The Sold Firm Art Gallery Celebrates Grand Opening in Wilmington's Creative District

Content of this post comes from a City of Wilmington press release...

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and City Cultural Affairs Director Tina Betz congratulate Nataki Oliver, owner and operator of The Sold Firm, on the modern art gallery’s official grand opening held Saturday, August 1, 2020. 

The gallery, located at 800-B North Tatnall Street in the City’s Creative District, was founded by Oliver in 2019 to exhibit emerging modern and contemporary artists who tackle diverse subjects such as beauty, sexuality, emotions, and current culture.

“We are very happy to officially welcome Nataki Oliver and The Sold Firm to the Creative District,” said Mayor Purzycki. “This intimate space is an important addition to Wilmington’s cultural life and we are a better, richer City for the incredible talent assembled here. With Art Loop on hold for the foreseeable future, Oliver’s gallery provides a welcome refuge for art lovers from all over the City and the surrounding region.”

“The Sold Firm adds a contemporary newness to its surroundings,” said Oliver. “Fine art, culture, love, and support are our core elements to injecting vibrancy into Wilmington. Residents and visitors are welcome to immerse themselves in this modern art gallery. The collections of modern art displayed here have been carefully curated to represent multiple creative styles that complement our bright, simplistic aesthetic.”

At Saturday’s event, which included a ribbon-cutting and timed gallery tours, two black youths with an interest in the visual arts were presented with complete art kits and private art lessons at The Sold Firm this fall by local artist, James Wyatt. This initiative was funded by proceeds from the sale of OVOW (Our Voices Our Way) T-shirts. The grand opening was also celebrated by Council President Hanifa Shabazz and 4th District Council Member Michelle Harlee.

The Sold Firm’s current group exhibit, “Pendulum Swing,” also kicked off with the gallery’s sold-out grand opening ceremony on Saturday. The exhibit brings together 15 black artists from as far away as Florida to allow their voices about the current climate to be heard through visual art, each with a unique expression that conveys pain, triumph, and optimistic views of their feelings.

All of the “Pendulum Swing” artists will receive a 100% commission on any artwork sold during the public exhibit, which continues until October 30, 2020.

Tickets are available on the gallery’s website at www.thesoldfirm.com. You can also follow @thesoldfirm on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

Pacem in Terris To Host Virtual Youth Art Exhibit

Pacem in Terris is continuing their annual Visionary Peace Youth Art Exhibition -- with a virtual gallery! If you work with children or know others who would be interested in participating, please share this information.

Deadline extended to August 31, 2020!

 

Youth in Grades K-12 are invited to CREATE ART by painting or drawing images that answer the questions: What does peace look like? What does peace mean to you? 

These “Visions of a Peaceful World” will be displayed in an online gallery (take a look at last year’s submissions here). A number of pieces will be selected and framed to join their Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibition, which goes on display at various locations throughout the state, including a scheduled exhibit at The Grand Opera House in downtown Wilmington!

 

Here are the general guidelines:

• Artwork can be created on any type of paper or canvas, any size up to 12” x 16”
• Each piece must be accompanied by a 1-3 sentence statement describing the artist’s vision.
• The artist’s name, age, group, and statement should be written on a separate paper (index card) and attached to the artwork by paper clip.

Your organization will be recognized in the gallery. They will accept up to 30 pieces per site. Include contact information for a teacher/counselor to receive future updates about the exhibition, and coordinate artwork pickup and returns at the end of the year. 

To submit your artwork, or ask any further questions, please contact Carolyn Bitzer at submissions@depaceminterris.org.

Delaware's Poets Laureate (Twin Poets) Receive $50K Award for Community Poetry Project

The content of this post comes from a press release from the Delaware Division of the Arts...

The Academy of American Poets announced today that the Delaware Poets Laureate, Representative Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Al Mills, also known as the Twin Poets, have received $50,000 to launch Write Now!, an art-based community building and engagement series, including workshops, readings and service projects, focused on youth in communities impacted by gun violence and fellow veterans diagnosed with PTSD. The series will culminate with the Write Now! Poetry Festival and will take place in April 2021.

The brothers and identical twins are Licensed Master Social Workers and founders of Art For Life – Delaware, a non-profit youth and community development organization rooted in the arts. The Twin Poets were the subjects of award-winning documentaries: Why I Write and Art For Life; which chronicle their artistic social change efforts. Al is an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD and Nnamdi is a State Representative and professor at Delaware State University.

The Delaware Poets Laureate are two of the 23 individuals that were announced as 2020 Poets Laureate Fellows. These 23 individuals serve as Poets Laureate of states, cities, counties, and the Navajo Nation and will be leading civic poetry programs in their respective communities in the year ahead. They will each receive $50,000 (the Twin Poets will receive $50,000 in total) for a combined total of $1.1 million. In addition, the Academy will also provide $66,500 to 12 local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that have agreed to support the fellows’ proposed projects.

“As we face the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are turning to poetry for comfort and courage. We are honored and humbled in this moment of great need to fund poets who are talented artists and community organizers, who will most certainly help guide their communities forward,” said Jennifer Benka, President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets.

Through its Poets Laureate Fellowship program, the Academy has become the largest financial supporter of poets in the nation. The fellowship program is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which, in January of this year, awarded the Academy $4.5 million. The award will fund the program in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

“We are gratified to support the poets laureate fellows as they engage their communities around the unprecedented challenges of our moment, making work that provides meaning, brings beauty, and helps us, in Lucille Clifton’s words, ‘sail through this to that,’” said Elizabeth Alexander, poet and President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The 2020 Poets Laureate Fellows and the communities they serve are: Honey Bell-Bey (Cuyahoga County, OH), Tina Cane (Rhode Island), Tina Chang (Brooklyn, NY), Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Al Mills aka Twin Poets (Delaware), Rosemarie Dombrowski (Phoenix, AZ), Beth Ann Fennelly (Mississippi), Angelo Geter (Rock Hill, SC), Margaret Gibson (Connecticut), Rodney Gomez (McAllen, TX), Elizabeth Jacobson (Santa Fe, NM), Stuart Kestenbaum (Maine), Susan Landgraf (Auburn, WA), Maria Lisella (Queens, NY), Porsha Olayiwola (Boston, MA), Alexandria Peary (New Hampshire), Emmy Pérez (Texas), Mary Ruefle (Vermont), Janice Lobo Sapigao (Santa Clara County, CA), John Warner Smith (Louisiana), Laura Tohe (Navajo Nation), Amie Whittemore (Murfreesboro, TN), and Assétou Xango (Aurora, CO).

Additional information about the Academy of American Poets 2020 Poets Laureate Fellows and their projects is available on the Academy’s website.

About the Delaware Poet LaureateDelaware’s Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the Governor. The Poet Laureate serves as an advocate, educator, and presenter of poetry throughout the state. Delaware’s Poet Laureate program is managed by the Delaware Division of the Arts. The Division promotes the Poet Laureate’s events and activities and manages the calendar of appearances and provides a stipend to the Poet Laureate for appearances at nonprofit organizations. More information about the program is available at: https://arts.delaware.gov/poet-laureate/.