The library on the Floyd campus of Georgia Highlands College is hosting a free reception for the public to view paintings by the Pear Street Painters, a collaborative group of Rome and Floyd County artists who gather once a week to paint, inspire each other and offer mutual critiques. The reception is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The artists first installed the paintings in the middle of November, but recently refreshed the exhibit with new works.

The exhibit will run through the end of spring semester, and Pear Street artists will periodically change the display. Besides the reception, the general public is invited to view the art free of charge during operating hours: Monday-Thursday, a.m. – 9 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m. – noon. The library is closed on Saturday and Sunday.

The Pear Street Painters include artists with varying interests and skills. Linda Angio specializes in folk art and primitive rug hooking. Eric Dempsey works in ink, acrylic

and papier-mache and concentrates on portraiture, figurative work and, occasionally, abstracts. Melissa Harvil-Carr, whose media include acrylics, pen and ink and mixed media, experiments with a variety of subject matter derived from personal experiences, symbolism, fantasy and dreams. Becky Davis works primarily in oils, and is a member of the Blue Ridge Mountains Artist Association in addition to her association with the Pear Street Painters. Randy Eidson founded the Pear Street group in 2009 after he retired, and works exclusively in pastels to capture elements in the physical world around him. Becky Lucas paints in pastels, many of which depict flowers; she also teaches art at Alto Park Elementary in Rome. Nadia Brown is a very familiar face at GHC. She is part of the Pear Street group, but also works as a very busy and in-demand graphic artist at the Floyd campus. She works primarily in oils. Donna Chambers, who is with the Rome Art Coterie, is also displaying her assemblage art.

The group has exhibited around northwest Georgia during the past year, including an exhibit at Calhoun’s Harris Arts Center, one at the Blue Ridge Art’s Center, and at Arts Night in Atlanta, sponsored by Marriott. They also showed at GHC’s Lakeview gallery in 2010. All the works are for sale by the artists.

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