New Art Club at Flatwoods Library
Kathy Clayton
The Ashland Beacon
Local artists will have a new outlet for their creativity as the Flatwoods Public Library kicks off a new club next week.
The Flatwoods Library Art Club will hold its first meeting on Saturday, January 27, at 2 p.m. According to assistant librarian Synde Salley, the premise of the club is that a prompt or theme will be chosen each month and artists will submit works based on the prompt.
“I am a local artist,” Salley said, “and I thought it would be nice to bring people together who like to create. We’ll provide a monthly prompt for inspiration – this month’s is Zentangle – and everyone can interpret it as they choose.” She explained that Zentangle is a sort of doodling category of art.
Each month, a QR code will be posted on the library’s website or Salley’s Facebook page with the prompt for next month’s meeting. “The art should be turned in by the last Thursday of the month, and the works will be displayed at the meeting on Saturday. The top three each month will be displayed in the library until the next meeting. We have a nice place to display the art.”
Salley said that for now, the library staff will be judging the artworks but that might change as the club gets off the ground. “The Saturday meeting will include snacks, and the artists will browse through each other’s works. They won’t be creating at the library; that will be on their own time. The meetings are just to display the art.”
“The artists can use any medium they feel led to use based on the prompt – sculpture, painting, whatever they want,” Salley continued. “I already have people signed up, and they’ve sent pictures of what they’ve done so far.”
“People are welcome to come to the event if they’re not signed up,” she said. “This first month we’re just testing it out to see how much interest we have. It’s for teens and adults for now, but we’ll see where it goes. We’d love to include prompts for kids also.” She also noted that the club is open to both amateur and professional artists. “It’s open to anyone who has a genuine interest in creativity. We want to give them an idea and they can go with it, put it out there.”
Salley has already announced the prompt for February’s club meeting. “February’s art prompt will be Library,” she said, “inspired by all things literature. Maybe a favorite book, character, author or a beautiful library.”
She said they want to make sure the works are turned in by Thursday evening so the staff has time to set them up. The library is open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays.
“We have cool stuff coming out of all branches of the Greenup County Public Library,” Salley mentioned. “The leadership is open-minded about letting all employees give their ideas about programs.”
The Flatwoods Public Library is located at 1705 Argillite Road. Check out the Facebook page or website for more information on the art club.
