ARA gets Positive Reaction from Cotton Gin Festival Visitors

The annual Cotton Gin Festival in Bostwick, GA has increased tremendously in size over the past few years. Even though the festival was postponed from its regular 1st Saturday in November date to Nov. 14th, it was very well attended. The ARA exhibit has become part of the festival since November, 2013 and through the gracious support of the Bostwick community leaders, the ARA exhibit is allowed inside the historic Susie Agnes Hotel. Here is a link to the history of the Hotel: http://www.bostwickga.com/history.html

We have received many very positive reviews of the exhibit by local residents and traveling visitors alike. Many viewers are pleased that the ARA members chose to help preserve the memory of our region's and America's small farms that have been rapidly disappearing from the nation. It is a nostalgic visual, and through the ARA video, musical and informative trip through the rural farming countryside.

ARA exhibiting members include 14 artists, photographers, and potters; 14 writers who have contributed poetry, short stories, and narratives to our book as well as wall hangings, 3 musicians ranging from traditional rural music to specialty songs written expressly for the ARA exhibit series.

Here are a few photos from the Nov. 14 event:

Abandoned Rural America to exhibit in Alabama

The Abandoned Rural America exhibition series expands beyond the Georgia borders

After 4 years of growth, exhibitions around Georgia, and presentations to regional civic groups, ARA is about to present it's exhibit to Alabama residents. The historic Kelly Fitzgerald Memorial Gallery in Wetumpka, just north of Montgomery, will host an exhibition of works by our 14 artists and artisans as well as a presentation of several poems and short essays written expressly for ARA by associated writers from the Greensboro Writers' Guild. There is traditional music representing the rural scene and 2 songs written expressly for the exhibition series used in the 40 minute ARA video, also to be shown. The Wetumpka community artists and students will be presenting their own adjunct exhibition related to the rural and farming theme that Abandoned Rural America represents. Please join us from the middle of next January through April and celebrate America's farm country and the people who worked hard to feed a nation and most of the world.

Exact dates for the exhibit opening through closing including reception dates will be forthcoming in a future post.

Thank you for your interest in the ARA series.

Here are some photos from past exhibits: