Dia De Los Muertos art exhibit hitting Lanett

Published 7:13 pm Tuesday, October 9, 2018

LANETT — Following up their successful premier exhibit in May, West Point Fine Arts will be holding another exhibit this Thursday in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos.

The exhibit will be held on the patio of El Rio Grande, a Mexican restaurant in Lanett, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern.

WPFA founder Thea McElvy said that the location is perfect for the show as it will put a larger emphasis on the cultural celebration.

Email newsletter signup

“Its a Mexican holiday celebrating all of our loved ones who have crossed over,” she said. “It’s usually very colorful. It doesn’t have some of the Halloween connotations, it’s not scary or spooky.”

The exhibit, which will have art inspired by the Mexican holiday as well as that depicting Autumnal and Halloween imagery, will feature the work of nine local artists including Deborah Batson, Dwayne Holmes, Lori Harrell, June Bird, Gennie Collier, Jewellynn Quinton, Victoria Slagle, Janna Cole and Wendy Robinson.

McElvey said that bringing in members of the community to both exhibit and admire the art was the main goal of WPFA since its inception.

“It’s called West Point, but its actually about the whole community because I think if you don’t have the Valley, Lanett and West Point area all together, you kind of lack something,” she said. “I think we work best when we work together.”

Art at the event will be up for sale, but McElvey said the show is to inspire discussion, help with networking among artists and bring more folks into the local eatery.

“We want to not just be arts in the community, we want to benefit the community in some way,” she explained. “Being able to offer people a place to stay and have dinner there as well, it’s symbiotic and we benefit each other.”

Following up the exhibit on Thursday, WPFA will be hosting another exhibit on Nov. 1, the actual celebration date for Dia de Los Muertos in the United States. That exhibit will feature ninth through twelfth-grade students from five different counties showing off their work in downtown West Point. Those interested in participating can contact McElvy at thea.mcelvy@gmail.com by Friday, Oct. 12.