Above: "What Lies Beneath" by Lee Glascock. Below: "Azure Splendor" by Sandra Paynter Washburn.If you go
› What: Opening reception for “Contemporary Interpretations” by Mixed Media Inspired Artists.› When: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 13; show continues through May.› Where: North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Drive, Suite 102, Hixson.› Admission: Free.› Phone: 423-870-8924.
A new show, "Contemporary Interpretations," is hanging at North River Civic Center, and a reception Sunday afternoon, March 13, will be a chance to meet the artists.
All are members of Mixed Media Inspired Artists, founded by Sandra Paynter Washburn. Also president of the group, Washburn has taught adult acrylic and mixed-media classes at Art Creations at Hamilton Place since 2012.
"Over time, I gathered a following of serious art students who consistently took classes from me," she says in a news release. "Their work was becoming very strong, and I saw a need for exhibition opportunities for them, individually and as a group. I formed MMIA in November of 2014, and we began to look for places to show."
So far, the group has shown work at Michael's Fine Arts in Dalton, Ga., Exum Gallery at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Ringgold (Ga.) Art and Frame and Unitarian Universalist Church in Chattanooga.
As a humanitarian project, the group also is in the process of creating a mural for Second Life, which provides services to women who have been exploited in sex trafficking.
Washburn explains that contemporary art can take many forms and interpretations, but, in general, "an artist who works in a contemporary manner is looking for a fresh approach to subject matter, color and design."
Before the invention of the camera in the mid-1800s, artists were society's record keepers, so their works were representational of their subjects - realistic portrayals of people, architecture, landscapes and still lifes. The camera, in effect, liberated visual artists to explore new motivations and methods.
"Contemporary Interpretations" will continue through May.
"Azure Splendor," a 30- by 22-inch acrylic and mixed-media panting by Sandra Paynter Washburn.