Oconee Exhibition returns to Allied Arts

Published 11:15 am Saturday, April 29, 2017

One of Middle Georgia’s longest tenured art shows is returning to Milledgeville this month.

The Oconee Artists’ Exhibition, Allied Arts’ annual showcase of visual art from the Milledgeville and Central Georgia area, has once again overtaken the Marlor House’s bottom floor, and this year’s slate of works represent the very best that the Middle Georgia art community has to offer.

“This is the 34th annual Oconee Artist Exhibition, and it’s open to all adult artists in the Central Georgia area in a wide variety of mediums,” said Brian Renko, Allied Art’s executive director. “[We have] everything from painting, printmaking, and drawing to sculpture, photography, and mixed media, so it’s open to a lot of different mediums and different people.”

On display from now until May 26, the exhibition includes 66 works from local artists dealing with a wide variety of subject matter. Sunday’s opening saw what Renko called a steady stream of people through Marlor House to get a first look at this year’s works, and this year’s show bookends a period of increasing popularity for the exhibition in recent years. For his part, Renko is simply glad to showcase what is an extensive exhibition of talent from the Middle Georgia area, and hopes that this year’s works will bring even more people through the Marlor House’s door.

“We’ve seen the numbers of people entering the show increase in recent years, so that’s been good,” he said. “A lot of new people entered this year along with our regulars, so we’re excited for that.”

Although the organization received more submissions than the 66 included in this year’s exhibition, logistics sadly prevented Renko and his staff from hanging all of them inside the building. To narrow the field, the agency enlisted help from a man with extensive experience in curating galleries, Georgia College’s Carlos Herrera.

“I was honored,” said Herrera, an associate professor of art and museum studies, on being asked to judge the show. “With what I do running the galleries here at Georgia College, I think it’s important to also be involved with juried exhibitions and seeing what’s happening with our local art scene … I’ve really enjoyed looking at the art and seeing the diverse styles and mediums that are being used, and also the diverse concepts that are being expressed visually. I think it’s always important as a curator to go out and see what’s happening outside of the realm I exist in here.”

While Herrera was the driving force in bringing this year’s pool of submissions down to the 66 chosen for the exhibition, the professor and seasoned curator stressed that choosing favorites was not an easy task. After some deliberation, the professor awarded ribbons to one wood sculpture and two 2-D works: David Williams’ “Sand Hill Crane,” Faye Maxwell’s “God’s Gold,” and Lyn Smith’s “Camden Bay,” respectively. Although Herrera chose these three works as the exhibition’s official winners, they represent only a small percentage of the show’s talent, and patrons who find themselves enamored with another piece could even have a chance of bringing one home.

“Some pieces are for sale and some are not, depending on whether the artist is wanting to sell the piece,” said Renko. “I would say probably about 50 percent of the work we have on display is for sale.”

After more than 30 years of showcasing the finest local art Middle Georgia has to offer, the exhibition has become an annual mark on the calendar for many local enthusiasts. Renko estimates that roughly 300 people took in the exhibit last year, and hopes the number will continue to grow in coming years. Although this year’s judge has seen some of the finest art the country has to offer, the curator expressed genuine excitement for the talents of the Middle Georgia community.

“I think in totality, it’s a wonderful representation of the artists that live in our community,” said Herrera. “Allied Arts is a fabulous community-based arts center, so for them to have these types of exhibitions I think really brings out the artists and the quality local art scene we have here.”

The Oconee Artists Exhibition XXXIV will be on display through Friday, May 26. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. No admission fee is charged to visit the gallery. Call Allied Arts at 478-452-3950 or visit www.milledgevillealliedarts.com for more information.