Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment

Austen Omar - The Dark Era
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | Third Floor East Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by Austen Omar which will be on view in the Third Floor East Gallery from February 12 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

About the Exhibit
“The Dark Era” represents the last 5 years going through the ups and downs of my life through art, its an amalgamation of what I view represents my headspace over the past half decade, the Mixed Media pieces were made with a combination of images sourced from used books, personal drawings, and print outs of my digital pieces.
Before creating visual media, music was my sole form of expression. In the chaos of my childhood I turned to music to let out my emotions in a healthy form of self expression. In my musical journey I wanted to make art for my albums, and that’s how this gallery came to be. They’re reflections of the darkness, the deepest depths of despair, anguish, freedom, and love, much like my music has been for me going on for years now. Best way I would describe the style of my work would be psychotic psychedelic. Through brutal imagery, vivid colors, and kaleidoscopic styles I bring these hallucinatory images to life. They reflect the deepest parts of myself. Everyday I continuously strive to push my art in all its forms to new lengths.

About the Artist
I’m Austen Omar, I’m a musician and artist (although I normally like to say I just make noises and colors) from Huntsville, AL. I use music and art as a cathartic expression of chaotic thoughts. I consider the things I create to be better representations of myself than what I can describe in words, for better or worse.
If you like my art and are curious about more of my works, you can find more HERE

Brian Walker - Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | First Floor Ramp Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by Brian Walker which will be on view in the First Floor Ramp Gallery from February 8 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

About the exhibit;
All the hanging pieces are relief block prints, carved and then printed on a physical printing press. Much care goes into planning out the textures and shading before I commit to carving my design into a linoleum block. The blank space around each single mark, shape and shadow is carved by hand, one at a time. Then I apply ink to the block and run it through a printing press to make the images you see here. Each piece is a scene from an epic story, using the language of pop culture with composition, lighting and framing that highlight the most compelling parts of a narrative. The viewer will have to tell themselves how the characters got here, what happens next, and why. Whatever story they build for themselves is far more important and personal than my intention when creating the piece.
The sculptures are made from recycled toys and electronics. All the parts are separated, sanded down, and attached in new combinations to make these new characters. Every detail, each new element added builds their personality and attitude. I then add a layer of paint to set the tone and make them seem like a cohesive individual. Yes, I am the bad kid from Toy Story.

About the artist;
Brian has been carving pictures of monsters and creeps into blocks and printing them since 2007. He has been living in Huntsville, Alabama for half his life. Brian appears at local artist markets and fan conventions around the southeast, and his artwork has a permanent home at braintwist.net. He is supported by his lovely wife who puts up with all of his nonsense, three wonderful kids, a dog, and two cats who will never stop sitting on his blocks while carving.

John Paul Kesling - Lean-To
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | Third Floor West Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by John Paul Kesling which will be on view in the Third Floor West Gallery from February 12 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

About the exhibit:
A lean-to shelter relies on an existing structure for support. Sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent, but always dependent. This collection of paintings tells the story of relationships at all stages of this search for safety, security, and love. From longing in loneliness to first kisses and dreaming together, from making mistakes and growing apart to losing your lover and dying alone, being human is a bittersweet condition. In the end, hopefully we all found a place to rest, even if just for a night or two.

About the artist:
John Paul Kesling (b. 1980, USA) was born and raised in Northeastern Kentucky in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He received his BFA in Arts from Morehead State University (Morehead, KY, 2003) and spent a summer in Europe studying art history (Summer, 2002). He went on to receive an MFA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA, 2010). He spent the next six years in Brooklyn, NY immersed in the NYC art scene. In March of 2016, he relocated to Madison, TN, just outside of Nashville.
His work has been included in group exhibitions at Ground Floor Contemporary (Birmingham, AL), The Parthenon (Nashville, TN), Lilienthal Gallery (Knoxville, TN), I Like Your Work Podcast (online and print), ArtMaze Mag (online and print), Create Magazine (online), London Paint Club (online and print), NYC Crit Club/Plum Line Finalist Exhibition 2023 (curated by MEPAINTSME), Tyger Tyger Gallery (Asheville, NC), and The Gadsden Museum of Art (Gadsden, AL). He has attended artist residencies at On::View Artist Residency (Savannah, GA), Byrdcliffe (Woodstock, NY), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT) and Mudhouse (Crete, Greece). He has had solo shows at Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN), The Ellis Gallery (ARTS Southeast, Savannah, GA), Wheelhouse Arts (Louisville, KY), Banker’s Alley Hotel (Nashville, TN), Tennessee State Community College (Gallatin, TN) and Oz Arts (Nashville, TN). In 2022 he was accepted to the White Columns Curated Online Artist Registry (New York, NY). His work is included in the permanent collections of The Savannah College of Art and Design (Atlanta, GA and Lacoste, France), Vanderbilt University Medical Center Community Arts Initiative and Soho House Nashville.
Kesling is a member of the artist collective at Ground Floor Contemporary (Birmingham, AL) and is represented by Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN), Lilienthal Gallery (Knoxville, TN) and Wheelhouse Art (Louisville, KY).

Sara Dismukes - Everywhere, elsewhen.
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | Second Floor Connector Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by Sara Dismukes which will be on view in the Second Floor Connector Gallery from February 12 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

About the exhibit:
We all move back and forth between public and private spaces. Rather than call attention to the origin or the destination, I pay attention to what is found along the way. I am compelled by the social mediation of landscape, and how desire and disregard are manifested in objects and spaces over time.
My work celebrates the things we pass by, often unnoticed, while moving about our day. I am interested in entropy as well as the growth that is its companion. Close observation of the patterns and structures in nature, as well as the rhythm of its seasonal cycles, is an enthusiasm and an influence. I see tenacity and resilience within these systems and feel deeply connected to them.
Domesticity is simultaneously welcoming and claustrophobic, and the cultural labor traditionally performed in those spaces is a touchstone. Repetition and pattern are at the core of my process.
It is my job to honor the gap between intent and neglect. My personal metaphors and my artistic travels run parallel to the transitioning values of our larger society. My art challenges assumptions about culture and gender, value and decline, public and private, nature and civilization. The continuum is here.
About the artist:
Although Sara Dismukes has lived in several of the US time zones, she has been a long-time resident of Alabama. She is on faculty within the Department of Art and Design at Troy University. Drawing—whether analog or digital—is the focus of her studio practice.

Merkin Trust & Fellowship
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | First Floor West Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by Merkin Trust & Fellowship which will be on view in the First Floor West Gallery from February 12 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

About the exhibit:
The Merkin, known to have had a place in culture since the reign of Cleopatra, has a deep history rooted in both fashion and function. Whether shielding secrets or celebrating the human body, the pubic wig has been used to hide, to protect, and to speak.
This exhibition is a collection of works by women artists making their voices heard through visual representation. We speak from a broad spectrum of voices, perceptions, and experiences about consumerism, ageism, growth, sin, fear, celebration, diversity, and defiance. We invite you to look, to think, to challenge, and to discuss the conversations put before you through these artworks.

About the artists:
Amanda Banks is a multidisciplinary artist and award-winning research scientist.
Cheryl Busick is currently exploring printmaking techniques, and how she can play with them, usually in a story or myth driven manner.
Kana Clark is a visual artist who uses encaustic beeswax painting to explore cosmic themes, blending layers of wax to create otherworldly, textured works that transcend earthly boundaries.
Anna Sue Courtney has maintained a practice of visual and performing arts for over 50 years.
Susie Garrett draws and sculpts, combining unlike materials leading to clever and sometimes humorous results.
Lauren Passwater is a multimedia artist exploring expression through juxtaposition.
Kami Watson is an award-winning, working and teaching, second generation fiber and textile artist.

The 6,000 Circle Project
2025-02-12 - 2025-04-26 | ALWCA Second Floor South Gallery
This exhibition round includes works provided by the ALWCA representing the SE region which will be on view in the ALWCA Second Floor South Gallery from February 12 – April 26, 2025. Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public. The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you! The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, April 26 from 5-7 pm.

From the ALWCA:
The 6,000 Circle Project focuses on the circle as a symbol of balance and unity, a never-ending container of feminine energy and light. We are envisioning 6000 circles created by a multitude of artists of all genders from around the globe, both groups and individuals, gathering and making for a series of interactive public and digital illustrations.
Participating Artists:
April Harris • Tracy Noles-Ross • Amanda Banks • Kimberly Hart
Kris Blitz Shelledy • Loretta Lynn • Casey Roberts • Lauren Passwater
Daneal Eberly • Rose Nylund • Tara Stallworth-Lee • Corinna Nicole
Elizabeth Limbaugh • Savvy Pendragon • Rebecca Skelton • Pat Setser
Lauren Woods • Susana Vizcara • Elizabeth Reich • Carol Hewitt • Kami Watson • Jean Kreiger • Betsey Lester • Susan Davis • Amanda Stone • Sierra Bobo
