Heading South - Scenes of Rural Georgia

June 2 - 27 - Opening Reception Saturday, June 5, 7-9 pm

Heading South - Scenes of Rural Georgia

Chad Cole | Shannon Evans | Allison J. Smith

Curated by Kelsey McMillan

Heading South - Scenes from Rural Georgia

by Curator Kelsey McMillan

It’s not hard to understand why so many people prefer driving the back roads around Jefferson County and the rest of rural Georgia. Expansive fields of snowy white cotton in the fall, large pastures with cows roaming around and grazing on fresh green grass, and old cars and historic barns slowly decaying on the side of the road are all common sights that testify to the unique beauty of the rural south. Even outsiders who are unfamiliar with the land and its history can appreciate the sheer beauty of a golden sunrise over crops still draped in early morning mist, or the somewhat comical juxtaposition of hundred-year-old crumbling farmhouse across the street from a brand new shopping center.

These are the images that make driving long distances through rural Georgia so breathtaking, and what inspires so many artists to photograph, draw, paint, print, and sculpt the landscape. Chad Cole, Shannon Evans and Allison J. Smith are three artists who have each recently created a series of artwork focusing on the unique draw of the rural South, and will be exhibiting their work in the June exhibit at The Fire House Gallery entitled, Heading South - Scenes from Rural Georgia.

Flannery's Barn, by Chad Cole

Mr. Cole, who teaches art at a preparatory day school in Martinez, GA, is most notably a painter and woodblock printmaker who studied art at both the University of Texas at Austin and at Augusta State University. He often finds his inspiration for his artwork while driving around the back roads of Georgia in search of architecturally unique structures such as aging tobacco barns, or old historical landmarks like Flannery O’Connor’s farmhouse, Andalusia, in Milledgeville, GA. “I like that there is a sense of both the past and present,” he says, “the buildings I paint are historically significant because they tell the history of the South and those who lived here.” For Mr. Cole, one of the most memorable groups of paintings he worked on was of an old falling down building that was directly in front of a Wal-Mart. “It’s the old and new coming together, “ he explains, “It’s fascinating because the old building is representative of everything the Wal-Mart is trying to eradicate.”

Untitled #1, by Shannon Evans

Along a similar theme, Shannon Evans also plays with the concept of old and new in his artwork. Mr. Evans, who also studied art at Augusta State University, recently completed a series of photographs taken outside of Waynesboro, Georgia. Each photograph in the series reveals similar cropped images of old cars and rusted farm equipment from decades past that have been abandoned in a field of overgrown grass and shrubs. Most strikingly, Mr. Evans covers his developed photographs with a layer of silver enamel paint, turning them into monochromatic images that are only visible at certain angles with light. With the reflective layer of silver covering the photographs, the rust on the cars and farm equipment disappears and once again allows them to shine as they did many years ago.

Elusive, by Allison J. Smith

Allison J. Smith, the third artist participating in the upcoming exhibit, Heading South, is a Georgia native who received her BFA at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 1999, and later returned to her home state in part, she says, because of the “unbearable winter” up North. In regards to her artwork, Ms. Smith’s oil paintings are unlike that of Mr. Cole’s and Mr. Evans’s because her paintings are completely abstract. As she describes it, “My subjects come from my imagination but are directly influenced by my visual and emotional experiences with nature.” Indeed, Ms. Smith’s work is strongly impacted by her adoration of Georgia and it’s unique beauty. “I love the quite subtleness that is found in moist climates,” she says, “It’s a cool, eerie calming atmosphere that happens in the evening and early morning. I find it very meditative, and I want to bring that kind of calmness and clarity into my paintings.”

Coming together for the first time in the exhibit, Heading South, Mr. Cole, Mr. Evans and Ms. Smith explore some of the unique facets of the rural Georgia roads less traveled in their artwork. Not only do the three artists connect the past with the present in their paintings and photographs, but their artwork also embodies the beauty of rural Georgia that captivates those whose families have lived hear for generations, as well as those who are merely passing through.

The exhibit, Heading South: Scenes from Rural Georgia, will be on display at the Fire House Gallery from June 2nd through June 27th. The opening reception will take place Saturday, June 5th from 7pm-9pm. As always, the Gallery is free and open to the public, so bring your family and friends!

Refreshments for Gallery events provided courtesy of --

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