Winston-Salem Business Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 26)

Art and Industry – A Perfect Partnership BY RENEE HONEY PHOTO BY ANDREW HONEY Hanes Companies, Inc., formerly Hanes Dye & Finishing, recently reestablished itself here in WinstonSalem. The company, headed by President Jerry Greene, worked with the City of Winston-Salem to refurbish an old, abandoned Reynolds Tobacco warehouse, which now serves as company headquarters. Once the renovations were complete, Greene was faced with the challenge of creating an esthetically pleasing work environment in an old tobacco warehouse with walls that are 26 ft high. Knowing that he wanted 26 FEBRUARY 2008 “local” art, Jill Atherton, Director of Economic Development with the Chamber of Commerce, put him in touch with Sharon Nelson, Director of Associated Artists and an idea was born. Within just minutes of their first meeting, Nelson and Greene came up with the concept of sponsoring an art competition - using 30 5-foot square stretched canvases. The call to artists was made and they were given a 30day timeframe and asked to send in a bio and samples of their work. Not sure how many artists would respond, Nelson was astounded when the cutoff date arrived and there were 54 submissions from local artists. According to Sharon Nelson, once the paintings began to arrive the excitement rose as well. “It was stunning to see the quality of the artwork! Especially considering the size.” Six judges, arts-related professionals from the community, were asked to come in and give their votes on the artwork. Five artists received 3rd place and a cash award of $750. Those awards went to Ralph Calhoun, Rebecca Dresser, Leslie Karpinski, JJ Jackson and Pat Spainhour. Judi Russell, Steven Dunn, and Don Moore were each awarded 2nd place in the competition and received $1000. The Best in Show and a $2000 award was given to talented local artist Jack Hernon for his painting Rhythms Structures I & II. All in all, a total of $18,750 was distributed among 30 incredibly talented local painters and all 30 paintings are now owned by Hanes Companies, Inc. Mayor Allen Joines described the competition as a perfect blending of art, economic development, and historic preservation. The success of this joint venture will help to move forward with this kind of art to business relationship, both working together to give a more genuine face to the City of the Arts title that Winston-Salem claims. Sharon Nelson pointed out that “This project embodied everything that we claim to value here. I hope others follow.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Winston-Salem Business Magazine - February 2008

Winston-Salem Business Magazine - February 2008 Contents Business Front Stasilon-Fr Topsider Homes Prom Dress Drive Business Watch Frank Myers Auto Maxx Art and Industry Business Bites Money Matters Intelligent Communities Suffering From Pinball Syndrome Local Business Calendar

Winston-Salem Business Magazine - February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.