Southwest Georgia Regional Fine Art Exhibition and Sale kickoff Thursday

ALBANY — The Albany Area Arts Council will host the opening reception for its 19th annual Southwest Georgia Regional Fine Art Exhibition and Sale Thursday at 6 p.m.

Largely sponsored by the annual Empty Bowls event, the Fine Art Exhibition and Sale is the largest art exhibition and sale in the area. The event gives stage to talented local artists annually, showcasing an expansive regional collection to the community. This year’s exhibition features 63 artists and 123 works of art. The majority of the artists are residents of the southwestern quadrant of Georgia, but there are also entrants from Florida and Alabama.

The exhibit opens to the public Thursday with a reception at The Albany Area Arts Council’s newly renovated Carnegie Library Gallery. The opening reception will include an awards presentation at 6:45 p.m. The reception is open to the public.

Attendees will be treated to a culinary arts experience by Albany Technical College’s Culinary Arts Department while supporting the artists and shopping for original pieces of fine art.

Artwork entered in the competition is jurored for cash prizes. Juried categories include painting/drawing, photography/digital art, and sculpture/ceramics. Prizes are awarded for first-, second- and third-place winners as well as an honorable mention in each of the three categories. A Best in Show award will also be given.

The juror for this year’s exhibition is Julie Bowland, a Valdosta-based artist who teaches art and directs the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery at Valdosta State University. As a landscape painter, she applies oil paint in a thick, painterly impasto, painting directly from the wild landscape in bold, expressive color. Formerly a Tallahassee resident, she has a BFA in Painting from Florida State University and an MFA from Arizona State University.

Bowland’s work is included in private, public and corporate collections, including the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach; the city of Tallahassee Permanent Collection; Barnett Bank in Jacksonville; First South Bank in Tallahassee, and Florida State College at Jacksonville. Her work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Buchanan Museum of Fine Arts in Buchanan, Mich., and she recently exhibited at the Kobro Gallery, Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts, Lodz, Poland. Her work is represented by the Venvi Gallery in Tallahassee.

The artwork from the 19th annual Southwest Georgia Regional Fine Art Exhibit & Sale, in its entirety, will remain on display in the Carnegie Library Gallery through July 25. Admission to the art show and sale is free. The AAAC’s Carnegie Library Gallery is located at 215 N. Jackson St. in downtown Albany.

The gallery is open Monday, noon-4 p.m.; Tuesday, 2-4 p.m.; Wednesday, noon-4 p.m., and Thursday, noon-8 p.m. The mission of the Albany Area Arts Council is uniting the community through the arts and humanities. For more information, contact the Albany Area Arts Council (229) 439-ARTS (2787) or visit the www.albanyartscouncil.org website.