2016-446-E Arts - Preservation Chapel Hill - Spring 2016 Arts Grant Agreement

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DocuSign Envelope ID:CF9CCDA7-654A-4636-8636-D086CDC8600C Quoted from The Daily Tar Heel UNC grad returns to Chapel Hill to show art CHLOE LACKEY I PUBLISHED 09/09/15 11:08PM It took Leigh Suggs 10 years to determine that a career in art was what she wanted to do. The UNC graduate, who recently earned her Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University, now works in Richmond, Va., creating art to showcase in galleries in both Virginia and Chapel Hill. But before now, the artist wasn't sure what she wanted. "I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be an art major," Suggs said of her time at UNC. "But I had a lot of encouragement from two female professors who took me under their wings. They were huge supporters of what I was doing, and it felt right." With the guidance of Beth Grabowski and elfin o'Hara slavick, Suggs found her current medium of choice through a job at Wilson Library, where she worked with preservation and the Rare Book Collection.. RELATED CONTENT Critics say teacher pay raise too little, too late COLE STANLEY 05/18/16 6:15PM County budget in progress ZOE SCHAVER 05/18/16 6:19PM N.C. general assembly gets musical JENNI CIESIELSKI 05/18/16 6:39PM Opinion: Give Tar Heel Yard Sale a break 05/18/16 7:34PM Moogfest is a four-day festival coming to Durham May 19 through 22 JENNI CIESIELSKI 05/11/16 10:28PM In 2011, Suggs took a vacation from her job at the Penland School of Crafts, and realized her art could be a larger part of her life. "Not until I was 30 did I realize that people could be artists for a living. I always thought you had to pair something else with art," Suggs said. "It hit me while I was working that I could do this, and this was what I wanted to do." Suggs currently has two exhibitions in Chapel Hill: one at LIGHT Art + Design, the gallery created by her former boss, Cindy Spuria, and one at the Horace Williams House. Both are solo shows. At the Horace Williams House, the art program aims to showcase local artists'work in their gallery space. The committee chooses artists and then sends a representative to help prepare for the show.. Renee Leverty, the member of the committee who worked with Suggs, said she liked Suggs' ability to make a complex work simple. "As you stand there and become mesmerized by it, you realize the complexity and detail in each work," she said. "Each piece is a meditation, and it's done really well." Suggs' artwork for the exhibition consists of nine pieces, primarily in black and white, which experiment with different textures through materials — like handmade abaca paper — and repeated details, like tiny circles on a large canvas or hundreds of stippled dots. "I think her work could expand people's ideas of what art making is," said Tama Hochbaum, co- chairwoman of the Horace Williams House art program. "You can feel this in your bones, what she's doing." Suggs said she is content in her studio in Richmond. "I work everyday, even if it's only for a little bit, but I'm always making," Suggs said. "I tried really hard for this, and I got it. And it's awesome and amazing." Suggs will be making an appearance at the Horace Williams House for a reception at the gallery on Sept. 13. arts @dailytarheel.com Read more: Ilrttlpilwww.dal Ilytair heel,co /airtliclle/2015/09/uine...gr d,,,retur ins,,, lhlillll,,, art Quoted from The Daily Tar Heel Photograph exhibit showcases town nightlife SARAH VASSELLO I PUBLISHED 02/05/14 5:20PM The Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill exhibits "Before Hours," a powerful photography collection by Gail Goers. The exhibition is open until February 24th. Photo by Sydney Hanes/ The Daily Tar Heel