A Magical Place leads to Magical Inspiration

North Carolina is filled with magical places. On Sunday we visited Duke Gardens.  I wrote a post about the magic we found there.

On Sunday, we took a walk through a magical path.  I love magical things and this movie is one of my favorite magical movies.

On our walk, we saw such beautiful landscape.

Ivy covered trees, and shady paths.

 Cozy benches tucked within green vines.

Until we came near this beautiful old stone building.

The door said
WELCOME, PLEASE COME IN
and so we entered.

This house, once the home of the Hanes family and was donated to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

"James G. Hanes (1886-1972) was president and chairman of the board of Hanes Hosiery Mills Company.  In his will, Mr. Hanes bequeathed his home and grounds for the exhibition of art.

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, founded in 1956, moved from Old Salem to the Hanes home and reopened in 1977".  

Once inside this lovely home I was shown the hallway to the gallery itself.   Next to this historical old home is a very modern building which houses the art exhibits and theater.  Wonderful artwork awaited us there, and when we left, we were filled with inspiration.

Claire Harvey had an amazing exhibit called Daily Measures.  Tiny illustrations were installed in the most creative way.  Here is a peek into the magical exhibit that we went to see.  One of her miniature artwork installations was done completely on post-it-notes.  In another installation she had a room filled with overhead projectors, projecting her tiny renderings of people onto the walls.  The reflections looked larger than life, and the details were incredible.  I love those kind of exhibits that make you discover the magic within the artist.

Once upon a time this beautiful home belonged to the Hanes family, and now is home to the magic of creative inspiration.