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Madness, mayhem part of spring exhibitions at Quinlan in Gainesville
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The “Monsters, Madness and Mayhem” exhibit features works by local artists Mary Frances Hull, Clay Sayre and Denise Schnaubelt. It will be on display June 9 through Aug. 13 at Quinlan Visual Arts Center in Gainesville.

Quinlan Visual Arts Center Summer Exhibitions
Exhibitions: “Monsters, Madness and Mayhem,” featuring Mary Frances Hull, Clay Sayre and Denise Schnaubelt; “Bright Lights: A Celebration of Summer,” featuring the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild; “Ipse Dixit Et Facta Sunt: For He Spoke and They Were Made,” featuring Alex Sridej; “Home Grown,” featuring Tonya Haswell.
When: June 9 through Aug. 13, opening reception 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 9
Where: 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville
More info: 770-536-2575, www.quinlanartscenter.org/2016-summer-exhibitions.html

Mary Frances Hull wanted to explore a little madness and a little mayhem with two of her fellow Gainesville artists.

Hull and local artists Clay Sayre and Denise Schnaubelt are part of the Quinlan Visual Arts Center’s Summer Exhibitions, which opens with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 9. It runs through Aug. 13 at 514 Green St. NE in Gainesville.

Their exhibition is titled “Monsters, Madness and Mayhem,” a theme Hull developed.

“I am a lover of chaos,” said Hull, a resident artist at Quinlan. “ I came up with the title and asked the two of them to join me, because I know their minds think in monstrous ways as well. It was just a theme I thought kids might like, too, as a summer exhibition.”

The collaborative exhibition shows three separate approaches to one idea. Sayre, an Advanced Placement art teacher at Gainesville High School, and Schnaubelt, his fiance, along with Hull took separate interpretations that came together in one exhibit.

“I think Clay’s works are more about monsters of our childhood — so black-and-white Frankenstein, stuff like that,” Hull said. “He’s very into literal monsters, while Denise is more about the emotional aspects. And my work is more about the strengths in madness and mayhem. So we’ve all approached it from different angles.”

Hull owns Pen Dragon Fine Arts Supply store in the Quinlan, catering to the local fine arts community and schools.

She said all four of the summer exhibitions are well-suited for visiting families this summer.

“There are a lot of good shows going on that are going to feed off each other,” she said. “It’s fun, and it’s colorful. Some of it can be tongue-in-cheek. It’s not something you have to stand and look at for a long time, trying to figure out what it is. It’s fun and in your face, and I think that’s why people should come see it.

“It’s not going to be hard on your brain.”

Other summer exhibitions include “Bright Lights: A Celebration of Summer,” featuring artwork of The Southern Appalachian Artist Guild. The guild is an organization of artisans and craftsmen from several states, including Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Another exhibition titled “Ipse Dixit Et Facta Sunt: For He Spoke and They Were Made,” features works by Alex Sridej, a Dacula native and Piedmont College graduate.

The theme of the exhibition is the Creation Story from the book of Genesis in the Bible.

“Home Grown,” featuring mixed media artwork by artist Tonya Haswell, is another summer exhibition. This show is inspired by her early childhood years in South Georgia and incorporates found objects, vintage print pieces and textiles into the works.

“I love to experiment with motion, texture and composition,” Haswell said in a release. “My work has a strong graphic quality allowing me to focus on the main inspiration.”