PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: Monday, August 15, 2016 CONTACTS: - Sarah Gay, Manager of ClearWater Artist Studios for the City of Concord; 704-784-9535 (office) or clearwatermgr@gmail.com; OR, - Robert Alvin Crum, Artist: 704.310.0382 or robertalvincrum@gmail.com
Local Daniel Boone Descendant Interprets History Through Art; Opening Sept. 9 Concord, NC – A local artist descended from the legendary Daniel Boone aims to express the intertwining legacies his research has uncovered, via his own paintings in a new solo show and related events at ClearWater Artist Studios in Concord, NC. It will become a traveling exhibit.
The solo exhibition “Return to the Land of My Ancestors,” on view in the Main Gallery at ClearWater Artist Studios from September 1 to 30, 2016 will feature 16 oil paintings, 15 watercolors and other artifacts created by Robert Alvin Crum, who currently resides in Salisbury, NC and leases a studio at ClearWater Artist Studios. The debut show in the ClearWater Gallery is part of ClearWater’s ‘Guest Artist’ Series, which began this year and has the Gallery booked, with a new show each month, into 2017.
Through his paintings and other creations, Crum explores revelations of his family’s slave-ownership, battles, love and politics, pioneers and natives, and spiritual connections to the land and the people who moved across it two centuries ago. The exhibit “…tells a story and takes one on a journey,” says the artist, who relates that, growing up in Illinois, he was often told by family that he is a direct descendant of the explorer and “Father of Kentucky” Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca Bryan. After moving to North Carolina in 1989, he realized he was living and walking in the same places as his Boone and Bryan ancestors.
Crum has extensively researched and completed an award-winning body of oil and watercolor paintings that tell the story of cultural conflict in the 18th century North Carolina backcountry that led to America’s initial expansion into Kentucky and beyond. The project received a 2016 Preservation Education and Publication Award from Historic Salisbury Foundation, Inc. and an Arts and Cultural Development Grant from Rowan Arts Council.
The Public is invited to an Opening Reception on Friday, September 9, 2016 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, including refreshments, music by local musician LeDerick Blackburn and a short storytelling session by author and Boone historian Randell Jones. On Saturday, September 10 (during Open Studios day at ClearWater) from 11 am to 4 pm, this journey will be complimented with refreshments, entertainment and an “Artist Talk” by Robert Alvin Crum. LOCATION: Clearwater Artist Studios, 223 Crowell Dr. NW, Concord, NC 28025.
For details and weekly hours, see www.clearwaterartists.com; the Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterArtistStudios; or call the CW office at 704-784-9535. Open to the Public. The journey begins at RobertAlvinCrum.com