Bo Bartlett is one of the foremost American realist painters in the country and was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia in the wake of the Second World War. After graduating high school, where Bartlett excelled in drawing, the artist lived in Philadelphia with his family and attended Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, studying the medium of oil painting. The artist continued to live and work in the Northeast until recently, when he bought his childhood home in Columbus. Working out of a new studio in a recently refabricated denim manufacture, along with his wife, fellow artist Betsy Eby, Bartlett paints, instructs and provides outreach for Muscogee County with programs such as Home Is Where the Art Is and Art Makes You Smart.
Every Saturday morning for nine and a half months out of the year, from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., Bo Bartlett’s booth dedicates itself to all things pertinent in the artist’s outreach activities and artwork. Another important aspect of the booth is to inform the public about the opening of the Bo Bartlett Center next year. The Center, a 18,425-square-feet refabricated cotton warehouse, will house a large portion of the artist’s artwork with a rotating gallery space of not only Bartlett’s work, but the work of visiting American artists of national and international acclaim. Along with showcasing artwork, the space will be utilized to conduct master classes, in addition to providing other important programming for the surrounding area.
A wonderful factor of the booth is the dedication to the artist’s nonprofit activities he has started in the community. Home Is Where the Art Is, is a painting class that takes place every Thursday at Rose Hill Methodist Church from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., where participants are able gain insight from Bo Bartlett, as well as other local artists such as Gary Pound, Helen Brooks, Marina Dunbar, and Jeremy McCrary. Artwork sold at the market and made by participants of the program can be bought with 100% of the proceeds going back to the artist who created the art -- canvased and framed works can be bought for $20 to $30 dollars.
One of the more prominent and dedicated artists to paint during HIWTAI is Derrick Walton, Derrick has had his work exhibited at the booth for the past few weeks. The artist is a wonderful draftsman and can write remarkably elegant calligraphy, often attributing religious text, as well as pertinent information, to his artwork in a precise fashion.
One of the most frequent items to be sold at the booth are cards with Bo Bartlett’s work on the front of them -- they sell for $1. In addition to artwork and cards at the table, market goers are able to buy Bo Bartlett books, prints of the artist's paintings, and "SEE: An Art Road Trip", which is a documentary about a road trip the artist went on with his wife to important art destinations in the United States. Brochures and information are always free of charge.
See you at the Market.