November 10th (2-4pm): Hand Lettering Workshop – With plenty of time to send your holiday greeting cards, Bekah Guedry of My Creative Buzz will lead this one-day workshop in hand-lettering so you can use a stylistic brush calligraphy font with confidence. Work from live demos, worksheets with sample letters and words, and try a variety of brush pens, felt-tip markers, and papers. Once you get comfortable, you’ll have time to make a holiday-themed quote on cardstock, which you can decorate, copy, and/or cut to shape to place on gift tags, greeting cards, dinner party place cards, treat bag decorations, or anything else you dream up! All materials and supplies are provided during the workshop. Feel free to bring a beverage and some of your own items to write on if you already have them. This is suggested for adults and kids ages 10 and up. Class cost is $15.
The galleries are open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, and Sunday 12 noon-5pm. Admission is free at all times.
November 9th-16th (9am-5pm): Brushes By The Beach Plein Air Contest – Open to any artist using the Plein Air technique. Art must be painted on Galveston Island during the event time frame. Go to gleegallery.net for complete contest rules. Paint one day or every day on Galveston Island for eligibility. The November Plein-Air Watercolor Contest benefits both Artist Boat and The Humane Society.
Jewelry Making with Annette Kinslow (10am-1pm): G. Lee Gallery invites you to join master jeweler Annette Kinslow for a Viking Knit jewelry making workshop. Handmade chains have been found in Viking treasure troves. Made from melted down coins turned into fine wire, these chains are formed using a loop in loop technique. All materials as well as the use of tools during class are provided. Beginners are welcome. This a fun bracelet to make. You will get compliments wherever you wear it! Class is $105, RSVP is needed.
G.Lee Gallery is located at 2217 Strand, Suite 107-B in Downtown Galveston. For more info call (409)370-7350 or go to gleegallery.net.
Landscapes Made Easy, Acrylic Class with Sherrie Kostura (11am-1pm): Love painting landscapes, but your flowers and trees look drab? Come join award-winning artist Sherrie Kostura for tips on how you can use the magical ‘funny brush’ to paint beautiful flowers, trees, and more. No more drab, underwhelming paintings – you will leave the class with your own beautiful painting. All supplies included. Beginners to advanced welcome. Class cost is $60. Please register at gleegallery.net/Shopping-Cart.html. Instructor Sherrie Kostura has received numerous awards for her portraiture, notably a grand prize win in the Prismacolor National Art Competition. She has been featured in ‘The Illustrator Magazine’ and ‘Southwest Art.’
On view through November 17th is Erin Curtis’ “Night and Day.”
Curtis’ exhibition includes recent large-scale paintings that are dense with color and pattern. Her layered, cut-canvas works contain disrupted surfaces and reflect an interest in geometric abstraction and its historical roots in weaving, architecture, nature, and ritual. The paintings in “Night and Day” are nearly overwhelmed by an unreadable chaos that is pulled back to the edge of order by familiar patterns and forms. The exhibition will be on view through November 17th, 2019.
Erin Curtis is an artist living and working in Austin, Texas. Curtis’s work combines utopian ideals of beauty and structure, with process and chance. Primarily working as a painter, she also creates large-scale, site-specific installations and public art projects.
She has received grants from the Dallas Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Foundation, the City of Austin and the District of Columbia. Curtis has had solo shows at Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX (2017), CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, California (2016), Big Medium Gallery, Austin, Texas (2015) and Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC (2015). She has created commissioned works for the Chicago Transit Authority, the City of Washington D.C., Facebook, Art in Embassies and the City of Austin. In the summer of 2019, a 20- foot tall cut brick mural commissioned by Intelligentsia Coffee will be installed in downtown Austin. Curtis attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2010 and was awarded residencies at Anderson Ranch (2012) and Vermont Studio Center (2014). In 2008-2009, Curtis was a Fulbright Scholar in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Curtis graduated from Williams College with a BA in Liberal Arts in 1999 and received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007.
For more info go to erinelizabethcurtis.com.
In GAC’s second-floor galleries, the exhibition Exchange Rate is on view through October 6th, 2019. The exhibition features artists who incorporate currency in their work as material and subject matter. “Exchange Rate” features work by Corey Ackelmire, Mike Beradino, Rene Cruz, Kevin Curry, Kathy Hall, Mary Jeys, Virginia Lee Montgomery, Ken Little, Deborah Mersky, Phillip Pyle II, Dan Tague, The Art Guys, and Anthony Thompson Shumate.
These exhibitions are supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
GAC is the organizer of ArtWalk, which takes place every six weeks in downtown Galveston. The ArtWalk brochure, which lists participating venues, hours, information, and map can be downloaded at galvestonartscenter.org. The galleries are open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, and Sunday 12 noon-5pm. Admission is free at all times.
Galveston Arts Center presents “Undercover,” a solo exhibition by Venezuelan-born and Houston-based artist Gerardo Rosales opening Saturday, October 12th, 6-9pm, with artist talk beginning at 6:30pm. Rosales explores issues of class, race, gender, and immigration to expose social inequalities experienced by immigrants coming from Latin America to the United States. Rosales appropriates ornamental aspects of folk art and geometric abstraction, infiltrated with elements that evoke adversity faced by these individuals looking for a better life, only to find themselves facing similar conditions of social and economic exclusion. His paintings include rich colors and patterns that juxtapose the harshness of the wilderness of the tropics with domestic imagery. His works mix conflict with playfulness as a means to exaggerate reality with irony. The exhibition will be on view through January 5th, 2020.
Author’s Afternoon (12 noon-3pm): Like to read a good thriller? Join author Wren Richards for the low down on a really good, page turning thriller that is based on a true story that happened to her! Got some kids on your holiday shopping list? George Douglas Lee’s ‘Oppy the Popping Hopper’ rhyming fun book for kids will also be available It is illustrated, written, and rhymed all by George Lee himself.
G.Lee Gallery is located at 2217 Strand, Suite 107-B in Downtown Galveston. For more info call (409)370-7350 or go to gleegallery.net.
Every Thursday in December (5:30-7:30pm): Fiber Arts Studio – Explore the rich world of fiber art with local artist and fashion designer Rachael Montemayor. Make wearable art and décor from wool, silk, linen, driftwood, and repurposed materials using techniques like wet felting, weaving, crocheting, and knotting. Experimentation is encouraged; your work will be as unique and personal as your own ideas! As sessions go on, students will especially enjoy mixing techniques within a single item to add interest and texture, or incorporating unexpected elements that are recycled, found or deconstructed. A large supply of natural fibers and textiles are available during class. You may also purchase your own materials through the instructor or her recommended sources. This class is for ages 13 to adult. All levels welcome; no experience necessary. All Basic materials are provided; more advanced materials recommendations will be given in class. Cost is $25 per day and materials are provided. There are no classes in November.
Sip & Shop Shopping – It’s time for the annual Downtown Galveston Sip & Shop! Start your holiday shopping with a visit to Downtown for tasty libations, great shopping, special deals, free parking and more!
Participating businesses include: – Surf Styles – The Admiralty on The Strand – Gracie’s – Tippy Toes – Tina’s on The Strand – G.Lee Gallery – Strand Brass and Christmas on The Strand – BLU Boutique – Dorothy Mays – Bel Pri Jewelry and Gifts – Del Sol – Lapalapa – Texas High Cotton – La King’s Confectionery – Mysticatz – The Jewel Garden – The Spice & Tea Exchange – Milagro Imports and Design – Pardon My French – Conversation Pieces – Hendley Market – Jammin’ Sportswear – Old Strand Emporium – Tola Mo’ Bettah Market – Yaga Clothing
November 9th-16th (9am-5pm): Brushes By The Beach Plein Air Contest – Open to any artist using the Plein Air technique. Art must be painted on Galveston Island during the event time frame. Go to gleegallery.net for complete contest rules. Paint one day or every day on Galveston Island for eligibility. The November Plein-Air Watercolor Contest benefits both Artist Boat and The Humane Society.
