Fayetteville Farmers’ Market, 1974 / Photo by Art Meripol
Art Ventures gallery will showcase a collection of 44-year-old photos from the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market as part of this month’s First Thursday festivities.
The gallery, located on the southwest corner of the downtown square, will host an opening reception for a folk art exhibition that includes works from photographer Art Meripol and five other artists from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2. The works will remain on display at the gallery throughout the month.
The Farmers’ Market photos were first discovered in 2015 when Meripol decided to de-clutter his boxes and bins of old negatives and slides. The oldest works found were from several trips to the market in 1974 as part of a photography class.
“It’s strange to see my work and have it look like something from a bygone era,” Meripol told the Fayetteville Flyer. “I don’t feel like I’m that old. But the photos really feel like a time long gone.”
The exhibition will also feature Marsha Scott’s collection of works by Mose T, Annie Lucas, Preacherman and others who define Outsider Art vernacular. Artists Cheri Bohn, Tom Flynn, Linda Sheets, Eloa Jane Pereira will complete the folk art scene at the gallery with colored glass, rusted tools, scratchboard and paper.
