Christmas Card Art

Dates: December 1-31, 2016

The Skinny Gallery will feature Michael Smith’s collection of Christmas card art, created by his artists friends and himself between 1995 – 2016. The show displays the original framed artwork as well as Smith’s printed Christmas cards, which will be strung up throughout the gallery. In 1979, after moving back from college and into his own home, Michael Smith threw a party Christmas night for friends in Mobile for the holidays.  “I hosted the party for twenty-five years, always Christmas night, and added more people to the guest list each year.  During that time, I met and married Karen, started and finished law school, began full-time work, and moved to midtown,” said Smith. In 1993, they began sending invitations to the party.  Smith had already collected artwork from his friends and started getting them to do the artwork for the invitations. Generally, the only request was that the artwork be the dimensions of a postcard and that it be Christmas-themed; some friends accepted more particularized requests. Their last party was in 2003, but they continue to send greetings every year with a new Christmas card, created by an artist. According to Smith and his wife, “It gives us great pleasure to share the original art for these cards with you. Merry Christmas.” Smith’s collection will be on display at MAC during the month of December. Meet the artist on ArtWalk night, December 9th, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. The gallery will be open from 9 – 5 on weekdays for most of December, and will be open weekends during Sunday Funday (the 11th) and Holiday Market on the Square (the 17th). The gallery will be closed through Christmas break, from December 26 – 30.