The People's Gallery

GlowingHouse, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

Recently, I found out that one of my images was selected for The People’s Gallery. Now, just what is a “People’s Gallery” and why might I care? Well, I’d be happy to tell you. (Ahem, for those of you who want “the quick answer” click here. )

The People’s Gallery is run by the City of Austin as part of the Art in Public Places incentives. According to the website, “Austin City Hall showcases the talents of local artists with an extensive annual art exhibition in the atrium and open areas of the first three floors. The People’s Gallery is designed to encourage public dialogue, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts.

Approximately 150 contemporary artworks are on display, including paintings, photographs, sculptures and other mediums. The success of this program is due to the generosity of the Austin artists, galleries, collectors and museums who loan their pieces to the exhibition for the enjoyment of Austin residents and visitors to City Hall. ”

This year, they had something like 2300 entries for The People’s Gallery and, as part of their selection process, they chose the image that you see here: “Glowing House.”

A great thing about the City Hall in Austin is that it’s a new, wonderful, modern building. It’s got copper accents and extensive stonework. I actually really like the architecture of the building-having art displayed inside (or actually, as an integral part of) exciting architecture makes it even more fun for me. I enjoy good architecture and, frankly, the City Hall in Austin is just that. It’s pretty. I can’t wait to walk around inside of it, and I’m secretly (ok, maybe not so secretly) hoping I can sneak some pictures while I’m there.

The selection process for The People’s Gallery is difficult and I do feel honored to be a part of it. I am also looking forward to showcasing some of my more recent night work, as I’ve been very into night photography as of late, and it’s good to sort of see it come out, be shared, and show it more. I would eventually love to be able to do an entire show of night work, but that will probably take me some time and, frankly, I’m having too much fun just shooting the night stuff to even think about showing it (too much.) It’s been a fun, wild ride. The Austin Night Photography group is now 75 members strong and I’m credited with helping raise the awareness and increase interest in night photography in and around Austin. That’s great news, of course, and so I’m a bit humbled by all the recent attention yet happy that my image was selected.

Starting next week, for the remainder of the calendar year 2010, my work will be on display at the Austin City Hall. I’ve been asked numerous times and, sorry to say, no, I do not yet know the location (where they are going to put my photo.) I’ll know that after the public reception marking the opening of the People’s Gallery for 2010.

For those of you who do not have access to the Austin City Hall, the story of The People’s Gallery is a good lesson. City Hall is not a place you’d usually go and expect to see great artwork. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that, for the most part, City Hall’s tend to have rather dull artwork, if any at all. By taking an otherwise “empty” landscape, and filling it with local artwork, the City of Austin has given the local arts community a bit of a boost. They’ve provided an exhibition venue that wasn’t there before, and they’ve supported local artists. That’s a great thing. Especially given the current economic climate, anytime artists can sort of “create a venue” or get creative in the way they showcase their work, it usually works out for the benefit of not only the local region, but the artist’s themselves. Put simply, when you make a new venue, everybody wins.

Everybody, that is, including the people, who get to enjoy the new gallery space.

Until next time…