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HC Art League
Written By: Zach Claxton - Highlands-Cashiers Art League | Issue: 2017/09 - September
The September meeting of the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers will feature Jackson County artist Bonnie Abbott. Social time begins at 4:30 P.M. on September 25 in The Bascom Atrium, followed by Ms. Abbott’s presentation at 5:00 P.M.
Ms. Abbott’s art career spans 42 years of full- and part-time work. Along the way, she taught art to children and adults from kindergarten to college in art centers and for the Smithsonian Institution’s adult education program. From 1991 until her retirement, she was the art teacher of the Lower School of St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She was the Chair of the Fine Art and Performing Arts Department for many years and worked with parents to create a very successful fine arts booster organization. Her artistic passions included painting in watercolor and then moved from this traditional medium to pouring paint into dramatic and patterned abstract art. She also worked in batik, an Indonesian method of hand-printing textiles by coating with wax the parts not to be dyed, and employed other surface design methods such as direct dyeing and painting, quilting, and embellishing fabric for wall hangings and clothing. Her versatility is also evidenced by her work with acrylic and encaustic paint as well as spray paint and mixed media.
Bonnie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Art from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and a Master of Art Education degree from George Washington University in Washington D.C. She moved to Western North Carolina with her husband Barry in 2011 from Charlottesville. She became a member of the Macon County Art Association just as MCAA and The Bascom were forming a partnership to bring affordable art classes to youth in Franklin. She began teaching the Creation Station and Art Adventure classes in Franklin in February of 2013 and has expanded the outreach program to include an after school art class for Macon Middle School students and an integrated art course elective for Macon Gems home school students. She is also an exhibiting artist with the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers. Her work may be seen at the Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main Street in Franklin, North Carolina.
For more information about the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers, visit artleagueofhighlands-cashiers.com.
