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    Columbus Makes Art Presents: Garrison Latimer and Jen Wrubleski Curate a Dolly Parton Art Show

    In preparation for Wild Goose Creative’s epic gallery show on Saturday, Jan. 5 from 6–9 p.m., Wild Goose Gallery and Operations Manager Lydia Simon sat down with Diamond in a Rhinestone World curators, Garrison Latimer and Jen Wrubleski to talk about their unique curatorial inspiration behind this show. Latimer is a retail professional and artist living in Columbus. Wrubleski is an illustrator and graduate of Columbus College of Art & Design, currently working in Blockfort Studios.

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    Lydia: What is your inspiration behind curating this show?

    Garrison: Dolly Parton! I’ve loved Dolly for a very long time. I grew up in the South so her charm and wit remind me of my upbringing. Her work transcends generations and through it all she never seems less than authentic. How can you NOT be inspired by that?

    Jen: The inspiration comes from Garrison and my mutual love for Dolly Parton. My personal attraction to her is as a positive female role model.

    art in columbus
    Diamond in a Rhinestone World curators, Jen Wrubleski and Garrison Latimer.

    Lydia: How has your experience as artists influenced your desire to curate this show?

    Garrison: I tend to view each piece I make as an experiment that leads to the next experiment and so on. The idea of so many artists working in so many different mediums off one singular inspiration sounded like a fascinating experiment with great potential and I am proud of what these artists created.

    Jen: For me, it’s mostly about the thrill of bringing so many wildly different people together with one simple common interest like Dolly Parton. What I love about our art community is how diverse the talent is, and my favorite part of curating a group show is seeing so many talented people approach the subject in their own unique way.

    Dolly Parton fan art
    Dolly Parton themed art by Grant Gilsdorf.

    Lydia: What types of artwork should we expect?

    Garrison: I am really stoked about the group of artists participating in this show. This group of people are all so unique in their backgrounds, personalities and talents. It will be really interesting to see such a variety of styles inspired by Dolly Parton. The work will depict all sorts of mediums: painting, mixed media, digital, fiber, jewelry… there’s even talk of egg shells being used in a piece!

    Jen: There will be a huge variety! We didn’t want to focus on just portrait artists for this show. When curating the list of artists that we wanted to invite, we made sure to reach out to a large variety of makers, like ceramicists, jewelry makers and sculptors.

    Fan art of Dolly Parton
    Dolly Parton themed art by Shannon Hedges (left) and Jason Kincaid (right).

    Lydia: What’s the best thing about the Columbus Arts Scene right now?

    Garrison: It’s big enough to be exciting, but small enough to feel a part of it.

    Jen: The Columbus arts scene is a mutual leeching of creative inspiration — making each other stronger and better.

    See Latimer’s and Wrubleski’s curatorial work, and the work of more than 20 local artists at the opening reception for Diamond in a Rhinestone World on Saturday, Jan. 5 from 6-9 p.m. at Wild Goose Creative (2491 Summit St.). Join Wild Goose again for the Diamond in a Rhinestone World Dance Party on Jan. 19 from 7–10 p.m.

    Columbus Makes Art Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus. The column is a project of the Art Makes Columbus campaign, telling the inspiring stories of the people and organizations who create Columbus art and sharing information about exhibitions, performances, concerts and more at ColumbusMakesArt.com. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at how #artmakescbus.

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    Margaret Wunderlich
    Margaret Wunderlichhttps://www.wildgoosecreative.com
    Margaret Wunderlich is head of curation for Wild Goose Creative.
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