Skipping Sundays
In "Skipping Sundays," Evans Smith reflects on her Methodist upbringing in a rural North Carolina town, revealing how a steadfast belief has always remained just out of reach. Through imagery, she explores the complicated dynamics of religion and faith, as well as the feelings of isolation that can occur when one's beliefs differ with those of those around them. How is it that some can wholeheartedly embrace traditional faith while the rest of us are left questioning?
EXHIBITION EVENTS:
10/2 | First Friday Opening Reception and Book Signing | 6:30 - 8:30pm
10/31 | 4:00-7:00, Closing Reception
*In addition to VAE's open house Monday & Wednesday 9-12, the exhibition can also be by appt.
The show runs from October 2nd - October 31st
FEATURED ARTIST:
Heather Evans Smith
This show is currently on exhibit at The Jobe House.
Shadows
Every culture, every person, every landscape knows shadow. September is its natural season, when the light grows long and golden, the world tilts toward darkness, and something in us turns reflective.
For one artist that might mean the literal shadows of a landscape at dusk; for another, the mythological underworld, the hidden self, or the silence between things.
Shadows is an open call for all media and all interpretations, from the observed world to the deeply personal.
EXHIBITION OPENING: 9/12/2026, 2:00 - 5:00PM
The show runs from September 12th - October 31st
ARTISTS ON EXHIBITION:
Patrizia Ferreira | Lucy Malmin | Leatha Koefler | Jessica Tracey | Kat Wilson | Leslie Pruneau | Cindy McMorris | Olivia Squires | Sterling Bowen | Kelly Hutzel | Anastasia Beane | Mary Louise Kasper | Marcelle Kick | Brett Morris | Allison Tierney | Matt Tracey | Tiffany Minton | Christopher Resh | Elle Joseph | Zachery Thomas | Lisa Marie Kwesell | Tricia Sauls | Karen Rose | Dain Kim | Nicholas Portanova | Jacqueline Maloney | Sarah Weir | Nick Dahlstrom | Vincent Whitehurst | Korrin Cheatwood | Emily Eve Weinstein | Kristen Solecki | Janet Danforth | Stephanie Witchger | Karin Schneider | Kat Harrison | Hiba Chohan | Faten Aloui | Claudia Cole | Mynor Escobar | Colleen Regan
This show is divided between Rebus Works and Birdland.
Randy MacNamara / Aloft RDU
Randy MacNamara
Aloft RDU
August - October
Randy MacNamara
Aloft RDU
August - October
Artist Statement
“It is like being lost in a jungle,” Dr. Mirzakhani said, “and trying to use all the knowledge that you can gather to come up with some new tricks — and with some luck you might find a way out.”
MAKING
my mind moves in the cool muck
at the bottom of a dark and tan creek
slipping through
mud molds my thoughts into holes
they collapse as I withdraw
pulling up roots to wear as a wig
stripped I splash about
in colored light biting the edge
shadows bend my vision
my instincts feel rugged resistance
a stone pried and plucked from suspension
plumes of sediment bloom downstream
I chase after a billowing liquid cloud
expanding in pools then riffles
rocks and gone
Martha Thorn / Aloft RDU
October - December 2016
Community Exhibits
Martha Thorn's graphic and abstract works add to the already electric feel of Aloft Raleigh
February - April
ARTIST STATEMENT
Line and drawing are the most important elements in my paintings. Texture and design follow, with color being only a vehicle through which I can persuade an audience to look at my work. I am a process painter who paints as intuitively as possible. I begin by setting parameters for myself through canvas dimensions or tools that I allow myself to use and then try to approach the work while breaking all other parameters set for me or by me in the past, particularly as a graphic designer. This is the most critical and honest stage. Then I start to “clean up,” hopefully reducing the chaos in a painting by just one degree so that it becomes a successful, cohesive painting bordering on the brink of disaster. The dichotomies of chaos and peace, dirty and clean, and ugliness and beauty are recurrent themes in my work. Though these are not new themes in art, my hope is to execute and present them in a fresh, authentic way.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Martha Thorn is an artist based in Raleigh, NC. She got her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Graphic Design from Western Carolina University. She began painting in 2007, marrying her background in design with a process driven approach to painting. Her work has been exhibited at GreenHill, The Carrack Modern and other venues throughout the Southeast.