All around Applause…
All Around Applause for the Grand Opening for Pittsboro Gallery of Arts by Trudy Thomson
The first Grand Opening and Reception at Pittsboro Gallery of Arts was held on Friday, June 17th and ran from 5:30 to 8 pm. A large number of patrons arrived to attend this event and enjoyed strolling through the gallery to view the fine arts and crafts on display. To create a lovely ambience music was played on the keyboard by Tristan Szeremi, our member Darcy Szeremi’s talented son.
As guests meandered about they easily accessed an array of goodies including fruits, sweets, fabulous crackers and cheese, including the most favorite — blueberries wrapped all around goat cheese. No way you can have a toast without a beverage so there was a variety of wine and beverage selections and there were even servers dressed in black finery. Obviously it was finally time to get out again to meet and greet!
Because this was the very first Grand Opening and reception it began with a cutting of the ribbon by the Pittsboro Mayor Cindy Perry, who was joined by Kirk Bradley from Mosaic Development Company and Chatham Park.
When the Mayor stepped to the mic she noted, “It’s just amazing how important this is. For all of us to finally be able to celebrate this. You know when I talk to people about what Pittsboro is about I say that we are a town that values the arts, the academics, and agriculture. And I am so pleased that the Joyful Jewel has turned into this, its a community of artists who have taken their serious work into a serious space and it’s amazing, it’s wonderful…Let’s give a hand to all the people involved!”
Following this acknowledgement the mic was handed to Kirk Bradley who proceeded with: “The artists are exemplary about the terrific maker culture here in Pittsboro in Chatham County. We are very fortunate to have that, it’s what makes it unique. It’s great to see all of the creative people here and we hope to continue that spirit. Public art is a big part of what we are trying to do at Mosaic and across Chatham Park. We hope to have Theresa Arico’s mosaic piece titled “Lean In” up at least by October and mosaic work of some monumental stature. We hope to have many other artists bless the various structured homes and commercials planned for our area.”
Theresa Arico, chair of the Events committee comments, “What a tremendous opening we had. We estimate that we had approximately 300-400 folks throughout the gallery and had sales across the board, some big sales and some very large sales! Congratulations to one of our new members Sarah Fishbein for selling one of her large pieces to a couple that fell in love with it!”
Sarah, who sold a grand piece of her mosaic artwork entitled “Seriously” remarks, “I had not met the couple before. They were a huge fan of this pop art style. I’m not sure how they heard about the gallery but I was thrilled!”
And, Beth Bale, our lovely most personable President of Pittsboro Gallery of Arts notes, “ We were able to bring in the art lovers from far and near. It was truly a spectacular evening, the crowd was amazing; the old acquaintances renewed were touching. And, all of the new acquaintances we made will continue to enhance our lives and our community.”
Here are a few comments from other members: From Craig DeBussey, a woodworker, “The next day I woke with so many indelible images in my mind from the reception last night. To hear the mayor say that she never seen a gathering like that in Pittsboro is incredible!” From Jennifer Cantwell, a photographer, “Yes, the night is very beautiful. May we toast to many more!” Nadine Zenobi, a jeweler, “ Echoing the sentiments of gratitude for so many member’s effort, and to each and everyone of us to manifest such an amazing event!”
What’s interesting to folks who plan events like these is that there are always twists and turns in planning and unforeseen challenges. Later that night Theresa Arico emailed this to the membership: “Ironically, we lost power for the second night in a row. Shortly before 8:00 pm — right before we were supposed to close the reception— the lights went out! This posed some interesting challenges as we also lost our wifi signal and the ability to put the back garage door down! So we should acknowledge Beth Bale for her skills in doing a hang-ten on the lifted garage door and cajoled it down!”
To make all this happen — as a cooperative — this event was carefully planned with a variety of contributions by our membership including the hanging of a new show, careful maintenance, point of sale, social media, website and marketing activities, with everyone pitching it. As is commonly stated, it takes a village, and when it happens it all ends well!