Exhibition: Deep South Community Art 2019
With 29 artists and over 100 pieces of art… From paintings, to photography, drawings, sculpture, ceramics and more!
Deep South Community Art Exhibition
Scarborough Community Centre
13 - 15 December 2019
“What a treat 😍 Truly magnificent to see so many hours in one room. Each piece carefully selected and curated to showcase talent for a good cause 💖”
“A very inspiring exhibition. Some breathtaking work.
Well done! Please repeat.”
I have had two big goals on my to-do list for a number of years:
Find a way to raise money through my work for TEARS Animal Rescue, a local charity very close to my heart.
Host an art exhibition that supports local artists, in my little home village.
Then somebody made a comment on a community Facebook group about getting an exhibition running and well, oops… Guess that was just the kick in the butt I needed to get started and before I knew it, I was knee deep into arrangements and running with it! Or should I say, it ran away with me...
Selected artworks (with closeup details)
from each of our 2019 Deep South Artists...
I had a number of personal reasons for wanting to host a community group exhibition. One of the main reasons was that I have been living in my little village since 2015 and other than my direct neighbours (who I had known since before I moved here), I knew absolutely nobody in the village. For the most part, over the past number of years, I have become somewhat of an introvert and an extreme loner. Hosting this exhibition was my way of reaching out and finding my place in my community, but doing so on my own terms. And while I do not see myself becoming an extrovert, or becoming more social, it feels good to know a few faces and being able to greet a few people when taking a walk on the beach - a way not to feel like such in impostor in my own home.
Another big reason for me wanting to host a local art exhibition was because I fully believe in artists supporting artists. Supporting an artist does not only mean purchasing their work. Supporting an artist can also mean attending their exhibitions, following their work on social media, sharing their work, offering a kind word or encouragement, sharing resources, etc. Supporting other artists is something I am passionate about and it was a big motivation for me to create this initiative.
I have hosted a number of exhibitions in the past, but these were all co-curated and co-hosted with close friends and fellow photographers. They were also all held in the city, and for the most part, they were in venues well suited to hosting art exhibitions. However, this was the first time I was doing so on my own, in a completely new venue that was on the face of it, rather ill-equipped to exhibit work. It was also the first time I was hosting an exhibition that included all mediums. I was creating something totally new, from the ground up, without any budget and with high hopes of being able to raise money for charity.
“What a wonderful art exhibition, real quality art seldom seen! Do not miss it if you are nearby!👏👏👏🙌😎”
“What a great community project and all for a great cause.
Just absolutely love love loved it.”
"Fabulous event thank you! Hopefully you will be able to have it open for longer next year. Bravo!!!"
I can without a doubt say that this exhibition was a huge success in so many ways! I am truly grateful to all who supported me, believed in me and took this crazy leap with me. I am honoured and grateful to each of the Deep South artists for entrusting their beautiful artwork to me and for having faith in me to pull this off. Thank you all for sharing your stories with me, for the hugs, laughs and tears shared over the last few weeks.
Yes, this will become an annual event! Also, by popular request, we will extend the exhibition timeline and be open for longer. While I am still working on various wrap ups for the 2019 event, I am already working on plans for improvements and enhancements for the 2020 event. Within the next month or two I will confirm the 2020 dates, so watch this space and follow along on the Deep South Community Art social media channels for updates! The Deep South Community Art handle is @deepsouthcommunityart on both Facebook and Instagram.
"Thank you for bringing so much creativity into one space
and sharing it with us!”
I have not yet been able to complete the financials for the event so that I can put together the final donation to TEARS Animal Rescue. The is because I am still waiting on the City of Cape Town to refund the deposit for the venue hire and answer various queries regarding the rental. With all the public holidays, this will only happen in the new year. In the meantime, we have also had a number of after exhibition sales, with hopefully a few more sales in the pipeline. However, cautionary preliminary calculations estimate between R7-R8K donation is expected! I will announce the final figures once all the necessary is complete and the donation is handed over to TEARS Animal Rescue. Stay tuned!
“What a delightful surprise & inspiration. Thank you for all your efforts to bring such talent together & too light.”
Creating and hosting this exhibition took many, many hours of work and dedication over the last few months. I could not have done this alone and so there are many thank you's...
Firstly, a very special mention to Stefanie Rijnvis for making the original post on our community Facebook page and for officially kicking me in the butt to start on this crazy journey 💜
Thank you to David Barkham who was there from the start and always on the ready when something needed to be done. David was also part of the selection committee for artwork submissions.
A special thank you to the Whole Earth Cafe (a favourite restaurant
in Scarborough), who were first to immediately respond and come on board as one of our sponsors.
“Excellent exhibition. Wonderful mix of artists so
nicely presented.”
A MASSIVE thank you to The Pole Yard who supplied the materials to build our hanging system. Your sturdy and well made trellis products allowed us to create a beautiful and effective space, that was super easy to handle and put together, take down and transport. The natural wood products showed off the beautiful artworks perfectly! Inga, Leeroy and The Pole Yard team, thank you for taking a chance with my crazy idea and slightly unorthodox use of your trellis products. You guys ROCK!
Another MASSIVE thank you to the Cape Town Wine Co. whose very generous donation of such excellent quality wines for our opening reception, helped make the event a great community gathering that went on well past 10pm! We got many great reviews on the quality of the wine and I know the Cape Town Wine Co. definitely has quite a few new fans. I am so grateful for your amazing sponsorship.
A big thank you to the Scarborough Village Association: Richard, Andre and especially Dalene. Their positive response, excitement and willingness to assist me with my idea of hosting an art exhibition in our village community centre was what gave me the courage to proceed. They helped me with many of the logistics regarding the venue and Scarborough in general, answered millions of my questions, and went out of their way to assist where needed. Thank you. I am so glad to have met you all and I am inspired by your care of our beautiful village.
To my amazing staff member and right-hand-man, Ajeks, I simply could not have put this exhibition together without his help! This is the second exhibition he has helped me install. He was my muscle, did any job big or small, ready to help me come up with solutions when we ran into snags, worked overtime when needed, was our barman at the opening reception and always ready with some calm and happy vibes!
Thank you also to Joyce who ensured that the venue was beautifully cleaned before and after the exhibition. She was also a massive help in the kitchen, doing food prep and ensuring a steady flow of clean glasses at the opening reception.
“Beautiful space. Inspiring & original works. Well done.”
Much love and a big thank you to my amazing mom, Lucia Introna, who did so much for me during the last few weeks! From running a million errands for me, to ensuring myself and my staff were fed and hydrated during installation, running the kitchen and preparing the food for the opening reception, supporting me and keeping me company during artwork collection days, installation and during and after the exhibition. She also ran the raffle and did so much behind the scenes. Moms are the best! 💜💜
A special thank you to my dear friend Natascha van Niekerk, who not only offered much valuable advice and is my trusted sounding board, but also supplied much needed love and emotional support. She supplied much behind the scenes support, such as proof reading and was also on our selection committee for artwork submissions. Thank you friendy 💜
A big thank you to my good friend Mike Currin who supplied much behind the scenes technical support in the weeks leading up to the event. He also managed all cash and credit card sales at the opening reception (while trying to deal with poor signal reception!), was the official event photographer, he also helped out in the kitchen and ensured that my mom and staff got home safely. I have no words to thank you for what you did for me.
A big shout out and thank you to Racine Edwardes from the People’s Post for her interest and awesome front page article about the event, as well as the call to artists article also published. This was a massive help in getting the word out into the Deep South. Thank you!
Special thanks also to Marc & Lindy Alexander from The Studio Art Gallery at Harbour Bay in Simonstown. Not only do they support me as an artist, as I have been honoured to have had my work exhibited in their beautiful gallery on a number of occasions, but they supported and encouraged me with creating this initiative. Also, special thanks to Marc Alexander for doing the opening speech at the opening reception.
And of course, a BIG thank YOU to all our guests that came out and supported and attended the exhibition. Also, to all those that shared posts and helped to spread the word about the event. Thank you!
It has been an amazing journey for me creating and hosting this exhibition! I am forever grateful for the lessons, the connections and for the much needed distraction and positive energy 💜
If you have any questions, or would like to know more about any of the artworks available through the Deep South Community Art Exhibition, then please contact me either through the contact page on my website, or email me directly on info@margheritaintrona.com. Alternatively, you can contact me through the Deep South Community Art email: deepsouthcommunityart@gmail.com
“Awesome art! A must to happen annually.”
“All the artwork is beautiful 💖 Thank you for such a wonderful community initiative! Can‘t wait to join the next one.”
Gallery of photographs from the opening reception
held on 13 December 2019...
📷 by Mike Currin
Click on any of the photographs to enlarge and scroll through.
Artist Biographies for our 2019 Deep South Artists
Gallery of photographs of the exhibition space.
📷 by Margherita Introna
Click on any of the photographs to enlarge and scroll through.
