Avondale Celebrates 100 Years

FYI: From The Birmingham News


Area artists to exhibit in long-running series
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
VICTORIA L. COMANNews staff writer
Birmingham-area artists are helping the Avondale Regional Branch Library celebrate its 100th Anniversary.
Artists who live, work or have an interest in Avondale are presenting "Art of a Creative Professional," a monthly lecture and demonstration series that begins this month. The series is running through early next year.
Each month, the artists will exhibit their work in the foyer of the Avondale Library. One Sunday of the month, the artists are to give a lecture or demonstration of their work and share personal experiences about being professional artists.
Avondale Library was established for the former Town of Avondale in 1908. The first building was paid for with money from the Carnegie Foundation. Avondale was a mill town east of Birmingham that served the families and workers of Avondale Mills.
By 1913, the library became a branch of the Birmingham Public Library System. The current building at 509 40th Street South has been open since 1961, but it has been renovated through the years.
Fran Nagy, potter/sculptor who owns Imagine Clay Studio in South Avondale, said the artists are participating to showcase their work and their different forms of art and to help attract people to the library.
"Avondale has so many creative professionals who either have a working studio in the area or they live in the area. They are just as diverse as the community in their creative fields," Nagy said. "We hope to inspire people in the community, especially the children, to come in to see what the library has to offer."
Nagy is the first artist in the series to display her pieces at the library. On April 27 at 3 p.m., Nagy will demonstrate techniques on how to work clay on a pottery wheel.
The library will each month feature books and other reading materials that correspond to the artists' displays and presentations, Nagy said.
"Anybody can come in and find out more about clay, glass, commercial photography, stone sculpture or painting and actually have an opportunity to meet an artist who is doing this as a profession," she said. "Maybe they can ask questions about how someone got started. So, we also hope to inspire people to look into different creative avenues."
E-mail: vcoman@bhamnews.com
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