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Carol Woods Joins Community Art Project

“The idea behind the Community Art Project is to get all members to create, both artists and people who don’t consider themselves artists,” said Kate Flory, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission. “We try to get spaces throughout Chapel Hill and Carrboro [to exhibit the work].”

“The Senior Center has always been a venue, but because they have their move coming up, they couldn’t,” Flory said. When the Carol Woods art committee realized there was an opening for a new venue, they jumped at the opportunity to offer space.

The Carol Woods Art Committee is resident-led and invites local artists to exhibit at Carol Woods every month.  The committee has currently booked shows through January 2008, including the annual Resident & Staff Art Show, which encourages members of the Carol Woods community to display their work. In the past, exhibits have ranged from painting and sculpture to photography and contemporary quilts.

Ann Kendall is the chair of the Carol Woods Art Committee and a member of the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission. Before Kendall moved to Carol Woods in 2004, she came to visit the community through the “Try It You’ll Like It” program. This program offers out-of-state prospective residents the chance to stay in a furnished townhouse adjacent to Carol Woods’ campus for several weeks or months and gain first-hand experience of life at the retirement community. While participating in this program, Kendall met Jean Parish, former chair of the Carol Woods Art Committee and member of the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission.

Parish has been instrumental in organizing regular exhibits at Carol Woods and has also played a large role in Chapel Hill’s artistic scene. When her tenure on the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission ended, she suggested Kendall for the role. According to Flory, Parish and Kendall’s participation on the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission created a bridge between the community and Carol Woods that resulted in the partnership this year.

“The Community Art Project is one of the things we do at the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission that I love the best because it involves people of all ages, artists and non-artists,” Kendall said. “I just love the fact that people are so enthusiastic and excited about participating.”

“The creative expression that comes from art knows no age boundaries,” said Carol Woods President/CEO Patricia Sprigg. “We are delighted to be one of the community locations that celebrates the expression of life through art that binds all ages together.”

As with every exhibit Carol Woods hosts, the Art Committee sponsored an opening reception where residents and community members could mingle with artists and enjoy refreshments together.

Carol Woods resident Audrey Booth attended and was happy with what she saw.

“I’m really pleased that we are part of the community exhibit,” Booth said. “I think it is a good thing for us to do for ourselves and the community.”

The theme of this year’s Community Art Project is “Why,” and works at Carol Woods range from “Why Is There Color?” by 14-year-old Maria Wooten, to “Why Is There So Much Ugliness & Chaos” by Kendall.

“I was interested in the wide range of ages participating,” Booth said. “There were such a variety of interpretations on the theme, ‘Why’.”

The youngest participant in the exhibit at Carol Woods is 5-year-old Ruben Keane, and the oldest participant is Marjorie Gelunag, 84, who attended the reception. Gelunag’s work is an oil painting titled “Why did Marilyn Die?”  She said that she never knows where she’ll find inspiration, and that her portrait of Marilyn Monroe was inspired by a calendar she purchased for $1 at the thrift shop. Another of her pieces titled “Why Man’s Road Leads to Nuclear Destruction” is on display at the Carrboro Town Hall.

The Community Art Project runs through May 30th. Exhibits can be seen at the Carrboro Town Hall, the Carrboro Century Center, the Chapel Hill Town Hall, Jack Sprat Café on Franklin Street, the Chapel Hill Museum, the Chapel Hill Public Library, the PTA Thrift Shop and Carol Woods. More information on the Community Art Project, including a list of artists and photos of all the pieces included in the exhibit, is available at http://www.communityartproject.org.