Be the first to see art events at First Thursday, First Friday

You can be among the first to see “Ugly Art,” a series of short plays to be presented at First Thursday on Main, and “For the Fun of It: Playfulness in Art,” a Gallery West exhibition to open during the First Friday State Street Art Crawl.

‘Ugly Art’

“Ugly Art,” a partnership among Columbia Children’s Theatre, First Thursday on Main, and Grapes & Gallery, is a series of short plays to be presented over eight months during the First Thursday events.

The series features several members of the Columbia Children’s Theatre’s adult professional company (and they’re performing for adults).

Performances will be 6:30 p.m. at Tapp’s Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. at Anastasia & Friends Gallery, and 8:30 p.m. at Grapes & Gallery during every First Thursday event from November through June.

Each 15-minute playlet takes place in an art gallery and revolves around a piece of monochromatic art that inspires a narrative exploring love, art and life.

The series, directed by Larry Hembree, features local actors Perry Simpson, Kathy Sykes, Mary Miles, Jackie Rowe, Baker Morrison, Jonathan Jackson, Carol Beis, Toni Moore, Jennifer Moody Sanchez, Noah Barker and Rachel Cooper.

“I have worked with Terry Roueche for over 25 years and am delighted to be presenting his entire ‘Ugly Art’ series over the next eight months,” Hembree said.

“The series is perfect for the First Thursday event, and what a pleasure to produce them in site-specific spaces featuring some of my favorite performers in the area.”

The first installation, “The Associate,” will be performed by Perry Simpson and Kathy Sykes.

‘For the Fun of It’

At the First Friday State Street Art Crawl, Gallery West will open a collection of “beautifully fun and playfully beautiful” work by 15 artists.

The exhibition’s featured artist is Frances Turner, a contemporary doll maker from Dayton, Ohio.

Drawing influence from African and Southern cultures and a 50-year career as a seamstress and tailor, Turner uses natural fabrics and African textiles to create dolls.

Many of the meticulously created dolls – which tend to have tiny, hand-stitched shoes, hats and accessories – are based on figures from African American history.

Other artists whose work is feature in the exhibition are:

▪ Bobby Baker of Columbia; found and altered lamps.

▪ Felted Shelter Pets of Lindenhurst, New York; sculptural woodland animals of hand-felted wool.

▪ Kara Gunter of West Columbia; fused glass wall lighting.

▪ Jennifer Hill of Columbia: creatures and characters of hand-felted wool in glass containers.

▪ Lyon Hill of Columbia; sculpted and handmade puppets.

▪ Bri Kinard of Columbia; ceramic sculpture.

▪ Janet Oliver of Greensboro, North Carolina; watercolor.

▪ Tabitha Ott of Columbia; wearable art.

▪ Plessinger Brothers Studio of Dayton, Ohio; imaginative woodwork.

▪ Virginia Scotchie of Columbia; ceramic sculpture.

▪ Kelly and Spenser Schull of Columbia; plush toys, vinyl and resin toys and art prints.

▪ Greyson Smith of Columbia; image transfers and ink on paper.

▪ Marie van Vuureen Stone of Greensboro; watercolor.

▪ Marius Valdes of Columbia; paintings, drawings and prints.

The reception features wine and sweets from Desserts by Noelle, as well as the Art-O-Mat, provided by One Columbia.

The Art-O-Mat, the brainchild of artist Clark Whittington of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a repurposed vintage cigarette machine that dispenses cigarette-box-sized art in place of actual cigarettes.

The Columbia Art-O-Mat accepts $5 bills and is filled with miniature work by artists from around the country.