You Will A-DOOR Our Doors!
The City of Southport and Up Your Arts invite you to join us for a one-of-a-kind event. Each year, Southport, North Carolina welcomes painters across the country to take advantage of our incredible scenery by painting ‘en plein air’ or in the open air. This outdoor festival is
Be sure to reserve a spot at the reception coming up October 25 from 4-7pm at the Southport Community Building to meet the artists at the heart of our latest project, “Southport, Open Your Doors!” Four of them are featured in this short video with Southport Historical Society Vice President Liz Fuller; more interviews are in the works.
A Collection of Visionaries
These local artists were selected in June to embellish doors donated from the historic Harper home on Bay Street based on a theme of survival. Drawing inspiration from Southport’s people and its history, the doors symbolize the connections between past and future that we rely on to keep going when the present is unknowable.
The artists that have been working all summer to envision it best are nine individuals — Alora Boerner, Harry Burrell, Lori Guidi, Ginger Hedblom, Mary Beth Livers, Donna Parisi, Austin Sapp, Rosemary Wagner, and Chris Wallace – and two collaborating teams: a duo, Nancy Cray and Lynn Gillis; and a trio, Dan DeGroat, Gia Holmes, and Colleen Phillips.
Join Us in Celebrating Their Work
The results of their work will be on stunning display during the October reception, as a prelude to sending the doors on parade throughout the city for the next couple of months before they are auctioned off at a gala event in March 2022.
The October reception will showcase the artists and their completed artwork during an early evening of live jazz with J&B Bluzz, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, wine, and beer. The $20 cost at the door includes food and one drink ticket (more are available for sale). The event is limited to the first 200 people, reservations only here.
Save More Dates
Southport Plein Air 2022
Dates for the 2022 Southport Plein Air Festival just recently got nailed down. Be sure to join us Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, next year for a whole range of festival activities. In the meantime, artists of all experience levels can register now to paint “en plein air” during the festival, first come, first serve, up to a maximum of 75 painters.
Back Porch Rockers
The Back Porch Rockers will be back rockin’ the St. James Community Center for Up Your Arts on Friday, December 10 – stay tuned for details and plan to rock with us and them. We are huge fans of these fabulous fundraising musicians.
Two New Board Members & Four Years Behind Us!
There has been some news lately featuring the partnership between the Southport Historical Society and Up Your Arts on a project we’re We are happy to announce Up Your Arts has two new board members, Jwantana Frink and Larry Cabral, whose unique perspectives will broaden our perspectives as we enter our fifth year since organizing the organization in October 2017. Whoa! Where did the time go?
We don’t know how, but Jwantana is somehow managing to add participation on our board to her long list of other civic commitments, like being an elected member of the Dosher Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees.
She has been stepping up in Southport and Brunswick County for years, that’s for sure, and Up Your Arts is lucky to be able to tap into that magic going forward.
Larry is a relative newcomer, although he lives in one of the oldest houses in town, beautifully renovated six years ago before he relocated here from New Jersey.
This experience will add a Southport flavor to his career-long expertise in production operations management, which, we are so happy to say, he will be lending to our “Save the Hall, Y’all” campaign to build a new arts center downtown in the now-vacant former city hall building.
In Other News…
Southport, About that Arts Center…
For a recent update of progress on the arts center, check out the City of Southport’s September newsletter article, “A Glimpse of History: The Old Brunswick County Courthouse.“
You can take a virtual tour of the building on Up Your Arts’ website to see what it looks like now and then imagine yourself inside viewing an exhibition or watching a play when the renovation is complete.
What Are You Doing Wednesdays @4pm?
Hopefully, you are updating your arts by checking out our new calendar of events, which, rain or shine, will direct you to all music and other happenings in the area we knew about by the cutoff day. Sign up to receive this weekly email here.
If you don’t see your event on the calendar, tell us about it here.
Thank You!
Thank you for catching up with us and stay safe!
Until the next one…
Sign up. Show up. Celebrate and enjoy!
The folks at Up Your Arts