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Art Supports Community
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2018/10 - October
Robechhi’s words are echoed by Carolina Gallery’s Leslie Jeffery and Mary Lou Bilbro. Artists themselves, they were deeply sympathetic to peers who’d lost representation when the John Collette, Ann Jacobs, and Summit One
Galleries closed.
Why’d they close? The recession and a huge online art presence forced those galleries and many others across the nation to fold.
That’s when the Jeffery-Bilbro team stepped-up to fill that art vacuum by christening a beautiful exhibition space. Its inviting atmosphere enhances the viewer’s experience and gives artists a quality setting to best show their work.
Jeffery and Bilbro stumbled on the perfect venue when they looked through an upstairs window of the old Dutchman’s warehouse in Mountain Brook Center. The room’s exquisite light cast a lustrous glow. Imagine a roomful of paintings and sculpture bathed in that heavenly radiance. They set about turning the warehouse into an exhibition space.
After six months of complex renovation and an intense funding search, the Carolina Gallery opened with an exhibition/fundraiser for the Highlands Nature Center. Through generous donations of participating artists, they raised over $8,500.
In April, they sponsored the Graduate Students and Faculty of Western Carolina University, granting many students their first professional showing. The Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival was the 2018’s annual fundraiser recipient. Carolina Gallery hosted four fundraising events and a silent auction which alone brought in $9,500, all proceeds going to the music fest – again, thanks to the generous donations of participating artists.
Not only has Carolina Gallery established itself as a financial supporter of the community, it has done so without any cost to its recipients or profit to itself.
In its first year of operation Carolina Gallery has become the beating heart of Highlands. Artists, visitors, and residents say, “This is just what Highlands needed.”
Carolina Gallery is open 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday through Saturday, and 1:00 to 4:00 P.M., Sunday. It’s located at the corner of North Fourth Street and Carolina Way,
