The Transom
Durham Arts Place
305 E. Chapel Hill Street
Durham NC
27701
599-7904
The Transom: Downtown Durham Center for Arts and Culture, a collaboration between Andrew Barco, a young downtown artist, and Dan Ellison, an arts lawyer and owner of Durham Arts Place, aims to fill a desperate need of the local arts community. In a town where the arts are so dominated by cultural institutions such as the Durham Arts Council and duke University, there are few opportunities for artists, and especially young artists, to play a part in the passionate discourse of Durham life, to have a way to make a livelihood, or to grow. The Transom is making itself available to be that nexus. Focusing on group shows arranged by guest curators with diverse skills and interests, around themes that reflect their own personalities, the gallery attempts to take off the institutional lid restraining our collective imagination. For example, future shows will focus on reverberations of skateboard culture in young, abstract artists, explorations of “nature” in the New South, collaborations between artists and musicians to coincide with the Durham Music Festival, and art inspired by hip-hop culture. Shows will feature painting, sculpture, video instillation, and works on paper. The gallery, at its core, believes that the disconnect between art and the Durham public, which has created a situation where spending on the arts is lowest in the Triangle, is not a reason to accept defeat and turn in towards ourselves. It is a call to reach out, creatively, with a passion for the arts, to cross that gulf between those creating the art and those who would appreciate it.
JULY SHOW: July 15th. On July 15th, The Transom: Downtown Durham Center for Arts and Culture, located at 305 E. Chapel Hill St. in downtown Durham will be presenting "10 Days in Sri Lanka," a fundraising photography installation created by local artists Rebekah Meek and Laura Williams. In late March, Meek and Williams traveled to Sri Lanka to establish direct relief projects to aid Sri Lankans affected by December's devastating tsunami. The installation at Transom will highlight a selection of the work from that trip. This exciting show of experimental photography will include cyanotype prints onto the prayer flags ubiquitous in Sri Lankan culture and photographic work created using toy cameras. A portion of the proceeds from the show will help build a house for a family that the artists met during the trip. The family lost their home, posessions, and tragically, their father. The widow is now faced with rebuilding her life and supporting her family on her own. A new home for this family will not only help to rebuild their lives, but also create a space for the mother to start her own business. The show will be part of Durham's ever expanding "Culture Crawl," which takes place every 3rd Friday of the month.
JUNE SHOW: June 17th. 'Staying Human' deals with the ultimate, gritty, beautiful struggle that is the gift of human life. Seven artists of color come together to present works on themes like the hardships of immigration, racism, classism, war, and oppression. With dignity, compassion, joy, and imagination they dig deep, representing what is authentic to them, offering hope for a better future, and a stronger sense of humanity. An art show in the face of the recent KKK cross burnings: 'Staying Human', powerful art by seven local artists of color: Cornelio Campos; Courtney Reid-Eaton; Darnell Williams; Erick Davis; Hong-An Truong; Malcolm Goff; Manju Rajendran. Opening: June 17 from 6-10pm. June 17- July 9. 305 E. Chapel Hill Street, Durham.
MAY SHOW May 20th: "A Small Price to Pay" Curated by Jason Osborne. Artists who once were part of skateboard culture. Video installation and photograhy by Noah Angell, paintings by Nathan Coons, Jason Osborne, and others. Bands, starting at 8: Casting Company (indie rock) and Living Dead (hip-hop)
Directions: Coming from Durham Expressway: Take Swift avenue exit and turn towards main street (past the railroad tracks). Turn right on Main. Follow it straight through downtown past the Marriott. Turn left on Foster. There's parking on the right in the Armory parking lot, or along Morgan Street (downtown loop). Enterance is on E. Chapel Hill Street.
