By Logan Doctson | Staff Reporter
This month, Kentuck Art Night will be a little bit pinker than usual.
The Kentuck Art Center will host their monthly art night tonight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Northport. In honor of breast cancer awareness and the UA gymnastics team’s “Power of Pink” meet on Friday, Kentuck staff and guests will be wearing pink tonight to promote the cause.
The Kentuck staff will also be honoring their volunteers at tonight’s Art Night.
“A special part to this month’s Art Night is that Kentuck is honoring our volunteers,” said Ashley Williams, a Kentuck intern and senior majoring in advertising. “Kentuck has over 300 volunteers each year that help events like Art Night and the Festival of the Arts happen.”
Kentuck will be throwing a Valentine’s-themed appreciation party in Kentuck’s Clarke Building for their volunteers.
This month’s Kentuck Art Night will feature two exhibits. The first exhibit is a digital collage in the Museum Gallery by Birmingham artist Beth Conklin.
“This is my first Kentuck Art Night and I’m really looking forward to it,” Conklin said. “I’m especially looking forward to meeting new people and introducing them to my work, and I’d like to thank the Kentuck staff for giving me this opportunity.”
The digital artist, uses vintage photography to make literary-inspired works of art. Her exhibit is also currently on display in Hotel Indigo’s Kentuck Gallery.
“Members of the Tuscaloosa community can expect to see 30 new pieces of my work,” Conklin said. “Each piece is printed and mounted to wood panel.”
Second, William MacGavin’s work of handcrafted didgeridoos, an ever-popular Kentuck spectacle, will be featured in the Teer Gallery.
“At the first Art Night of 2018, the Tuscaloosa community can expect to see and hear an exhibit of didgeridoos I have crafted out of local hardwoods, recycled Christmas trees, agave flowers and yucca flowers from my native desert,” MacGavin said, a Temecula, California native. “The didgeridoo is a musical horn that was made by the Aboriginal People of Australia for at least 1500 years.”
MacGavin, is also a recent UA graduate who majored in architectural engineering and minored in structural engineering. He regularly attended Kentuck Art Nights during his undergraduate years.
“Kentuck Art Night is a magical happening in Tuscaloosa, where people can come together to appreciate folk art, listen to some awesome music, see how artists make their ideas come into reality and enjoy life,” MacGavin said. “My favorite part about these Art Nights is being a part of the community that appreciates and creates art.”
Additionally, Kentuck’s Courtyard of Wonders will have pop-up shops, live music by G.W. Henderson and refreshments from Lolly’s Sugar Shack and Joyful Java.
Lastly, Kentuck’s artists’ studios and the Gallery Shop will be open to the public. The artists’ studios will be open for browsing, learning, observing and buying. Kentuck Members will get a 10% discount at the Gallery Shop, and Fire Ant and Big Dog members are invited to sample champagne.
“My favorite part of Art Night is probably the sense of community that it builds,” said Sarah Forland, another Kentuck intern and senior majoring in international studies and interdisciplinary studies. “Family and friend groups come to Art Night to see the exhibits and listen to live music, but also just to hang out.”
