| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - MARCH 11 2011 - India Journal Entries Within & Without Opens to Record Response |
A solo show at LEDE Gallery featuring LEDE's own Jeanna Jinks attracts lots of attention.
The show highlights artistic reflections on a trip to India, interwoven with both cultural observations and personal revelations. The body of work is comprised of a variety of media, including mixed media, oil, watercolor, acrylic and handmade jewelry, plus an installation element.
Jinks spent the weeks prior to the opening in a creative flurry of activity, continuing to produce mixed media pieces to add to the broad range of work in the show. Unable to shake the memory of the pervasive trash layer on the landscape, Jinks also added an installation element to the show. The community noticed, as did the regional media.
LEDE also seized the opportunity immediately after the opening to launch its inaugural online shop featuring pieces from the exhibition.
"Jeanna's homestate is Mississippi, so we wanted to make it easy for her collectors there to support her show," said LEDE's ringleader and show curator Ginger Meek Allen.
India Journal Entries Within & Without will travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in July.
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JANUARY 15 2011 - LEDE WELCOMES A NEW FACE |
Growth and change continue to flourish in the studio at LEDE as the metalsmiths welcomed Brett Mundy to the studio. Completing an internship to meet requirements for a degree in graphic communications at North Carolina State University, Brett will spend the next five months not only building some bench skills but also implementing some improvements at LEDE. His planned projects include building jewelers' benches, implementing a custom design center, and redesigning instructional handouts for workshops in the studio.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 - INDY GALLERIA SPOTLIGHT |
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - AUGUST 1, 2010 |
WAKE FOREST - You've been asking, and we are ready. Registration for our first round of workshops in the studio at LEDE is online and ready to go! Explore metals as a medium, or just expand your repertoire of jewelry-making techniques. There are classes for beginners and pro's - everything from basic sawing (Bench Basics) to hingebuilding (Hinged Vessels) and stonesetting (Presentation of the Precious).
Metalsmiths will find the studio at LEDE to be well-equipped. Beginners will find a place to learn new skills as they receive careful instruction and access to tools and supplies. LEDE also offers open studio hours and bench rental for those who just need a proper place to work and explore.
Check it out. The studio has a spot for you.
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JULY 23, 2010 - INDY GALLERIA SPOTLIGHT |
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JULY 1 2010 - INTRODUCING A NEW VENUE |
WAKE FOREST - Presenting the duality of studio and gallery, Lede Studio & Gallery establishes itself as a narrative arts venue downtown.
Narrative art and jewelry is the focus of the gallery, while metalsmiths in the studio create artisan jewelry amid vintage and antique printing equipment that points to the building’s history as a newspaper plant.
“Story is what drives me,” said Lede owner Ginger Meek Allen. “Everyone lives a valid story, and these stories should be honored and preserved.”
Allen’s own 18-year history as a maker of jewelry is a story of honoring stories. She has created countless pieces for clients – everything from wedding and commitment rings to reliquaries. Her background and education as a journalist taught her to find and tell stories, and her skills at the jeweler’s bench now give her a new vocabulary with which to tell them.
The name of the studio and gallery – “Lede” – is itself journalism jargon, Allen said. To preempt confusion in the pressroom, “lede” developed in the 1950s as an alternate spelling for a story’s “lead” – or its first paragraph. “Lead” also referenced the metal substance used in the printing process in the days of “hot type,” as well as the space between the lines of type. Allen is a 1992 graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill.
“The name ‘Lede’ culminates my love of journalism and storytelling with the narrative properties of art,” Allen said. “Art – be it a painting or jewelry – should serve more than our aesthetic needs. It should honor our story.”
The gallery at Lede is a diverse presentation of the work of more than a dozen artists, invited by Allen, who are working in metals, enamels, and mixed media. As such it is an ever-changing venue tucked into the edge the south side of the historic downtown district.
In addition to being Allen’s personal studio, the studio at Lede is also home to other metalsmiths, some of whom maintain their own benches at Lede and others who come for workshops in the studio. The antique letterpress and guillotine cutter from the newspaper days are now accompanied by torches, a kiln, a rolling mill and a hydraulic press, among other metalsmithing implements.
Joslyn Richardson, a native of New York City, is one of the artists represented by Lede and also has a bench in the studio. She said: “The work and artists featured in Lede gallery reflect not only a commitment to quality and craftsmanship but also to the creative life. Ginger (Allen) has a relationship to all of the artists featured in Lede, and her respect for their work and creativity creates a uniquely welcoming environment.”
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