Artist renderings of historic places on display at Albany Arts Council

ALBANY — Civic minded art lovers will get a chance to not only enjoy some great artwork this month, but also support the community’s efforts toward historic preservation as the Albany Area Arts Council hosts its May exhibit, featuring the annual Albany Dougherty Historic Preservation Commission art show.

Tied to National Preservation Month, which this year has the theme “This Place Matters,” the HPC art show, now in its 8th year, is on display throughout the month at the Arts Council’s Carnegie Library headquarters on North Jackson Street.

The HPC show, populated by works submitted by the public, allows artists of all ages to show off their interpretations of some of community’s most recognizable and cherished places, presented in any medium they choose.

According to Rozanne Braswell, a senior planner with the Albany Dougherty Planning Department and staff member of the HPC, the rules of the art contest, which is divided into adult and youth categories, are simple and designed to allow for a wide array of creativity.

“It’s open to any private school, public school, home school and any adult,” said Braswell. “They chose their medium. We do ask that it is a historic structure at least 50 years old or older located in Dougherty County.”

With such loose guidelines, Braswell said, the creativity that ends up on display is always surprising and inspiring to her.

“What I love to see is what they chose to portray and how they chose to do it,” said Braswell. “You know like last year with the young man (Nathan Le) and his Lego Chamber of Commerce building. It was amazing. I mean I just walk around (this exhibit), and go, ‘There’s Jimmie’s Hot Dogs,’ it’s iconic. And this is coming from a fifth-grader. It’s just cool.”

Getting to see the different artists’ interpretations is also important to Albany Area Arts Council Executive Director Nicole Williams, who said it’s one of the reasons the HPC show is one of her favorite exhibits of the year.

“My favorite thing about this show is that, because they are historic sites, a lot of the pieces really represent the same places and it’s so cool to see how different artists see the same place. You see the site done in different mediums, and sometimes the same mediums, and it looks like a completely different thing. It’s very interesting.”

While the HPC exhibit allows visitors to enjoy many of the historic buildings and sites in Albany and Dougherty County, it is also juried. Judging was conducted Wednesday afternoon.

Judges serving this year were Albany Dougherty Planning and Development Director Paul Forgey, local artist Jesse Teter, Albany Dougherty Economic Development Executive Assistant Suzanne McKinney, and Ilise Malone, arborist for the City of Albany.

Teter, who works at Michael’s and studied art in college, said he was excited to have the opportunity to serve as a judge, but also found it a little difficult when he started thinking about his past.

“I’ve got a bachelor’s degree in fine art and I’ve also been in juried shows, so to be on the other side judging the artwork, as opposed to being the artist being judged, is completely different,” Teter said. “I want to be as fair as I can, because I know what it’s like to be judged on my artwork.”

McKinney, who said she was very impressed by all the work, also said she was pleased to help with the judging mainly because she is a history buff.

“I love the history of Albany because I was born and raised here,” said McKinney. “It’s cool to see the talent of the artists too. I’ve really enjoyed being here.”

While all of the judges agreed there was plenty of good works on display, in a variety of different mediums, they did manage to pick winners in each category.

The winner in the youth category, for his watercolor and colored pencil rendering of the historic theater in downtown Albany, was Deerfield Windsor School senior Hadden Kelley.

Second place went to Lee County 6th-grader Lola Trimmons for her watercolor rendering of a historic house on Jefferson Street, while third-place went to Lake Park Elementary School 5th-grader Nathan Le for his Lego rendering of the Albany Municipal Auditorium.

The winner in the adult category, for his inkjet print of the New Albany Hotel, was Robert Rhymes. Second place went to Camyljah Giddens for her watercolor of the Old Tift House on Jefferson Street, and third place went to Pat Simpson for her watercolor of the Wright Davis House on Jefferson Street.

Braswell said the prize for each of the winners is a $250 that serves as purchase award. The winning entries will be purchased by the HPC and put on permanent display at Thronateeska. Prints of the winning entry will also be made and put up for sale to the general public for $25 each, with those proceeds going to the HPC for future preservation work.

The exhibit will run through the end of May and can viewed during the Arts Council’s normal business hours. The Arts Council’s Carnegie Library headquarters is located at 215 N. Jackson St. in downtown Albany and is open to the public 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays.