Navigating the HCA: 2nd floor

Okay, folks! In case you missed it, we are walking you through the HCA one floor at a time. Recently, we posted a tour through the first floor. This time, a shorter, but no less interesting, tour of the 2nd floor.  About midway between the Harrison Gallery and the bar where you get your complimentary First Friday wine is the stairway to studio heaven. You'll want to take those stairs and meet six of our 32 HCA artists, starting with the lovely and talented Josh Rush at stop # 1.

1. Josh Rush studio - Technically, located on level 1.5, this tiny space with beautiful stained glass windows is home base for plein air painter, Josh Rush.

 

Josh Rush studio

2.  Up a few more steps, you'll find Artur Silva.  Artur has been with the Harrison Center for over a decade, first working mainly as a painter, then branching out into 3D installations, public art and digital collage. Fun fact: In the early days of the HCA, a sign outside our office door read "We need 10 more Artur Silvas."

Silva in his HCA studio

3.  Around the corner from Artur is painter Amy Reel's studio, and while she inhabits one of the smallest studios in the building, Reel has created a series of amazing, colossal portraits here.

 Amy Reel studio, portraits

4. Vince Norkus practices traditional film and digital photography in the studio/darkroom at the far end of the hall. *Navigational tip: If you take the stairs nearest Norkus's studio all the way to the lower level, you will land directly in Hank & Dolly's Gallery!

Vince Norkus studio/darkroom

5. Kyle Ragsdale studio. Located in the former church choir rehearsal room, Ragsdale's studio is jam-packed with the prolific painter and HCA curator's fanciful canvases, assorted tchotchkes, dozens of tubes of paint and, seriously, who knows what else.

Ragsdale working in his studio

6.  Last, but not least, on the 2nd floor tour is Kipp Normand's studio. Notice the twenty foot ceilings and wall of red curtains that divide this studio and the building's historic sanctuary in this narrow space that used to house church organ pipes. Now, the room is loaded with an ever-growing collection of antiques and curiosities (and antique curiosities) the artist salvages and incorporates into his one of a kind assemblages.

Stay tuned for the final leg of our tour.  What's up on the Lower Level? 17 studios and a gallery. This is need-to-know stuff for your First Fridays at the HCA!