36th Annual Art in Gadsden Juried Exhibition

June 7 – August 24, 2024

Sara May Love Gallery

The Art in Gadsden Juried Exhibition is an annual tradition that began more than three decades ago to promote the work of our region’s artists, and bring fine art to families in Gadsden County. Artists living within 200 miles of Quincy, Florida, or former Gadsden County residents, are invited to apply to participate in the 36th Art in Gadsden. This exhibition draws visitors and patrons from across the region each year, showcasing art by the area’s top artists. New and returning, established and emerging artists are welcome to apply.

Debbie Gaedtke: The Ways of Water

June 7 – September 14, 2024

Munroe Family Community Gallery

Debbie Gaedtke creates an ethereal experience in this exhibition through her series of oceanic paintings. Gaedtke brings movement and emotion into the gallery through her masterful usage of color and light. Gaedtke depicts panoramic views of the ocean in moments of both turbulence and calm. She highlights the power of water through these works, saying she wishes to “highlight the inspiration we see in water, waves, clouds, storms, and light.” Gaedtke is an art instructor, and her paintings can be found in galleries and museums across North Florida and South Georgia.

Image: Debbie Gaedtke, Flame

Thornton Dial, Sr. and Jack Whitten

June 22 – December 7, 2024

Bates Permanent Collection Gallery

This exhibition compares and contrasts the work of two of the most highly acclaimed Black American artists from the second half of the Twentieth Century, Thornton Dial, Sr. and Jack Whitten, both of whom grew up in Bessemer, Alabama. Dial was a self-taught artist whose assemblages, created from found materials, brought attention to sociopolitical issues including racism, homelessness, and war. Dial worked for decades before realizing that what he created would be considered “art,” and is now considered one of the creative geniuses of his time. This exhibition presents a selection of Dial’s assemblages from the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum Permanent Collection.

Jack Whitten’s Lapsang, on loan from ArtBridges, presents a contrast to Dial’s work. Unlike Dial, Whitten was formally trained. He left Alabama to study art in New York, where he was mentored by abstract expressionists Willem de Kooning and Norman Lewis. Although Dial and Whitten’s lives and artistic careers followed very different trajectories, both found success in the art world through their unique and expressive work.

Image: Thornton Dial, Sr., untitled, 1990s, mixed media, 60 x 60 inches.

SAQA International Quilting Exhibition

September 20 – December 14, 2024

Organized by Studio Art Quilt Associates

Sara May Love Gallery

Curated by Martha Sielman, Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., this exhibition includes works of art by fiber artists working in over 16 countries ranging from Iceland to Japan, and 13 U.S. States, ranging from Florida to California. Sielman invited “artists around the globe [to] respond to the birds they admire in myriad ways using a wide variety of materials and techniques.” In the hands of these master artists, the humblest materials, such as thread, paper, and fabric, go through an alchemical transformation into incredible art. The mixed media exhibition presents the familiarity of birds while also displaying them as creatures worth our admiration, allowing us to dream that we too, can take flight.

Image: Zara Zannettino, Absurd Birds, 2021, cotton, paint, cotton and polyester threads, 60 x 21 inches

Brenda Francis: Winging It

September 20 – December 14, 2024

Zoe Golloway Gallery

Brenda Francis paints many subjects, and one of her favorites is birds. In this series of oil paintings, Francis captures Florida’s avian and environmental diversity. Having spent several weeks a year photographing large water birds, Francis has an understanding of them that is apparent in her work. Francis paints with a mastery of her medium and color, depicting serene scenes of Florida birds in their natural habitats, almost emphasizing the waterscape more than the birds themselves. Francis explains, “sometimes, the bird’s world is as beautiful as the bird itself.”

Image: Brenda Francis, Not a Hunter In Sight, oil, 20 x 16 inches