050 HUNGRY FOR ART? SAVOR ‘A LA CARTE’ AT SEPT. 8 EXHIBIT

HUNGRY FOR ART? SAVOR ‘A LA CARTE’ AT SEPT. 8 EXHIBIT

One-Night Show and Sale Features Works by 8 Area Artists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 22, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Christie Nuell, 615-898-2506 or cnuell@mtsu.edu

(MURFREESBORO)—If you’re planning a special night out, you want a menu full of choices. At “Art a la Carte,” the one-night show and sale featuring eight area artists, aficionados can saunter from room to room, savoring whatever pleases their palates—or palettes.

The event, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 519A N. Maney Ave., is a revisiting of a similar 2004 show, when Christie Nuell and seven colleagues turned her yellow rental home into an art gallery for an evening.

“The idea of having art exhibitions in alternative spaces, rather than galleries and museums, gives the artists freedom to put up the work that they want to show rather than what the gallery feels they can sell,” says Nuell, an MTSU art professor and exhibit organizer.

“This is incredibly liberating for the artist. It also means that that there is no commission charged by a gallery owner, so the work is sold at what the artist would receive, which means it is 40 to 50 percent less expensive for the public to buy.

“Working together on a show is also just plain fun,” she adds. “We divide the jobs up and have lots of creative input from each other.”

The 2004 exhibit, laughingly called a “hit-and-run show” by one contributor, was a blazing success, but it hasn’t been repeated until now for a simple reason: the space wasn’t available.

“The location for this show is in an apartment that has hardwood floors and very high ceilings. The rooms are large and have a lot of wall space,” Nuell explains.

“The house was built in the 1870s after the Civil War ended and the Oaklands Mansion property was sold off, creating Murfreesboro’s first subdivision. My husband, (art professor) Lon Nuell, and I bought it in 1983 and had the gingerbread restored and renovated the property, making it into three apartments in such a way that most people think it is still a one-family home. In 1986 I had a studio built behind the house, which is where I still work.”

The space limitations have turned the exhibitors into quick-change artists, too, as they quickly turn an empty house into an aesthetic venue and their paintings, sculpture, monoprints, mixed media and clay works into a striking collective exhibit.

“The Maney Avenue corridor, which connects Oaklands at the north end to the Discovery Center at the south end, is being considered by the city for renovation and rejuvenation. We think this exhibition fits in nicely with that concept,” Nuell said.

In addition to Nuell’s mixed-media work, artists and their specialties featured on the menu at “Art a la Carte 2007” include:

• Erin Anfinson, painting;

• Michael Baggarly, painting and sculpture;

• Marc J. Barr, clay;

• Kimberly Dummons, monoprints;

• Nora Hibbard, painting;

• Jarrod Houghton, mixed media; and

• Guanping Zheng, painting.

All except Hibbard teach at MTSU; Hibbard’s MTSU link is her husband, Dr. Allen Hibbard of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

There’s no admission charge for “Art a la Carte,” and all of the works will be for sale. For more information, contact Nuell at 615-898-2506 or cnuell@mtsu.edu.

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IN BRIEF: There’ll be plenty of art on the menu for aficionados to savor Saturday, Sept. 8, as they tease their palates—and palettes—at “Art a la Carte,” a one-night show and sale featuring eight area artists. The event, which is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at 519A N. Maney Ave., features the works of Christie Nuell, Erin Anfinson, Michael Baggarly, Marc J. Barr, Kimberly Dummons, Nora Hibbard, Jarrod Houghton and Guanping Zheng. There’s no admission charge, and all of the works will be for sale. For more information, call 615-898-2506 or e-mail cnuell@mtsu.edu.

For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.

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NOTE: Media needing color JPEGs or TIFFs of the art to be featured in the exhibit may visit http://janis2.mtsu.edu/~alacarte/files/ and download the images, which are slugged with the artists’ names. That site also has a color JPEG of a 4x6 postcard advertising the exhibit that includes an example of each of the artists’ work. Media needing help with downloads or needing files directly should contact the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385. Thanks!