Artists from across Polk County gather for the city’s 2017 art show gala.
Enthusiasts gather over weekend to open annual art show
Cool jazz standards filled the lobby of the Cedartown Performing Arts Center over the weekend as local artists from across Polk County gathered for the city’s 2017 art show gala.
Local art enthusiasts went around the wings of the auditorium looking at pieces from dozens of artists, including students like Rockmart High School’s Kasi Price, a senior setting her sights on moving on in her career at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Price had several pieces hanging in the show, all set to sell between $35 and $160. She was among many artists who were looking to make money off their work in the show, which is why it wasn’t judged this year.
Her pieces range from natural scenes and a Savannah landscape to detailed portraits and the more abstract scenes.
One, titled “Lost in Abstract,” was one of the many pieces she favored.
“To me, it portrays the artist,” she said. “She’s an artist, and her body is chaotic. Usually the body is smooth and the hair chaotic, but I did it vice versa to portray her as a mess. And the black and gray surrounding her, it represents the bad in the world,” Price said.
She also had a piece that featured a portrait of a girl with tape over her mouth meant to represent child molestation.
“I didn’t really want to put it in here, but everyone seems to like it,” Price said.
She calls her work “happy, hippy, trippy art.”
Though she doesn’t have a website yet, Price said she’s working on one and hopes as her plans develop for a career in art for the future.
Her art joined 125 pieces in this year’s show, a response that Cedartown Performing Arts Center executive director Oscar Guzman said added to great turnout for the opening night gala.
“It’s surprising too how many different types of artwork we have,” Guzman said. “Everything from sculpture pieces of all sizes to paintings of watercolor land- scapes to some mixed media pieces as well.”
He said those who missed the opening gala over the weekend will have the opportunity to see the show through until April 23, when artists will be coming by to pick up any pieces that didn’t sell during the month-long art show.
The city plans to make the art show gala an annual event to launch their shows with the potential to add to the schedule in the coming years based on artist response, Guzman said.
“We have those cloth walls that people can hang art, but also now 100 feet of railing system to hang art,” Guzman said. “So we won’t be just restricted in the front lobby area, and put use to those wings we hardly use otherwise. It’s a good thing to do, and so long as local artists show the interest, we want to host the shows.”