It’s time to clean out the old pantry. Foodist Colony III, a collaboration between printmakers, chefs and do-gooders, hits 1708 Gallery on Aug. 9, and if you’re looking to pick up a great new piece of art for your living room/your mom’s living room/your secret crush’s living room, you can trade in canned goods for it. Yes! Correct! Canned goods for art! The Central Virginia Food Bank is the Foodist Colony beneficiary, so if you like art or food or helping people (and I certainly hope you fall into at least one of those categories), mark your calendar right now.
“People should bring as many cans as they can — lots of donations — because while there will be things available for between one and five cans, the really good stuff will be going for 30 or more," says curator and participating artist Travis Robertson. "And it’s a really cool group of artists; you might want more than one piece.”
The printmakers in the show are all Virginians, with the exception of designer Mike Perry, who’s making a collaborative piece with Big Secret, a Richmond laser design company (full disclosure: this company is owned by my husband). Also included in the group are Brooke Inman, Nathan Tersteeg, Anthony Meloro, Aijung Kim, Andrea Owens, Max Hubenthal, Jacob Green, Allyson Mellberg, Jeremy Taylor, Kate Duffy, Matt Leech, Thomas Dean, Tim Skirven and Victoria Long.
Two local chefs will also be cranking out their own culinary art: Heritage’s Mike Hill and Lemaire's Bryan McClure plan to make some magic happen. “I talked with Mike and we came up with the idea of using fruit and vegetables that aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing in the demos — stuff that a grocery store might have trouble selling but is still perfectly good and delicious," Robertson explains, "which is in line with what we both believe in. Mike cooks at Feedmore’s facilities in his spare time. He’ll be grabbing stuff from our donor, Victory Farms, to make at the show.” Tasty bites from the demos will be free.
Another hyper-creative, food-related element of Foodist Colony will happen on the screen printing tables: you'll find artists Allyson Mellberg and Jeremy Taylor showing off their printing techniques using inks made from vegetable matter and rice paste. Edible ink! Kind of. It would probably serve you better printed and hanging on your wall.
Foodist Colony III runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Aug. 9, finishing up with a big community potluck at 6 p.m. It’s the closing event for 1708 Gallery’s experimental weekly 10x10 show, and musicians Andy Jenkins and Gull will provide the live soundtrack. All canned goods are welcome, but high protein contributions like tuna and peanut butter are requested.
1708 Gallery is located at 319 W. Broad St.