Note: Lectures cascade oldest (top) to newest (bottom)!

Professionals in the Arts Lecture with Sarah Powers

The recent 2011 R.A.G. Juried Art Exhibition juror, Sarah Powers, is back on August 11.  This time she will lecture on her experiences as a Raleigh, North Carolina based artist whose mixed media work focuses on industrial and rural landscapes and landscape details. Her work has been featured in galleries across the U.S. including Rhode Island’s RISD l works, The Sarah Doyle Gallery at Brown University and The Mahler Gallery, The Collectors Gallery, Long View Gallery, Rebus Works, Vision Gallery, and Artspace in North Carolina. Powers was an artist for the Bain Project and was awarded a Regional Artist Project Grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County and maintains a studio at Antfarm in the Boylan Heights neighborhood of Raleigh. She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.


According to the Providence Phoenix Powers’ “use of minimalist simplicity, evident in both her technical and conceptual approach, is combined with arbitrary objects of our everyday world to create an elusive yet captivating scenario that seems impossible to forget.”

Her visual art pursuits are only half of the story -- Ms. Powers is also the Executive Director of one of Raleigh’s coolest contemporary visual art venues: The Visual Art Exchange.

Won’t you join us for this insightful evening on August 11?  The free lecture begins at 7pm at the Guild.

Professionals in the Arts Tea with Brook Bower

Brook Bower, Assistant Curator for Appalachian State University’s Turchin Center
for the Visual Arts is the guest of honor for the Randolph Arts Guild’s August
afternoon tea program.  On Thursday August 25th at 4pm she will present a
lecture on her experiences as a professional visual artist as well as an arts
administrator.

Brook lived in Randolph County for several years as a child.  She grew up around
very talented artists in her own family but the first art classes she had were
at the Guild.  We’re happy to have her back for a visit.  She earned a BS in Art
Management and a BFA in Ceramics for A.S.U.’s Department of Art in 2001.
Bower’s professional activities include curating exhibitions, mentoring future
art management students, and managing several national art competitions.

In addition, Bower is an active exhibiting artist and is a new member of The
Collective On Depot, a work and studio space for local artists and musicians.
Her primary media concentration is sculptural ceramics, however, she also delves
into other media including collage and photography. She incorporates these media
along with alternative techniques to create her unique style.

The Thursday, August 25th Tea begins at 4pm.  The event is free and open to the
public.  A five dollar donation is suggested.  For more information on this or
other events at the Randolph Arts Guild, contact the Guild at 336-629-0399.  For
more information on Brook Bower please visit www.BrookBower.com.

Award Winning Writer, Joseph Bathanti to Give Lecture

We are honored to have writer Joseph Bathanti venture over to the Guild on September 21st to share with us his talents.  Joseph is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Appalachian State University.  Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He has BA & MA degrees in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College.  What started as a visiting North Carolina as a VISTA volunteer opportunity in 1976 has grown into calling NC home while having numerous published works of fiction and poetry.  His works have appeared in The Cincinnati Review, The Progressive, Manhattan Poetry Review, The Nebraska Review, Carolina Quarterly,The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Louisiana Literature, The Sun, The Texas Review, California Quarterly, Southern Humanities Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, South Carolina Review and many others.  

Bathanti’s writing often references gritty working class narratives set in the mid-20th century and spirituality with a tinge of magical realism.  He has been awarded the Oscar Arnold Young Award from The North Carolina Poetry Council for best book of poems by a North Carolina writer; Land of Amnesia, from Press 53 in 2009 and, Restoring Sacred Art, the 2010 Roanoke Chowan Prize, awarded annually by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association for best book of poetry in a given year.  His collection of short stories, The High Heart, winner of the 2006 Spokane Prize, was published by Eastern Washington University Press in Fall 2007.  Bathanti is also the recipient of Literature Fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council in 2009 for fiction.

His lecture begins at 7pm, Thursday September 21.  The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

During his visit, Bathanti will also lead a Master Poetry Workshop (check the workshops page).

"America's Historic Kilns" with Potter Brenda Hornsby Hiendl

The art of transforming clay into pottery is well understood by many around Randolph County.  But what do folks know about the history of American kilns?  The Randolph Arts Guild invites you to a free lecture, Thursday October 27th at 7pm with one who know much about both topics -- Brenda Hornsby Heindl.  Brenda is an independent scholar from Liberty, North Carolina. Her primary pottery training was as a part of the Ceramics Apprenticeship Program at Berea College in Kentucky. She is also a graduate of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture where she completed a Master’s thesis on the Moravian potters of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania based on archaeological and archival materials. Her current research is studying pre-1850 American archaeological salt-glazed and alkaline-glazed stoneware kilns sites in order to compare the kiln designs, furniture, and techniques.  Brenda's presentation will include a recently excavated 100-foot long tunnel kiln in South Carolina, and comparisons and observations of other kilns she has initially researched.

Her lecture commences Thursday, October 27 at 7pm at the Guild.  The event is free and the public is invited to attend.  The Randolph Arts Guild is located at 123 Sunset Avenue in downtown Asheboro.  For more information, contact the Guild at (336)-629-0399.

Printmaking 101 with John D. Gall

John is also well-versed in the four forms of making prints: intaglio, serigraphy, lithography, and relief printing.  Are you?  Never fear -- John, a member of the Southern Graphics Council, Mid-America Print Council, and The Print Consortium will give a free lecture: “Printmaking 101” on Tuesday, January 24th at 7pm.  As the title reads this will be a primer in the art of printmaking.  And for all you local printmakers -- keep your eyes peeled, we plan to have Mr. Gall back for a printmaking workshop in the second quarter of 2011.  Check out more of his work at www.johngallart.com  .

Wine 101 with Lumina Wine & Beer

Wine.  It’s an ancient art form.  Grapes & bottles.  Right?  But did you know there is a whole language of wine that’s trickled and tempted, calmed and romanced with delicious vocabulary and appropriate pairing with food from the start?  Do you know your muscadine from your merlot?  Your tanins from your terpenes?  Find out how to use these terms and so much more as Lumina Wine & Beer’s very own Jennifer Parrish leads us in the ways of wine with a special guest wine pro.  The lecture is Tuesday, February 21st, at 7pm.  This is a free event, come join us, and bring a friend!

Learning about the Musical Note Lecture with Julie Auler

What happens in our throats when we warble out a tune?  What happens when effective singing technique is applied to our vocal cords?  We here at the Guild like to change it up a bit and offer you folks in the community a wide variety of creative experiences.  The upcoming lecture is one part musical, one part science, and one part fitness.  Julier Auler is a local Pilates instructor, personal trainer, fitness instructor, piano teacher, and voice teacher.  She combines her wealth of knowledge for an upcoming lecture that is a basic primer as to what the vocal cords do when we sing.  If we’re lucky she may even treat us to a song or two from her musical repertoire.  The free lecture is Tuesday May 8 at 7pm.  Bonus: take a look at our upcoming classes -- Julie is offering classes for children, adults, and cool summer camps!

The spring blooms will be here before you know it, folks.  Let’s celebrate with a special spring tea program!  Over in Trinity is a smart little shop called Spade & Broom.  What was once the private home of the George B. Craven home circa 1900 is now a charming gift and garden shop.  Spade & Broom re-imagines and recycles the past into beautiful and unique accessories for the garden home.  We invited owner Kristen Varner and her mother Geni Carico to share with us some of their creative skills.  On Thursday, April 5 at 4pm they will be here with decorating tips to bring the refreshing spring garden into your home. Tips will include creating unique miniature landscapes with terrariums, forcing springs bulbs indoors in interesting containers, forcing branches of flowering deciduous shrubs and trees to bloom indoors, and adding other decorative touches such as including birds and nests to invoke the reawakening spirit of spring.  For more information on Spade & Broom visit:  www.spadeandbroom.com .  This afternoon tea event is free, so come on and bring a friend!

Swing Dance Lecture/Demo with Piedmont Swing Dance Society

The Randolph Arts Guild is partnering with the Piedmont Swing Dance Society to share with Randolph County the art of the social dance.  The Piedmont Swing Dance Society started over 10 years ago with the mission to teach, practice, and most of all enjoy social swing dancing in the Triad area.  Interested in learning a bit about social dancing, but not quite ready for a full class?  No problem -- representatives from the Piedmont Swing Dance Society (PSDS) will lead a lecture on Tuesday, May 15th beginning at 7pm at the Randolph Arts Guild.  The lecture includes a swing dance history, dance demo, and a brief lesson in beginning swing.  Attendees will then have the week to practice on their own what they've learned.  On Sunday, May 20th PSDS will return to the Guild beginning at 5:30p to offer another demo and lesson.  Then you'll be all set to try out your new dance moves as the City of Asheboro kicks off the 2012 Sunday Concert Series at 7pm with "The Attraction Band" in Bicentennial Park (a short walk from the Guild).

All the events listed herein are free and the public is encouraged to attend.  Any way you look at it, it's a great opportunity to take in some culture . . . and who knows -- you may discover a new way to enjoy the arts!

For more information about these events contact the Randolph Arts Guild at 336--629-0399.  For more information about The Piedmont Swing Dance Society visit www.piedmontswingdance.org .

The Importance of Good Wood Refinishing Lecture with Dick Hines 

Popular in our Gift Shop as well as the annual R.A.G. Art Affaire auction are the wood creations of Dick Hines.  In addition to fabricating rocking horses & rabbits (see picture), quilt racks and other wood projects, he also knows a thing or two about refinishing wood.  Hines started refinishing wood at the ripe age of 12.  It’s been a few years since then and we’re looking forward to his wood refinishing lecture on Tuesday, June 12 at 7pm.  Dick’s lecture will include a discussion on different types of varnishes as well as an array of samples for folks to consider.  This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.