Art Shows

Mary's Of Course Cafe is more than proud to support local art & artists; we consider it an integral part of what Mary's stands for. We feel that by encouraging artists to hang paintings, sketches, collages, photos and minor sculptures; we're fostering yet another important connection between our customers and the community we live in.

The art on the walls of Mary's Cafe serves a number of purposes. The most obvious benefit is in decorating our dining room, as anyone who's visited between shows will attest; it's mighty bare without it. Another advantage is the exposure the artists get to our clientele, who it turns out are solid supporters of the arts! For many artists with burgeoning careers Mary's was their first show, and the community's initial introduction to their art. Often our shows over the last 7 years, have completely sold out; sometimes on opening night. In fact, Mary has been told by a number of established artists in the area, that she sells more art for them than any other gallery in town! We are encouraged if this is true and believe it is yet another piece of our mission to not just feed you, but to encourage the interconnected nature of Winston-Salem. We are so happy that our commitment to local artists has resulted in a strengthening of our community, and it's something we're admittedly proud of.

Before we take all the credit, we should point out that visionaries George Jacobs and William Shearburn started the revitalization of our downtown by establishing Urban Artware on Trade Street in 1986. We personally are indebted to Cynthia Giles who's commitment to art before us with Penny Universitie, sent us off in the right direction by inheriting a handful of her artists when she closed her doors in 1999.

If you're keen to attend one of our art openings at Mary's, you'll find they're usually on the first Friday or Saturday of each month, though sometimes circumstances conspire to make them happen off schedule. Just keep an eye on this site, or sign our mailing list for updates.

In any case, Mary's lovely (and don't forget scawey) daughter Tamis books the artists for our Cafe, but prospective artists should be aware; we maintain a 1-2 year waiting list. Thanks for reading about the art at Mary's. Please come down and look for a gift or something to take home, and enjoy the rest of our website!

<<< June 2008 is a show featuring Winston's Shayna E. Parker. Shayna's work involves prints of her Decorative Arts; detailed paintings which depict Day of the Dead skulls or flower designs that remind some of wonderful tattoo designs. Shayna's work is available in larger sizes and anything out of stock at Mary's can be ordered directly from her at SHAYNA.PARKER@GMAIL.COM. Please take a look at her wonderful work before next month's scheduled show (Daniel Von Sagen) goes up.

Click here to check out the beginnings of our Art-chive of past Mary's Of Course artists!