Opening an art gallery is something UA students Connor Simpson and Sumerlin Brandon said they have on their bucket lists. With the opening of The Venue tonight, they can now cross it off.
The new art gallery will open its doors at 5 p.m. in downtown Tuscaloosa. The gallery opening will be a part of Art Night, a free open house at various art galleries in downtown Northport and Tuscaloosa. There will also be free food, drinks and music by local artists Lena Dice and Amelia Webber. The Venue will close its doors for the night at 10 p.m.
Brandon is a senior graduating in December with a BFA in studio art concentrated in digital media and painting. Simpson is a junior majoring in telecommunication and film with a minor in studio art. For both of them, it has been a long-time dream to open an art gallery.
“We were looking for a studio space, and we saw this place was for lease, and when we saw that it wasn’t too expensive, we decided to sign the lease that day,” Brandon said. “It was very spur of the moment.”
Although it happened suddenly, the art gallery was something they had both always wanted to do, Brandon said.
“We had always talked about it,” Brandon said. “We asked both our parents first because we really trust their opinions, but once we got the okay from them, we decided to do it.”
The name was also decided on spontaneously, Brandon said.
“We went in to City Hall to get the business license, and they asked us what our place was called,” Brandon said. “We had not really thought of a name, but I said The Venue because Connor’s mom had suggested it, and we liked the name.”
“But we really liked The Venue as the name because we want it to be a place open to all artists,” Simpson said. “We want it to be a place where students and local artists, photographers, painters, musicians and more can congregate, hang out and showcase their work.”
Simpson said they hope to constantly rotate the works that will be on display. It will be open to everyone, but they really want the gallery to have a focus on students.
The couple said they had to put in a lot of work to make the building a place worthy of displaying art. The once purple-covered walls and green floors are gone, and the place is now ready to display the new art. There will be about ten artists featured for the grand opening.
Some of the artists who will be included are students Aynslee Moon, a graduate student studying painting; Hilary Duke, a student majoring in studio art and photography; and Henry Busby, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film.
To submit artwork for display, artists can email [email protected] with their submissions.
“The Venue is always taking submissions for future shows,” Simpson said. “Everyone has a chance to get their work displayed.”
The Venue will be open every weekday and on weekends by appointment. Until Brandon graduates in December, the hours will not follow normal business hours. However, starting in January, The Venue will hold normal business hours Monday through Friday.
For more information about the opening and upcoming events for The Venue, visit their Facebook page, facebook.com/thevenuedowntown.
