New Art Exhibit in the Downtowner Gallery
Coming soon to the Downtowner Gallery!
Project Happiness
An art exhibit about art and mental health, featuring local and area artists
July 13, 2023 – September 8, 2023
For many artists, the creative process is related to mental health. Perhaps well-being is improved through the artist’s creative journey, or through the exploration of specific subject matter. This exhibit engages the viewer emotionally, with art that conveys or conjures up happiness. The complex emotion of happiness can include contentment, joy, bittersweet, sublime, fleeting, nostalgia, not what you expected, and bliss, to cite a only few words as a about a complex and important emotion.
Among the works in the exhibit:
• Chai, Samosa & Gossip | Watercolor, Gouache and Pen (available, framed/matted $495): Employing an ancient art form – Madhubani, which originated in India, – artist Preeti Agrawal pays nods to art and women’s history, portraying how special it is to enjoy tea and conversation with a friend, particularly without modern technology. [ARTWORK PICTURED BELOW]
• Bliss: Forehead Kisses | Print from digital drawing on iPad (Not for sale): Artist Katie Terrell shares a personal and relatable moment: the state of bliss experienced when one is loved and comforted with a simple kiss on the forehead.
• Pizza makes me happy | Fused bullseye glass (available, $85) An East Coast transplant, artist Stacey Bolnick, looks back with nostalgia to childhood memories of food, family and fun.
• Lu Lu’s Rentals | Wood, paper, paint, sand, tape, recycled items (available $100): Specializing in art dioramas, artist Lisa Carson escapes to the coast for a perfect day at the beach.
• Reflections | Acrylic on canvas (available $850): The mental toll of COVID meant many in our creative community were rendered unable to find the inspiration and energy to create. In artist Amy Larsen’s case, as she re-emerged out of her home and into nature, she sought out new methods and approaches to her art and through this new process and mindset, she found herself again.
CREDITS
This exhibit is co-presented by the Downtowner Gallery with the City of Round Rock Arts and Culture and the visual arts nonprofit Round Rock Arts. Featuring exhibits with local and area artists, our guest juror for “Project Happiness” was artist Neena Buxani. Thank you, Neena!
Copy and image courtesy of Round Rock Arts & Culture Department
