Reception Friday for new exhibitions opening at Waterworks Visual Arts Center

The Waterworks Visual Arts Center opened two new exhibitions: Imaginary Botanicals, a collection of contemporary studio art glass by California artist Kathleen Elliot, and a juried group show, In the Landscape. Both will be on view through Sept. 12.

Elliot’s Imaginary Botanicals are sculptures made of flameworked glass, treating glass directly with the flame of a torch. Leaves, fruit, seed pods and flowers are reimagined in new varieties of organic life. Natural forms appear in unexpected colors and in fantastic, new combinations. Through this process, the vocabulary of observed botany becomes a vehicle for personal expression.

In the Landscape captures the beauty of North Carolina’s vast landscape. Thirty-five en plein air works (meaning painted in the open air) were selected through a blind judging for this special North Carolina plein air group show by esteemed and award-winning artists Brenda Behr (Goldsboro) and Jeremy Sams (Archdale). Featured artists in addition to Behr and Sams include: Scott Boyle (Bessemer City), Joyce Cavanagh-Wood (Richfield), Karen Lee Crenshaw (Jacksonville), Mary Crow (Huntersville), Addren Doss (Greensboro), Barbara Duffy (Salisbury), Scott Dwyer (Hillsborough), Sharon Forthofer (Rockwell), Paul Keysar (Charlotte), Laura Pollak (Greensboro), Cheryl Powell (Kernersville), Craig Richards (Winston-Salem) and Phyllis Steimel (Salisbury).

The exhibit coincides with the upcoming North Carolina Open Plein Air Paint Out.

Also on display is the work of West Rowan High School graduate and Waterworks’ Dare To Imagine Award winner, Isabel Hartsell. Isabel is the 13th recipient of this prestigious award honoring one Rowan County graduating senior whose artwork most exemplifies the creative potential of the human spirit, heart and hand. She was among 11 entries countywide whose portfolios were reviewed by five jurors in a blind judging process. Her work exhibited the strongest range of ideas, originality and technical talent.

The Dare To Imagine Award is made possible by a grant from Susan and Edward Norvell.

The public is invited to the opening reception and to meet the artists on Friday evening, July 31, from 6 until 8 p.m.

Waterworks Visual Arts Center is located at 123 E. Liberty St. in downtown Salisbury. Admission is free; donations are appreciated. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, visit www.waterworks.org or call 704-636-1882.

The Waterworks Visual Arts Center is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Its mission is to provide diverse opportunities in the arts for all people through exhibitions, education, and outreach. The Waterworks is funded by individual memberships, corporations and businesses, foundations, the City of Salisbury, and Rowan County. The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, a federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities, supports the Waterworks Visual Arts Center. Waterworks receives general support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.