River Oaks Showcases Pure Louisiana Talent

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postcard_6x8.75_frontLots of Louisiana will be found at River Oaks Arts Center in downtown Alexandria this Fall. The featured artist in the Bolton-Davis Gallery during the latter part of August will be Caroline Youngblood, who grew up surrounded by cotton fields on Breston Plantation, located in Riverton. After graduating magna cum laude with a B.F.A in Drawing and Painting from LSU, Youngblood pursued graduate work at Syracuse University, New York and returned to Louisiana to receive her M.F.A. from Louisiana Tech. A Louisiana Roster Artist, Youngblood works with a multitude of media, with drawing and oils being the focus for her upcoming workshop in conjunction with her show.

 

‘Louisiana Cotton: From Representation to Abstraction’ offers an artistic perspective of one of Louisiana’s favorite and most versatile raw materials. “Caroline is one of those artists whose imagery creates an instant story in the mind’s eye.  Her vivid hues in this cotton series allow for a different take on an everyday subject, depictive of Louisiana,” says River Oaks Executive Director, Rachael Dauzat. “The genuine Louisiana spirit of her work reflects in the way she highlights different facets of a very raw subject matter.”

 

Her work has been included in a multitude of statewide exhibitions, including the “Louisiana Contemporary” at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and Art Melt in Baton Rouge. She completed a three-month residency at Centre d’Art, Marnay sur Seine, France (CAMAC), funded by an Artist’s Career Advancement Grant awarded by Louisiana Division of the Arts.

 

Caroline’s solo exhibitions are a multi-sensory experience including a blend of Louisiana Art, Food, and Music to reinforce the content of her work. She recently was awarded her second Artist Career Advancement Grant to fund a new body of work, “Riverton, 1937: Part Two” which premiered at the 2015 North Delta Food and Wine Festival.

 

In conjunction with her featured show at River Oaks, Youngblood will also be on hand for a hands-on oil workshop taking place September 24th and 25th. Students will create a series of at least three sketches and three paintings of the same object. Space is limited and cost is $85.00 per participant.

 

Concurrent in the Galerie des Amis will be the Photographers Guild—a group of Central Louisiana fine art photographers who promote their work on regional and national levels. Each photographer approaches their art form from a variety of genres, such as portraits, landscapes, architectural scenes, as well as artistic composite photographs. “Art of the Lens” will be an exhibition of 21 photographs by Photographers Guild members Piper Wilson, Peter Milder, Myron Wellan, Donna Futrell, Wilton Guillory, Michael Elliott-Smith, and Leslie Elliottsmith.

 

“As members we seek to keep a high standard of professionalism, improve our skill as photographers, and share technical knowledge with fellow members,” states Photographers Guild President, Leslie Elliottsmith. All  works will be for sale.  Persons seeking to join the Photographers Guild may pick-up a brochure in the Guild’s studio on the second floor of River Oaks or at the River Oaks office.

 

Rounding out the August exhibition will be “Purified Pathways” by J.J. Savage in the Stokes-Harris Gallery. Savage returns to his Central Louisiana artistic roots as he studied under master ceramist Bob Howell at Louisiana College from 1998 until graduating in 2002. J.J. has been working at his studio in McKinney and collaborating with designers and retailers in Dallas’ design district. His work continues to develop toward an aesthetic which embraces the vessel’s potential to define the space around it with both uniqueness and transcendent beauty. The show runs through October 1st. The exhibitions along with the workshop are sponsored by GAEDA and Bayou Mosquito Pest Management.

 

River Oaks LogoFor more information or to register for a class, call River Oaks at (318) 473-2670. Check us out on the web at www.riveroaksartscenter.com and follow us on FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter!