Prepping the pieces

Art House's winter exhibit opens Thursday with reception, runs until Jan. 30

Brian Mahieu, director and curator of Art House, adjusts a mechanism he uses to hang framed art on the gallery walls. The gallery's winter exhibit will be on display Dec. 4- Jan. 30.
Brian Mahieu, director and curator of Art House, adjusts a mechanism he uses to hang framed art on the gallery walls. The gallery's winter exhibit will be on display Dec. 4- Jan. 30.

With a large framed painting in hand, Brian Mahieu walked from one side of Art House's gallery to the other Monday night - his eyes searching for the right spot. Mahieu, director and curator of Art House, stopped in the middle of the gallery and said, "We are out of wall space."

Mahieu and Art House artist and volunteer Clarence Wolfshohl both hung up paintings

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AP

A Christian pilgrim prays inside the Grotto, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the Church of Nativity, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009.

and photographs and found the right shelf for baskets Monday night in preparation for the gallery's Winter Exhibit. The exhibit, which will be open to the public free of charge from Dec. 4 through Jan. 30, opens with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday. The gallery is spending the next few days finding space for the work of about 100 artists included in the show.

"The gallery is really, really full," Mahieu said. "There are lots of new work."

The show includes paintings, photographs, jewelry, ceramics, handmade cards, sculptures and textiles. The gallery added new photographers, more ceramics and more art jewelry, which Mahieu said is very affordable. The gallery also added scarves that local woman Ann Mayes made from Alpaca wool.

"We wanted to get a lot more three-dimensional work and we definitely did," Mahieu said.

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AP/The News Tribune

Soldiers pray during a Christmas Eve candlelight Service at Al Faw Palace in Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. More than 400 military and civilian personnel turned out for the service.

One artist made what Mahieu described as free-form woven baskets made out of pine needles in a Native American tradition.

"They are really beautiful. They are abstract," Mahieu said. "They are not functional, purely abstract."

Of the about 100 artists in the show, Mahieu said approximately 75 percent of them are from within 50 miles of the gallery - with some artists from as far away as St. Louis. Art House represents about 80 artists.

For the Winter Exhibit, the gallery partnered with Best of Missouri Hands to bring in some artists' work from other parts of the state.

"It's a beautiful show with lots of really neat things," Mahieu said. "People will be very excited. Usually you have to go to St. Louis or a bigger city (to see work like this)."

The exhibit, Mahieu said, has items in every price range starting at $5 handmade greeting cards. He said people can feel intimidated by art galleries. But, he added, there is no need for visitors to feel intimidated.

"This is about educating people about art," Mahieu said. "We want to invite people in. It's not a high-brow thing. It's art for everybody."

After Dec. 4, the exhibit will be open - free of charge - Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Art House is located at 531 Court Street in downtown Fulton.