SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- During the month of September, the artwork of members of the Seymour Johnson Painting Club was displayed in an exhibit titled “Collaboration” at the T.A. Loving Gallery at the Arts Council of Wayne County.
“For those of us who paint just as a hobby it’s kind of neat to have them displayed and even for sale,” said Staff Sgt. Tasha Stephenson, 372nd Training Squadron Detachment 201 aerospace ground equipment instructor. “…It is a big deal to have your work displayed.”
Since the inception of the club in 2014, the Painting Club has partnered with the Arts Council of Wayne County several times. In September 2015 the club coordinated with the council to set up a “paint week” to assist in finishing two new art alleys in Downtown Goldsboro, North Carolina, to help beautify the city.
Individuals from the club contributed pieces to the “Collaboration” exhibit, but members of the club collaborated on a mixed media piece called “Tide Pool” which was the main piece of the exhibit.
“We spent a couple meetings working on [the painting] together,” said Stephenson. “Then we decided to start handing it off to people to take home and work on and they’d bring it back to the next meeting and it would get passed off to the next person to add to. It was really cool because you didn’t know what it was going to look like because there was creative freedom for everyone to add what they wanted to the canvas.”
Heather Reynolds, Arts Council of Wayne County gallery director and wife of Airman 1st Class Maxwell Reynolds, 4th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, who is also a member of the Painting Club, worked on the collaborative piece.
“Every time we met, the other members of the club would be surprised by the work the previous artist had done on the piece,” said Reynolds. “This has been a way for each of us to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone as artists and learn to adapt to the unpredictability of contemporary art.”
Reynolds adds that the gallery was crowded with supporters from both the base and Goldsboro community who were impressed with the more than 20 pieces of artwork displayed in the exhibit by club members.
Following Hurricane Matthew, the club came together to help those in need through another partnership with the Arts Council of Wayne County. Sarah Merritt, Arts Council of Wayne County director, made arrangements for volunteers to visit the Carver Heights Hurricane Relief Shelter every day to help facilitate activities for children of the families staying at the shelter.
“We provided a constructive distraction for the kids so parents could have some time to begin the rebuilding process,” said Reynolds.
In addition to volunteering with the kids, members of the Painting Club came together to instruct an “art therapy” session for the parents.
“We had planned a Halloween themed painting to teach for the month of October a while ago, but it did not seem the right time to be partying, so we took our materials to the shelter instead,” said Reynolds. “All of us taught several adults how to paint a witch’s cauldron. We had a bit of a rocky start since not all of us had ever been an instructor prior to the event, but all of the members soon settled in just fine and everyone who participated had a great time.”
Both Stephenson and Reynolds said they continue to look forward to future collaborations between the Painting Club and the Arts Council of Wayne County. For more information about the Painting Club, please call Staff Sgt. Tasha Stephenson (919) 722-8671.