Teri L. Sullivan
WKNO Promotions Manager
(901) 729-8735
tlsullivan@wkno.org
October 19, 2009
For Immediate Release
WKNO SALUTES DONATING ARTIST SALLY MARKELL
Award-winning Memphis artist Sally Markell has been a long-time WKNO art donor. This year is no different. Sally’s acrylic painting entitled “Orange Lily” is among the many items that will be auctioned off during the premier Art of Fine Living, A WKNO Auction.
The 68-year-old artist, whose studio is in Chickasaw Gardens, has been creating art for around 20 years. “Because of having childhood polio, there was damage in one leg and my right hand, which was my dominant hand,” she said. “By the time I was 48 years old, I could hardly write my name.” A good friend suggested she take a calligraphy class to learn to write with her left hand. “I had become a dancer because of polio,” she continued, “so I thought I could become an artist too.”
At the same time, her professional dance life was coming to a close. While she was still teaching modern dance at The University of Memphis, she was no longer performing. She then went to the Memphis College of Art and took calligraphy for two years. Now she teaches beginning art and watercolor at the Memphis Botanic Garden, where she tells her students that “art is about what you perceive. The hand coordination you build up over time, but if you can see and understand what you’re looking at, then you can draw.”
Two years ago, the American Society for Botanical Artists and the New York Horticulture Society honored her with a “Talus Award” at an exhibition they co-sponsored. She has also received two medals for her art: one from the Royal Horticulture Society in London and one from the Scottish Botanical Society. She also has a solo exhibition opening at the Memphis Botanic Gardens on Sunday, November 15. More information about her work can be found on her web site at homepage.mac.com/sallymarkellartist.
A member of Beth Shalom Synagogue, Sally says she donates because WKNO because she enjoys listening to the FM station, especially Morning Edition, Checking on the Arts and Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
Sally’s work, as well as the work of other well-known Mid-South artists, can be bid on by going to the auction website at wkno.org. Bidding on auction items will close online and on-air simultaneously during the live broadcast of The Art of Fine Living, A WKNO Auction. About 200 pieces of art and another 100 exotic travel packages and delicious dining opportunities will be auctioned off live on Channel 10 Saturday-Sunday November 7-8 from 1:00 to 11:00 p.m.
The art up for auction can be viewed anytime online at wkno.org or at the new WKNO Digital Media Center, which is open for previewing Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The WKNO Digital Media Center is located in Cordova at 7151 Cherry Farms Road.
WKNO is a non-profit, private foundation serving the Mid-South for more than 50 years.
An important community resource, WKNO uses the power of non-commercial public broadcasting to provide the Mid-South with quality educational and cultural programs that inform, entertain, and inspire. For more information: wkno.org
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