‘Women Create’ Exhibits in Jamestown, February 11- March 31

"Guiness" by Jenny Brown of Lakewood

JAMESTOWN, NY - The 3rd on 3rd Gallery at the Reg Lenna Civic Center will mark its one year anniversary with the “Women Create” Exhibit showcasing the talents of 40 local artists. The juried art collection is as varied as the women themselves, with an eclectic variety of art and media, representing the work of students, hobbyists, and professional artists.

Founders Debra Eck and Jennifer Schlick built on the success of last year’s SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) event at Infinity Performing Arts saying the show was well received by the community. Eck, who is a member of the National Women’s Initiative said,“the show was a good start, but we weren’t satisfied...we felt it had so much more potential to be developed into another event.”

With the goal to promote women artists in the community year round, the two then formed CAW, or Creative Arts of Women. Their collaboration lead to The Women Create Exhibit, as well as spin-off events, including workshops and salons, culminating with a celebration on March 31of SWAN Day.

"Simplicity of Rocks" by Sue McNamara of Fredonia

“It’s not so much about creativity as much as it is about art as this hidden economic driver, says Eck. The collection is diverse with a variety of art and media including three dimensional pieces, paintings, and fiber art.economic driver,” says Eck. For Women Create, Schlick said,“we put out a call for work and asked women to submit images. We had over 50 artists and over 150 works.” A small committee was formed to judge the submissions and how the pieces would work within the gallery space, which Schlick describes as similar to a New York City loft.economic driver,” says Eck. “SWAN highlights the economic contribution that women’s art makes to the community all over the world.”

An entire wall of the exhibit will feature what are called flag books, which will display among their accordion folded pages the photos of women artists at work. Schlick and Eck were the first to receive a grant for the flag-book presentation from the Ray and Wyn Evans Foundation.The goal being to make visible the invisible contributions of women to the creative and economic communities in which they live. After March, the books will be available for display in other venues.

"I Say Jump" by Judith Whitaker of Frewsburg

The community can participate in creation of flag books wall through a series of workshops which will be held at Infinity Performing Arts in February and March.

In addition, the gallery will feature a series of artists’ salons which will be a chance for the public to meet and ask questions of artists, who will be discussing their work. The salons will take place on February 22, March 7, and March 21 at the gallery.

SWAN Day will be celebrated internationally on March 31. In Jamestown, activities will feature workshops, gallery viewing and vendor displays.

The Women Create Exhibit will be on display February 11-March 31 and is presented in cooperation with the Chautauqua County Arts Council. Women Create will be the gallery’s first major juried show and the second major group/multi-artists show since it opened last year. 3rd on 3rd is located adjacent to the Reg Lenna Civic Center at 116 E. Third Street. For more information go to womencreate.wordpress.com.