EVA ANDREWS
KRISTEN MAIKOO
PHOTOS BY ARIEL BECKER
Staff from Salem’s yearbook, Sights and Insights, set up a table at Artworks Gallery on Trade St. during Gallery Hop on Oct. 7 in honor of World Smile Day and National Yearbook Week. Staff members and volunteers handed out disposable cameras. Art professor Kim Varnadoe is the faculty advisor for Sights and Insights.
The yearbook’s editor-in-chief, Amanda Blount, says, “Sights and Insights was hoping to get the campus involved in the community and the arts by recognizing Yearbook Week on Smile Day at the beautiful Artworks Gallery. Thanks to our wonderful advisor, Kim Varnadoe, for the cool space. We were really excited about how many Salem people we saw there despite the bad weather and it being right at the beginning of break.”
Varnadoe and ‘13 Salem alum Taylor Hayes also each had their artwork featured at Artworks Gallery as part of an exhibit called “The Light Gets In,” which was on display from Oct. 2 to Oct. 29.
Junior Ariel Becker, who visited the art exhibit, enjoyed her experience at Gallery Hop.“I like seeing the artwork because my minor is in art. And I have always been interested in it, so it was very fun, plus I get extra credit, plus it was for work study, to go take pictures,” says Becker.
Gallery Hop takes place on the first Friday of every month from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in downtown Winston-Salem. Art galleries feature local artists’ work and attendees can come and go as they please. The Arts District is home to small business owners that support local artists. Restaurants and small businesses display local art to support fellow entrepreneurs.
The Winston-Salem Downtown Arts District Association (DADA) website mentions the reason for Gallery Hop. “These are the businesses that make up DADA- Where Art Lives! And we all do this because we are dedicated to Winston Salem, Community Art, Education and the sense of Neighborhood. So of course, you know we love sharing the art, craft, music, poetry, dance and festivities of our neighborhood.”
The Arts District is a vibrant area of Winston-Salem and Gallery Hop is a chance for Salem students to introduce themselves to the area and the arts in the city.
thesalemite.org 