This March, In-Town Gallery, located on Chattanooga’s hip to historic North Shore, is proud to feature a special presentation of new mixed media art by Mindy June Kelly.
The framework for her art is derived from old books, magazines, notes and manuals which she has collected over the years. Mindy takes these overlooked or forgotten bits of history and gives them a new life in her work by mixing these materials with paint, pencil, and ink to tell a new story. Her resulting works of art are not only beautiful but also tell a story.
Mindy is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and has called Chattanooga home since 2006. Mindy spent 20 years in the beauty industry. She was an Aveda salon owner and educator the last ten years of her time in that career. Mindy has been creating art since she can remember and chose to shift her professional focus in that direction in 2017.
She has been featured in various art shows, including Four Bridges, and different venues in Chattanooga. Her artwork also resides in private collections around the Southeast and as far as Bahrain. Mindy formerly served as an Executive Director for an arts non-profit using her business acumen and passion for people and the arts in that role.
Mindy chose mixed media as her focus in art making because she loves to collect bits of history that are overlooked or forgotten. Old books, magazines, and manuals are given new life in her work that mixes collage with paint, pencil, and ink to tell a new story. Mindy is currently working on two series. The first is the Beauty series started in 2017 and ever evolving featuring portraits of women.
The series began with a vast collection of beauty industry magazines and has continued to evolve. Her new series, Edge of Chaos is inspired by the very same theory in physics. Each piece uses various techniques relying on the chemical reaction of materials and the building of layers to dictate the direction each piece takes.
Mindy currently serves on the board of the Association for Visual Artists and is a past graduate of the Holmberg Arts Leadership program. She is a trustee with her husband Bryan for the UNFoundation and has served on several grant panels in Chattanooga. Mindy currently works at Tandem Financial Partners in an Administrative Support role while also expanding her art career and teaching creative art workshops in Chattanooga.
In-Town Gallery is artist owned and managed since 1974. The Gallery moved to its current location at 26A Frazier Avenue more than 20 years ago and is now one of the oldest artist cooperatives in the U.S. It continues to exhibit the best in contemporary art and fine American craft by established and award-winning local artists.
The Gallery is open from Thursday through Sunday, 12:00 to 5:00
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