Nov. 7, 2016
Story and photos by Cameron O’Brien

The Burkholder Project (719 P Street)

We met Fong Smith in a lower level gallery at the Burkholder Project building. She was welcoming and very excited to discuss her work. A self-taught artist working with oil paints, Smith has been creating art since 1999. Her artwork includes cityscapes of Maui, New York and San Francisco, and, more recently, Chinese cities such a Beijing and Suzhou. To learn more about Fong and view more of her artwork, you can visit her website at fongartstudio.com.

Noyes Art Gallery (119 S 9th Street)

Noyes Art Gallery featured a lot of beautiful art work but we found ourselves quickly drawn to the wearable art. We met three wonderful artists Christina Gunkel, Tammy Rice and Drew Curtright.

Gunkel makes beautiful bracelets using different leathers to create unique textures. She’s only been officially making jewelry for about a year but she said that she has been creative and it shows in the uniqueness of her designs. Christina’s artwork can be found on her Etsy page.

Rice creates jewelry using metals and stones. She’s been creating for 25 years and she has been selling her jewelry for the past six or seven years. Her pieces are modern and fun and are displayed at the Lux Gallery and local art festivals.

Curtright’s handcrafted jewelry is inspired by a Victorian aesthetic. She studied art at Wesleyan with a focus on metalsmithing and her formal training shows in her attention to detail and craftsmanship. You can view and purchase her artwork on her website.

[slickr-flickr tag=”FFNov16″ size=”large”] Photos by Cameron O’Brien

Parrish Studios (1410 O Street)

We visited the Blueberry art gallery inside the Parrish Projects, meeting Josephine Karre in her gallery, which was a beautiful blue color that suits the space’s name. Her artwork features nude women and men eating, inspired by her desire to rebel against Photoshop and societal standards of beauty.

You can view Josephine’s artwork on her Instagram.

Stella Collective (101 N 14th St #7)

Stella celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Friday with live music by Mesonjinxx and a big crowd from the Lincoln community. Juliane Glasco started Stella ten years ago and it became a collective in 2015, consisting of Stella, owned by Glasco, Hunter Gatherer run by Tobias Burnham and Loft and Craft run by Alison Hill. The three businesses under this roof work with and artists in the area and abroad to create a store filled with modern and fashionable clothes and home decor. You can check out Stella Collective at Stella-collective.com.

Cameron O’Brien is part of KZUM’s fall internship program.