With the new year in front of us, the Franklin Art Scene will provide the opportunity for fresh inspiration on Friday, Jan. 4. The art crawl will guide participants to nearly 40 sites in its new quarter, and patrons will see live demonstrations and award-winning pieces, from handcrafted fine jewelry and blown glass to turned wood, mixed media and more.
The event is free, but a $5 ticket gives guests an unlimited Art Scene wristband to the trolleys that circulate from Columbia Avenue over to Main Street and down to the antique district, 6-9 p.m. For more details and map information, go to www.franklinartscene.com.
January highlights include:
Emily McGrew
Jack Yacoubian Jewelers, a new boutique shop on Third Avenue South, is kicking off its stint as a host site for the January art crawl. In addition to Owner Jack Yacoubian’s handcrafted, fine jewelry pieces, the store will feature Nashville native and Houston-based artist Emily McGrew.
Her paintings, drawings and monoprints address feelings of disorientation, and emphasize the casual nature of people and places in universally relatable terms. McGrew has exhibited work in galleries throughout Texas and Middle Tennessee.
Handy Hardware on Columbia Avenue is another new site on the circuit, and will use its debut to introduce its new general store merchandise with gifts and kitchenwares. Local photographer and writer Donna O’Neil will showcase her photography at the store.
This Friday, O’More College of Design will kick off an exhibit in its campus gallery that showcases more than a dozen O’More Publishing authors, illustrators and graphic designers who have helped propel the division over its decade-long run.
The featured artists and writers will include several O’More alumni. The College said that a dozen interior spreads, 16 illustrations and 10 covers are included in the gallery exhibit, and several authors and designers will also be on hand to discuss the projects.
Gallery 202 on Second Avenue South will be highlighting Michael Hooper, a Dickson-based folk artist that crafts pieces from discarded wood, found objects and recycled materials. His mixed media and acyclic pieces often center around a highlighted deformity in Hooper’s canvas.
Creative Find-N-Design on Main Street will feature Shelley Newman Holmes, a fine artist whose work can be seen in galleries across the country. This painter–who says she prefers to paint barefoot!–will display original works and one-of-a-kind calendars.
Franklin Glassblowing Studio on Columbia Avenue will open its working studio and gallery to Art Scene participants, and guests may have the chance to view live demonstrations of various glasswork techniques. Owner Jose Santisteban is often on site to offer participants an inside look at the intricate process of the art form. Santisteban studied with Chihuly disciples in Seattle and with Venetian masters in Italy, and his work is recognized as some of the best in the South.
Stites & Harbison law firm on West Main Street will host local artist Joseph Dzuback Bibb. Bibb’s work includes paintings and mixed media. Much of the Franklin native’s recent work is influenced by both his Irish and Tennessee heritage and the landscape of his ancestors. Bibb, a Franklin native, studied art at the Burren College of Art in Ireland and received a BA in Studio Art from Wake Forest.