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April showers make for fun art
Latest exhibit in Sautee focuses on springs elements
0506RobertSlackSNCA
Works by Robert Slack and other local artists will be on display as part of “Rain or Shine,” an exhibit on view through May 23 at the Sautee Nacoochee Center in Sautee. - photo by For The Times

‘Rain or Shine’
When: Through May 23: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Sautee Nacoochee Center, 283 Ga. 255 N., Sautee
How much: Free
More info: 706-878-3300

It’s all about spring at the Sautee Nacoochee Center, where local artists have filled The Center Gallery and Gallery Too with works appropriate for the season in "Rain or Shine," the center’s most recent exhibit on view through May 23.

More than 150 artists have work in the galleries for the show, all from within a 50-mile radius of the center.

Spring showers are the topic for many of the pieces, according to Sherry Clive, the office manager at the center who also is a printmaker.

"There are some paintings in here that are actually rain scenes, people with umbrellas," Clive said. "We have an oil painting and it is a cityscape, and we have an enamel artist enameling porcelain pieces showing the umbrellas."

She said other pieces feature clouds, "or the sun just shining through the trees," and natural elements like flowers, birds, fish and frogs.

Robert Slack of Sautee, a wood sculptor, interpreted the theme with a large wooden sculpture called "Sunburst Flowers."

Virginia Brown’s cloisonné enamel work, "Rainy Monday Morning," features people walking through a city scene during a rainstorm, their umbrellas brightening the landscape with splashes of color.

On the sunnier side, Larry Compton’s oil painting, "Garden Steps," features sun-dappled brick steps leading through grass strewn with wildflowers.

In the South Hall at the center, an exhibit displays works from two honorable mentions in the Quinlan Visual Arts Center’s 62nd Annual Member Exhibition, landscape artist Alan Tiegreen and pastel artist Zoe Schumaker.

The North Hall displays works by teachers of the SNCA’s workshops, including Keith Burgess, Judy Bynum George, Connie Gerdts, Denise Hopkins, Oscar Rayneri, Ivy Rutsky, Bonnie Sears, Becky Threlkeld, Cynthia Whitney and Patrice Lynne Young.

"We have artists of all mediums," Clive said. "There’s fabric design, fiber arts, mask making. There’s pastel artists, oil painters, watercolorists. We even have a pottery class coming up (with potter) Nancy Garrett."