The Medical Center Auditorium will be transformed into a gallery this weekend with the 21st annual Women-in-the-Arts Exhibit.
The artwork – 123 pieces by 63 female artists – will be displayed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
“Women-in-the-Arts is an opportunity for women ages 18 and older throughout southcentral Kentucky to not only display artwork, but also to sell their artwork,” said Linda Rush, community wellness director for The Medical Center. “It’s also an opportunity for the community, patients who are able and visitors to enjoy outstanding outwork.”
It’s also an opportunity to give back. The majority of the artwork – which will include watercolors, paintings, photography, ceramic and fiber work – will be for sale, with 25 percent of each sale benefiting the Capitol Arts Center’s Visual Arts program.
“This is very much a partnership with (the Capitol),” Rush said.
“The Capitol Arts’ Visual Arts program involves everything done throughout the year to keep the gallery running,” said Lynn Robertson, Capitol Arts Alliance gallery director.
“We provide space, lighting, reception, graphics, public relations, postcards, everything that is involved in most of the exhibits here. We don’t sell enough to support the entire program,” she said. “It’s beautifully generous for The Medical Center and Women-in-the-Arts to support the Visual Arts program here by allowing us to have 25 percent commission. It helps the Capitol.”
The juried exhibit will be judged by an art professor from Belmont University, Rush said. The hospital does a special Purchase Award that will be displayed at The Medical Center. There will also be cash Merit Awards and five Honorable Mention Awards. The winning pieces will be displayed Wednesday through May 2 in the Capitol’s Houchens Gallery.
Robertson said Women-in-the-Arts is an exciting show.
“It brings some of the women artists out. It’s always a great show,” she said. “It gets an audience there that won’t necessarily come to a gallery and puts it there for them to easily peruse some original artwork.”
Rush encourages people to come out for the event.
“We have artists who enter each year, but we also have new artists – some who have just taken up art and some who are new to the community,” Rush said. “That’s exciting.”
— For more information, call 745-1010 or toll free at 800-624-2318.
