Grand tally: About 2,500 miles, nearly 40 hours driving and $700 worth of fossil fuels were logged, totaled and consumed by yours truly with a sidekick or two, sometimes including Grace, during April. How that went down: the last day of March, I hung GraceArt: Grace Walker Goad ~ The Art of Autism at Hot & Cold. The next day, April 1, I headed for an overnight in Chatty Town before delivering a show of GraceArt to the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum. The next weekend was Easter and Grace and I trekked to my Carolina homeplace for a long weekend. On Thursday, April 5, the Hot & Cold show opened with the Hillsboro Village First Thursday Art Walk. It was the night of a Nashville spring monsoon. The heavens opened up just as I left the condo. I hugged the wet shoulders of the most die-hard of my friends and art-loving and Grace & Leisa-supporting acquaintances that crossed Hot & Cold's threshold that night. The next weekend we went back to the Museum in the college town of Athens, Tenn., for a reception on April 14. We had one weekend home that month, April 20-22, and we immersed ourselves blissfully at the Nashville Film Festival. More coming on two particular films and filmmakers that captured my heart.
Concluding the month of travel, trip number four started on April 27 with another night in Chattanooga. (Love that once scruffy now artsy lil' city! Check out their waterfront redo. Tremendous!) And then on to Athens to collect GraceArt and return to Nashville. That Sunday, a friend and I took down the Hot & Cold shown delivered the eight foot mural across town to its' happy new owner. Then two days later said friend and I hung in the Green Hills Library's art gallery about 25 pieces, combining the work from the Athens show and the work that did not sell in the April Hot & Cold show.
You're invited to this free and open-to-the public show during library hours. Note they are closed on Fridays. Just head straight back from the entrance and hang left across from the children's library. On Sunday, May 20, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., we'll be serving some lite (sic) refreshments and have some special musical entertainment. Massood Taj of Full Circle Art will be providing his lovely and uniquely delivered "world music" and Micah Elliott, a talented young man with autism will also deliver a solo dulcimer performance. The exhibit will hang through the end of May and concludes our (my) mind-blowing (interpret crazy) blitz of spring art shows. (I'm tired!)
Grace will be in a show in Seattle before year's end at the gallery representing her there–HeART of the Spectrum Art Center in Pioneer Square as well as the annual Mayor's exhibit at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. I look forward to collaborating next year, too, with VKC and Debbie Hosseini whose third Art of Autism book was released last month. Grace is featured and I'll be writing more about her experience with the book and the book, itself, soon.
See you at the Green Hills library show! See unique art created with difference and passion. And, support a young person with autism. We'll also have the new GraceArt NoteCard Series II, to which I added an additional image.
That image is "Leafman," bottom left, above. The acrylic on canvas original is owned by the former CFO of Vanderbilt Children's. Grace recently sold a giclee print on canvas of the work to a local physician. The image to its' right is Mixed Media IV, canvas. Top row, left to right is "Blue Face," mixed media on paper and Untitled Yellow and Green, acrylic on canvas. This GraceArt photo collage, above, features her green and blues works, whereas she has many featuring pinks, purples and yellows. Come see for yourself! All are for sale.
