KELSEY WALKER

 

The Norfolk Arts District, also known as the NEON district, has made a huge leap into becoming both a destination spot and your new favorite downtown detour, seeing as you can’t drive down Granby Street without noticing the huge, freshly painted murals. On top of a ton of incredible local artists making their mark, world-renowned artist HENSE stopped by last week to add a splash of color to the new Glass Wheel Studio on W. Olney Road.

 

For someone who got his start with graffiti, Alex Brewer, a.k.a. HENSE, described his transition as a “natural progression,” in the sense that as a young graffiti artist he was already painting walls at a large scale.

 

“I think the day that I sort of progressed out of that and started focusing more on my studio work and exhibitions and museum shows and public art projects, that was the day I felt I was growing as an artist,” he said.

 

An Atlanta native, this shift of focus transformed him into an internationally in-demand artist for public art projects and murals around the world. This year alone he’s traveled to Australia, Germany, Taiwan, Paris and Amsterdam.

 

After Lorrie Saunders and Cheryl White reached out to Alex about doing a piece for Glass Wheel Studio and told him about the growing Norfolk Arts District, he developed some renderings for the project.

 

“I love hearing about not only large cities, but also smaller cities that are starting to kind of take their older buildings and make them into something new,” Brewer said, “and I like to be a part of that if I can.”

 

Though he develops an aesthetic direction working with abstract form, color and process, he said, “I never really stick fully to that [direction], I always deviate a bit… I never like to be fully limited to my sketch.”

 

Brewer uses a no-fear approach when it comes to his work, and explained that he is, “never afraid to change the image… I know that it’s just paint and so I can always paint over it. If I start feeling like I’m afraid to change the image, either I’m finished or I’m like, ‘I need to take a break.’ I think having a good balance of a spontaneous approach as well as a more calculated approach is good, and I try to keep it that way.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Brewer, bringing murals to a city means finding a delicate balance. There’s always the chance that it becomes “overdone,” but mostly he feels that it adds an element of culture and walkability, and even creates tourism.

 

“I think any form of public art can kind of give life to parts of town that maybe were not known for its walkability or for its stable economy or what not. Its still a good thing to have a piece of artwork that’s there for people to enjoy, so I think it can really effect communities in a lot of positive ways.”

 

That’s what the Arts District is all about. Norfolk is finally nurturing a creative hub and turning the downtown community into an atmosphere that supports the culture of the city.

 

Cheryl White, director of the Glass Wheel Studio, is feeling the momentum the NEON district has going on. A Norfolk native, Cheryl both graduated from and taught at ODU, and was also the director of the Suffolk Art Gallery at the Chrysler Museum for seven years. Having been involved with the arts community for awhile, she explained that the area has had a “need” for a couple of things.

 

First of all, she described a “lack of studio spaces and affordable studio spaces.” Secondly, she said that there weren’t many galleries selling both studio artists’ work and also visiting artists’ work who come through the Chrysler Glass Studio. The solution to the problem? Glass Wheel Studio.

 

The framework of Glass Wheel Studio is simple: a Studio Artist Program consisting of thirteen artist residences and two rotating exhibitions. These exhibitions will always be showing someone who works in glass and someone does not, but that are having the same conversations (just through different materials).

 

 

After meeting with different arts programs across the U.S., including those at Yale, the Tyler School in Philadelphia, Urban Glass of New York and Appalachia Center for Craft, Cheryl kept asking artists the same question: “What do you want?” The overall answer was the desire to have a place where artists could have a larger dialogue with contemporary art, where glass isn’t just seen as a craft on the side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Glass Wheel Studio provides that opportunity with the Studio Artist Program. Artists apply for a space and pay as little as $150-300 per month for 24-hour access, HVAC, Wi-Fi, presentation on site, access to small production kilns and professional development. The first-year artists have been decided, with those whose talents range from painting to photography and video and have backgrounds from everywhere, including ODU, VCU, Alfred and Yale.

 

When it comes to the growing Norfolk Arts District, new businesses that support not only the art but also the entire creative process itself will be vital. It seems that the city and the community are finally coming together on these ideas, and with people understanding the importance of culture and keeping the creative class here in Norfolk, Cheryl said, “this is just the beginning.”

 

Glass Wheel Studio opens November 2015.

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