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Art With Heart Announces Auction's Featured Artists
Thomas McNickle and Brian Rutenberg of Jerald Melberg Gallery
to be Featured at 2009 'Art With Heart' Art Auction
Supporting United Family Services' Domestic Violence Programs
Charlotte, N.C., October 7, 2008 - Art With Heart, an annual art auction benefiting nonprofit United Family Services' domestic violence programs, recently announced Thomas McNickle and Brian Rutenberg will serve as featured artists for the event, to be held February 7, 2009 at CenterStage@NoDa. The featured artists are both represented by Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte. McNickle and Rutenberg headline the event and a painting by each artist has been donated to the auction by Jerald Melberg Gallery.
Thomas McNickle's exceptional technical ability has been evident since he first began painting in his teens. An intrinsic feature of his painting, however, is the Zen philosophy of rapid execution. Approaching each painting in a meditative state, McNickle relies on complete and relaxed concentration for the layering of direct, spontaneous strokes of color. The power and individuality of these brushstrokes transforms motifs of land and sky into unique and personal images. McNickle's work has been exhibited in over 100 museum and gallery exhibitions and can be found in numerous collections.
A native South Carolinian, the inspiration for Brian Rutenberg's intensely colored, abstracted landscapes can be traced back to his fascination with the unique quality of light found on the Lowcountry coast. "Especially inspiring is that point when the land meets the water and, for a moment, the two become blurred," he says. Rutenberg's work has been represented in over 80 museum and gallery exhibitions across the United States and abroad and can be found in numerous public collections.
Art With Heart's past featured artists include Herb Jackson (2001), Ben Long (2002), George Pocheptsov (2003), Tommie Robinson (2004), Tony Griffin (2005), Andy Braitman (2006), Amy Cole, Christy Kinard and Kim Schuessler (2007) and Sharon Dowell, Scott Upton and Charles Walker (2008).
Jerald and Mary Melberg say, We are proud to be the featured gallery for the 2009 Art With Heart Auction. It is an honor for us to work with the Art With Heart Auction committee to raise much needed funds for domestic violence programs provided by United Family Services. " Dosty Quarrier, Art With Heart chair, adds, "We expect another sellout crowd and commend the Jerald Melberg Gallery and the region's artistic community for enabling us to continue our crucial support of United Family Services' domestic violence programs."
Media and corporate sponsors for the event include Apartment Reality Advisors, Aston Properties, Berkley Capital Advisors, Breathing Room, Coke Consolidated, Daniel Entertainment, Edifice Construction, Elements Design Company, Falfurrias Capital, Aubrey Grier, Dr. Melissa Gustafson, Halstead Design, Hawthorne Capital, Hidell Brooks Gallery, Carter Humphrey, Keith Corporation, Lawn and Mullinix, Moore Van Allen, Norcom Development, Northwestern Mutual, Red F, Skirt! Magazine and WCNC Carolinas News Channel 36.
About Jerald Melberg Gallery
Jerald Melberg Gallery is celebrating its 25th year of advising individual collectors, corporations and museums on fine art acquisitions. The gallery represents artists from all regions of the United States as well as Europe and South America, exhibiting paintings, works on paper, prints and sculpture. The artists are chosen with extreme care, as the gallery seeks to exhibit works of art that have a particular visual poetry, a spiritual quality and an inner integrity that transcend the every day, regardless of being abstract, representational or realist. For more information, visit www.jeraldmelberg.com.
About Art With Heart
Started in 2000, the annual auction which has raised over $450,000 since its inception when a group of local women decided to combine their extensive resources to plan a fun and educational benefit to help United Family Services launch programs for victims of domestic violence. Over 50 strong, the Art With Heart volunteer committee is led by Chair Dosty Quarrier and Co-Chair Lesley Shull. For more information, visit www.artwithheartauction.com.
About United Family Services
United Family Services, a nonprofit United Way member, is a multi-faceted family service agency. Art With Heart benefits the agency's domestic violence programs including The Shelter for Battered Women and Victim Assistance Court Services. These programs provide safety planning and shelter, counseling and support groups, children’s services, substance abuse services, court and legal advocacy, services for incarcerated women, on-site emergency room response to patients, training to medical professionals and dating violence prevention education. For more information, visit www.unitedfamilyservices.org.
* For images of the Featured Artists or their work, please contact Gwen Poth at 704-338-5989 or grpoth@hotmail.com. *Media wishing to attend the auction, please RSVP by sending an email to grpoth@hotmail.com. Please indicate your name, company and contact information.
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