Juried show hopes to bridge gap between art, community

Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Low Road Gallery assistant director Justin Schwab adjusts "The Library Closes in 15 Minutes," a painting by Jennifer Herrold. The painting is now on display at the gallery. Banner Graphic/AMANDA JUNK

GREENCASTLE -- Tucked away just off the downtown square on Jackson Street in Greencastle, the Low Road Gallery is home to contemporary photography, sculpture, paintings and at times, performance art.

Greencastle native Justin Schwab and other directors of Low Road Gallery want to make that contemporary art a larger part of the Wabash Valley.

Schwab, assistant director of the Low Road Gallery, said the gallery represents contemporary art, living artists and new ideas.

"We try to represent new media," he said. "We feel that new media isn't very well represented; more traditional work is often shown."

To fulfill that purpose, the gallery is hosting its second annual juried art show, funded in part by DePauw Student Arts Council and Oddfellows Property Management.

Schwab said having a contemporary gallery in the area allows artists to exhibit work that might not be seen otherwise in other galleries.

"This gallery is a good fixture for the area because there really isn't a lot of contemporary art shown around the area. It's more traditional.

The only limitations are what can fit in the gallery and installation room, he said.

"We accept all forms of art," he said. "It's up to the juror what represents a good body of work."

Last year's show attracted 30 to 40 entries, he said, which ranged from traditional paintings, photographs, sculptures and new media pieces from artists from around the Wabash Valley and central Indianapolis.

"We're trying not just to get Greencastle, but Cloverdale, North Putnam, South Putnam," he said. "We're trying to make a central point where new media can be shown."

Also on display at the gallery is the Indiana Artists Series: 2D(A), an exhibition of work by Michelle Given, Jennifer Herrold, Schwab and Rachel Wolfson.

The show, on display until Nov. 6, is the first of four media-themed group shows that highlight some of the best contemporary artists in the state and features paintings and photographs that focus on the figure and how individuals fit into uncomfortable and unusual spaces.

Schwab, also an artist and photographer at the gallery, said while Low Road attracts mostly a DePauw University crowd, he really encourages the community to come in to engage with the pieces as well.

"(The gallery) has the potential to be a great art community -- DePauw, the high school does some stuff now and then, there's artists that live here," he said. "It's sort of a central area that could be really successful in terms of showing art because it's in the middle of Terre Haute, Bloomington, Indy and West Lafayette."

The Low Road Gallery is located at 111 W. Washington St., at the corner of Washington and Jackson streets across from the courthouse.

Applications to participate in the show are due Friday, and accepted work will be announced Oct. 29. The show, juried by Leslie Sharp of Indiana University, opens Nov. 12.

For the downloadable application, visit www.lowroadgallery.com

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