Friday, September 25, 2009

Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

As a society, we are compelled to be part of the greening of this country. In an attempt to bring this to the art world the gallery hosted "Reduce/Reuse/Recycle" as our entry into Harrisburg's annual Gallery Walk.

The root of the show was a photojournalism essay by well-known Master Photographer, Gordon Wenzel. The subject was "what price for progress". His digitized photographic canvases juxtaposed the natural beauty of our earth with traffic jams, junk yards, nuclear plants. The beauty of nature was shot in black and white in a fading of our natural senses while the replacement of junk yards, scrap and trash were presented in bold color. Wenzel brought the problem to our attention.

The problem reaches a beginning to resolution by the artists who exhibited what can be done to reuse our trash and junk to create art. A fiber artist, Susan Ball-Faeder, exhibited beautiful one of a kind wall hangings made from bags of old rags. One piece even doubled as a skirt.

Another artist, Larry Robenolt, showed beautifully restored furniture found in junk piles and curbside disposals.

An artist new to the scene, Shane Morgan, creates sculptures made from discarded metal and car parts.
Shown here is Shane's "Junkyard dog" made completely with scrap car parts beside "Dirty Dog" a character invention of Floyd Stokes and Leland Nelson who is used to promote recycling among children through their kids' activity book "Talking Trash with Dirty Dog and Friends", a publication of The American Literacy Corporation for Young Readers.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The arts are alive and well in Harrisburg, PA

Since opening Gallery Blu in March of this year I am here to say that the arts are making a lively comback in Harrisburg. Yes, there is now a "First Friday" celebration with approximately 8 galleries presenting new shows every month. Recently Harrisburg Art Association sponsored its 21st annual "Gallery Walk" with 27 venues of art, music, food and fun. The turnout was amazing and our gallery counted about 600 people who came to see our offering of art and music that day.
The Third Street Corridor in Harrisburg continues to grow with new shops and eateries. Much of this can be attributed to the beautiful new midtown campus of Harrisburg Area Community College.
Gallery Blu's very energetic decision to host 8 new shows in 10 months has been met with great success. The openings are well attended and people are out and about getting in on the action associated with First Fridays.
So, how can you find us? Head uptown on Third Street and watch for the large brightly painted mural on the side of our building. This mural is part of Harrisburg's Susquecentennial Celebration slated for 2010.
Stay tuned for more insider art discussions and info.