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Banner Elk, My Hometown 2012
December 2012
Artistic expression in Banner Elk MATTHEW HUNDLEY matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com
W
hether it is on a stage, hanging in gallery, adorning a restaurant wall or standing in a garden, art abounds in Banner Elk. The stunning landscape and rural settings surrounding Banner Elk draws artists from around the world to the High Country. The addition of Lees-McRae College’s performing arts productions and Summer Theater programs mean that Banner Elk will always have a cultural, artistic experience ready to share with residents and guests. While a great many Banner Elk shops feature the art and craft of local artists, many of the area’s finest artists choose The Art Cellar and The Clark Gallery as the setting for their work. The Art Cellar has provided a venue for artists for 20 years. The Art Cellar includes a fine art gallery displaying paintings, pottery and sculptures created by the High Country’s finest artists. The gallery also includes an ample supply of local folk art. For more information on The Art Cellar, including a list of featured artists, click to
LMC student actors preform in ‘Beguiled Again’ in April 2011.
Photo submitted www.artcellaronline.com. Right in downtown Banner Elk beside the acclaimed Louisiana Purchase restaurant, Clark Gallery has provided Banner Elk residents and guests with access to the best in painting and sculpture since 2001. Gallery owner and artist Chris Clark compiled his expertise from years of travel and collecting combined with a formal education in art and art history. For more information on Clark Gallery, click to www.clarkgallerync.com.
For those who like their art in motion, LMC provides both productions from its performing arts departments and its Summer Theater. Each semester, LMC’s performing arts students put on a new production, sometimes reaching back to classics like “Much Ado About Nothing” or “Pride and Prejudice,” and sometimes keeping the productions more contemporary, such as with its spring 2013 production of Neil Simon’s “Rumors: A Farce,” scheduled for late February and early
March at LMC’s Hayes Auditorium. When the students are away for summer, the auditorium does not lay idle; LMC Summer Theater takes over to provide three musical productions. Lees-McRae Summer Theater is a professional company dedicated to producing three largescale musicals each summer. The plays are always presented in Hayes Auditorium on the campus of Lees-McRae College. For a great example of art that functions, check out Blue Mountain Metal Works, by visiting its Banner Elk gallery or by clicking to www.bluemountainmetalworks. com. Owner Dirk Brown gained experience first at ASU and then through working at Charleston Forge before setting out on his own to become one of Banner Elk’s premier sculptors of steel and other metals. Gates, railings, firescreens, decorations and other metal creations can be found or commissioned by visiting Brown in Banner Elk. These are just a few examples of the many ways to engage in the arts while in Banner Elk. For residents, that means endless opportunities to explore the work of creative minds. For visitors, it means that there is always some new masterpiece ready to be experienced whenever their visit falls.
Banner House Museum, located at 7990 Hickory Nut Gap Road in Banner Elk, is located in the 19th century home of Samuel Henry Banner, one of Banner Elk’s original settlers. The museum hosts daily guided tours mid-June through mid-October by volunteer docents who introduce guests to life in the 1800s. For more information, call (828) 898-3634 or click to www.bannerhousemuseum.org.
Photo by Sam Calhoun