The Manteo Arts Scene

Since being here I have been making contact with the many art galleries and artists who are here in Manteo, some of whom came to our reception the day after we arrived and have kept in touch. In downtown there are numerous spaces to show and sell artwork – Dare County Arts Council have their new premises with 4 gallery spaces, all showing work by local based artists, (Manteo and the Outerbanks). The people who live here are in 3 categories depending on whether they were born here or have moved, or just visiting (natives, locals and tourists) akin to North Devon's locals, incomers and grockels. The artists are natives or locals.

There are also a few other galleries showing work by a mix of local artists, including Full Moon Gallery, run by Sharon Enoch which is an eclectic mix and includes wine, photography and Sharon's own pottery. A lot of the work in the galleries is very commercial and sells to the visiting tourists, so there are a lot of coastal scenes, birds, flowers, boats - very similar in subject matter to artwork for sale in North Devon. In fact there are more galleries that pop up once you start walking around dowtown, these also include Gallery 101, Endless Possibilities (based on recycled wares), Washed Ashore which has some 'funky' hand painted high stools and a kids rocking horse and pottery in the windows of the large downtown book store.

I met the owners and potters at 'Wanchese Pottery' in downtown – so called because they used to live in Wanchese and relocated to Manteo. I have yet to go back and watch Bonny at the wheel but have had a chat with Bob on the porch whilst he was playing with their kitten, who has adopted them. They have a small studio and shop by the Maritime Museum and make a variety of pots. Bob said they are down in stock due to a busy summer season and have different colours, the ones I have seen are different green glazes, from aqua to grass, and Bonny and Bob make mugs, plates, dishes and bowls that hold pebbles with wicks in to act as candles. Another potter is Nancy of 'Nancyware' and she has mainly her own stuff for sale in the shop.

Out of town on the main road is Silver Bonsai Gallery – so called because owners and jewellers Ben and Kat have their silver jewellery studio there and run the gallery, but they also sell Bonsai trees! Its an impressive studio at the back of the main gallery so you can see them at work. They also have an employee to help them. When we met they were very busy trying to finish some wedding rings for the upcoming 10/10/10 date, apparently a very popular day to get married. We had made email contact with Ben and Kat a few months ago and they were very keen to get to know the arts community in Bideford, so it was great to finally meet. A lot of the work is by local artists – as well as their own jointly made jewellery, also paintings, photography, textile hats, decorated light switch covers (a very American thing) and pottery.

Dave and I met Katy Caroline (she has a mural at Poor Richard;s cafe, above) at First Friday and she won the Beach Book Prize that we judged. She invited us to her art opening at a new venue called 'Art Space' which is at Southern Shores about 20 miles North of Manteo in the OuterBanks. It was good to see her work but also the space – Art Space is a gallery and studio to 3 artists. It's not a huge place but is packed with art on the walls and floors in 2 rooms and the studio areas are in amongst it all. It was fascinating to see that the artists were all working in a relatively small area but producing lots of work, they enjoy feeding off each other in a creative atmosphere, Katy is there every day to paint. I also met a painter who lives in the same area, Rick Nilson. I have seen his work for sale and he has only been painting the past few years. He won the Beach Book prize last year and was there at Katy's opening to support her.

At a party on Saturday night I met a potter, Cody Dough, and she was very excited about the twinning and future exchange plans wants to come over to Bideford as soon as she can. I have yet to see her work but will look out for it in the Arts Council galleries as she has some work there.

There are many other art galleries and spaces all along the Outer Banks, both to the North, up to Duck and down to Hatteras and Ocracoke to the South. In terms of twinning and exchange activity this area is too vast to get to know artists and galleries very well and we have decided that staying with Manteo based artists or artists who show their work in town will be an easier process to manage upon returning to Bideford and making an arts exchange programme happen in the future.