Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Center for Puppetry Arts Announces Free Museum Saturdays

Fulton County Residents Enjoy Free Admission to Puppet Museum Exhibits

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Fair Citizens of Fulton County! The Center for Puppetry Arts announces Free Museum Saturdays for all Fulton County residents on the first Saturday of every month. Need a Fraggle fix? A Labyrinth look? A shadow puppet peek? Now is your chance to experience the Center’s plethora of puppets for free.

Fulton County residents, students attending a school in Fulton County, and Fulton County government employees with proper I.D. will all receive FREE admission to our museum exhibitions. Admission does not include performances or workshops. Eligible participants may purchase tickets for performances and workshops on Free Museum Saturdays at a 25% discount, subject to availability.

In addition to the Center’s permanent collection, “Puppets: The Power of Wonder,” the largest collection of global puppetry in the nation, the museum features three special exhibits featuring the art of Jim Henson: “Jim Henson: Wonders From His Workshop,” “Jim Henson: A Man and His Frog,” and “Jim Henson: Puppeteer.” These exhibits offer an unprecedented look inside the mind of one of the greatest puppet artists of all time, and feature some of the most beloved puppets ever created, including Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Ernie, and the Swedish Chef.

Free Museum Saturdays for the 2010-11 Season will be held January 8, February 5, March 5, April 2, May 7 and June 4.Free museum admission is available to walk-up patrons only and is subject to availability. This offer is not available via phone or website.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cherry Blossom Festival and Historic Macon Foundation Announce Decorators' Showhouse Tour Partnership

This March, historic preservation will be in full bloom during the 29th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

Historic Macon Foundation’s 18th Annual Decorators’ Showhouse will serve as the Cherry Blossom Festival’s Tour of Homes.

The home located at 306 Orange St. in the intown Macon Historic District dates back to the 1880s when Benjamin Lawton Willingham gave the lot to his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Furman Lawton.

Historic Macon is currently rehabilitating the property based on standards set forth by the Secretary of the Interior in order to make it eligible for tax incentives for preservation totaling over $100,000 for the new owners.

Green living features adorn the home as well including an ultra-efficient ductless HVAC system, injected foam insulation, high efficiency water heaters, a pervious-surfaced driveway and limited construction waste.

“The showhouse will be the first historic rehabilitation in Georgia that showcases green design and energy efficiency for the public,” said Josh Rogers, Executive Director of Historic Macon Foundation. “We believe this project will set the bar for other rehabilitation projects throughout the Southeast.”

The Decorators’ Showhouse Tour, featuring 13 decorators from three states, will be open during the Cherry Blossom Festival, March 17 until March 27.

Presale tickets will be $18 from February 14 until March 15 and tickets at the door will be $20.

“Partnering with Historic Macon Foundation for our Tour of Homes just makes sense,” said Karen Lambert, President and CEO of the Cherry Blossom Festival. “We look forward to using this project to illustrate the positive impact two organizations can have on our beautiful city when they work together.”

On February 17, a “Hard Hat Party” will allow visitors to see the home before decorators complete their rooms. The “Top Hat Party” featuring the work of the decorators will take place on March 16.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual 10-day event designed to enhance the quality of life, community fellowship and civic pride for all Macon residents. The Festival was developed around the basic principles of “love, beauty and international friendship.” Historic Macon is a nonprofit organization that advocates for Macon’s historic and architectural heritage and facilitates preservation efforts in the community, revitalizes Macon’s neighborhoods and interprets the Sidney Lanier Cottage. For more information, visit www.historicmacon.org or call 478.742.5084.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Pryor Fine Art Presents Christopher T. Terry and Paula Landrem

January 21 through February 11

To kick-off its 2011 exhibitions, Pryor Fine Art welcomes artists Christopher T. Terry and Paula Landrem. This will be the first show at the gallery for each of these recognized artists. The show begins with an Opening Reception on Friday, January 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. and will run through February 11.

While Christopher T. Terry has been defined as a realist painter, he strives in each of his works to create a rhythm that recalls the pace of ritual and dreams. This means that the rhythm derives from invention more often than from direct observation. The central theme of Terry’s work is the ability of light to transform. Although he selects and places subjects carefully, most are chosen from the insignificant artifacts of everyday life. Without the stage Terry creates for them, these objects would likely be overlooked. The interiors he chooses are similarly anonymous, and he is drawn to spaces and objects that lack a strong individual presence. Instead, he relies on light to transform an abandoned interior and enigmatically placed object into a secular altar. The resulting quiet aspect of his paintings, as well as his use of symmetry, would seem to undermine tension, but the silence present in the paintings alternatively suggests an anticipation: an event about to happen.

Terry was born in Stamford, Connecticut and earned a BA in Studio Art from the Rhode Island College in Providence in 1978, followed by a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. Terry began teaching in 1984 at California State University, Long Beach and has been with Utah State University since 1988. Terry is the recipient of numerous awards including the Utah Visual Artist Fellowship and a WESTAF/NEA Fellowship in Painting. He has twice been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for Teaching and Research in Germany and in 2000 was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. He continues to exhibit his paintings at galleries in the United States and Germany.

Paula Landrem is a native of New Orleans and has been painting professionally since 1992. Her work is guided by process and the behavior of various lays and materials used in her mixed media abstracts. Although her canvases are saturated with color and texture, the true emotion of her work is revealed through manipulation and alteration of the surface.

Lamdrem studied at Southeastern Louisiana University and the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. Her works are included in numerous private and corporate collections. Her work has appeared in many national publications including Veranda, Architectural Digest, and Metropolitan Home.

About Pryor Fine Art

Pryor Fine Art – formerly Bennett Street Gallery – strives to engage a contemporary stable of artists who exemplify innovation in technique, content and quality. Today, the gallery represents more than 40 artists from Atlanta and throughout the United States. Pryor Fine Art is located at 22-F Bennett Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit: www.pryorfineart.com or call 404-352-8775.