• Home
• News
• Obituaries
• Sports
• AP
• Services
• Citizen News
• Events
• FindKYJobs
• Classifieds
• Buy Photos
• E-Edition
• Subscribe
• Homes
• Marketplace
• Feedback

Calling all artists!

Print Story    |    Comments    |   

Promoting their latest book, co-founder of Broadstone Media Larry Moore reads alongside local poet Sheila Potter at June’s Salon at the Farmers Market in River View Park. The Metafours featuring Jeri Katherine Howell, as well as former Kentucky Poet Laureate Richard Taylor are also on the list of artists previously featured at Salon.

The newest salon in town is no hairy business. In keeping with the traditional French definition, “Salon at the Market” is an art exhibition designed to unite the public with local artists and performers in a vis-à-vis environment – grassroots style.

“Many people view art as a mysterious phenomenon that just sort of ‘happens,’ said event coordinator Brandi Brown.  “With this casual atmosphere, people can actually meet the artists and find out how they work.”

The goal of the event is to create a place where both new and experienced artists feel comfortable, she said.

Taking note of the new Wednesday evening hours at the farmers market, Brown and co-coordinator Nichole Harrod saw a great opportunity to bring the down-home events together, both geographically and contextually.

Having hosted just two Salons this market season, Harrod said she and her cohort are looking forward to watching it grow ­­­ – much like the beautiful bounty found at the market itself.

Enthusiasts of art and creators themselves, Harrod and Brown have a vested interest in the industry. And, while the event is still very much in its infancy, Brown says it is “positioned at the fore of a potential creative explosion.”

Pushing creative boundaries is a primary goal, but so is attracting people to the city, she said. “Frankfort is teeming with creativity!”

Local publisher Larry Moore, poets Sheila Potter and Johnathan Greene, The Metafours featuring Jeri Katherine Howell, as well as former Kentucky Poet Laureate Richard Taylor are all on the list of artists previously featured at Salon.

The July Salon will focus primarily on children’s art camps as there are several going on in the community this time of year, according to Brown. The inspiration for the theme comes – in part – from summer programming occurring with the History Center, the Kings Center, and the Frankfort School of Ballet. In fact, FSB’s latest “Theatre Arts Day Academy” (better known as TADA!) will be performing at the upcoming event.

A pottery sale is also in Salon’s future, Brown said. “We really see connections between pottery and the market. The two could serve as great complements as people are putting their plants indoors for the winter.”

Collaboration, of course, is the key to community-fueled efforts like Salon.

Several people already have stepped up to lend a hand in the event’s development, she said.

Local singer/songwriter (and Nichole’s husband) Brandon Harrod, for example, has taken on production and sound duties for the event; he is credited for the design of Salon’s promotional flyers too.

The Kentucky Folklife Program, sponsored by the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Historical Society, provided display boards for the visual art installations and lent their general support for the budding event from the get-go. Others have contributed as well by channeling their creative energy in spreading the word about Salon.