A gallery crawl, an artist talk and a member party are a few of the events planned for the beginning of September at Westobou.
One of the biggest changes at Westobou this fall will be the absence of a festival.
“We’ve sort of shifted,” said Kristi Jilson Sykes, Westobou’s executive director. “In talking with our founders and our funders, the Porter Fleming Foundation, we made a decision. Instead of five days crammed with everything in it, we’re stretching it out over the year. And we’ll have a season.”
A season launch party is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 2 at the Westobou Gallery, 1129 Broad St. The event is free to members and joining is easy, she said. A membership link is available at the website, westobou.org.
The party will feature hors d’oeuvres, drinks, entertainment and a sneak peek of the latest exhibition, which opens Friday, Sept. 3. Also, the season offerings will be unveiled during the event.
Juliana Lupacchino, also known as Julu, is a Savannah-based artist who likes color and texture and calls herself a “happy creative,” according to her website. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, is a mural artist and also works with fabrics.Friday’s Westobou events will feature an artist’s talk and a gallery crawl.
Julu’s exhibition, My Mind is Butterflies, will run through Oct. 16. She will give an artist talk at 4 p.m. Friday at the gallery, and at 5:15 p.m. a gallery crawl begins with Sykes playing tour guide aboard the Jessye Norman School of the Arts’ bus.
“I’m excited for this to be happening,” she said.
Stops along the way include the art gallery at Augusta and Co., the Ann and Ellis Johnson Gallery of Art the Jessye Norman School, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, the Morris Museum of Art and 600 Broad.
At the Gertrude Herbert, guests will tour the studio space of Westobou’s artist-in-residence, Joseph Kameen.
Two additional artist studios on the tour include the Westobou annex on the grounds of the former Academy of Richmond County building on Telfair Street. Chase Lanier and Aort Reed have studios in the space.
Sykes said the gallery crawl is free, but people should register at the website.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
