Artists Transform Laurel Ridge Country Club Into Atelier.

The idea of creating art in the public eye is familiar in the American South West.

Patrons flock to outdoor quickdraws to watch plein-air and cowboy painters and snap up their works. In western North Carolina, artists tweaked the concept to craft an original, memorable art event that directly supports art teaching in schools.

Enter QuickDraw 2015, where artists upend the traditional studio setting and work in the inspired indoor/outdoor venue of Waynesville’s Laurel Ridge Country Club. Artists create in front of the bystander, stepping out of their comfort zones to stand up for art teachers in public schools. On Saturday, May 16, guests join to see forty artists create original works, and then buy them at auction to put supplies on art shelves and fund innovative art teacher grants. Now in its 14th year, QuickDraw patrons are the lifeblood to invigorating teachers and inspiring students.

QuickDraw founder Gretchen Clasby notes: “It is probably true that most artists think about what they are going to paint for months, and break down the process. I know I cannot complete a painting in the hour, never have been able to.” Clasby works from her gut. “I never have the luxury of months of thought and planning. If I have two days ahead to think about it and do a practice piece, I am blessed indeed.”

Guests gain a birds-eye view of the creative process, and report it inspiring and informing. Artists gain a venue to show new work, a chance to push the comfort envelope while they draw upon inner steel and ignore inner voices to work live. Art buyers and collectors have a chance to rub elbows with their favorite artists, as well as watch their technique. Art teachers and students gain a very real affirmation that education matters.

Besides working live, painters up the ante and embrace risk during the event’s quickdraw portion: to start and finish an original work in sixty minutes. Artists plan for months choosing a subject and color palette, and doing practice studies. Notes Clasby: “the first time I tried the painting with a stopwatch, it took seven hours. My second attempt took five. I never could get it past three at home.” During the one-hour challenge, there’s no time to second-guess a brushstroke. Asheville’s Ann Vasilik treats the clock challenge as “an exercise in reductionism, which creates a very fresh result.”

The event includes the sixty-minute quickdraw challenge and silent auction, auction preview, an entertaining live auction, and concludes with a meet-and-greet buffet social with patrons and artists.

QuickDraw Participating Artists

Jenny Buckner
Gretchen Clasby
Bete Coningsby
Anne DerGara
Dominick DePaolo
Guido Frick
Jon Houglum
Cheryl Keefer
Jo Ridge Kelley
Susan Lingg
Mark Menendez
Teresa Pennington
Kelly Phipps
Joyce Schlapkohl
Bee Sieburg
Teri Siewert
Sarah Sneeden
Ann Vasilik
Melissa Enloe Walter
Cindy Walton
Cathey Bolton
Rebecca Hellman
Keri Anna Kelley Hollifield
Juan Peña Mejia
Tracey McCracken Palmer
Mike McKinney
Margaret Roberts
Karen Zimmerman

Art Works. Really.

QuickDraw artists and guests partner to support art teaching and recognizing talented students who pursue art-related fields. Since 2002, QuickDraw contributed $68,000 for teacher supply grants and $101,000 in college scholarships. Funds are channeled through the Haywood County Schools Foundation.

Thanks to the step-up-and-help generosity of artists and guests, QuickDraw in 2015 funds four college scholarships to HS seniors pursuing art, art education, new media/graphic design, and one pursuing art and Spanish degrees. All of these studies can be utililized in countless careers across the corporate world.

QuickDraw Schedule
Saturday, May 16, 2015

• 4:30 – Cocktail Social. Watch the artists prep for the shotgun start and register your bidder number.
• 5:00-6:00 – Artist Stopwatch Challenge. Ready, set, go! Sixty fascinating minutes of live creation. Stroll and marvel at the motivated live-action artists painting to beat the clock. Stroll and chat with demonstrator artists using fiber, clay, metals, glass, wood and more, all process-intensive mediums that enable them to work and talk. Each demo artist offers a finished original work at silent auction while they showcase techniques on a piece in process.
• 6:00 – Breather. Snacks and conversation and live music while artists frame the pieces and create an auction preview. Art teachers show off student creativity.
• 6:30 – Live Art Auction. Get ready to laugh with a lively patter from auctioneer champions, on point for teaching. Score fresh original art, ready to hang. Lucky winners bring home art with a backstory they can really talk about! Buyers inspire students and creative classrooms, buy supplies for teacher shelves, and help send kids to college.
• 7:30 – Meet & Greet. Meet your artist over delicious food and monitor your silent auction bids.

If You Go: QuickDraw, Saturday, May 16, 2015 from 4:30-9:30; shotgun start 5-6 p.m. Laurel Ridge Country Club, Cupp Lane, Waynesville. Tickets are $60 per person and include admission, auction registration, live quickdraw, and meet-the-artists buffet. For the complete schedule and to purchase tickets visit www.WNCQuickDraw.com.

Additional Stories:

• QuickDraw guest artist: Germany’s Guido Frick >>
• QuickDraw Photo Album >>