SALISBURY — Waterworks Visual Arts Center will be presenting the works of Maria Bennett Hock and Alex Smoot and Margaret Boylan Smoot during a Meet the Artists Reception on Dec. 6 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Hock’s work entitled, “Remembering Bostian Alley,” is a series of oil paintings of the 1937 photographs of the Smoots. These pieces of art were created especially for this exhibition.

The Smoot’s exhibit, “1937 Bostian Alley,” includes selected photographs from their collection with narrated excerpts from Betty Lou Smith’s memoir and music recorded by Elizabeth Cotten.

Smith grew up in Bostian Alley which, as noted on the Waterworks Visual Arts Center’s website, was “a section of downtown Salisbury, which was located on the corner of North Main and North Church streets and West Franklin and West Cemetery streets.” It was torn down in the late 1940s, the site noted.   

In addition to seeing the works on display, several other special events are scheduled throughout the evening. Beginning at 5:40 p.m., there will be a live performance by Andell McCoy as Betty Lou Smith, who grew up in Bostian Alley, and “was eight years old at the time the photographs were taken,” said Waterworks Executive Director Anne Scott Clement in an email.

Smith went on to become a preacher and wrote a memoir in the late 1990s about growing up in Bostian Alley, she noted. Smith died last year at the age of 94.

“We adapted her memoir in order to share a brief overview of the love and pride these folks had and shared within this incredible community,” said Clement.

The evening will continue with a Gallery Talk with Hock at 6 p.m.

The Hock exhibit is in the Stanback Gallery Hall and YPG Gallery, and the Smoot display is in the Osborne and Woodson Galleries.

Both exhibits will be on display at the center at 123 E. Liberty St., through Aug. 30, 2025.