Story By John Mann
The Mountain Valley Arts Council in Guntersville held a special reception Tuesday in honor of their new summer exhibits, showing off works from three Alabama artists in a range of mediums.
Tiavalya Befecadu comes to Guntersville from Huntsville, bringing her textile work to the gallery. A photographer by trade Befecadu began quilting during the covid pandemic, turning photographs into quilts that represent Alabama and Black history.
“Most of my quilts I start with a photograph,” she said. “Each one tells a story and the reason I do it is to keep their history going. I have one here that shows the Alabama Orphan Home School that started out as a photo of an orphanage in Huntsville from 1917. It was an all-Black orphanage and there was a band there that traveled around the Southeast to raise money, I took that black and white photo and made it into a colorful quilt.”
A former state trooper from upstate New York Keith Paine is a fairly recent transplant to Marshall county, bringing five of his hand built guitars to the gallery. A long time guitar player as well Paine builds his guitars from recycled wood to create new, beautiful instruments.
Of the five guitars on display two of them were built specifically for the gallery exhibition. His “new antique guitars” are made from a variety of woods with some coming from furniture and buildings as far back as the 1800s.
“My grandfather was a massive carpenter and I took a lot of what I know from him,” Paine said. “The rest though was just a lot of trial and error and learning along the way.”
The last artist of the trio is Boaz resident Marcia Blouin who has a whole host of paintings on display, many of which depict close ups of flowers but also includes some portraits.
A former art teacher Blouin has also worked as a graphic and floral designer. Now that she’s retired, she has been able to set up her own studio, with the MVAC gallery being her first art showing.
“I’m on cloud nine this is wonderful,” Blouin said. “I’m thrilled they accepted my work and that I can show it to my family and friends and meet so many great people. The gallery is beautiful and I love the architecture of these downtown areas, everyone has been so welcoming and I couldn’t be happier.”
The reception was also joined by piano player and Albertville favorite Norman Jenkins, who has been playing in the area for over fifty years. Jenkins plays with no music in front of him, taking suggestions from the audience and playing from memory. MVAC President Becky Scheinert says that Jenkins “has an amazingly deep repertoire and is a superb musician.”
Visitors to the gallery this summer will be able to see the works of the three featured artists, but also the Art by Members display featuring pieces by other talented local artists, a selection of books written or illustrated by local authors and even a rock painting station for young visitors.
The Mountain Valley Arts Council gallery is located at 440 Gunter Avenue and is open five days a week. From Tuesday to Friday they are open from 10 am until 3 pm while on Saturday they close an hour earlier at 2 pm. More information about MVAC and their featured exhibits can be found on their website at mvacarts.org.
