The Suwanee Arts Center is gearing up to celebrate its ninth annual Suwanee Arts Festival. The event is a highlight of downtown Suwanee’s event schedule, with vibrant, eclectic and family-friendly art and activities. The festival will take place on Saturday, April 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 30 from noon to 5 p.m.
SAC’s Suwanee Arts Festival will dazzle the community with art, food and entertainment. Town Center Square will be filled with artists exhibiting and selling their creations, food trucks will have a variety of cuisines, and there will be live stage entertainment.
The 2023 artists will offer paintings, ceramics, photography, sculpture, wood, jewelry, glass, fiber, and more. Several live art demonstrations will engage festival goers. Contact the art center for information about becoming an art vendor.
The festival will feature a Kid’s Zone with free art projects led by artists and teachers. It will provide young art enthusiasts with hands-on, make and take projects suitable for all ages and levels of experience. Young artists will create their very own masterpiece to take home as a souvenir.
New activities added to this years’ festival are the Art Workshop tent, the SAC Members Exhibition and an extended stage performance schedule featuring live music. The Art Workshop tent will offer Hobbit Door classes using polymer clay.
Suwanee Arts Center president Sheila Crumrine says: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Suwanee Arts Center to fulfill its mission of bringing talented artists and the community together to experience and appreciate the wealth of talent that artists can provide to enrich the lives of all community members.”
The Suwanee Arts Festival will also host the official unveiling of The Ultimate Participation Trophy Project, the brainchild of the Suwanee Public Arts Commission. This is a unique sculpture created by the Georgia Artist Phil Proctor, constructed out of trophies donated by local residents.
The Suwanee Arts Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides opportunities for artists to thrive, fosters art appreciation through education and exhibitions, and serves as a catalyst for dynamic and vibrant community interaction with the arts. Please find and connect with us through social media. All the classes and events are regularly updated on the website: Suwanee Arts Center & Gallery | Suwanee Visitor Center
- For more information on the Suwanee Arts Festival, visit SuwaneeArtsCenter.org.
Hudgens Center presents digital art exhibit on Lawrenceville Square
Brother Nature, Shoghi Lombard’s newest digital project, can now be viewed throughout Lawrenceville Square during February in celebration of Black History Month. Visitors are invited to explore each piece on the kiosk by learning and reflecting on Lombard’s statements.
Mayor David Still says: “Through this partnership with the Hudgens Center for Art and Learning, the City recognizes the impact Brother Nature has. This is a powerful visual on the same square where the Charles Hale Memorial is located.” (Hale was a Black man lynched on the square in 1911.)
A Gwinnett County resident, emerging artist Shoghi Amir Lombard was born in New Orleans, and produces concepts in his own distinctive style. As his family moved through the Southern states, Lombard grew to appreciate the simple yet intricate organic forms of nature he recognized in rural Georgia, reinforcing his eagerness to express himself. Add to that his maturing acuity, history and pride of the African American educational culture from Tuskegee, Ala., he traveled to Clark College to study medical Illustration. While there, Lombard also studied drawing at Spelman College. He was inspired by visiting with Atlanta’s civil rights and artistic luminaries.
As Lombard worked in the fast-paced, time-consuming, corporate exhibit and advertising realm, he nurtured a growing appreciation for the fine arts. Lombard delved into learning about his own existence, questioning his place in the universe, and developing a more intimate relationship with his higher power.
The Hudgens Center for Art and Learning’s Executive Director Laura Balance says: “The Hudgens Center is excited to continue the partnership with the City of Lawrenceville through a new digital avenue. Through his work, Shoghi Lombard aspires to raise awareness among people of their innate, inherent nobility; of the multitude of divine traits that lie within; and of the definite, future spiritual advancement of the human race.”
Years later, 2024 PCOM Pharm students mark white coats
The end was the beginning. With the PCOM Class of 2024 having started pharmacy school at the beginning of the pandemic when most of the world was shutting down, the 79 class members decided to delay a virtual ceremony in 2020 to have an in-person ceremony two and a half years later on February 10.
Shawn Spencer, dean and chief academic officer of the PCOM School of Pharmacy, extolled the students. He said, “You are not only becoming a pharmacist, but also a leader, mentor and a role model.”
Keynote speaker Bris Soto, PharmD ’22, who is a postgraduate year one pharmacy resident through a partnership between PCOM Georgia and Wellstar North Fulton Hospital in Roswell, Georgia, shared her thoughts. “When I think of a healthcare professional, I think of someone knowledgeable, someone who puts effort into gathering all data before making a decision, and someone who is trustworthy,” she said.
Among the graduates of 2024 are, from left, Mir Mirjan, Komal Bhut, Priyanka Patel, Krishna Chavada and Will Riley.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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