SILER CITY, N.C. — Art students at Jordan-Matthews High School will have an opportunity to explore art using an unusual medium — gourds — thanks in part to a 2022 Grassroots Arts Grant announced yesterday by the Chatham Arts Council.

“Gourd-geous Art Day: Art Meets Nature” will be held this spring. The day-long workshop featuring artists Martha Danek and Cara Bevan will allow students to incorporate natural materials into works of art — not only for students in art classes, but also some students studying occupational and basic life skills. The goals are to allow art students to work with natural materials and non-flat surfaces as well as to give a wide range of students an opportunity to bond over art.

Working at her Red Barn Studio near Bynum, Danek specializes in mixed-media sculpture and 3-D paintings using gourds and found objects, often designing art pieces based on something important and meaningful. Last April, she led a workshop in gourd art as part of 2022 All-County Art Day, a daylong workshop for top student artists featuring different media and produced by Chatham County Schools.

A lover of nature based at her Cara Bevan Gallery in Trinity, Bevan is known for lifelike and whimsical art of animals, nature and fantasy — created in paintings, mixed-media sculpture, digital art and traditional illustration. Her work also includes sculptures made from multiple gourds with added wire, paperclay and epoxy clay.

“Pumpkins. Gourds. Just plants?,” asked Marcus Lawson, JM’s art teacher, who developed the workshop and worked with JMArts President Rose Pate on the grant application. “No! They can be works of art. We are so excited to offer our art students this ‘Gourd-geous Art Day.’”

The workshop is supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The 2022 Grassroots Arts Grant for $1,050 covers half of the program cost; the rest will be matched by JMArts through member contributions and fundraising projects like this fall’s Raffle for the Arts and the annual sale of JMArts greeting and holiday cards.

In all, Chatham Arts Council awarded $15,000 this fall to local nonprofit organizations, groups that are hiring local artists to provide opportunity for local residents. Other organizations receiving grants include The Chatham County Partnership for Children, Chatham Artists Guild, Chatham Trades, Community Organizing for Racial Equality (CORE), Pittsboro Elementary and StreetSigns.

Pate said events like the gourd art workshop are possible because of the financial assistance provided through the Chatham Arts Council and its affiliates. “Opportunities like this only happen when so many people are willing to work together: students, faculty, artists, contributors, volunteers and partners like the Chatham Arts Council,” she said. “We’re blessed that so many people care for our students and want to give them opportunities to develop new skills and new perspectives.”

More information about JMArts, including a schedule of all upcoming arts events and information on membership, is available online at JMArts.org.

# # # #