
The Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County will exhibit the annual National Open Visual Arts Show or “NOVAS” in September. The exhibit kicks off with an opening reception sponsored by Forrester’s Creative Studio & Makerspace and hosted by the Douglas County Art Guild on Thursday, September 7th from 6 until 8 p.m., at the Cultural Arts Center and it will be on view through October 7th.

The opening reception and gallery admission is free to the public. The show is open 9-5 Monday-Fridays, and special gallery tours are available by appointment. NOVAS 2017 features forty artists from across the country and local favorites, working in different media ranging from oil painting to glass sculpture.
This juried show will be awarding $1000 worth of cash prizes sponsored by Forrester’s Creative to artists placing first, second, third, and honorable mention in the competition. Forrester’s Creative is an artist studio and makerspace located in Douglasville founded by Jessie Forrester. They provide tools, equipment, classes and space for makers and artists in the Douglas County area and beyond.

This year’s winners will be selected by fine artist and University of West Georgia professor Steve Morrison, production designer and Atlanta Film Society filmmaker-in-residence Molly Coffee, and Emmy-award winning animator and CEO of My Animation Life, Allyssa Lewis. Morrison works in sculpture, painting and video. Coffee works full-time in art direction and production design, working with teams of artists and designers to create visuals for film and television. Lewis has worked on Emmy Award-winning animated series Archer. The Douglas County Art Guild will also be presenting the Mary Anne Carney Award for excellence in painting and multimedia.

A diverse variety of styles and artists are celebrated in this national exhibition. NOVAS 2017 is the CAC’s largest group show of the year. Sculptor Joel Yawn (whose large flowers grace the CAC’s front lawn) has brought three small works, one of which is a perky owl made out of recycled metal parts. Cary Drake submitted a stunning and eerie impressionistic painting of two skeletons in an embrace surrounded by flower petals. Prints on metal by photographer Cathy Clemson feature a mermaid in “S.S. Siren” and Lego Darth Vader slays a lizard in the darkly comical picture called “Disturbing”. Detailed figurative drawings with a limited pallet by New York artist Gail Postal compare to vibrant dabs of color dappling an abstract painting by local Grete Carder.

NOVAS winners will be awarded at the reception so come for the reception light refreshments and the chance to meet the artists in person. With the variety of work, NOVAS is sure to feature something for everybody to enjoy.
Proudly sponsored by Forrester’s Creative