Stained Glass Artist Returns to Her Roots
In a time when many adults are going back to school for a degree, Nashville artist Betty Turney-Turner is going back more than forty years--to her grade school.
- Nashville, TN (1888PressRelease) November 02, 2010 - From 1964 to 1968, Betty attended first through fourth grade at the Fall School just south of downtown Nashville. For a tiny six-year-old, the grand scale of the building and all of its architectural beauty held a special mystery and left an indelible print on her memory. So it is with joy and anticipation that she returns to the Fall School building on November 13 and 14 to participate in the annual Artlightenment artist showcase.
This will be Betty Turney-Turner's second time at Artlightenment. When she walked through the doors for her first appearance, memories came flooding back. "There was no air conditioning in the building, so summertime was very stressful to the teachers and to any heat-sensitive students, but having the windows open for ventilation fueled the daydreamer in me. The sounds drifting in from outdoors always captured far more attention than the lessons on the blackboards. Little did the teachers know that the sounds those windows allowed in filled my mind with vibrant colors, and the movement of the wind and of the people on the street generated an active imagination and an unquenchable curiosity." And though parents of this tiny dreamer often read "needs to practice using her time wisely" next to the excellent grades on her report cards, Betty was clearly preparing for her career.
The daily art period was one of the few hours of the school day that captured her undivided attention. Occasionally guest artists from various genres would visit classrooms and work with the students, or simply demonstrate their craft for the entire school. That exposure sparked the flame that captured Betty's artistic imagination for a lifetime. She is now one of a very few artists in the world who focus on depicting the African American experience in stained glass, and she is thrilled to bring her work back to the Artlightenment show, at the historic Fall School building where it all started.
Betty reflected on her time at the school, "It's gratifying and moving to come back to a place of so many memories, a place that played a significant role in shaping my life. To be back in the place where my earliest memories reside as a participating artist is an incredible honor. These walls remain just as warm and stimulating as they were over 40 years ago."
The Artlightenment artist showcase is the creation of Robyn Morshead. The event takes place annually in the Historic Fall School building at 1130 8th Avenue South, itself an awarded piece of historic art after being restored in 2009 by the Church of Scientology. The show runs Saturday, Nov 13, 2010 12pm-10pm and Sunday, Nov 14 12pm-7pm. For more information, visit www.artlightenment.com.
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