Artery finds venue for Friday show

While it isn’t anything close to home, the Student Artery has finally found itself a space to settle down.

Friday, the Artery, a UNC student-run gallery, will hold its first show of the summer at University Mall as part of the 2ndFriday Artwalk.

The exhibit, “Taking Shape,” will feature the works of roughly 16 artists, said Sheridan Howie, the Artery’s co-curator for the upcoming academic year.

After a summer of searching, the Artery’s officers were able to secure a space for the first time since leaving 136 E. Rosemary St. in April.

“We had looked for vacancies closer to campus but nothing seemed to fit our needs as well as the mall opportunity,” Howie said.

The space, located next to Cameron’s, a gallery, previously belonged to a craft store and will soon become a temporary space for the Chapel Hill Public Library.

The Artery came to find its new venue after Jennifer Collins-Mancour, the arts initiative director at University Mall, read an article about the students’ search and offered to help.

“I’m always trying to bring some different events to the mall through the arts,” Collins-Mancour said.

The exhibit will run through Aug. 1, said Kate St. John, the Artery’s summer curator and next year’s co-director.

Incorporating the breaking and building of form, “Taking Shape” will follow the Artery’s usual aesthetic of student-made creations, hosting a “construction site-esque” theme, St. John said.

“We’ve become professional wallpaper-peelers, floor-scrubbers and hand-tool-slingers,” Howie said.

Departing from its norm, the Artery will expand to feature the works of not only current UNC students, but also alumni and other students in the area.

“We’re crossing borders,” St. John said.

University Mall requires that 90 percent of the artwork be for sale, Howie said. She added that due to the Artery being further from campus, she expects a different crowd.

“This might be good for the artists in terms of selling their work,” Howie said. “Art typically doesn’t sell because our crowd is made up of poor college students.”

In addition, Collins-Mancour said she hopes the show can bring a new audience to the mall.

“I hope that it will bring to light to the student population that the mall is there and it is a resource,” said Collins-Mancour.

Nonetheless, the Artery is still up in the air with regards to finding a venue for the academic year.

The Artery’s officers are currently looking to obtain student organization status, through which they would receive funding through student government, St. John said.

The officers are still searching for a home that is closer to campus, but will consider more University Mall spaces, St. John said. Until they are able secure more funding, they will hold off on committing to a permanent space, she added.

St. John said that, for now, she wants people to know that the Artery is still up and running.

“Even if we don’t have funding and all the resources, we have artists who want to put out art,” she said.