By Lily Roby, Features Editor
Happy to be Stuck with You is an art installation displaying “quality Valentine celebratory art” at Starbrick Gallery in Nelsonville, Ohio, from Feb. 4 to 14.
Located 21 W Columbus St., Starbrick Gallery’s event exhibits a number of local artists from Nelsonville, Athens and surrounding regions of southeast Ohio. Ceramic boxes, heart ornaments and jewelry are among items that can be purchased from the art collection.
On Feb. 9, Starbrick Gallery held a special Bowl-O-Rama event to further promote Happy to be Stuck with You and attract more customers with promotions that supported contributing artists of the gallery.
“You buy the bowl and you get the chili free,” Sue Roth, an employee of Starbrick Gallery, said.
“We’re making the chili, we’re making the bowls. The artists make the bowls… Artists that belong to the gallery.”
Roth is also one of the numerous artists that made bowls for the event. She mentioned that the Starbrick Gallery kiln has been on all week, firing pottery for the Bowl-O-Rama event.
“I just picked it up,” she said, as she gestured at the ceramic bowls she made for the fundraiser, one painted with bright sunflowers. “People that are busy in it, like one of the ladies, it’s just another day. But for me, it’s do it all at once and get it done, so it’s just kind of however the artist works. It’s always fun.”
Roth explained that Bowl-O-Rama used to be a much larger Nelsonville event, with vendors and music in the town square. This year’s Bowl-O-Rama is much smaller, having paired with the Happy to be Stuck with You event just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Artists handcrafting bowls are expected to bring a minimum of twenty bowls for attendees to purchase and eat chili from.
“We have about twelve to ten different kinds of chili,” Ann Judy, an employee of Starbrick Gallery, said. “And then Happy to be Stuck with You is some of our Valentine’s suggestions for people to think about getting, instead of going to Walmart.”
Bowls are priced from ten to twenty dollars and can still be purchased after the Bowl-O-Rama event. Starbrick Gallery employee Pam Long looks forward to this time of year since events like Happy to be Stuck with You bring creative, local people together. It also gives Long, who is a self-taught artist, an opportunity to display her work.
“Everybody’s friendly,” Long said. “I started ceramics in 2012, I believe—I just bought a wheel and started trying to throw things. I’m just now getting to the point where I feel like I’ve made it.”
Starbrick Gallery has been open for eighteen years as a venue for local artists. More information on memberships and future events can be found here.
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