art Night serves as an event for UA students who enjoy and want to experience different creative means of art.
Mitchell Griest, a freshman majoring in engineering, said he is grateful to have Kentuck Art Center and events like Art Night so close to campus.
“It’s definitely valuable to have something like Kentuck in Tuscaloosa,” Griest. “I haven’t been able to really explore the art scene here just because I’m so busy with schoolwork and other things. When they have big events like this, it makes it easier. It’s like they’re bringing the art to you.”
Griest also said he values art as an outlet for stress release and entertainment.
“When you can appreciate art, there’s just this whole new realm of possibilities of things you can do recreationally and for entertainment and for happiness,” he said. “If you’re someone who likes sports a lot but also likes art, when your sport isn’t in season or you have nothing to watch on TV, you all of a sudden have this huge range of things to fall back on. It’s just one more thing that can contribute to you never being bored.”
Leigh said she hopes people will find a new appreciation of art and its many forms. She also hopes people will take the chance to explore the art and see what Kentuck has to offer.
“I hope that people think ‘Wow, I didn’t think there was something like this in Tuscaloosa or Northport. I didn’t know this was happening,’” she said. “I want people to see that there’s more than City Cafe in Northport.”
Kentuck Art Night will be Thursday from 5-9 p.m. at the Kentuck Art Center in Northport, Ala. For more information, visit kentuck.org.
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