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Visiting Artist Exhibition
IRENE SHELBY DICKERSON
Thursday, November 7, 2024

bearThe Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery hosts an exhibition of paintings by Holly Springs artist Irene Shelby Dickerson. Having received training through many courses and workshops – including two week-long courses under television teacher Bob Ross in Florida – she paints landscapes, portraits and floral still-lifes in her home studio.

The Wine and Cheese Opening Reception will be on Thursdday, November 7 at 6:00 p.m. Admission is $10 for gallery members and $15 for non-members. Membership is available at the doo

 

 

2nd Annual Holly Springs - Plein Air Painters
Saturday, June 8, 2024

pleinairThe Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery will host plein air artists from Mississippi and Tennesse for the 2nd Annual Paint Out Holly Springs on Saturday, June 8. Registration for artists opens at 8:30 a.m. Artists will have an opportunity to be inspired with a tour of the Gallery of Kate Freeman Clark plein air paintings.

Upon registration, artists will be provided a box lunch and map of locations within the city and the county. Among the prime locations are The Depot, courthouse square, grounds of Walter Place, Wall Doxey State Park, Kirkwood National Golf Course and Strawberry Plains Audubon Center. Guides will be available to assist artists to their selected site.

Painters will return to the Gallery by 3:30 p.m. Paintings will be displayed in the Gallery for a wet paint showing. At 6 p.m. Gallery members and the commuunity are invited for a reception to meet the artists and view the paintings depicting sights they found interesting in Holly Springs. There will be an opportunity to purchase some of the paintings negotiated between the airtist and buyer. No commissions for the Gallery will be imposed.

Entry fee is $25 can be paid at registration. Artists are requested to make reservations by emailing walter@katefreemanclark.org or text or call 662-252-9745.


Small World – Petite Paintings by Kate Freeman Clark
February 13 - March 4, 2024

small worldHundreds of small paintings informally known as "Cigar Box Top" paintings are an important part of the Kate Freeman Clark Collection. Along with the large paintings displayed in the Gallery, some reaching six-feet tall, these small paintings are a testiment to her prolific gift of creating beautiful art – large and small.

 


 

 

 

 

Visiting Artist Susan Wellington
Saturday, October 21, 2023

susanA devotee’ of painting en plein air and from life, Susan Wellington believes it to be essential in “learning to see” as an artist. Whether working in studio or on location, she credits plein air work for the freshness and authenticity evident in her work today. When painting, Susan seeks the essence of the subject, recognizing that her emotional response is key to the piece, both for the artist and for the viewer. She believes art can be a pathway to feelings and memories.

Susan feels honored and gratified by the recognition her work has received over the years. Her art has been juried into myriad local, state, and national shows. Most recently, her work received the Best in Show award in the Mississippi Artists Guild juried show. Susan was honored by having works accepted into the Oil Painters of American Eastern Regional Juried Show, The Oil Painters of America Salon Show and the Oil Painters of America National Juried Show. She was also recognized as one of the ‘Fav 15’ by the international Bold Brush Art Competition. She has received numerous awards from various organizations and institutions including, but not limited to, the Vicksburg Art Association, The Cedars Juried Show, Mississippi Watercolor Grand National Show, the Mississippi Watercolor Society Member Show, Art on the Rez, and Women Painters of the Southeast.

Born in Sasebo, Japan, but a lifelong Mississippi resident, Susan received a BS degree in Education with a concentration in art from Mississippi College in 1978. Susan has continued to develop her skills in watercolor, pastel, and oil.  Painting en plein air has helped her learn to see her subjects in new ways, hoping to pass that vision along to the viewer. Traveling frequently to study under the direction of master artists such as Roger Dale Brown, Stephanie Birdsall, Joe Anna Arnett and other master painters, Susan has grown as an artist.  
  
fence me inhappyHer work has been selected for awards by the Vicksburg Art Association, The Cedars Juried Show, Mississippi Watercolor Grand National Show, the Mississippi Watercolor Society Member Show, Art on the Rez, and Woman Painters of the Southeast.  In addition, Susan has had multiple pieces featured on the hit HGTV show Hometown.  She has been accepted into three of the Oil Painters of American National Shows and one of the American Impressionist Society’s National Shows.  In addition, one of her pieces has been selected for the permanent collection of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion.  Susan  is member of Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, Mississippi Oil Painters Association, Mississippi Plein Air Artists, Pastel Society of Mississippi, and was named a signature member of the Mississippi Watercolor Society. Susan’s work can be found at the Caron Gallery in Tupelo and Laurel, the Jackson Street Gallery in Ridgeland and Vicksburg, and the Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood.

Plein Air: Paint Out Holly Springs
Saturday, June 10, 2023

paintnout The Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery will host plein air artists from Mississippi and Tennesse for Paint Out Holly Springs on Saturday, June 10. Registration for artists opens at 8:30 a.m. Artists will have an opportunity to be inspired with a tour of the Gallery of Kate Freeman Clark plein air paintings. Clark was a student of William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League in New York and the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art on Long Island, New York. She was taught plein air painting by Chase, considered the master plein air painter.

Upon registration, artists will be provided a box lunch and map of locations within the city and the county. Among the prime locations are The Depot, courthouse square, grounds of Walter Place, Wall Doxey State Park, Kirkwood National Golf Course and Strawberry Plains Audubon Center. Guides will be available to assist artists to their selected site.

Painters will return to the Gallery by 3:30 p.m. Paintings will be hung in a wing of the Gallery for a wet paint showing. At 6 p.m. Gallery members and the commuunity are invited for a reception to meet the artists and view the paintings depicting sights they found interesting in Holly Springs. There will be an opportunity to purchase some of the paintings negotiated between the airtist and buyer. No commissions for the Gallery will be imposed.

Entry fee is $15 can be paid at registration. Artists are requested to make reservations by emailing walter@katefreemanclark.org or text or call 662-252-9745.

 

Kate Freeman Clark Exhibition at Mississippi State University

msuThe exhibition of paintings by Kate Freeman Clark began August 9 at Mississippi State University. Kate Freeman Clark's paintings will be on display in the John Gresham Room at the Mitchell Memorial Library. The exhibition will be open through October. An event on October 8 featuring Dr. Carolyn Brown, author of The Artist's Sketch, the biography of Kate Freeman Clark, will be a virtual presentation about Clark's life and career.

 

 

 

 

THIS EVENT POSTPONED - CHECK BACK FOR NEW DATE

Elizabeth Blaylock Exhibition

Saturday, October 23, 2021

sistersThe Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery resumes its Visiting Artist series with a native of Holly Springs returning home to show her amazing paintings. The exhibition will run from October 23 – November 13. An opening reception will be on Saturday, October 23.

Elizabeth Blaylock, sister of Billy Blaylock, lives at Gulf Shores, Alabama which serves as a beach-scene backdrop to many of her lively and colorful paintings.

Elizabeth graduated from University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting. She works in oils, pastels and acrylics painting figures, still life and beach scenes. Her paintings, with their distinctive sparkling color, have been recognized with numerous awards and are in private collections worldwide.
  
Elizabeth’s paintings were selected for exhibitions in:

  • 12th Annual American Impressionist Society Show, October 2011, Carmel, California
  • Women Painters of the Southeast Show, April 2012, Jacksonville, Florida
  • Oil Painters of America, 22nd Annual Juried Members Show, June 2012, Evergreen, Colorado
  • 13th Annual American Impressionist Society Show, October 2012, Indianapolis, Indiana
  • View her paintings HERE.

 


Art Gallery Re-Opens

The Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery re-opened June 2 after being closed for three months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The re-opening comes with numerous proticols to keep those visiting the Gallery and attendees of events safe from exposure and spreading of coronavirus. Primarily, those seeking admittance to the Gallery must wear a mask. A no-touch thermometor will check each person for fever. Social distancing will be required. A seperate set of guidelines have been established for events. Sponsors of events will be fully informed of these requirements upon booking.

The Gallery resumes its regular hours: 10 am - 3 pm – Tuesday - Friday.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Fresh & Fierce: Women's Artistic Networks
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
October 30, 2020 - March 28, 2021
Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT
May 1 - September 19, 2021

kfc_chaseTwo paintings from the Kate Freeman Clark collection have been selected to be included in an exhibition of paintings by students of William Merritt Chase. The Portrait of Kate Freeman Clark painted by her mentor Chase and My First Sky, painted by Clark while a student at the Shinnecock Summer School of Art, were chosen for the exhibition at the museum where Chase once taught from 1896-1909 and where Kate Freeman Clark exhibited during her career.

The paintings will be on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for five months and then go to the Florence Griswold Museum in New Lyme, Connectitut for four months.

"Devoted to the remarkable network of women artists who studied with and made possible the teaching career of the renowned turn-of-the-century artist William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) this exhibition and catalog will connect the era of empowerment of the suffrage movement to the professionilization of women's artistic practice in the United States," said Brooke Davis Anderson, director of PAFA.

first sky"The Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery's collection of paintings by Chase and his students has been an invaluable resource in planning the exhibition," Anderson said. " In consultation with Carolyn Brown, the two paintings were selected."

"Chase's stunning portrait of Freeman Clark is one of the most intimate and vibrant portraits of his women students to be considered for the checklist of the exhibition," Anderson said in the loan request letter. "The stunning landscape study, My First Sky, probably dates from the summers at Shinnecock."

"The two works which PAFA is requesting from the Kate Freeman Clark collection are vital to the stength of the exhibition and will be highlighted within the galleries and in the catalog."

Kate Freeman Clark
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN
July 25 - October 13, 2019

Presented by The Joe Orgill Family Fund for Exhibitions

dixon entranceKate Freeman Clark highlights the artist’s rich body of work, defined by her intimate portraits of family and friends, bucolic landscapes, and compelling still life paintings.

This exhibition brings together nearly forty paintings by Southern-born Impressionist Kate Freeman Clark (1875-1957). Working mostly in New York, Clark produced an impressive and varied body of work between the years of 1893 and 1923.

In the fall of 1894, Clark, born and raised in Holly Springs, enrolled at the Art Students League of New York, where she studied painting under William Merritt Chase. Between 1896 and 1902, Clark spent consecutive summers at Chase’s Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, creating over three hundred paintings during her time there. Nearly all of the works Clark produced at Shinnecock were impressionistic landscapes created en plein air using unexpected materials like burlap to reinforce the rustic scenery she painted.

dixon yellowKate Freeman Clark spent the first decade of the twentieth century submitting her paintings to prestigious juried exhibitions, using the name “Freeman Clark” to hide her identity as a woman artist. Despite these successful showings, Clark never sold any of her paintings, out of respect for her family’s disapproval of women’s involvement in business.

Clark abandoned painting, along with her artistic career, when she returned to her native Mississippi in 1924. Her oeuvre, as well as her talent, was virtually unknown to her Mississippi community during her lifetime. It was not until her death in 1957 that her paintings were located in New York’s Lincoln Warehouse. Clark willed her entire body of work, approximately one thousand paintings and drawings, to her hometown, along with funding and plan to build a gallery dedicated to her life and work. Established in Holly Springs in 1963, the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery is the result of her bequest.

Gallery Gala & Auction 2019
May 10, 2019

The Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery celebrated it’s every-four-year Gala and Auction on May 11 with more than 125 attendees enjoying dining, dancing and bidding on wonderful art to benefit the Kate Freeman Clark Trust.

Guests entered the Gallery under a sidewalk canopy where they were welcomed with their choice of a flute of champagne or a sip of bourbon. Bid numbers were issued to use in bidding for 21 silent auction items and 10 live auction paintings.

With the threat of continuing rain, tents were erected to cover the dining area on the patio, the bandstand and the dance floor. But the artistic talent of the organizing committee turned the Gallery and the patio in into an elegant and magical venue.

Each table was decorated with a floral arrangement created by Carl Isom. A tin container wrapped in the image of a Kate Freeman Clark painting was provided by Hedge Farm Candles.

Kathy and Steve Elgin, Susie and Harold Murphy and Michele and John Stuber coordinated the overall themes and the finishing touches to create, as Kate Freeman Clark would say: ”a museum of fine and social arts.”

Paintings from those who have been Visiting Artists were featured in the Gala’s silent and live auctions. Former visiting artists who donated paintings were Randy Hayes, Ann Seale, Sanders McNeal, NJ Woods, Paul Edelstein and Dot Courson.

gala tentA Vadah Cochran painting was donated by Marie Moore and Jackson photographer Tom Joynt donated a Giclee reproduction of a Kate Freeman Clark painting which was raffled. Other items in the live auction were a Joe Wrenn painting and an Audubon print.

The event is the Gallery’s singular fund-raiser used to finance regular operations and programs to promote, secure, safeguard and protect the Kate Freeman Clark collection. Some funds will be committed to retiring financing which secured the construction of the climate-controlled storeroom and the handicapped accessible restrooms and the renovation of the Gallery.

A portions of the funds will target restoration of Clark’s paintings that require attention before they can be exhibited in the Gallery or in outside exhibitions.

A major effort of the Trust is to restore and enhance Clark’s stature as a significant American Impressionist artist. Spurred by the publication of her biography in 2017, Kate Freeman Clark’s paintings have attracted renewed interest and in the last two years have been displayed in four exhibitions in Oxford, Jackson, Little Rock, AR and Tupelo.

Her works were on display again at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis from July 28 – October 13. Discussions are underway for the possibility of her paintings in an exhibition at a museum on a national stage in the fall of 2020.

Art Gallery Construction Complete

new galleryThe Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery officially opened with the 2nd annual Autumn ArtFest on October 13. 2019.

The new construction added space to the east side and rear of the building. The main purpose of the addition is to establish a climate-controlled environment for storing the hundreds of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings and drawings. A temperature and humidity controlled space will reduce deterioration while the program to restore paintings for display continues.

The addition also added two handicap-accessible restrooms to better accomodate social events, a long-sought need that has become a necessity. Also added is a pantry that is used to store kitchen items, cutlery, dishes and is a cooking space with new ovens and cooktops.

Renovation of the building provides addition display areas, storage for tables and chairs and an office.

An exciting new development is a patio constucted in the backyard to accomodate outside parties and an overflow place to socialize when the inside galleries are holding seated dinners.


Autumn ArtFest with Artist Dot Courson
October 13, 2018

plien airThe second annual Autumn ArtFest will feature an exhibition by Mississippi Artist Dot Courson of Pontotoc. Dot has been a drawer and painter all of her life. She took her first art course in college. When she returned to school to complete her Master’s in Nursing/Healthcare Administration, she found time to keep painting and studying privately in the early 90's with the late Billy Kirk, a noted and respected Mississippi artist.

She has studied all over the U.S. with many of the nation's most prominent artists: Kim English, David Leffel, Robert Johnson, Ray Roberts, Marc Hanson, portrait artist Michael Shane Neal, and landscape artists Roger Dale Brown, John Pototschnik, Dawn Whitelaw, and others.

Dot Courson is listed on the Mississippi Writers, Musicians and Artists official website for contributing to the literary and cultural heritage of Mississippi. Her artwork includes still life and portraits, but is widely know for her landscapes of the South. She has traveled the United States painting and photographing the scenery, but still prefers the beauty of southern landscapes. Her goal is to remind the viewer to interpret the light, atmosphere, and essence of southern landscapes as she sees it and feels it. 

 

 

Discovering Kate Freeman Clark
University of Arkansas-Little Rock
January 16 - March 11, 2017

ualr showAn exhibition of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings was the first event held in the new Wingate Center of Art and Design on the campus of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

The exhibit ionincluded 35 canvas on oil paintings and 20 cigar box top paintings in an arrangement. Kate Freeman Clark's paintings served as a focal point of opening events at the Wingate Center.

As art students were studying American art, the exhibit was a perfect example for
students to learn from the pallet of an important American Impressionist and be inspired by her talent

 

 

 

 

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Sunlight and Shadows
Mississippi Museum of Art
August 17 - October 22, 2017

mm1mma2 mma3

On the heels of a successful exhibition at the University of Mississippi Museum, another showing – Sunlight and Shadows – was showcased at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson from August 17 - October 22. This was Kate Freeman's first solo show there since she shared an exhibtion at MMA with Marie Hull and Theora Hamblett in1988.

The beautiful blue gallery walls were the backdrop for 17 of her paintings. Interperative comments accompanied each painting as well as a brief history of the artist beside her portrait painted by her mentor – William Merritt Chase. The exhibition highlightedy a discussion of the artist's life and career featuring Carolyn Brown, the author of Kate Freeman Clark's biography - The Artist's Sketch.

Autumn ArtFest
October 7, 2017

The Autumn ArtFest – a fund-raising event for restoration of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings – celebrates art in its many forms: painting, music, cooking arts and the art of craft beer.

Headlining the ArtFest is a visiting artist exhibition by Paul Edelstein, a well-known Memphis painter. The exhibition will begin with an opening reception at 6:00 p.m.

Following the reception, the event will resume in the back yard of the Gallery for the first time using the space for an event. Music will be provided by the Yalobushwackers, the house band of the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. There will be a craft beer sampling of beers around the South provided by Jackson Beer Company of Oxford. Dinner will be provided by world-famous Taylor Grocery.

Autumn ArtFest is an event to raise funds to restore paintings that are not suitable to display. The previous restoration program in 2015 revived 31 paintings to museum-quality with the results of an exhibition at the University of Mississippi Museum. Other exhibitions featuring these paintings are coming in August - October at the Mississippi Museum of Art, January-February at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and a exhibition at the Dixon Gallery in Memphis in 2019.

Exhibitions exposed Kate Freeman Clark's talent to more people enhancing her legacy as an important American Impressionist artist. In the exhibition at the University of Mississippi Museum her paintings were viewed by 2,582 visitors.

Contributions during the restoration drive will allow more paintings to be available to share in future exhibitions. Admission for Autumn ArtFest: Members – Single $50 – Couple $90 | Non-Members – Single $60 – Couple $110

Send payment to KFC Art Gallery, P.O. Box 714, Holly Springs MS 3863
or pay online.

Memphis Artist Paul Edelstein
October 7, 2017

Paul Edelstein resides in Memphis, TN.  He was educated at Christian Brothers University and The University of Memphis.  He also studied privately under Marjorie Liebman. Paul’s work has been seen in the movie “The Firm” and has been shown in many designer magazines such as “Elle”.  His work can be found in galleries from Oxford, Miss., to Damascus, Syria

He has painted murals for the restaurant “Waltz on the Square” in Oxford, Miss., “Cafe Eclectic” on McLean Blvd in Memphis, TN, and recently a 30 foot mural at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN.

His work is highly collectable and continues to gain in popularity.

African-American Folk Artist NJ Woods
Thursday, May 18, 2017

sunInspired by her Memphis upbringing and Mississippi relatives, NJ Woods paints scenes of rustic life from memory and imagination. NJ’s distinctive creativity blossomed by watching her father Yancy paint in the middle room of their shotgun home. As the third of nine children, NJ used tempera paint to scribble pictures on the windows. Eventually she traded tempera for acrylic and window panes for canvas.

NJ grew up in Orange Mound, the first African-American neighborhood built by African-Americans in the United States. Most of her work revolves around the shotgun house and its imprint on the African-American and Southern experience. Her style of painting, nj woods

heavily influenced by visits to her Grandma Sarah’s house in Coldwater, MS and other country relatives, often reflects the dichotomy of city life juxtaposed with rural traditions and stories. These stories transferred onto the canvas, typify slices of life during the sharecropping and civil rights eras marked by her adroit use of emotive colors, folksy compositions and poetic titles.

NJ’s work has been shown in several galleries around the country — Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas and New York. Her work has been exhibited at Dixon Gallery and Gardens Museum and the Brooks Museum. In August 2008, NJ was invited to be a guest lecturer for the Lunch and Learn series at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, during the Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum exhibition.

 
Carolyn J. Brown Book Signing
Thursday, March 2, 2017

carolyn_brownThe first book signing of Carolyn Brown's biography – The Artist's Sketch: A Biography of Painter Kate Freeman Clark – will be celebrated at the Gallery. An award-winning author of two previous biograhies, Brown has done extensive research over two years pouring through journals and artifacts at the Marshall County Historical Museum and the hundreds of paintings at the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery.

Dr. Brown is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. She attended Duke University and then the University of North Carolina-Greensboro for her Master’s and Ph.D. A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty was her first book. It was selected by the Mississippi Library Commission to represent the state of Mississippi at the National Book Festival in Washington DC in 2012, and won the Mississippi Library Association’s Award for Nonfiction in 2013. She published her second biography, Song of My Life: A Biography of Margaret Walker, in November 2014, bookwhich won a special award from the Mississippi Library Association for Juvenile Literature. Brown has published articles in many journals, including Notes on Mississippi Writers, College Language Journal, the Eudora Welty Review, Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, and The Journal of Mississippi History.

Her third book was published in February 2017 and is entitled The Artist’s Sketch: A Biography of Painter Kate Freeman Clark. More than 70 copies of the book were signed by the author. A second shipment of the books has been ordered. "The Artist's Sketch" is available at the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery. The book is $35.

 

Lasting Impressions: Restoring Kate Freeman Clark
University of Mississippi Museum

March 28, 2017 - July 22, 2017

um exhibitThe major exhibition of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings and the release of an extensive biography of her life and career is an historic event for the Art Gallery and for Holly Springs.

The University of Mississippi Museum is hosting the exhibition containing an estimated 70 of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings as well as artifacts from the Marshall County Historical Museum that illustrates different aspects of her life.

The exhibit titled "Lasting Impressions:Restoring Kate Freeman Clark" is beautifuly displayed in the main gallery at the University Museum.

At the same time the University Press released the publishing of a birography of Kate Freeman Clark, "The Artist's Sketch" researched and written by Dr. Carolyn Brown, and athor of biographies of Mississippi women including A Daring Life, a biography of Eudora Welty and Song of My Life, a biography of Margaret Walker.

exhibiy2

Brown is a writer, editor an independent scholar. She has taught at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro; Elon University and Millsaps College. Her work has been published in College Language Journal and Notes on Mississppi Writers.

The Eudora Welty biography won the Mississippi Library Association Award for Nonfiction in 2013 and was the Mississippi Library Commission’s selection to represent the state of Mississippi at the National Book Festival in Washington in 2012.

 

Sanders McNeal Exhibition
Saturday, June 11, 2016

sandyThe Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery resumes its visiting artist series with a talented and noted artist who is a classically trained realist. Working out of her Jackson, Mississippi, studio, she brings images to life through her expert use of color in the modeling of light and shadow, her attention to detail and her unique knowledge and sense of place and space. She travels yearly to work in other areas of the world and has painted on location in selected regions of the United States as well as in Ireland, France, Italy, and Switzerland.

McNeal's paintings are included in numerous prestigious, private, and public collections, and she has shown in many solo and group expositions in the United States as well as exhibiting internationally. She is the recipient of many awards and honors in her field and takes commissions for both private and public works.

We are delighted to have such a celebrated artist to display her paintings in our gallery. For a preview glimps of her work go to her website here.

Restoration Open House
Saturday, April 16, 2016

larry andersonThe Restoration Open House is a celebration of a major event in the history of the Art Gallery. There has never been such a large scale effort to restore Kate Freeman Clark's paintings. The Gallery wants to share our excitement and provide the community with the opportunity to see how spectacular the paintings look after undergoing restoration and conservation.

Conservationist Larry Anderson of Memphis has painstakingly nursed back to life the original colors Kate Freemen Clark put on canvas during her painting career between 1894 to 1923.

The funds for this project have been raised through the 2015 Gallery Gala and from members who contributed to the Adopt-A-Painting program.

In addition to restoration of the paintings, many of the plain wooded frames have been replaced with gold frames that further enhance their beauty.

Larry Anderson will give a brief talk explaining the process of cleaning and preserving the canvases. He also will present a "before and after" album showing the dramatic difference in the appearance.

The restoration project creates a core of paintings that will be of sufficient quality to be exhibited in any exhibition venue, especially for the upcoming a major show at the University Museum in spring 2017 to coincide with the publication of Kate Freeman Clark's biograhphy by Dr. Carolyn Brown

 

2015 Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery Gala and Auction
galaThe Board of Trustees has set a May 9, 2015 date for its major fund-raiser, the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery Gala and Auction.. The every-four-year event was scheduled to be held in 2014 but was delayed due to a proposed exhibition of Kate Freeman Clark paintings by the University Museum. That exhibition is now scheduled for September 2015.

A highly-anticipated social event, the Gala will feature a seated dinner, live band and dancing, silent auction and a live auction. To accommodate the variety of events during the Gala a tent will be erected in front of the Gallery.

The live auction will provide a rare opportunity to bid on original paintings by Kate Freeman Clark, luxury vacation packages, jewelry and art work created by noted artists.

Silent auctions in the past have attracted close to 100 items for women, men and the family, upon which amounts are entered on bid sheets until the close of the auction when bids are collected.

The Gala and Auction will begin at 6 p.m. with the silent auction closing 30 minutes after the completion of the live auction,

Ann Seale
December 13, 2014

ann sealeJackson artist Ann Seale will exhibit her works at the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery for three weeks from December 13 – January 3. Her most recent body of work is an energetic blend of painting and drawing that displays both gusto and discipline.

She began studying watercolor in high school, but soon she was exploring a wide variety of other painting media.  Over the past several years her focus has been in working with oils. To advance her knowledge, she received instruction from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in mixed media. Ann Seale is a native of Jackson, Mississippi, and attended the University of Mississippi where she obtained both a BFA and a MA in Art Education. She is married to Dr. Ben Seale, a native of Holly Springs and daughter-in-law of Ben and Robin Seale of Holly Springs.

“Working closely with other artists on a daily basis has helped me to consider how to think about the process of creating original artwork. I am looking forward to broadening my focus and ideas for paintings as I progress as an artist."

In July Ann is scheduled to attend the Art Students League of New York, the same art instruction school that Kate Freeman Clark attended and where William Merritt Chase was an instructor.

Vadah Cochran
Sunday, September 14, 2014

vadah cochranThe paintings of Vadah Cochran will be exhibited in the Gallery from September 14 - October 4, 2014. The Opening Reception for the exhibition will be at 4:00 p.m.

Noted Photorealist Glennray Tutor of Oxford, a friend who often painted with Cochran, has been invited to talk about Vadah's work during the Exhibit Opening Reception. During the event a plaque will be placed in the Gallery dedicating the East Wing in Vadah's memory.

Cochran was an artist, actor, teacher, gardener and writer, who began painting scenes of his native Holly Springs, when he was a young boy.  His fascination with the people and places of Holly Springs continued throughout his life.  Although he painted many other subjects during his long career as an artist, his themes invariably returned to Holly Springs.

As Cochran’s artistic talent became evident, his parents encouraged him to paint, and arranged for him to study with his first art teacher, a local artist, Miss Nettie Fant Thompson, who had received her training at The Art Institute of Chicago. Cochran was also influenced and encouraged by Kate Freeman Clark, the American Impressionist who studied under William Merritt Chase, and Sam Gholson, portraitist, of The Philadelphia College of Art, both of whom were also Holly Springs natives.

Cochran went on to study art in England, then at Memphis Academy of Art, with John Stewart Curry in Chicago, with Thomas Fogarty and David Leffel at The Art Students League in New York, and with his friend and colleague, noted Mississippi photorealist Glennray Tutor. Cochran and Tutor together wrote a screenplay for a documentary entitled Painting from the South: A National Treasure, commissioned by The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at The University of Mississippi and the Virginia Museum of Art.

Of Cochran’s painting Tutor said, in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “He was an artist I greatly admired.  He had a kind of renaissance in his painting the last fifteen years of his life.  He’d had a lifelong interest in painting, but his later paintings had extraordinary artistic quality.  There was an uncommon generosity about his talent and about him as a person that will long be appreciated and remembered.”

muralCochran’s murals appear on the walls of two of Holly Springs’ antebellum homes, Wakefield and his own home, Dunvegan, and his paintings hang in public and private collections. He painted his first mural for the Army Air Corps while stationed in England during World War II.  When the War ended, he remained in England, France and Germany for two years to paint and study art.  Cochran’s work has been exhibited in one-man shows at The University of Mississippi Center for Southern Culture, at the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery, and at other exhibitions throughout Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee.

Cochran received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University, his Master of Arts in Drama from the University of Wisconsin, and did graduate study at The University of Mississippi, Northwestern University, Florida State University, and The University of North Carolina. He taught English and Drama at Baldwin College in Tifton, Georgia, and at Memphis State University (now The University of Memphis), before retiring in 1983 to paint full-time. He appeared in Theatre Memphis productions of My Fair Lady in the role of Alfred P. Doolittle, and in 1776 in the role of Benjamin Franklin.

With his wife, Doris, he restored his family home, Dunvegan, and its gardens.  Built in 1845 by J.P. Norfleet, Dunvegan was open for many years to visitors to The Holly Springs Pilgrimage and is listed on The National Register of Historic Places.

"As I Recall"

Randy Hayes

June 28. 2014


randy hayesOur visiting artist in June is not far away. In fact, his studio is less than a block away from the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery. However, Randy Hayes has come a long way to live and paint in Holly Springs. Most of Randy's art career was in Seattle, Washington, although he's not a stranger to North Mississippi. He grew up in Tupelo and is a graduate of the Memphis College of Art.

After graduation in 1968, he worked designing sets for television and film production at WGBH, a PBS affiliate in Boston. 1n 1976, Randy moved to Seattle where he was a partner in a book store and opened a gallery in the store exhibiting vintage and contemporary photographs.

"By chance and design, about 1990, I developed a method of painting directly onto grids of photographs," Randy said. "This is my primary way of working today."

Scenes in Holly Springs will be the subject of a series of paintings to be exhibited. You'll see Holly Springs as it's never been seen.

Randy's work has been exhibited extensively in the Northwest, as well as New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Jackson, MS, and numerous galleries in California.

On June 28, 2014 the Gallery will kick off Randy's showing with an Exhibition Opening Reception. His works will hang in the East Gallery for three weeks from June 28 to July 1