BY ASHLEY WAHL PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM SAYER N OT
PINESTRAW MAGAZINE CHERISH THE EVER-RICH COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS IN THE SANDHILLS, IT DEPENDS ON HIS YEAR ?S THIRD ANNUAL PINEY IT. T A WARDS RECOGNIZE A PROLIFICALLYTALENT ED TRIO: A VISUAL ARTIST WHOSE VISION CAME TO BE, AN ANIMATING ACTING TEACHER WHO CAN ?T GET ENOUGH OF HER ART , AND A MAN WHOSE MUSICAL ABILITIES HAVE LED HIM TO NEW AUDIENCES .
Chuck LunneY Visual Art
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any folks know Chuck Lunney as the guy who flew his B-29 under the Golden Gate Bridge on a dare 60some odd years ago after his valiant service as a pilot in the 20th Army Air Corps. He’s also the guy who, with the help of his buddy Mike, founded the Artists League of the Sandhills (ALS). An artist all of his life, not to mention a businessman and advertising expert, Chuck and his bride Tish settled down in the Pines to retire in 1982. Itching to find a place where he could challenge himself artistically in the company of other artists, Chuck decided that the Sandhills area needed something that did not yet exist — some kind of artist’s Mecca. Being the persistent fellow that he is, word soon spread of his idea. Shortly thereafter, during an art show at the Campbell House Galleries, a man by the name of Mike D’Andrea approached Chuck, curious to know more about the art school he envisioned for the community. “I want it to be more than art school,” Chuck said to Mike, who — an artist himself — instantly offered to help in any way possible. Chuck said he’d ring him when he found a building. In 1994, after six years of searching for a place to call “Artists League,” Chuck came to Aberdeen to speak with the town manager about an old, abandoned warehouse that had
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H IS O WN M AKING been given to the town. “I didn’t think it was going to work,” he says of the place that needed — and this is a euphemism — some major cleaning up. But when the town manager asked if a dollar a year rent would be too much, Chuck’s perception of the broken windows, blackened walls and wobbly barn doors quickly changed. “It’s beautiful! Perfect! Just what I was looking for,” he remembers saying, realizing that this was perhaps his only chance to fulfill his dream. Chuck phoned Mike, asking him to bring mops and paintbrushes, and the duo rolled up their sleeves and got to work. When the building was suitable, the cofounders began looking for fellow artists, and were able to open the Artists League in October with only 18 members. A year later, membership was up to 50. Today ALS has more than 200 members, offering 35 private studios and various classes and workshops taught by highly qualified instructors throughout the year, in addition to monthly shows open to the public. It’s safe to say that Chuck Lunney’s dream has come to be. When Chuck sits in his studio, the easel holding a work still wet with paint, it’s hard to imagine his beautiful reality — surrounded by watercolor landscapes, sketches and portraits, and a building-full of other creative muses happy at work — being anything but.
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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills