Nine local artists hope to help the Covington community celebrate the correlation of spring and art by transforming an empty downtown property into a gallery for three weekends in May.
From May 6 through 27, local artists Chris Gibson, Randy Godawa, Chloe Hauser, Nick Hess, Devan Horton, Mike Meier, Jack Seiter, Denise Wellbrock, and Drew Yakscoe will host “Perennial,” a free gallery event featuring affordable pieces at 18 East 5th Street in Covington.
“Perennial” exhibition will feature spring-themed art from nine local artists May 6-27.
This is the second time event organizer Devan Horton has transformed an empty Covington property into a pop-up art gallery. In July 2016, Horton hosted the “Kalopsia” exhibition at another local industrial space in transition.
Horton’s vision for this year’s event came to life with some help from Renaissance Covington, a local non-profit focused on revitalizing downtown Covington.
“I wanted to host a springtime exhibition displaying the importance and correlation of nature and art in the Covington community,” said Horton. “After a few meetings and walks around town, Renaissance Covington showed me the venue where I could do just that. What we ended up with was a pop-up shop that blooms into existence.”
According to Horton, exhibit attendees will experience a variety of explorations of spring, from the realistic to the abstract.
“Perennial is hardly an exhibition of realistic landscapes and flower paintings,” she said. “It offers a variety of styles and techniques taking on the theme of nature, from paintings and drawings, to mixed media and 3D, and even bleach paintings.”
In addition to bringing a touch of creativity and beauty to an empty property, the artists also hope that “Perennial” will make it easier for attendees to bring the experience home with them and provide an opportunity meet and support local artists at various stages in their careers.
“For a couple artists, this will be their first show, so not only am I excited for them, but I hope that it encourages them and other hopeful artists to get their work out in the public and create more opportunities of their own,” says Horton.
The artists will host an opening reception Saturday, May 6 from 5 pm to 9 pm, and the gallery will be open Fridays and Saturdays through May 27 from 12 pm to 5 pm. Additional event information can be found on Facebook.
