Summer Exhibition Celebration 2021

Celebrate summer and the opening of new exhibitions at the Turchin Center for the Visual arts – explore, discover and connect through the arts! This is an opportunity for art lovers to surround themselves with stunning artwork and meet the accomplished artists exhibiting in the galleries at the Turchin Center. Spend time with fellow community members who believe that art is something to be shared, cherished and celebrated. Experience diverse artwork by nationally and internationally renowned artists right here at the crossroads of Appalachian State University and downtown Boone. In order to ensure the health and safety of our visitors and staff, Covid-19 protocols and procedures will be in place.

For more information, visit https://tcva.org/event/summer-exhibition-celebration/.

The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts would like to thank our friends at Allen Wealth Management, for their support of the Summer Exhibition Celebration.

ERRATIC: Hoss Haley
July 2-December 11, Hodges Gallery 

Sharing space with Hoss Haley’s monumental work transports the viewer to a place where a clear separation between human creation and organic influence is undefined, yet beautifully intertwined. Color and texture are suggested but are ultimately ruled by nature. The marrying of raw nature and human intervention is what makes Haley’s work so captivating, allowing the opportunity to forget traditional rules, and marvel at a creation beyond our understanding.

Wendy Babcox: Every Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane
June 4-November 6, Gallery A

Every Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane is a suite of photogravure images of each of the 23 olive trees in the garden. Situated at the foot of the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane is known to many as the site where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion. The oldest tree has been carbon-dated to 1092, a date almost coincidental with the first of the Crusades. The oldest trees are a living and symbolic link to this distant past, while the younger saplings bridge the present moment with an unknowable future.

98.6: A Creative Commonality

July 2-February 5, 2022, Mezzanine Gallery

Humans and chimpanzees share 98.6% of the same DNA. Both species have forward-facing eyes, opposing thumbs that accompany grasping fingers, and the ability to walk upright. Far greater than just the physical similarities, both species have large brains capable of exhibiting great intelligence as well as an incredible emotional range. Chimpanzees form tight social bonds, especially between mothers and children, create tools to assist with eating and express joy by hugging and kissing one another.

In the case of chimpanzees and other great apes, research has shown that they also display a creative instinct; that they respond to color; and that many of them enjoy painting as a type of enrichment. This exhibition features a fascinating perspective on their work, in partnership with organizations committed to conservation and the well-being of these remarkable animals that share so much in common with us.

Where are the birds? Retracing Audubon: Artwork by Krista Elrick
June 4-November 6, Gallery B

This exhibition and book project reexamine John James Audubon’s epic life journey and the production of his beloved tome, The Birds of America. While the name of Audubon is familiar and the drawings he created are still wildly popular, his eloquent writings are less well known. Retracing Audubon features contemporary photographs made by Krista Elrick of the American landscapes in which Audubon traveled 200 years ago. Also included are quotes from Audubon’s journals and entries Elrick made in her own travel notebooks two centuries later.

Ruminations: Cheryl Prisco
March 5-August 7, Community Gallery

Rumination (noun) 1. a deep and considered thought about something.

“I am addicted to color and pattern, drawn to irreverence and visual dissonance. In place of paint and brush I cut, color, and shape wood elements, creating abstract low relief assemblages. The process of my work, the shaping and fitting, the painting and placement of multiple pieces, is the physical manifestation of rumination. My feelings, attitudes and concerns are visually recorded in color and composition. Each assemblage is a rumination, a story, one in the making and one in the viewing.”

—Cheryl Prisco

This exhibition has been generously supported, in part, by a gift from Adrienne Finkel.

Rowhouse Workshop: Brian Phillips – ISA
March 5-August 7, Mayer Gallery

Rowhouse Workshop is an interactive exhibition showcasing the unique personalities of rowhouse blocks in Philadelphia. The exhibition leads visitors through a series of rowhouse block installations, sharing collectively curated songs, recipes, images, and videos. The exhibition’s arrival in Boone, NC emphasizes the potential for Rowhouse Workshop to be a template for other cities, neighborhoods and communities to reflect on their shared histories, experiences and social connectedness.