Artists Exhibition Featuring Vickie Fellers & Jennifer Dyer

The McKinney Centerwill be featuring painter Vicki Fellers and the late basket maker, JenniferDyer.  The exhibition opening receptionwill take place on Friday, September 6, 5:00 – 7:00 pm.  The exhibition is free and open to the publicand will be up through September 27.  ArtistVicki Fellers will be present at the reception to talk to visitors and answerquestions about her artwork.  Friends ofthe late Jennifer Dyer will be present to do the same.  The artwork will be on sale that night andthroughout the duration of the exhibition.

Vicki Fellers is an oil artist whose experiencespans over four decades. Born and raised

in East Tennessee, Vicki’s artistic journey beganwith painting with her mother, a

creative soul who instilled in her a passion forpainting.

Vicki refined her techniques with art classes bylocal artist, Urban Bird. Under Urban’s

guidance, she took inspiration from the rollinghills, rustic barns, and quiet charm of the

region.

Vicki infuses her paintings with a sense ofwarmth, nostalgia, and authenticity. In recent

years, she has experimented with the versatilityof acrylics, adding a fresh perspective

to her art with different textures andtechniques.

Vicki Fellers’ art reflects her lifelongconnection to East Tennessee, a visual narrative

woven with memories, emotions, and a deepappreciation for the beauty found in rural

simplicity.

Jennifer Dyer was born in BlindRiver, Ontario, and spent her first few years in Sudbury before she and herbrother, Richard, were brought to Athens, TN, by their parents, Dick and ElsieDyer. 

Shegraduated with honors in Creative Design, an Independent Studies Program fromthe University of Tennessee in 1976. Dyer also studied jewelry, off-loom weaving, on-loom weaving, filmmakingand more.  Jennifer is best known for heroriginal sculptural baskets. She taught basketry classes nationally; shedesigned award winning logos and she was a published writer.  She painted murals, signs, andwatercolors.  She also developedinterpretive exhibitions for the US Forest Service, and the National Park Service,among others.

Her creativeskills were probably handed down to her from her mother who made all theirclothes, socks, and even made upholstered furniture.  Dyer said that her mother always had a needlein her hand working on something.  Hermother taught her that anything she wanted she could make.  This philosophy was probably the foundationof Jennifer’s desire to use the natural world around her for materials anddyes. 

Dyer beganteaching her craft and found great satisfaction watching the light come on inpeople’s heads when they suddenly understood a concept. She taught at Arrowmont Schoolin Gatlinburg, and in other art centers in Jackson Hole, Taos, Seattle, andAthens, TN.

One articlestated that Jennifer was, “an energetic artist who wears a sunny smile and hasa deep passion for her work.”  Dyerresponded to the journalist by saying, “My work brings out a quiet side.  It’s a deeper side of me.  Deep inside me, there is a quiet side.  There’s a little old lady inside of me, Iguess.”

Jennifer wasmarried to Wayne Strevel and lived in several areas of the United States.  Wayne has donated and secured many of thebaskets in the exhibition.

The exhibit is free and open to the public, Monday –Friday 8am – 5pm.  For more informationyou may contact the McKinney Center, 423.753.0562.