Each month, our community gallery features new exhibitions of original works created by local and regional artists in our Gallery @ Room 1927, located at 6 South Joachim Street (next door to the Saenger Theatre). The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any artists are eligible and may submit a proposal for consideration. Exhibitions are usually displayed from the first Wednesday through the last day of each month.
In addition to our traditional gallery, we are now also accepting proposals for quarterly exhibitions in our window display cases, located between Room 1927 and the Saenger Box Office. If you are interested in creating a window installation, email director@mobilearts.org.
Join us on the second Friday of each month during LoDa ArtWalk for our exhibition receptions. Meet the artists, see their work in person, and create a personal connection with what is on display. Our gallery is open to the public Tuesdays - Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. View our extended Virtual Gallery program, implemented during the 2020 quarantine, online here. View our current and recent exhibitors below!
Our Community Gallery program is made possible thanks to the Daniel Foundation of Alabama and the J.L. Bedsole Foundation. To sponsor an exhibition, please see our Sponsorship Information.
2024 EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Exhibition schedule is subject to change.*
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
GLIMPSES is inspired by the fragility of innocence in all children. A precious quality that in fleeting moments of time often reflect who we really are. Jerry Bousard is a self-taught artist, and started pencil drawing as a young child. He always had a love of portraits. As an adult, he put it down for over 25 years, busy with life, marriage and raising two daughters. As his oldest daughter grew and showed a natural talent in art, it inspired Jerry to pick up his pencils again. With this exhibit, Jerry is partnering with “Make A Wish” for the benefit of providing a wish for a terminally ill child. Half of all artist proceeds will go to this organization. He thanks you for your support!
Art for All is an inclusive arts education program for adults. The goal of the program is to bring people of all abilities together to express their creativity and develop their skills in a variety of arts media including acrylics, graphics, watercolors, and more. These framed works from Art for All were all created by students with developmental disabilities over the last few years.
These exhibitions will be on display in MAC’s Gallery @ Room 1927 through December 21st, 2024.
MAC Holiday Hours: Closed 11/27/24 – 11/30/24 and 12/23/24 – 1/2/25.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Date: October 12th, 2018
“My Endless Dreams” is a street-art project based on Sahar K Alford‘s personal experience of growing up as a member of a minority religious group in Iran. Because of her religion, she was denied the right to pursue a higher education. This project is part of #EducationIsNotACrime and the “Changing the World, One Wall at a Time” international street art and human rights campaign, promoting educational equality for the Baha’i’s in Iran.
Sahar Alford is the Mobile Arts Council’s chosen collaborator who has been working with female residents from the James T. Strickland Youth Center to create this art project. The work will be installed and a reception will take place at 106 Dauphin Street on National Free Thought Day, Friday, October 12, 2018 during LODA Artwalk.
Dates: October 4th – 30th, 2018
This October, see the Watercolor & Graphic Arts Society of Mobile‘s Fall Exhibition; a new series of paintings by Ainsley McNeely; and “Splash,” 
featuring ceramic sculptures and wall hangings by Dawson Dunn Morgan.
In addition to our fabulous exhibitions, MAC staff will be dressed in costume for Spooky Walk, our Halloween edition of LODA Artwalk! Bring the kids by in costume for gallery trick-or-treating.
The exhibitions will hang October 4th – October 30th. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on weekdays, with a reception on LODA Artwalk night, Friday, October 12th, 6 – 9 p.m. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and from 7:30 a.m. – noon on October 13th, 20th, and 27th.
Dates: September 10-30, 2018
This September, catch a glimpse of Mobile Fashion Week 2018 through “Draped,” an exhibition focused on the art of draping. From Ancient Egyptians to Modern/Contemporary designers, draping has been a trend that has survived throughout the ages. Some of Mobile’s best local designers will dazzle you with their draped creations in anticipation of Mobile Fashion Week’s big show.
Mobile Fashion Week is September 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Fort of Colonial Mobile. This is their 7th year of Fashion Week, and they are bringing every facet of the fashion industry (models, designers, makeup artists and hairstylists) together to support Camp Rap-A-Hope. This year, they are hoping to donate the largest check yet to this amazing camp for kids with cancer. Order your tickets now online for $30 (tickets at the door will be available for $40).
MAC is starting a new annual tradition at this month’s ArtWalk: an exhibit featuring the work of the upcoming Throwdown contestants! Think of it as your chance to scope out the talent, and maybe even place bets on a winner. This year the Skinny Gallery will feature Ardith Goodwin, Ben Kaiser, Cat Pop, conz8000, and Devlin Wilson, along with their equally fierce artist assistants Shauna Meiri, Marnée Wiley, Kristin Dunreath, DeAnthony Dulaney, and Ben Hebert. Each artist will display three to five of their works.
Once you’ve seen the art, you’ll want to see the artists at work. The Throwdown is a live art competition featuring local artists competing for the title of Throwdown Champion. Competitors have 90 minutes to create works of art from a shared supply table. Your job as an attendee is to watch the art happen while enjoying live local music, sipping drinks from Haint Blue Brewing and O’Daly’s Irish Pub, chowing down on appetizers fromHeroes and The Royal Scam, and partaking in a silent auction for a variety of locally-provided goodies. At the end of the night, you can even participate in a live auction to take home the champion’s masterpiece!
If this sounds like a fun night, visit MAC’s website to buy a ticket now! The Throwdown takes place Thursday, September 20, 5:30-9 p.m. at 23 East.
Dates: September 10-30, 2018
Printmaker and installation artist Grant Benoit’s exhibition “Memory Palace” is a commentary on the layers of memory and experience held by everyday objects. Benoit compares our memory to a house: “Everyday paths and rituals become evident as carpets thin and edges darken with touch. Shelves overflow… closets fill—first systematically, then later with forceful containment.” Expanding on his training in traditional printmaking, Benoit prints wallpapers and layers them in concert with household ephemera and sculpted objects to “explore notions of memory in a way science cannot convey.”
Benoit received his Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Spring Hill College, then earned an MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University in 2015. Since then he has exhibited his work internationally, stretching the boundaries of printmaking to explore ideas of memory and multiplicity. He currently works as the Museum Educator at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art. Learn more about his work at www.grantbenoit.com.
Dates: August 3-30, 2018
Print by Sarah Dittman
Dates: July 5-31, 2018
This July, MAC will feature prints depicting the seven deadly sins by Sarah Dittman in the Small Room; “Rise like the lotus from muddy waters” – a mixed media exhibition of sculptures, paintings, and prints by Shawn Berdux, in the Danielle Juzan Gallery; and artwork created by students of the Optimist Boys & Girls Club in the Skinny Gallery.
Sarah Dittmann is a printmaker and illustrator from Fairhope, Alabama. From a young age she has shown an inclination towards art and has strived to perfect her art skills. She graduated in the Spring of 2016 from the University of South Alabama with a B.F.A in Printmaking. She has recently been accepted into the Graduate Program at the University of Alabama to pursue a M.F.A in Studio Art: Printmaking for the Fall 2018 semester. She currently is living and working in Appleton, Wisconsin. Her exhibition features the seven deadly sins depicted as duchesses, as well as prints of skulls and crystals.
Shawn Berdux is a self-taught artist, and this is her first solo exhibition. Shawn was previously a nurse, and her creativity often helped her with patients and families. She has always dreamed of being a artist. Through life’s ups and downs, she has found art to always be her therapy. Shawn continues to explore all mediums she can. She loves to sculpt clays, rocks, and bamboo as well as dabbling in mixed media and painting abstract figures.
The Boys & Girls Clubs were provided with two free weeks of ChARTing New Directions summer art camps, which were held at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center. MAC and Alabama Contemporary partnered together to provide these classes, which focused on many different forms of art, including ceramics, painting, stenciling, paper-making, yarn-bombing, and public art projects (to be installed in downtown’s Lost Garden off Dauphin Street next month). We will fill the Skinny Gallery with their works for the month of July. On July 31st from 4 – 6 PM, MAC will host a closing reception for all the camp participants and their families, open to the general public.
The exhibitions will hang from July 5th – July 31st. Gallery hours are 9 AM – 4 PM on weekdays and during Market in the Park hours on Saturdays.
Dates: June 4-29, 2018
Drawing by Melissa Tubbs and painting by Adam Underwood
This June, the Mobile Arts Council is hosting three unique exhibitions: ART from the HEART, an acrylic and mixed-media exhibition by self-taught artist James J. Austin; “Abstracts from the Air” by Adam Underwood; and Melissa Tubbs’ “Celebration & Preservation” – an Alabama 200 traveling exhibition featuring 25 detailed drawings of architecture in our state that have had a major role in its history.
The exhibitions will hang in our galleries from Monday, June 4, through Friday, June 29, with a reception during ArtWalk on Friday, June 8 between 6 – 9 PM. Gallery hours are 9 AM – 4 PM on weekdays and Saturdays during Market in the Park hours.
Dates: May 1-31, 2018
Painting by Lauren Nalty
This May, the Mobile Arts Council is hosting the “251 Art Teachers” exhibition – a group art show for anyone who shares their passion and love of art through teaching. Any Mobile-area teachers were eligible to enter, including those that teach at a school setting (public or private, college or university), workshops, classes, private lessons, and/or art camps.
Participating artists include Amanda Youngblood, Christy LeGros, Carol Wiggins, Brennan Gibson, Cat Pope, Lucy Gafford, Rikki Rhodes, Keith Wall, Rebecca Wright, Renee Grimes, Karin Marrero, Linda Duffis, Melissa Stuart, Rebecca Wright, Jeff Knighton, Anne Rose, Warren Jackson, Jason Outlaw, Ardith Goodwin, Steve Dark, Sharon Samples, Sharonda Harris-Marshall, Lisa Hancock, Catherine Helmsing, Corky Goldman, Nancy Barry, Julie Kogon, Janet Hinton, Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough, Alma Hoffmann, Ginger Woechan, Lauren Nalty, Sarah Gelsinger Brewer, Kathleen Kirk Stoves, Lydia Host, and Steve Strickland.
Dates: April 1-27, 2018
“5” is a juried exhibition of work by students at the area’s five colleges and universities, sponsored every other year by Mobile Arts Council (MAC). Entry was open to any student – not only students studying art – enrolled during any part of the 2017 -2018 academic year at Bishop State Community College, Coastal Alabama Community College, Spring Hill College, theUniversity of Mobile, or the The University of South Alabama.
From the 90 works submitted, Judge Wendy DesChene chose 60 pieces by 34 artists: 3 from Bishop State Community College, 10 from Coastal Alabama Community College, 6 from Spring Hill College, 3 from the University of Mobile, and 12 from the University of South Alabama.
The exhibition will hang in our galleries from Monday, April 2 through Friday, April 27, with a reception and awards ceremony during the LoDa ArtWalk on Friday, April 13 between 6 – 9 PM. Prizes (including cash and gift certificates) will be awarded the evening of the reception. Our gallery hours are 9 AM – 5 PM on weekdays, as well as weekends during SouthSounds Arts and Crafts Market and the Market in the Park hours.
We want to thank Ashland Gallery, the Mobile Art Association, and Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown Mobile Historic District for sponsoring the 2018 exhibition.
The Artys is an annual awards program that celebrates the important contributions that individuals, groups, and businesses make to the Mobile cultural community. Finalists have been announced in the remaining nine award categories, with winners to be announced live at the event.
Artys attendees will enjoy a night of celebration, complete with food, drinks and entertainment in many forms. A jazz trio comprised of John Milham, Chris Spies, and Chris Severin will play, with performances by Mobile Opera and Joe Jefferson Players throughout the ceremony.
Photo Gallery
