Art Exhibitions
Hook & Line will host two group art exhibitions in Mebane, from September 14 through November 8, at the Mebane Arts & Community Center and a Pop-Up Art Gallery on Clay Street hosted by Flight Tea Bar & Lounge.
The themes and imagery reference Odell and Joe Thompson, Old-Time and American Traditional Music, and Musical Performance. Many of the exhibitors are also practicing traditional musicians.
Please see below for the Curatorial Statement from Michael Ananian, as well as a sampling of the artwork included in the galleries.
Curatorial Statement for the Art Exhibitions Component of
“Hook and Line – The Thompson Music & Arts Heritage Festival”
By Curator and Painter Michael Ananian
My name is Michael Ananian. I am the curator, organizer, and coordinator for the two art exhibitions that are a component of the “Hook and Line – The Thompson Music & Arts Heritage Festival.” The festival was organized by relatives of Joe and Odell Thompson, the City of Mebane, the Mebane Historical Museum, and local and regional musicians. The organizers have put me in charge of finding appropriate art venues, curating the art, and coordinating these exhibitions with the rest of the festival.
Here’s a little background about me: I’m a painter and Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (31 years), and I’m also a practicing Old-Time musician and banjoist. I have painted extensively about Old-Time Music, banjo history, and musical performance. Two of my large-scale oils, “Pumpkin Pie” and “Rya’s House,” are homages to Joe and Odell Thompson, the two local heroes/traditional musicians that this festival commemorates. To view my paintings and my credentials, please visit my website: https://michaelfananian.com. To contact me with questions or to respond to this statement, please email me at: m_anania@uncg.edu.
2025 marks the inaugural year of this music and arts festival, “Hook and Line – The Thompson Music & Arts Heritage Festival.” The festival honors the internationally acclaimed African American traditional musicians from Alamance and Orange Counties, cousins Joe and Odell Thompson. The festival’s music and visual art will highlight Joe and Odell’s important contributions to the traditional music genre native to the Piedmont and Upland South known as “Old-Time.”
Pumpkin Pie in Spring
Odell Thompson
The festival’s main events take place in Mebane Arts & Community Center (Oct. 10) and Mebane Community Park (Oct. 11), to officially dedicate the sculpture of Joe and Odell Thompson “Knee to Knee” by Reidsville, North Carolina sculptor and traditional musician Brad Spencer. (Note: Mr. Spencer will also have sculpture in the exhibitions). Leading up to the main events on the 10th and 11th are these two group art exhibits in Mebane, where Joe and Odell lived most of their lives. The artworks’ themes and imagery reference Joe and Odell Thompson, Old-Time and American Traditional Music, and musical performance. Many of the exhibitors are also practicing musicians.
As curator of these two group art exhibitions, I want to show how Joe and Odell Thompson’s artistry and humanity enriched and bettered so many by bringing people together. Despite the racial inequality in America when they started playing, Joe and Odell were undeterred in their quest to share their love of traditional music with anyone who was interested. They welcomed academics, folklorists, musicians, and neighbors into their homes to discuss and listen to them play their brand of traditional music that included Thompson family tunes as well as distinctive interpretations of Old-Time and Country classics. They played with musicians of all ages and backgrounds, profoundly impacting the next generation of roots musicians in America, such as Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, and Justin Robinson of the “Carolina Chocolate Drops.” The Thompsons’ audiences varied as much as the musicians with whom they played: Before World War II during legal segregation, they called square dances for white communities as often as they did for black ones. After Odell’s untimely death in 1994, Joe continued these ideals of community-engaged and socially based traditional music, inspiring us all to be better human beings.
By showcasing the group art exhibitions at two venues, I hope to extend the reach and range of this festival, and to get the word out leading up to the festival about its events on October 10th and 11th. The art exhibits will continue after October 10th and 11th as a way to sustain the effects and intent of the commemoration of Joe and Odell and their musical influence. My hope is that this distinctive exhibition format extends the range of outreach, community engagement, and public-facing mission of the entire festival.
Joe School
There are two spaces for the group exhibitions. The first venue gets a ton of foot traffic; thus, it will be terrific in reaching a broad demographic of the public to get the word out about the other art exhibit and the main events and music of the festival on October 10th and 11th. This space is run by Alamance Arts and consists of two long walls that flank the entrance of Mebane Arts and Community Center (MACC).
The second space is an art gallery space. It is an ad hoc or “Pop-Up Gallery.” The adjacent business, “Flight Tea Bar & Lounge” is the gallery host. It’s just down the street from where the main events of the festival will occur on October 11th, in Mebane Community Park.
It is an honor to be chosen to curate these art exhibitions to commemorate Joe and Odell Thompson and the music they so loved.
Very Sincerely,
Michael Ananian
Parlor Pickin’
*Pumpkin Pie in Spring and the sculpture Odell Thompson are included in the exhibition at Flight Tea Bar & Lounge. Joe School and Parlor Pickin’ can be found in the gallery at the MACC. Please see our FAQ page for directions and details.*