UK Coop Art Center hosting artist reception Saturday night

The Whitley County Cooperative Extension Community Art Center is hosting its second artist reception in two years this weekend, where a small group of local artists will be featured.

The art center will be holding the reception on Saturday, July 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Three local artists, Amanda “Ren” Elam, Kirstie Warren and Bart Jackson, will all be highlighted at the event as a variety of their work will be on display.

Saturday’s reception is just the second to be held both this year and in the past several years, as the center’s activities have been mostly shuttered since 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. Cortney Moses, fine arts extension agent for the center, said that this event and the last one in April have been the start of “transitioning” back into being open as normal.

“We have been doing these exhibits since we’ve been here about 10 years ago. We would have traveling exhibits come in for a couple months and—before the pandemic—we honed that in where we would have ‘Artist of the Month’ exhibits. That was usually back-to-back with different artists and each artist would have a reception,” said Moses. “The pandemic put a damper on that though.”

Despite the lack of events for so long, Moses noted that the center has seen a large uptick in interest and participation since attempting to reopen, which is a welcomed change from how things had become during the pandemic.

“When we opened back up, we just had so many people reach out to us to want to exhibit their work. Whereas, before, we kind of had to find people. But now people are just itching to get their stuff out there,” said Moses. “I guess where we’ve been doing it for so long, it’s finally starting to catch on.”

And while the reception is a one-night event, there is an exhibit showcasing each artists’ work that is up for the entire month for anyone interested in checking it out at another time.

The center is located at 428 Main Street in downtown Williamsburg, adjacent to the Williamsburg City Hall building.

In addition to the art display, each artist will be on hand to discuss their work and will have pieces for sale. Artist Kirstie Warren will be doing a live art demonstration throughout the evening. The event will also feature live music and refreshments will be available.

For more information, call (606) 549-7373 or send a Facebook message to the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Fine Arts page.