'It promotes creativity': Local Art Premiere at Social Games and Brews this weekend

Abstract, pop and other artists from Durham will be displaying their work this Friday at Social Games and Brews' first ever local art showcase. 

On Feb. 7, The Social will be hosting its Local Art Premiere event from 8 to 11 p.m. 

“There are currently six artists, and there may be one or two more by the time the show goes up, depending on what the scheduled artists bring in,” said Kyle Benjamin, bartender and event coordinator at The Social. “Being that it is our first show, we’ve had to adapt to some speed bumps a little.”

The local Durham artists whose work will be featured at this event are Kiara Sanders, Melvin Pena, Nick Dahlstrom, Helen Kenny, Amy May and Megan Llewellyn. After the event, The Social plans on rotating displays of local art every two months. 

“I’m a huge supporter of local art,” Benjamin said. 

Benjamin said the decision to feature art in the space came from wanting to engage more with the Durham art community. 

"I reached out to some artist friends and artists that I know to see if they would be interested in hanging their work, and they were," Benjamin said.

While there is no central theme for this event, The Social wants to support local artists overall. Benjamin said the new art rotations will help support the local art community by offering The Social as a resource for these artists. 

“With this being the first show, I reached out to my direct community of artists that I know,” Benjamin said. “In the future, there will probably be some themes.”

Benjamin said a few pop artists will be hanging their work, as well as some great illustrators, abstract artists and surrealists.

“It should be a nice, eclectic variety of art,” Benjamin said. 

Isabel Stellato, a UNC sophomore, said it’s important for local businesses to support the local art community because these businesses help give exposure to the artists. She said that it is also important because if people see businesses they like supporting these artists, they may also support these artists.

“I think supporting local art is important because it brings people together in the community,” Stellato said. “It promotes creativity, which is very important in this day and age, especially in a college town when everybody is always working and stressed out. It’s good to have a space where people can go to be creative and enjoy other people’s creativity."

Ellie Fleming, a UNC sophomore, said supporting the local art scene is important as well because local artists help the community, and events like this give artists a chance to display their talent for everyone to see.

“It shows their support for the community and gives artists a chance to show their work in a smaller setting,” Fleming said. “It just makes small business more fun.” 

arts@dailytarheel.com