The GSIC Landmarks Exhibition and Reception
The Landmarks group exhibition is a display of student artworks from the Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics in Hephzibah, GA. Originally organized by Jamie Jackson and GSIC Arts Instructor Melissa Sommer. This show features work by Stephenie Thornton, Emily Wallace, Larry Blanchard III (winner of Best In Show award and featured as the cover art for the e-flyer), Parker Chance, Avery Hadley, Sasha Segrest, Austin Gainey, Frances Blanton, M. Gainey, Ashlyn Curran, Brooklyn Potter, Karre Bergan, Janaisha Range, Allison Moody, Kady Harris, Hannah Renfroe and Camron Perkins.
These artworks are on display now through May 20th at the Augusta & Co. Gallery in the beautiful downtown Augusta, GA. All works were inspired by local, iconic buildings, monuments and public spaces in the Augusta River Region!
The Augusta & Co. Gallery is a space that has been made available to only local artists and is curated by Heather Rene Dunaway, local artist and Gallery Director with the Greater Augusta Arts Council.
In preparation for their exhibition, the students were able to participate in a gallery workshop with the current GAAC Gallery Director, Heather Dunaway. In this workshop they were educated on the general practices and expectations when showing in a formal gallery setting as told by Heather, who has been on both sides as a working artist and gallery manager.
In this workshop, the students were able to learn about what a gallery should expect of them and their artwork and what they, in turn, should expect from a gallery. They learned different methods pricing their artwork, the importance of documenting their work for their portfolio, the basics on writing artist resumes and CVs, websites and social media, and how to build and maintain a relationships to foster a network for the arts world.
The Greater Augusta Arts Council provided the tools to prepare their featured works for hanging in the Augusta & Co. Gallery. Heather Dunaway instructed the participating student artists in the best way to wire their artworks for hanging.
A student artist’s reception was held at Augusta & Co. on Saturday, April 3rd from 2 – 4:00 PM., where a certificate for Best In Show was presented by Rhian Swain, board member of the Greater Augusta Arts Council. This award was given to Larry Blanchard III for his stunning watercolor, “View of Sibley Mill.”
In this work you can see a balance of warm and cool tones, a spectacular attention to detail and perfect use of perspective. The blue cast reflection on the windows and differentiating color patterning in the brick work is perfectly done. The skills used are well beyond Larry’s years and we look forward to seeing how he uses them in the future.
Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics students, faculty and parents were in attendance for the reception held on Saturday, April 23rd. With all works being for sale in this exhibition, opening night proved a success as multiple artworks have since been sold, with students earning some first-ever-sales.
The Greater Augusta Arts Council, GSIC and Augusta & Co. have all fawned over the obvious talents that these young artists possess and look forward to seeing them develop and cultivate this creativity in however many different, yet beautiful, ways as they venture out into the world.
Congratulations on a show well done!
