Whimsical and Other Worldly Art Exhibition

Jonesborough’s Mary B. Martin Program for the Arts at the McKinney Center is pleased to announce their first exhibition of the year, featuring Howard Dale and Patti Lawrence. The exhibition will be open and free to the public starting with the Opening Reception on Friday, February 17, at 6 pm. The exhibit will run through March 24. The McKinney Center is open for visitors Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm.

Director of the McKinney Center, Theresa Hammons, states, “Howard and Patti have two completely different medias but their themes are very similar. When I see their work, I feel as if I have just stepped into a fairy tale like Alice in Wonderland, or a tale like Pirates of the Caribbean. Their artwork has a sort of whimsical feel to it. Almost otherworldly. I love the use of found objects that Patti incorporates into her sculptures. And Howard has an incredible imagination. I’m always looking forward to meeting the new characters he creates in his artwork. This exhibition will definitely appeal to the young and the old.”

Howard Dale received a B.A. with a concentration in Visual Art Education from East Tennessee State University and an M.A. from Cumberland University. He has taught art in Kingsport City Schools for over a decade, and in 2014 was named “Kingsport City Schools 2014 Elementary Teacher of the Year for Visual Arts.” He regularly participates in art shows throughout the region, showcasing his Oddubon Collection (a mutated version of the Audubon nature studies), his Edwardian Cat Series, and pieces from his Folklore and Folktales Collection. He is strongly influenced by legends and long forgotten bedtime stories where fears must be faced and strange things lurk in the shadows. His artwork can be found online at, www.HowardDale.com, facebook.com/HowardDaleArt, Twitter@HowardDaleArt, and on Instagram as HowardDaleArt.

Patti Lawrence was born in Clifton, NJ- a suburb of New York City. She has been creating things from found objects for as long as she can remember. After graduating from The School of Visual Arts in N.Y.C. in 1989 with a BFA, she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching. She moved to Tennessee, with her husband, Eddie in 1993.

She is an avid junk collector and incorporates these “treasures” into her collage and assemblage work. Her pieces have been included in many national and regional competitions and can be seen in many galleries in the area as well as in private and public collections throughout the region.

Her large, hanging installation, “Birds of a Feather”, made from hundreds of recycled plastic bottles, is part of Kingsport’s permanent art collection and hangs in the Higher Education Center in downtown Kingsport.

The McKinney Center houses the Jonesborough Mary B. Martin Program for the Arts and boasts of a mission to be, “committed to inspiring the people of our area through both the appreciation of and the participation in the arts as a form of personal and collective expression.”  The objective of the program is to “bring the community at large closer together and show as an example to other communities the creative influence that the arts can bring to their quality of life.”  The McKinney Center is a department within the Town of Jonesborough.

The Opening Reception will be held on Friday, February 17, at 6 pm. The exhibit will run through March 24. The McKinney Center is open for visitors Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. The McKinney Center is located at 103 Franklin Avenue, Jonesborough, TN 37659.

For more information regarding the McKinney Center, email Theresa Hammons at theresah@jonesborougtn.org or call 423-753-0562.