MORGANTON, NC (April 18, 2019) – Giant sculptures, engaging photography, live painting, performance artists, energetic videos and more showcased the first annual Art/Re/Art contemporary art experience in downtown Morganton on April 13.
More than 200 people attended the pop-up art show held in the 100-year-old Giles Motors building on South Sterling St. Unique and interactive, the art exhibition showcased about 15 exhibits from artists from Asheville to Durham.
Open to the public for one night-only, Art/Re/Art gave guests opportunities to engage one-on-one with the artists and participate in the creation of various works. Guests entered through an infinity frame exhibit. Children played in sand pits. Families created personal paintings on ceramic tiles. Attendees received personal poems written on-the-spot by a writer using a 50-year-old manual typewriter. Chairs and sofas gave people a place to relax and watch artists create huge and colorful murals.
“This free event was held in a non-art space and offered an alternative way to interact with and experience art in the community,” said organizer and artist Nancy VanNoppen. “With its old brick walls, tall ceilings and open space, the Giles Motors venue was an exceptional location for everyone to interact and enjoy the art and artists.”
Exhibits included live painting by Sterling Lieske, performance art by Asheville artists David Shurbutt, and a giant wood and cloth sculpture by Jennifer Patton that hung from the ceiling and draped across the cement floor.
Guests were greeted by the infamous Col. Morgan and Miss Mildred who recently relocated to Morganton from Mount Airy where they welcomed shoppers daily in that town’s Emporium retail store.
“It was a great event,” VanNoppen said. “The turn out from people, the support from the art community and the diversity of artists who lined up to participate were an indication that there is an audience for these very unique interactive, experiential art events in Morganton.”
“We are planning a second Art/Re/Art show in the fall,” she said. The second event is expected to be held in the Giles Motors venue. That historic building is in the early states of renovation into retail and residential spaces. “And we want to use it again before the project gets too far along,” she said. “It was perfect.”
Nancy VanNoppen is the Creative Director at Morganton-based VanNoppen Marketing, a full-service Internet and Traditional marketing agency. She received her MFA in 2017 from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, MD and her BA in 2012 from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA. She was awarded an artist residency at ArtSpace in Raleigh, NC, in the summer of 2012.
VanNoppen’s work has been shown at various venues in North Carolina including The Strand (Waynesville), the Tannery (Asheville), The Remedy Diner (Raleigh), Visual Art Exchange (Raleigh), and Artspace (Raleigh). In Roanoke, VA, her work has been exhibited at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Liminal Alternative Artspace, and the Unicorn Stables Project gallery.
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