On Friday night, graphic artist Ray Noland packed the corner of Hargett and Wilmington with his Go Tell Mama! art show. People of all ages, were eager to meet Noland and buy his artistic depictions of Barack Obama. From 6pm until at least 9pm, the space was full and the energy was high.
There were appetizers, wine, video, black, white, young, old, and even a cowboy and cowgirl outside literally roping in people off the streets. A steady flow of people seemed to filter through the space most of the night. Shirts were $20. Posters were $50 and the art pieces started at $100 or $150 and went up to over a thousand. There was something priced for everyone.
I checked back in with Noland today and most of the shirts were sold out, especially the brown ones. A lot of the posters sold as well, but much of the wall art did not. Whether it was demographic, price or simply enough time displayed on the walls, less than 5 wall pieces were purchased. Noland seemed a bit puzzled by why the wall pieces were snatched up in Chicago but in Raleigh the posters and t-shirts were the big hit. Nevertheless, they have fuel to pursue their next venture, Portland.
They will travel to the Pacific Midwest in the next week and hope to have a show for a couple of weeks there. The Democratic Primary in Oregon is May 20th. Noland is looking for a space in the city via Craigslist but hopes that the Southeast part of the city will work out for them. His location in Raleigh was key, as it led Obama right to his storefront and the artist was able to meet the presidential hopeful. We hope Noland and crew find a great space to produce this fantastic art in Portland and wish him luck.
Either way, I’m coincidentally flying into Portland for the first stop on my honeymoon on May 20th and will definitely stop in for a West Coast update from the Go Tell Mama crew!