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The town of Danville’s current juried art exhibit has premiered, showcasing a range of literary-themed pieces that will be on display throughout the summer along with public art related to the same theme.
“The Art of the Story” is the town’s annual juried art exhibit, which debuted with an opening reception on June 9 alongside the Danville Library’s Book Bench project.
“The theme of the juried exhibit always changes, and we were just kind of intrigued by the idea of doing art, like a show, where the art work has been inspired by stories or books or repurposed books … and it kind of ties in the theme with our public art project for the summer,” visual arts program coordinator Marija Nelson Bleier said.
This year marks the town’s 13th juried art exhibit, but the first time intentionally coordinating the exhibit around the same theme as public art installations over the summer months.
So far, the idea has been a hit according to Bleier, who said the June 9 opening celebrations for the juried exhibit and the library’s “book benches” were well-attended and served as a warm welcome for the two projects.
“We had a really great turnout for people coming to see the book benches on the patio and experience the exhibit inside the gallery, and we got lots of great feedback from everyone who attended,” Bleier said.
Organizers were unsure what kind of works they would see submitted when they chose this year’s theme, and were pleasantly surprised by the range and quality of submissions under “The Art of the Story” theme, Bleier said.
“Some of it I would say that we were actually really delighted by some of the really great things that were entered,” Bleier said. “We have a really cool piece of video art that’s totally unique, we have a book guitar that was created, so I would say we were kind of happily surprised and delighted.”
Submissions were sought from an array of artists, and yielded an even larger array of pieces than what were ultimately selected to put on display.
“Once they saw all the different submissions we were really trying to curate an exhibit that really tied in with the theme, so making sure art that’s in the gallery right now is inspired by a book or story or made from a book,” Bleier said.
The result is an exhibit encompassing a wide range of art techniques and methods, all inspired by this year’s theme.
“There’s a range of art,” Bleier said. “There’s everything from sculpture to video arts to collage arts to really beautiful more traditional paintings, so it’s an eclectic collection of work.”
In addition to the formal artwork on display in a gallery setting at the Village Theatre, the town partnered with the Danville Library this year on their “Bound for Books” benches, with two community pianos set to be painted with book-themed designs submitted by San Ramon Valley students.
“The Art of the Story” is on display through Aug. 11 during museum hours. The benches will continue to be displayed until Sept. 25, when they will be auctioned off during a closing reception for the art exhibit and public art projects.
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