An evening at the Skopelos Arts Foundation

The Skopelos Foundation for the Arts was started in 1999 by Gloria Carr from Washington, DC, and her daughter Jill helps with the day to day operations. "A non-profit visual arts center specializing in ceramics, painting, printmaking and screen-printing, the Foundation offers residencies, workshops, university programs and more for artists and communities from all parts of the world." The spacious facility sits high atop a hill overlooking Glyfoneri Beach. I'm not an artist, but from the studios I saw and the description on their website, it appears that they utilize some pretty high tech equipment in their programs.



Last night, I was invited to the Foundation to meet Gloria and Jill, and a group of George Mason University students who are here for 2 weeks to enhance their artistic studies. While enjoying pizza, wine and Greek salad, we watched a slide presentation by two very accomplished artists (and GMU instructors) who are teaching this particular session. They showcased and described their impressive bodies of work.



All in all, this was a really nice, relaxing evening and a refreshing change of pace. Not only did I get my cultural fix and meet lots of new people, but I also spent time with Americans for the first time in three weeks. The Foundation will hold a festive exhibition of the students' work at the end of July, just before their next group arrives. It's already on my calendar!

Regarding last night's artists, I gathered the following from their respective websites:

Tom Ashcraft is a visual artist who makes drawings, sculptural objects, installations, solo and collaborative public works. Tom has exhibited and produced work throughout the United States including the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, Atlanta Center for Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY. He is included in many public and private collections and is represented by Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, D.C. http://www.tomashcraft.com/biography.html

Maria Karametou is a mixed media artist whose exhibition record includes: The National Museum of Women in the Arts; The Vorres Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; The North Dakota Museum; The Baltimore Museum; The Portsmouth Museum (VA); The Danville Museum (VA); The John Elder Gallery, N. Y., N.Y.; Harper Collins Gallery, N. Y., N.Y.; Trito Mati Gallery, Athens, Greece; Elite Gallery, Moscow, Russia; Comus Gallery, Portland, Oregon; Selby Gallery, Sarasota, Florida; J.Scott Gallery, Johnson, Vermont; The C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD among numerous others. http://www.avt.gmu.edu/pages/aboutavt/facstaff/mkarametou.html

For more information on the Foundation, you can visit their website: http://www.skopart.org/AboutUs.html