Summer is sneaking up on us, and there are several events on-hand for your artful life this month.
East Nashville’s own Plowhaus Artist Coop presents the annual Value Menu Show this month though July 15. With all art priced at $49.99 and less, you won't have to break the bank to add to your collection and feel like a millionaire. With more than 30 artists participating, there's something here for every taste. The artist reception is June 9, from 7 to 11 p.m. Keep in mind that the gallery is open Saturdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Plowhaus Artist Coop is located at 211 S. 17th St.
On June 23, Huang Xiang will transform the Fine Art Gallery at the downtown library into a “book” of poetry, inscribing his work on banners and the gallery walls, which will be exhibited through October 14 at Main Library, 615 Church St.
Huang Xiang reads from his work, joined by local actress Mary Tanner Bailey, at an Asian-themed opening reception, June 23 at 11:30 a.m. at Main Library, 615 Church St. The reception follows 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. performances of Stonecutter, the puppet show by Wishing Chair Productions based on an Asian folk tale.
Regarded as “China’s Walt Whitman,” poet and master calligrapher Huang Xiang was born in Hunan Province, China, in 1941 and struggled most of his life for the right to read and write in his native land. Huang began writing poems in the 1950s and was repeatedly imprisoned for writing and talking about human rights during the Cultural Revolution. He spent 12 years in Chinese prisons and labor camps and was officially forbidden to write, and his work was banned in China for 40 years. But he evaded regular searches after prison and continued to write secretly, committing his work to memory and reciting poems to small groups of friends. In 1978, he founded Enlightenment, the first underground writer’s society in China. Eventually forced to seek political asylum in the United States, his journey was featured in the PBS documentary, “Well-Founded Fear.”
In exile in the United States since 1997, Huang is a former writer-in-residence in the City of Asylum program of Pittsburgh, Pa., a network of North American cities that provide refuge for persecuted writers. He has created a poetry installation for the Mattress Factory contemporary art museum in Pittsburgh, Pa., and now travels and performs his poetry internationally.
All events are free and open to the public. The public is invited to view the work in process June 19 through 22 during normal library hours. The schedule varies; see www.library.nashville.org for more information.
At Gallery One, don't miss Summer Soup: An Exhibition of Works by Gallery Artists. They are open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information visit www.galleryone.biz.
The Estel Gallery in June will feature the mixed media work comprised of recycled materials by Connie Noyes. They are open Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from this show will support Project AIDS Orphan, an organization that supports Kenyan children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. For more information visit www.estelgallery.com.
