.png){kind=small}
52nd Annual
Artists' Guild
Juried Show 2025
Juror:
Julia Burr
I have 40+ years making my living as an artist and I have had one hell of an incredible journey. I received my M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts, studying under some of conceptual art’s greatest practitioners like John Baldessari and Barbara Kruger. My motorized kinetic sculptures opened a door for me in Hollywood, California during a time of explosive growth and historic innovations in the film and tv industry. I stumbled upon a renegade and visionary set, prop and f/x company that made Hollywood history. It was one of the most brutal, exciting and instructive periods of my life. Learning how to make it perfect, have it done yesterday and on budget were lessons that I used for my entire career.
​
I returned to the South because I missed the change of seasons. The company I worked for in Hollywood opened a shop in Orlando and asked me to join them; instead of film and tv, we concentrated primarily on long term builds for clients such as Disney, SeaWorld and Universal. Other projects included my carving 50-foot wide high-relief billboards engineered to survive 100mph wind loads; being the lead artist and in-house art director for a computer driven animated Christmas display installed every year for five years on Radio City Music Hall’s marquee. I also had the honor of being lead sculptor and art director for super-realistic sculptures installed at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch. After sculpting and installing a computer-driven piece for the Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid, Spain, Hard Rock International offered me a job; I logged thousands of miles traveling around the world doing 3-D design for new and established Hard Rock Cafes. Connections developed in that company ushered me into freelance art and design; one of my first jobs was designing the façade of ESPN’s flagship entertainment center in Baltimore, Maryland. I climbed higher and higher in this world of retail entertainment and yet still could not push through truly innovative ideas. Hitting this roadblock over and over propelled me to return to my fine art, to see what I really had in me artistically and not to have any regrets about ‘what might have been’.
I moved to Black Mountain in 1999 and for the next 25 years, I pursued my fine art: within the first three years I had my first solo show and from there other solo and group shows, public art commissions, private commissions, a nice selection of kudos and lots of rejection letters. I have had an extraordinary professional life and the most profound singular influence on my art has been living on these 2 acres in Black Mountain. Every day this sweet piece of property offers the opportunity to see alternate worlds: sometimes real, sometimes imagined, always authentic. Now in a position to do exactly as I please, I have every intention of using these resources even further for an unencumbered exploration into Julia’s world.
meet adam walls - juror for the
51st annual artists' guild juried show
Adam Walls
​
Adam Walls has taught at UNCP since 2007. His previous teaching experience includes Limestone College, USC-Upstate, and an assistantship with Winthrop University. He received his MFA in Sculpture from Winthrop University in 2005 and his BA in Art Education from Limestone College in 1996. He has been a member of CAA and Tri-State Sculptors. Adam's sculpture has been exhibited in numerous sculpture parks and sculpture exhibitions across the country. Adam's current work is predominantly monumentally scaled steel fabricated forms which often reflect his interest in escapist fantasy.
As an educator with over two decades of teaching experience, Adam's dedication to his students is embodied in his pedagogy. He covers a variety of subjects that include steel fabrication, plaster casting, carving, woodworking, the creation of volumetric forms using found objects, stone carving, and the creation of functional art and sculptural prosthetics. His teaching philosophy promotes students to find their own voice and to make use of a variety of materials to do so.
​
find out more about Adam Walls at adamwallssculpture.com >
meet rosetta nesbitt, juror for
WOVEN: juneteenth juried
art exhibition 2024
BIO: As a native of Spartanburg, SC, Rosetta Nesbitt is a printmaker whose outlook as an artist is strongly influenced by nature, women of her culture, and the historical impact of agriculture in the South on the lives of these women.
With an Associate degree in Horticulture, Rosetta is currently working toward her Bachelor of Arts/Studio at Converse College, Spartanburg, SC. By using a mixture of medium, often in a layering process, Rosetta juxtapose the female form with found objects, nature plant material and hair to create images that serve as metaphors for the life of black women.
ARTIST STATEMENT: As a visual artist, Rosetta uses various printmaking techniques to create images that serve as metaphors of thought patterns for women of her culture.
There are many memories buried in soils of the South; the deeper one digs, more “dirt” is revealed.
It has been noted that the “Old South” was built politically, culturally, and spiritually around the institution of slavery. The negative representations and lack of positive images of black women in Western art may have left mental scars that impact how these women perceive themselves today.
Could the current desire for superficial self-improvement among black women be a direct result of historical misrepresentation? Did stereotypes from the past play a vital part in the breakdown of current family structure among African Americans? These are a few of the concerns that I address in my art.
As a studio artist, I share a body of work that explores my concerns for social, political, religious, and economic issues that impact the lives of many women within my culture.
LIFE LINE - ROSETTA NESBITT: A Juneteenth Streaming Event
Print Maker and Visual Artist Rosetta Nesbitt tells her story in her own words: A Black Woman in the south pursues her dreams as a talented artist. Does the creative community celebrate her journey or add to the obstacles? Filmmaker Sarah E. Nixon reveals the answer in this amazing documentary.
rosetta nesbitt on instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rosettasmithnesbitt/
find out more about filmmaker sarah e. nixon here: www.thebensonfivefilm.com
meet mary lou hightower,
juror for the 2024
youth juried show
Mary Lou Hightower is a practicing artist with 50 years of teaching experience in the Spartanburg District Six schools and the University of South Carolina Upstate. She recently retired from the University of South Carolina Upstate and was awarded the honor of Professor of Emeritus of Art. During her career at Upstate, Mary Lou taught 2D Design, Southern Folk Art History, Art Education Classes as well as graduate level Teacher education STEAM course and Teacher Training for Advanced Placement for Art and Design Certification. She is a signature member of the South Carolina Watermedia Society where she has been accepted in numerous juried watermedia shows throughout the Southeast. Over her career, she has been a reader for fifteen years for the College Board Art and Design Portfolios. Mary Lou is a Resident Creative at Mayfair Art Studios, an affiliate of Chapman Cultural Center. Mayfair Art Studio is a converted old textile mill in Spartanburg. She also holds a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction emphasis in Art from the University of South Carolina.
