Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The doors of the Johnson Center for the Arts on East Walnut Street in downtown are now open once again.

And those who enter those doors will experience a world of artistic wonder, said Brenda Campbell, JCA director.

The artwork of Mary Ann Casey and Glen Wills is not-to-be-missed Campbell said. And, it is because of COVID-19 that the exhibitions still hang.

“We are carrying over the previously planned exhibitions for the summer until spring so that gives those who missed Mary Ann’s ‘Let Go. Be Loved’ and Glen’s ‘Forgotten Alabama’ a second chance to see these amazing exhibits.

Campbell said Casey has strong ties to Troy and her artwork is popular with local collectors as well as those throughout the Southeast.

“‘Let’s Go. Be Loved’ features Casey’s portraits of ethnic women,” Campbell said. “The portraits include African-American, Native American and Asian women. The exhibition also includes her amazingly colorful abstracts of bright colors-reds and oranges- pastels on white backgrounds and blacks and whites. It’s like four exhibits in one.”

Campbell said Wills’ photography of “forgotten” structures had people coming back time and again before the JCA closed due to the coronavirus.

“Glen captures these aging, dilapidated and abandoned structures –bridges, barns, houses, buildings — so wonderfully,” Campbell said. “With a simple camera, he captures the spirit of the history of Alabama in a way that no one else has or maybe can.”

Campbell said the JCA presented a virtual walk-through art talk on its facebook page and website with Wills that attracted more than 8,000 views.

“We were very excited and very proud of the response,” she said.

The Casey/Wills exhibitions will close on August 1.

JCA current hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Admission is free.

Local artist Charles Adams, Best of Show winner at TroyFest 2019 will be the featured artist beginning August 5.

Guadalupe Robinson with her quilts and pots; Lynette and Steven Loucks with their pottery; and Vincent Buwalda with his metal sculpture are also upcoming featured artists at the JCA.

X