This year, the voices represented in a five-year tradition at The Dairy Barn Arts Center will not just come from artists in Athens, Ohio, but also from artists in cities called Athens in West Virginia and Alabama.
“Athens Voices USA ’13” features 75 works from 48 artists from three “Athens” towns. In honor of the 35th anniversary of the Dairy Barn, the organizers decided to open the submission up to these others towns, something which Jane Forrest Redfern, executive director of the center, said was beneficial to the pool of selection.
“(The expansion) doubled the number of artists that submitted artwork,” Redfern said. “It (also) allowed us to begin relationships with other Athens art centers in the country. This exhibit will be going mid-May down to Athens, Ala. It will then open during September in Athens in West Virginia.”
The pieces went through a blind three-piece jury, which consisted of Ohio University assistant professor of visual communication Gary Kirksey, photographer Kenner Bush and Director of the Kennedy Museum of Art Edward Pauley.
“Not until the very end did the jurors ask if all of the Athens (cities) ended up in the show,” Pauley said. “(But) every community that had submitted work had somebody representing them in the show.”
The exhibition focused on mixed-media pieces, which included paint, woodwork and print.
“We looked at how creative it was, creative use of media, … craftsmanship and technique,” Kirksey said. “(Because) it was artists within different towns, there were quite a variety of different artistic additions.”
Along with the other criteria, the artist’s message through the pieces made some stand out, Bush said.
“The entries that most commanded my attention reached beyond craftsmanship and striving to be ‘different’ to speak to the viewer in some meaningful way,” said Bush in a news release.
The exhibition opened Jan. 18 and hosted more than 300 people. Redfern said it was one of the “best openings in recent times.”
People who attended the opening also got a first look at the newly renovated Sauber Gallery, a project that was funded through local donors.
The 99-year-old ceiling of the gallery was painted, and the lighting system was made more efficient through the use of six new track lights with LED bulbs.
“We’re using two thirds of the energy with double the number of bulbs,” Redfern said. “The art has sufficient lighting … it really changes the gallery.”
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