The Brown County Art Gallery is Nashville’s “original” gallery. It was founded by a group of early impressionist painters who were members of one of the most famous regional art colonies in the country. The gallery now belongs to a non-profit foundation with a mission of preserving Indiana’s rich art history and fostering the legacy of those early artists. The Brown County Art Gallery is still a center for art and culture. It has undergone a complete renovation in recent months and features first rate exhibition space, and a full schedule of major art events that include Indiana’s top living artists as well as historic programs, all taking place within our six galleries. 13th Annual Mabel B. Annis Student Art Competition Winners Announced Fourteen schools from a seven county area entered over one hundred pieces in the 13th annual Mabel B. Annis Student Art Competition held each year at the Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville. Competition is broken down between Senior High and Junior High art students. This year, “Best of Show” at the Senior High Level went to a Columbus East High School student, the Junior High “Best of Show” came from Bloomington, and the two “Teacher of the Year Awards” came from Columbus and Bloomington. Students win both cash awards and ribbons and the opportunity to hang their works in a professional gallery through May 2nd. They may also offer their works for sale. The competition is sponsored by the Annis Memorial Trust of Indianapolis in memory of the founder’s mother, who loved Brown County and its art history. The competition is administered by the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation with the teacher awards and the judge provided by Indiana Heritage Arts, Inc. This year’s judge was Thom Robinson of Spencer. Robinson is a prize winning artist with Indiana Heritage Arts and a member of the Brown County Art Gallery Artist Association. Judge Robinson will be on hand Sunday afternoon, April 25th, to meet with student artists as they attend the awards reception from 2:00 to 3:30. The public is invited.

Puppies and Paintings Looking for Homes At “Pumpkins and Puppies” Event Organizers of the fifth annual “Pumpkins and Puppies” event at the historic Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville are hoping to find homes for both puppies and paintings. The event is part of the annual Brown County Art Renaissance Weekend which will take place on September 11th and 12th. Activities are sponsored by the non-profit Brown County Art Gallery Foundation and the Brown County Humane Society. Visitors will find a special exhibit and sale of animal and fall paintings in the South Gallery created for the event by Gallery Art Association artists. In addition, the Humane Society will hold an adoption fair at the Gallery with hopes of finding homes for needy pets. One painting in particular, by prize-winning Association Artist Jodie Friend, will be offered to the highest bidder in a silent auction that is underway now at the Brown County Art Gallery. The painting is a 14 x11 original oil and is framed. It is called “Meet Van Gogh.” According to Friend, the subject represents all shelter dogs. He has dignity, pride, a funny ear, and deserves a good home. The entire auction price will go to the shelter. Bids can be placed by calling the Gallery at 812-988-4609, or in person. The “Pumpkins and Puppies” painting collection will remain on sale at the Brown County Art Gallery until the second week of October with part of the proceeds going to the Shelter. In addition to “Pumpkins and Puppies” the Art Gallery Foundation will offer early Brown County art in a consignment sale. Artists include C. Curry Bohm, Anthony Buchta and others. On Saturday evening, the Gallery will host a special program sponsored by Indiana Heritage Arts, entitled “Behind the Easel, Tales of Early Nashville by Those Who Lived It,” Edition III. This popular event begins at 7 pm and is often standing room only. Speakers are folks who grew up in Brown County and have lots of tales to tell and stories from the crowd are invited as well. All of the events are free and open to the public. Gallery hours for the weekend are 10 am to 9pm on Saturday and noon to 5 pm on Sunday.

The Brown County Art Gallery Foundation 2009 Collector's Showcase: Exhibit includes rarely seen paintings by one of Brown County's favorite early artists, Will Vawter. Included is a large museum grade painting which our curator says may be the best Will Vawter he has ever seen. We will also feature Vawter's work as the illustrator for James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana's Poet Laureate. Each guest will be given a full color catalogue of the exhibit. All Proceeds benefit the Foundation. This is a once in a lifetime chance to see work by Will Vawter from private collections. Our exhibits in the past three years have drawn large crowds and our T.C. Steele exhibit garnered national coverage in American Art Review Magazine. Once again we will be doing a full color catalogue and we hope you will be willing to participate again this year, or become a first time advertiser. Our catalogues are truely collector items that people will keep for years to come. At some point, they may all be bound together in a book as they show an amazing collection of work by our early Hoosier Masters. Collector's Showcase is the Gallery Foundation's biggest fundraiser and goes a long way in keeping the doors open for the historic Brown County Art Gallery. This fall, we have made some changes in the Showcase reception. We will be offering a VIP reception from 5 to 9 pm at 45.00 and a general admission from 6 to 9 pm, for 35.00. We will be featuring Oliver's Barb-B-Que, side dishes and deep dish cookies by Middlepoint Foodworks. Music will be by Jon Kay, a local musical historian who did the music for the "Artists of Brown County DVD". We will be raffling Blue Ribbon homebaked pies by Brown County's State Fair Prize winning baker and board member Elizabeth Domont. And wine and beer will be served as well. Wine and beer is included in the VIP admission and may be purchased by the glass for the 35.00 admission. No jackets and ties allowed! The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday from noon to 5 pm with a $7.00 admission charge at the door. Catalogues will be distributed at both events and those left are offered at the gallery year round so it is a good advertising opportunity. Please support us in our mission to keep the historic Brown County Art Gallery a vibrant and special place. Call the Gallery for reservations: 812-988-4609

The Brown County Art Gallery Foundation has opened a consignment gallery in a new antique mall in Bloomington. The Foundation will offer consignment works for sale in the Second Street Antique Mall located at 222 West Second Street in Bloomington. The new mall is on Bloomington’s newly opened B-Line trail which is a designated area featuring bike and walking paths, restaurants, galleries and other interesting spots for visitors. The Foundation has maintained a consignment room in its Nashville Gallery for many years. The room features work by Indiana artists placed on consignment with part of the proceeds benefiting the non-profit Foundation which maintains the historic Brown County Art Gallery and its Permanent Collection. The new space in Bloomington will allow the Gallery Foundation to promote its many events as well as offer works of art by Indiana artists for sale. The Foundation generally focuses on early Indiana art, but any work will be considered for both locations. Art lovers can purchase or offer wor ks for sale and benefit a worthy art group at the same time. To consign work for sale, contact the Brown County Art Gallery at 812-988-4609. Second Street Antiques is open daily and has a website at www. SecondStreetAntiques.com. The Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville is open daily as well. Annual Victorian Tea Fundraiser was a success April 5, 2009 The 12th annual Mabel B. Annis Memorial Student Art Competition had a record number of entries this year. Click on the link the see the winners. The Brown County Art Gallery Foundation Presents: “Indiana Artists: Past and Present": A consignment sale to benefit the Foundation

The Great Hall is the home of the Brown County Art Gallery Association. The organization is one of the oldest on-going art associations in America. The 30 plus members display and sell their work in three seasonal exhibits, spring, summer, and fall/winter. They also get together to paint, to hold workshops and have fun, activities that visitors are able to enjoy as well. Our history includes a large collection of paintings donated to the gallery by the founding members and from loving collectors over the years. We proudly display these paintings on a rotating basis in our Permanent Collection Gallery. Adolph Shulz, Ada Walter Shulz, Will Vawter, Carl Graf, E. K. Williams, C. Curry Bohm, V.J. Cariani, Marie Goth, L.O. Griffith, Gustave Baumann, Dale Bessire, and T.C. Steele are legends of Indiana art and their paintings are part of our important collection. We also are the caretakers of the permanent collection of early Indiana artist Glen Cooper Henshaw. Famous in New York, Chicago, and Baltimore, Mr. Henshaw returned to his home state of Indiana and lived in Nashville until his death in the 1940s. Our front gallery is home to a 30-year-old non-profit organization known as Indiana Heritage Arts. IHA stages one of the largest exhibition and sales of heritage style art in the Midwest each June. IHA members include many of Indiana’s top professional artists and the competition gives them a chance to win 80,000 dollars in prize money and purchase awards. The prize winning artists also have the privilege of exhibiting in the IHA gallery room throughout the year. Two other galleries are available for solo shows, special exhibits, and free meeting space for our patron members. They are also the home of the the Mabel Annis Exhibit of student art which gives Jr. and Sr. High School artists from a six county area, a chance to compete and exhibit their work in a top flight gallery, enjoy prize money, and a formal reception. A new book has been released that covers a period of time in Brown County Art history....the 1970s. It is a collection of articles written originally for the Brown County Democrat by John "Abe" Eyed, a long time Brown County "character" and art patron. He passed away two years ago, and his wife Cheryl took up the task of completing the book in his memory. The proceeds all benefit the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation...a group both have volunteered with for many years. A book signing will take place on Friday, Sept, 7, 2007, at the Brown County Art Gallery during the kick off of Art Renaissance Weekend. Cheryl Eyed will be on hand between 5:30 and 8:30 pm. Foundation Services and Membership The foundation’s major fundraisers include Collector’s Showcase, a “one night only” chance to see the work of the early artists that are loaned to us from private collections. The showcase takes place each October and is an amazing night of fine food, wine, and great art work .Our Victorian Tea is a lovely event that takes place in April. Each year there is a different theme along with delicious food and fragrant teas. Both of these events are crucial to helping us achieve our mission of preserving and fostering our legacy. But one of our most important sources of income is from patron members. You will receive a quarterly newsletter, a chance to exhibit your art work in our patron show and invitations to our special events. We are dependent on our patrons to keep the doors open. Please consider joining.

Special Programs Holding a convention in Brown County? Contact the gallery staff for information on our special historic programs available for groups. Visitors can spend a delightful afternoon or evening in the gallery with a personal tour and historic presentation. A full catering kitchen is available Contact Us Brown County Art Gallery PO Box 443 Nashville, In 47448 brncagal@att.net For more information call Brown County Art Gallery at 812-988-4609.

The Historic Brown County Indiana Art Gallery Downtown Nashville, Indiana

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