Galleries Visual Arts

Grovewood Gallery to Host Spring Awakening Exhibit

Garden at Ground Level. By the artists at the Zeis Pediatric Oncology/Hematology Clinic

In celebration of spring, Asheville’s Grovewood Gallery will host Spring Awakening, an exhibition featuring the work of pediatric patients in the Arts For Life (AFL) program. AFL delivers educational art programs to patients and their families across NC who are dealing with serious illnesses and disabilities. The program delivered more than 22,000 lessons to nearly 7,000 patients and family members in 2017.

Spring Awakening is curated by Annie Rogers, AFL program director, and Anna Long, AFL program coordinator. The exhibit will feature works in several mediums by artists as young as two years old, as well as some contributions from adult parents. “Creating the work for Spring Awakening has been a unique experience for the artists because it has been truly collaborative,” says Rogers. For example, an artist might start by creating a line drawing which another patient will then fill with color. “In the end, each piece will connect all the artists together: kids and families who maybe have been sitting beside each other at the art table and never met one another, or kids who have never had the opportunity to meet, but are having parallel hospital experiences,” says Rogers.

“We continue to partner with AFL because we feel we have similar core values and share the belief that art enriches people’s lives,” says Ashley Van Matre, marketing manager at Grovewood Gallery. The Spring Awakening exhibit will run from Saturday, April 7, to Monday, April 23, with an opening reception on April 7 from 2–5 p.m. All artwork will be available for sale and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefi t AFL. Grovewood Gallery will also donate 10 percent of all regular gallery sales from the exhibition’s opening day.

The Grovewood Gallery is located at 111 Grovewood Road. To learn more, visit grovewood.com. For information on Arts For Life, visit artsforlifenc.org.

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