Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1510185
502 Cherr y Street • 478.227.7785 • www.thebohemianden.com SHOP ONLINE TODAY! Join us for Mindfulness Monday guided meditation at noon. technicolor fire hose works give an industrial counterweight to the delicate, intricate quilts, scarves, and clothing showcased by McQueen. McQueen states, "I dye and pattern blank fabric, turning it into stories about complex political and social relations. Until 1987, all my creations were short statements about color, pattern, and shapes, which became clothes. [Being] invited to do a one-person exhibit gave me an opportunity to direct those primary skills toward more stories about family, biography, literacy … Today, I am challenged to tell a story about my all-encompassing interest in the human dialogue between artist and the public – thus The Canopy Project." With free public admission in an area of town long bypassed in favor of development further north, the Bicentennial Art Show is a testament to that mission of "human dialogue between artists and the public," allowing us to have deeper, more creative discussions about our future. The Bicentennial Committee has complemented Mayor Miller and Macon- Bibb County's vision of reimagining what a shopping mall can be. Soon, it will house the world's largest indoor pickleball facility, a 12,000-seat amphitheater, a library, county offices – and perhaps most excitingly, the only site in the state where voters can queue in a weather-protected, climate-controlled facility, enhancing civil rights for all. Through the art shows, it has become a mecca for local fine artists during the bicentennial. Check out the exhibition at the Macon Mall gallery, near the first-floor food court, and dream with us about Macon's storied past, vibrant present, and bright future. powerful characters that they feel like novels condensed into single paintings. OAG President Colin Penndorf's geometric works in charcoal feel like spinning through Macon's architecture in a world of black and white, and Eddy Grimm's handmade welding and Kabuki-inspired masks grimace down at their viewers alongside Dylan Treend's psychedelic studies of curve and color. The Canopy Project by McQueen has anchored all three shows. A stunning installation of 25 banners in scrim-weight cotton that unfurl from the vaulted skylight in the atrium, the 40-foot-long vibrant artworks waver high overhead in the ventilation dra s, transmuting the fluorescent atmosphere into something rose- tinted and evocative. McQueen employs cotton and African dyeing techniques, inspired by McQueen's family heritage (her grandfather worked in a cotton mill in North Carolina) and travels on the African continent in search of color and pattern. Upstairs, McQueen's solo gallery, evergreen for the nine-month series, hosts work from visiting artists including Marvin Holloway, whose grand-scale, Wini McQueen, The Canopy, hand-dyed cotton banners, photo by Sierra Stark Stevens