Lenoir, NC – The Caldwell Arts Council is pleased to announce its next public art exhibition entitled “Old Things,” featuring the works of Lenoir, NC photographer Steve West and acrylic paintings by Granite Falls, NC artist Andrew Atkin. The show opens October 1, 2021 and runs through November 26, 2021.

Steve West and his wife, Donna, moved to Lenoir, NC after living in Florida for 60 years. He earned his BA (1970) and MA (1973) Degrees in Art Education, along with Certification in Educational Leadership (1983) from the University of South Florida in Tampa. As a long-time art teacher in the public school and college levels, his artistic skills include drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, calligraphy and photography. Through the years, Steve has won numerous awards for his work, primarily in photography.

West’s photographic goal is to produce extraordinary imagery from ordinary subject matter using varied subjects. For this exhibit, his focus will be on old eclectic subjects, as buildings, machinery and vehicles that connect to the nostalgia of aged artifacts and memories from his childhood.

Andrew Atkin earned a BFA degree with honors in painting from Eastern Kentucky University in 1981, and an MFA in drawing and painting from Western Carolina University in 1988. His work has earned many awards over the years in all categories and can be found in many private collections.

Over the last 50 years, Andrew has actively explored one area of creativity after another including sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, drawing and design as well as his forte’, painting. He also has experimented with jewelry and precious metals along with landscape art. Atkin’s work currently involves acrylic paintings using the three themes of western NC: Barns and Outbuildings; Trees and Fields; and Abstracts featuring line, shape, color and form. While he occasionally works from photos, he also works from sketches, both onsite for the Barn and Outbuilding series, and from imagination for the other two themes.

For more information on these artists, find Andrew Atkin on Facebook and Steve West on Instagram.

The Caldwell Arts Council is located at 601 College Ave SW in Lenoir, NC, and is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.