Clarksville is a unique town as it is supportive of the arts from the statues in front of the county courthouse to the various offerings of the antique stores and galleries. They host an Art Walk night every first Thursday of the month, which features local artists, and university students with showings in the different galleries downtown. The favorite spots among the locals to see artwork around town are Silke’s Old World Breads and Bakery, The Downtown Artist Co-op, and the Custom House Museum.
Silke Tyler is the owner of Silke’s Old World Breads and Bakery and she is an avid artist herself. The artworks offered at Silke’s are two-dimensional digital paintings, photographs, drawings, sketches, and paintings in mediums of oil paint, watercolors, pastels, and charcoals. While she features a different artist in our area every month, she also displays some of her own pieces as well. She became the featured artist in her own cafe after her oldest son went to college and the business was doing well (Fry).
While some of the artwork is for sale, there are certain pieces, which are not, such as the original Eric Carle drawing given to Silke as a thank you. The downtown artist co-op offers many types of art from two-dimensional pieces to three-dimensional pieces. They have a variety of mediums and everything is for sale in the gallery. They have schedule exhibits of current members and they each feature a theme. For the month of September 2015, the theme is The World Through my eyes featuring Eunice Kern a local artist who works in silk and watercolor designs (“World Through My Eyes”).
The Custom House Museum and Cultural Center has many different types of art in two-dimensional and three-dimensional offerings. While the other places mentioned have current artists and offerings, the museum has a mix of old and new. They have temporary and permanent exhibits like other museums. They also offer local artists a one-month show in their Planters Bank Peg Harvill Gallery. The museum houses art, clothing, tools, toys and photographs that all reflect life over the years in Montgomery County.
Nothing in this museum is for sale other than those offerings in the gift shop (“Customs House Museum and Cultural Center”). There is plenty of art to see around the Clarksville area. There are many patrons of the arts from the local bakery offering their customers the talents of current local artists to the artist co-op presenting up and coming talent as well as those of established artists to finally the museum offering the best of the old and new.
