Harmony Republic caught wind of this month's visual artist at the 2009 Dogwood Arts Festival. Denise Stewart-Sanabria coordinates the regional juried arts exhibition for the festival in Knoxville, and one of our Harmony Republic scouts happened to be in attendance. The exhibition provides artists within a 300-mile radius the opportunity to display their work at one of the regions top art festivals. It was only after the festival that Harmony Republic found Sanabria's own work to be truly remarkable. Sanabria paints both hyperrealist "portraits" of everything from produce to subversive jelly donuts, and full-scale, cut-out charcoal on plywood portraits of contemporary people that she uses to create conceptual installations.Sanabria has received over twenty awards received during a five-year period from both curators and directors from the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Knoxville Museum of Art, The Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, and the National Portrait Gallery.

Recent and upcoming exhibits include: William King Museum's "From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Appalachian Highlands" in Abingdon, VA. , "American Contemporary Art", at The Bascom, Highlands, NC, a group figurative exhibit at the Ewing Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and "Modern Girls: Contemporary Women in Tennessee Art" at the Clarksville Custom House Museum, Clarksville, TN.

Check out the Harmony Republic exclusive interview with Denise Stewart-Sanabria:

1. What inspired you're current work on wood series?

I was producing large scale drawings on paper, and it created a lot of issues, such as framing. Heavy paper sagged in the frame, and when I tried to mount the paper on plywood backing, I got air bubbles. It occurred to me to simply draw in charcoal on the wood itself. I grew up fooling around in my dad's wood workshop, so it immediately hit me that my drawings could become sculptural. I've done work in cut-out layers, added opening sections on hinges, installed areas of Plexiglas, added found objects ranging from kudzu vines to resin-coated condoms and syringes. There's pretty much an endless source of inventions that become available.

2. Are there stories behind the people you capture that you could briefly share?

I have three groups of people: Appropriated ones that come from art history or vintage photographs, people I know that will pose for me, and random people I stalk in public places, especially at gallery receptions. They step under the lights just right, look fabulous, and I hold down the shutter release for a quick continuous shoot at 1600 ASA. I use various components of the images to get what I need. I haven't been sued or arrested yet. I actually get the opposite reaction-Knoxville is a small community, people know who I am, and if someone knows I'm drawing them, they get hyped. Targeting art community people keeps me out of trouble with people who might not get what I'm up to. It is important to catch people unaware for many of my installations. The lack of self-consciousness eliminates any pretentiousness.

3. Tell us about the art scene in Knoxville. Is it vibrant, lucrative, blooming?

It was a renaissance before the recession. We lost almost 50% of the downtown art spaces in a period of 16 months. It is still way above what it had been 10 years ago, however, and is growing once again. We have a large, emergent art scene connected with the University of Tennessee's art department. Many of the MFA graduates stay in town after they graduate and contribute to all kinds of projects. One of the great things about Knoxville is that people almost never say no. Because of this, we seem to have more alternative art spaces than I can count. A Polish doctor turned the vestibule of his building into a gallery for young, progressive artists from Poland. He also cooperates with the printmaking department from UT, that has its sister university in Poland. Various restaurants such as the Tomato Head and Old City Java are almost Cult places to show art. The Unitarian Universalist Church has a gallery in it that shows regional artists. The University has a hand in that, also.

There is also a very eclectic group of professional artists living in the area who exhibit in galleries everywhere from down the street to New Zealand. I still meet people all the time who I had no clue existed. We just had a new gallery open in West Knox County that has both local artists and international artists from Spain to Mexico.

One thing Knoxville doesn't have that Nashville does, though, is a large group of established white-wall galleries. There is always framing, gifts, furniture, or something else needed to keep afloat. The serious white wall spaces are mostly open during 1st Fridays only.

4. How did you get involved with The Dogwood Arts Festival?

The festival was about to go under when all new management took over, gutted it, and reinvented it two years ago. The new Director of Development, Lynda Evans, is an artist, and the new director, Lisa Duncan, used to be the marketing director of the News Sentinel. They are gutsy, have an urban progressive vision, and basically kick ass. I had worked on an exhibit with the Director of Development before. She knew I could run with what needed to be done. Turn the exhibit from its previous 4-H fair je ne sais qua into a 300 mile radius regional with an inclusive, diverse response. All it took was a massive networked call, the restoration of the previous $4,000 in awards, and a fine juror. I figured the artists would react, and we have gotten amazing submissions both years.

5. What is Dogwood's mission?

To celebrate the arts and beauty of our region. It started out fifty years ago as a response to a national magazine writer who called Knoxville the nation's ugliest city (Chattanooga has also been a recipient of this "honor"). A huge part of the festival are garden and city neighborhood tours. There are pink lines painted all over the streets to self-guide people through the more heavily landscaped areas. We have an Art in Public Places sculpture exhibit that comes from a national call, and that work stays up for six months, spread throughout downtown, the World's Fair park, and the airport. The actual organization has events spread throughout the year, but the big whammy is all during April. The mission has evolved over the years and blends in with what is now an almost completely renovated and vibrant downtown, with a large residential community living in restored former commercial and factory buildings.

6. Can you give any advice to those considering visual art as a career?

If it isn't the center, obsessive core of your mind and being, you might be wasting your time. It is demanding, the income is unpredictable, and you need a thick skin because there will be lots of rejection. You have to handle it like any other job. Success is easier if you use constant discipline, organizational skills, marketing, and professionalism. You won't learn most of that at school, either. Art Marketing 101 and other books will teach you everything your professors didn't. There are rules of behavior and etiquette that are important dealing with galleries, non-profits, museums, and other art professionals. And most important, you will need other more marketable skills to make ends meet: The all important part time job with the steady cash flow that covers your living expenses and still gives you enough time to produce in your studio. Teach, write, run a gallery, do framing, bartend, whore around for grants and fellowships, but whatever you do don't give up!

Denise's Website: Stewart-Sanabria.com
Dogwood Arts Festival: DogwoodArts.com