Gallery exhibits Haslam’s art

Former McMinnvillian Betty Bryan Haslam has been invited to show a variety of her paintings in oil, watercolor and acrylic during an upcoming exhibition at The Station-Pure Art Gallery, says Vicki Monroe Spivey gallery owner.

The gallery is scheduled to officially open the exhibit, “Dreamscapes: Stones, Sand and Time,” with a special public reception for the artist on Friday, Sept. 19 from 6 to 10 p.m. The Station-Pure Art will then be open to the public the following day, at 10 a.m. The display will remain on view through Oct. 17.

Haslam is the daughter of the late Charles Faulkner Bryan and the late Edith Hillis Bryan, both of whom were well known McMinnville natives. From 1956 until 1962, she resided at Falconhurst, the antebellum home of Asa Faulkner, in the Faulkner Springs community of Warren County, and graduated from McMinnville City High School.

In 1962, she was married to Dr. John Battle Haslam of Birmingham, Ala., and since 1971, has lived in Asheville, N.C. where she studied art under S. Tucker Cooke at the University of North Carolina.

The Haslams have two sons who, with their families also make their home in Asheville: son Bryan and wife Susan, and son Mark and wife Kelly with their daughter, Katie, and son Wynn. Their grandmother is pleased to note that Wynn is already a budding artist.

In the introduction for the catalogue on Haslam’s upcoming show, Monty Wanamaker wrote, “From the early days of her life, Betty Lynn Haslam was destined to look at the world through the eye of the artist. Her father, the remarkable folk music enthusiast and musician, Charles F. Bryan, instilled in her from the beginning the ‘other world’ implicit within the natural Appalachian milieu in which they grew up — the complex world of nature which surrounded them… Her father and mother, Edith Bryan, made sure that the realm of the poet and fantasist every-present in the mountains and creeks and valleys of the ancient Cumberlands made itself known to her, which would throughout her life, help shape her artistic vision…” Wanamaker added. “Very few individuals have seen her paintings. This, Betty Lynn’s first public art showing, is a revelation of no small import, to her many relatives, friends and new-found admirers…”

“Monty Wanamaker and I encouraged her to have her own art show, and I am very pleased that she has chosen The Station-Pure Art for this special event,” Spivey said.

For additional information on this exhibit and others, contact Spivey at 931-473-0821.