Art Association of Randolph County

06/19/2026

Mini-Muse: Clementine Hunter

Clementine Hunter spent most of her life working as a farm laborer on a Louisiana plantation.

She didn't begin painting until her 50s.

When other artists left behind tubes of paint, Hunter picked them up and started recording the world she knew—field work, baptisms, weddings, funerals, family gatherings, and everyday life.

No formal training.

No art school.

Just observation, memory, and a determination to tell her story.

Today, her paintings are among the most important visual records of Southern Black life in the early twentieth century.

06/19/2026

The Arts Depot will be closed today in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. Gallery will be open during our regular hours next week. Tuesday through Friday 1pm–4pm

Send a message to learn more

06/16/2026

Congratulations to the award winners of the Art Association of Randolph County's 72nd Annual Competitive Exhibit!

For 72 years, this exhibit has celebrated the creativity, talent, and dedication of artists throughout our region. We are honored to continue this tradition and grateful to the artists who shared their work, the volunteers who helped make the event possible, and the community members who came out to support the arts.

This year's award recipients are:

Professional Division:
Best of Show: Hector Perez (Waiting for Covid)
2nd: Carvin Reinhart (Narcissus #2)
3rd: Scott Anderson (Separation of the Water—
Creation Myth Series)

Amateur Division:
1st: Tim Passmore (Aztec Sun, Rattlesnake)
Merit Award: Ted Leahey (Handmade Paper Collage)

Special Awards:
Best Animal: Debra Stanley (Love and Loss)
Best Floral: Sally Alexander (Peony)
Patricia Trocano Award: Barbara Stump (Spring Joy)
Best Traditional Watercolor Barbara Stump (Beauty on the Lake)
Jacklyn L. Young Award: Deb Lathrop (Downtown D.C.)

We extend our sincere thanks to Frank Miller Lumber, an anonymous donor, and the many supporters who sponsored special awards. Their generosity helps us recognize artistic excellence while ensuring that this longstanding community tradition continues to thrive.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year's exhibit a success. Here's to 72 years of art, creativity, and community—and to the artists who continue to inspire us.

The exhibit will be up through June 27. Gallery hours 1-4pm, Tuesday through Friday.

06/16/2026

Mini-Muse ✦ Martín Ramírez

Separated from his family, isolated by language barriers, and institutionalized for much of his adult life, Martín Ramírez created extraordinary drawings from scraps of paper and homemade materials.

His works are filled with tunnels, trains, horsemen, and repeating forms that seem to move across the page like memories.

He never stopped making.

Even when the world stopped paying attention.

06/15/2026

Mini-Muse ✦ Corita Kent

A Catholic nun.

A pop artist.

A social activist.

A teacher.

Sister Corita Kent used bright colors, advertising slogans, song lyrics, and hand-lettered text to create art that challenged viewers to see hope, justice, and possibility in everyday life.

She believed creativity belonged to everyone.

Not just artists.

Featured images: "American Sampler", " All Merchandise"

06/12/2026

We planted these pollinators from seeds about 6 weeks ago, and here are the first tiny flowers. There are TONS more waiting to pop. Thanks
to the Union City Rotary ladies for helping us get them planted😀

06/12/2026

Mini-Muse ✦ James Castle

What if you had something important to say—but no one expected to hear it?

James Castle was born deaf in rural Idaho in 1899. He never learned to speak, and many people assumed he could not communicate in meaningful ways.

They were wrong.

For decades, Castle quietly created an astonishing body of work using whatever he could find: discarded envelopes, cardboard, packaging, handmade books, and even soot from the family stove mixed with saliva to create his drawing medium.

No formal training.

No gallery openings.

No social media.

No audience.

Just an unwavering need to create.

He documented the world around him—farmhouses, interiors, tools, memories, shadows, and imagined spaces—transforming ordinary life into something deeply personal and strangely beautiful.

What I find most inspiring isn't that James Castle became famous.

It's that he made the work anyway.

Long before museums discovered him.

Long before critics celebrated him.

Long before anyone was paying attention.

He created because creating was part of who he was.

His story is a reminder that the value of your work isn't determined by how many people see it.

Sometimes the act of making is enough.

06/11/2026

Mini-Muse ✦ Bill Traylor

Bill Traylor spent most of his life working as a laborer and sharecropper.

In his 80s, sitting on the streets of Montgomery, Alabama, he began drawing on scraps of cardboard and discarded paper.

No formal training.
No art school.
No audience.

Just a need to create.

Today, his work is celebrated as one of the great achievements of American folk art.

06/09/2026

Early in her career, some galleries wouldn't exhibit her work because she was both Black and a woman.

So she kept working.

And teaching.

And exhibiting.

For decades.

By the end of her life, she had become one of the most respected artists of the Harlem Renaissance generation.