first friday

Dathan Kane Exhibit

An exhibition by Dathan Kane and curated by Asa Jackson, Kane works with bold, abstract, black & white organic shapes to reflect things he sees on a daily basis. Hard lines & edges capture your attention and question the absence of color. Kane is an artist born and raised from Hampton, VA. He has received his Bachelors of Fine Art degree from Virginia State University in 2014 where he focused primarily on illustration and painting. His work has been exhibited across the peninsula at various galleries including the Meredith Art Gallery in Petersburg VA, Newsome House Gallery in Newport News, Downing Gross Cultural Art Center in Newport News, 670 Gallery in Hampton, Charles H. Taylor Art Center in Hampton, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Can Festival 2015/2016, the Armstrong/Slater Gallery at Hampton University, Neon Festival 2017 in Norfolk, An Achievable Dream Middle & High school in Newport News, Hermitage Museum in Norfolk, Virginia MOCA in Virginia Beach, James River Country Club in Newport News as well as Elixir Sensory Gallery in Hampton. He also completed various murals across the city of Hampton and had his first international exhibition in 2017 at the Sichuan Contemporary Gallery in China.

“I look at black and white as a choice between one thing or another and if this is the decision I choose…let it be a bold!” – Dathan Kane

Live Music with Narissa Bond

Blessed with a warm soprano, this award-winning musician has released several albums including one, “False Gods”, scheduled for 2017. You can hear her idols in her music, from Joni Mitchell’s finely crafted songs, and from Tracy Chapman, a sharp rhythmic and melodic sense. But Narissa is her own woman. She studied classical music, and jazz guitar, and there are elements of that in her work, as well as a nod to the blues and a strong connection to contemporary folk.

“Narissa has set a new standard for the art of singing and songwriting … she is the real thing.” – DJ Barry Graham

First Friday sponsored by Ron and Karen Flow

Gloria Coker: “Poetry, Music & Motion”

“Poetry, Music & Motion” – An Exhibition by Gloria Coker

Gloria was always the kid in elementary and high school who was prodded by her classmates to draw the teacher. A good way to get into trouble. But she never planned an art career- too much insecurity. So no art school, but rather a major in psychology and employment in the mental health field which thrives on insecurity. Then after 4 years of taking classes while raising two children, Gloria received her M.ed in Counseling at William and Mary and immediately joined the staff of the Daily Press as a news illustrator and courtroom artist ( including the spy trial of John Walker’s brother, Arthur).

Her series of paintings of important women began and ended when she asked JoAnn Falletta to be a subject for the series and instead wound up producing art for four years for the Virginia Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic. Thus began a continuing series involving music. Then after three years of ballroom dance lessons with her husband it was a natural evolution to paintings of dance. And now she turns her attention to abstract landscapes that often have hidden figures. Just cannot shake the human figure!

In 2008 she was nominated for the prestigious ALLI award. She has been a wine label illustrator, an art teacher, lecturer, book and magazine illustrator, workshop teacher, and all around contributor to the arts in her community. She has shown in many galleries, solo shows, prizes and has collectors such as Tom Clancy, JoAnn Falletta, Fuzzy Zoeller, the family of Bruce Hornsby and Ernie Els.

Her work was used in posters for the Harborfest in Norfolk and for three years for posters in Hampton Bay Days. Large pieces of children by Gloria hang in the Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk. A painting of the submarine “Newport News” is in the collection of Harbor Bank with prints in every Newport News public school. One of her paintings would have been seen on the Dexter series had the camera gone to the top of the stairs and there are glimpses of two paintings in the December 2011 TV movie “Christmas Kiss”.

Live music provided by Lori de los Santos & John Sullivan.

Lori de los Santos is a singer/songwriter who lives in Gloucester, Virginia. With her husband, John Sullivan on bass, they play acoustic songs from all genres of music including folk, blues and Americana as well as some of Lori’s original songs.

Lori has been playing guitar and writing songs since the mid-1970’s, influenced by artists such as Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Billie Holiday, Lead Belly and Flora Purim. She was one of the top ten finalists of the TAO Sea Level Singer/Songwriter Festival Emerging Artist Contest of 2009 and has performed with local musicians and at the Blackberry Jam Festival in Franklin, Tennessee with “Carol & Dale”. She is one of the vocalists on their album “Be Here Now”. Currently, Lori is performing and touring with Williamsburg singer/songwriter, Mark Rogers, as part of his band.

John Sullivan has been studying bass for the past four years and has begun to perform with local musicians as well. He decided that after years of being a “roadie” he wanted to play!

The opening is from 6:00pm-8:00pm and is free and open to the public, with beer, wine and paninis available. The exhibition runs for the month of October.

“Pictures of You”

Alexandria Moulenbelt is an emerging artist known for creating visual dreamscapes using a unique combination of monoprint, collage, and acrylic paint. Subjects include architecture, landscape, and figures, all translated with a strong feminist voice. Her work is expressionist with an abstract lean and includes striking use of color and texture. Outside of the studio, Alexandria is a special education teacher in Gloucester as well as a mom of teens (and dogs). She recently returned from a summer residency in Orquevaux, France, where she explored new subjects and exchanged ideas and techniques with artists from all over the world which are featured in September’s exhibit.

“Objects in the world to me are a mysterious composition of color, line, and shape. The landscape is slightly crooked and sentient. In my work, I attempt to create a type of dreamscape tableau that represents the way things appear and feel inside my experience. I don’t think my eyesight is flawed, nor do I believe my experience is unique. My work tells stories that are joyful, stories that are complicated, stories that connect us all in the human experience.”

Also during the month of September, Arts on Main will hosting a special exhibition “Images of Rosewell”, featuring work in a variety of mediums including watercolor, oil, drawings and more. Artist included are Jane King, John Gill, Maynard Nichols, and Agnes Johnson.

Come and enjoy the sounds of Kate Stedelbauer for our live music during First Friday. Stedelbauer is a Virginia-based singer/songwriter. Her musical influences include Joni Mitchell, Kacey Musgraves, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, John Prine and many other artists and songwriters in the country, folk, and indie genres. Kate’s songs range from poignant ballads to bouncy tongue-in-cheek slices of life. Her sets include covers of the Dixie Chicks, John Prine, and Miranda Lambert, as well as her original music.

The opening is from 6:00pm-8:00pm and is free and open to the public, with beer, wine and paninis available. The exhibition runs for the month of September.