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Wednesday, October 5, 2011 The Kings Mountain Herald Page 1B
ArtsandEntertainment
It’s been said that “an artistis not paid for his labor but forhis vision”. On Sunday, a cou-ple of artists and an art loverwere rewarded for both as theSouthern Arts Society dedi-cated its main gallery in theKings Mountain Art Center tothe Reavis family.
It was the vision of localartists, when they first met atthe old depot in January 1984,to have a home for the arts inKings Mountain. It was alabor of love when theymoved in and renovated theirnew home at the depot 10years ago.
Southern Arts SocietyPresident Bernice Chappellsaid that the Reavis’ were in-strumental in transforming theold depot into a home for thearts.
“It took this family to keepit together,” she said. “Today,we dedicate this gallery to theReavis family.”
Johnsie and John Reavisand their daughter JewelReavis were grateful andhumbled by the honor. Johnand Johnsie are charter mem-bers of the Southern Arts So-ciety (SASI) that first met inwhat is now the center’s Fire-side Gallery in 1984. Found-ing member, the late A. B.Mauney Snow would havebeen proud to see the Reavis’honored, Connie Phifer Savellsaid from the crowd.
Snow passed away nearlysix months after the group gotuse of the depot. But she wasvery much a part of the dreamnow coming to life. A libraryat the Kings Mountain ArtCenter has been dedicated in
her honor.SASI petitioned the city
for use of the old train depotwhen the senior center movedto its home on King Street.When the new stewards of thedepot moved in, they went towork cleaning, painting, re-flooring and rejuvenatingtheir new space, raisingmoney for the work in theprocess.
“When we got this place, itwas a wreck,” John said.
“We came into this (build-ing) 10 years ago knowing itwas a commitment. We knewit needed our time and our tal-ents,” Johnsie said.
She added that before theymoved in they dreamed offilling each room with art.Now, that dream has cometrue. In its many forms art isshowcased and celebratedfrom the gift shop to theworkshop, spanning the entiredepot.
“Jewel saw the big pictureof what it could be, seeingwhat each area could be andhow to utilize that space,”Johnsie said.
Chappell said that theReavis family has been therethrough it all, never waveringor giving up on the center.
Johnsie called it a “laborof love” and added that every-one has contributed to thismasterpiece.
“It wasn’t just the Reavisfamily, it was the SASI mem-bers and the community com-ing out with their gifts and ina quiet way making it hap-pen,” she said.
The depot has come a longway since that first meetingSASI had in 1984 and the im-provements continue. OnMonday, SASI members were
outside painting the fencearound the center. Over thepast several months, the grouphas been tackling severalbeautification projects tospruce up for a nationally im-portant visit.
In 2013, the Southern ArtsSociety will host the NationalWatercolor Society Show atthe Kings Mountain Art Cen-ter—the only location on theeast coast to host the travelingshow. SASI members are ex-cited about the upcoming at-traction and putting KM onthe map in such a way.
Each new show brings inmore and more art. SASI’s an-nual “I Am Woman” showbrought in a record 100 en-tries this May. SASI VicePresident Camiel Bradshawsaid that they received 87 en-tries for their “Gateways tothe South” show, whichopened Sunday.
“That’s the most we’veever had at Gateways to theSouth,” she added.
All mediums of art, in-cluding 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms arerepresented in the currentshow, which fills the center.
The Fireside Gallery fea-tures the colorful folk art ofthe show’s guest artist GypsyHundley of Hendersonville.An old car door transformedby paint is displayed in frontof the fireplace. Hundleyplans to be at the KingsMountain Art Center on Sat-urday for SASI’s “Gatewaysto the South” activities.
Johnsie added that eachnew show becomes an evenbigger tribute to art. “It justgets better,” she said.
Jewel thanked Chappelland Bradshaw for their lead-
ership and their efforts togrow the organization.
“For me, I’ve always felt Imay not be a Picasso…but Iwant to enrich the communityas much as I can,” Jewel said.
“It’s a great honor to havesuch recognition,” Johnsieadded. “We’ve been calling itthe main gallery and neverthought about it having aname.”
The SASI board voted andon Sunday, Johnsie was sur-prised to see their names onthe wall.
In flowing black script“The Reavis Gallery” backedby the names Johnsie, Johnand Jewel in white letteringdecorates the wall of the maingallery.
“It is an honor to be recog-nized in such a way because Inever expected to have ourname up there like that,”Johnsie said.
“I can’t say enough forthat family. They deserve it,”Don Crawford said at the re-ception.
Also at the dedication cer-emony, winners of the Gate-way show were announced as:Benita Lowe - merit; EllenDevenny - merit; Gary Shel-ley - merit; Jewel Elliott -third place; Lori McAdams -second place; and GennyBoyd - first place for her workthe “Underground Railroad”.
Gateways to the South willbe on display through Nov. 11at the KM Art Center, 301 N.Piedmont Ave.
Gallery dedicated to Reavis family
The Southern Arts Society is proud to present “Gatewaysto the South”, its annual art competition and exhibit, whichopened with a public reception on Sunday, Oct. 2. Featuredprominently in the exhibit are landscapes, historical sites, andthe people and places that reflect our Southern history andculture.
Local artists have entered 87 works of art in this year’sshow. Artists have reflected on southern history with bothtraditional as well as contemporary approaches to the sub-ject matter. The work was judged by Brent Sizemore, Assis-tant Professor of Art and Director of Craft Studies atUNC-Asheville. He received his MFA in Sculpture from In-diana University in 1990 and a BFA in Sculpture from Mur-ray State University in 1987.
“Gateways to the South” will be on display through Nov.11, at Southern Arts Society (at the Depot), 301 N. PiedmontAve., Kings Mountain. Gallery and Gift Shop hours are Tues-day, Wednesday, Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursdays 10 a.m.-9 p.m., and Saturdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free. Formore information call 704-739-5585 or visit southernartsso-ciety.org
EMILY WEAVER/HERALDLeft to right, Jewel Reavis,John Reavis and JohnsieReavis honored at the dedi-cation of Kings Mountain ArtCenter’s main exhibit hall asthe Reavis Gallery.
The colorful folk art of Gypsy Hundley is on display in the Fireside Gallery of the Kings Moun-tain Art Center.
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
EMILY WEAVEREditor
Gateways to the South exhibit open at art center
Above: Buffalo Soldier by Nico Amortegui
At left: The Sunny Back Porch by Jo Ann Ford
Woods Tea Co. to performat the Joy Saturday night
Woods Tea Co., the Ver-mont-based band that was sucha huge hit in Kings Mountainlast year, is coming back for anencore concert Oct. 8 at 7:30p.m. at the Joy PerformanceCenter.
Practically unheard of in thearea last year, the band stilldrew in a packed house. Acrowd of more than 200 peopleturned out to enjoy Woods TeaCo.’s lively mix of Celtic, seashanties, folk songs and evensing-a-longs. Their playfullyrics, use of numerous regularand even some exotic instru-ments, along with their reparteewith the audience made for afun-filled evening.
Howard Wooden, who playsbass and guitar in the talentedfolksy foursome - now a trio,said that they are excited to re-turn to Kings Mountain.
“I tell a lot of people thatwhat I’m doing - I’m now 56 -is I’m auditioning the next placeI want to live when I retire,”Wooden said.
His son lives in Greenville,SC, and the more trips souththey take, the more Woodensays he can see the “promisedland”.
The band began as a duo in1981 with penny-whistler RustyJacobs and guitarist Bruce Mor-gan in Vermont. While playingat a local club one night, “theyhappened upon an old woodencrate with the words ‘WoodsTea Company’ stenciled on theside. It seemed like a good ideaat the time, perhaps even a sign,and the duo was named,” ac-cording to the band’s website(woodstea.net).
The duo became a trio withthe addition of instrumentalistMike Lussen two years later.Wooden began playing part-time with the band in 1985 - agig that strummed into full-timeeight years later. Tom MacKen-zie, on hammered dulcimer andbanjo, replaced Morgan in1993. The group is now a fa-mous trio with Wooden,Mackenzie and Patti Casey on
guitar and flutes.The group has played in all
of the lower 48 states and inseveral places in Canada. Theirshows have been described as“get up on your feet, aisleswayin’, hand clapping” music,offering something for every-one.
“I knew we’d want to bringthem back in a few years,” saidJerry Ledford, who arranged theconcert. “But everyone hadsuch a great time and wantedthem back sooner, so we set itup for this year.”
And it wasn’t just the audi-ence. “Wow. Kings Mountainwas such a great audience. Wehad a really great time. We wantto come back soon,” Woodentold Ledford last year.
Woods Tea Co. will performsome old and some new tunes.Songs will include favorites thatso fascinated the audience lastyear along with some new ma-terial. They can be listened toonline at woostea.net
Wooden said that he hopesto make it out to the battlefieldat the Kings Mountain NationalMilitary Park during his stay.One of the songs they plan toperform on Saturday (“Onboardthe Saratoga”) is a tribute to an-other highly-acclaimed battle inwhich the American Navy de-feated British forces trying toregain control of the colonies, inthe War of 1812.
Wooden said that they willperform songs for all ages, in-cluding possible favorites thatseem to always warrant requests“Alberta Bound” and Irishdrinking songs. “We love hav-ing a lot of different age groupsthere (in the audience),” headded.
The group will also bringtheir newest CD “10-4-10”, lat-est Holiday CD released lastDecember and several CDs ofsolo and group compilations tohave for sale at the concert.
Tickets for $20 each areavailable in advance at the JoyPerformance Center, atbranches of Alliance Bank or bycalling 704-739-6385. Ticketswill be sold at the door for $25each.
EMILY WEAVEREditor