FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Blake Tyner Phone: 910-827-5504 [email protected] Art and History Meet in Exhibit Lumberton, NC July 11, 2005 ? Robeson County Artist Janette Hopper and Historian Blake Tyner have joined forces to create a unique exhibit entitled Secrets of the Swamps that is the summer exhibition at Wilmington?s Bellamy House. The exhibit opening reception will be Sunday, July 17, 2005 from 6pm until 7:30pm at the Bellamy House, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC. Janette K. Hopper is presently the Art Department Chair at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She is known for her drawings, prints, sumi ink, watercolor and oil paintings and performances. The works reflect her love of nature and of humankind. Hopper?s painting of the Robeson County swamps and waterways set the mood of the exhibit which focuses on the hidden beauty. Hopper says of the swamps: The swamps of Robeson County are fascinating because the Cyprus trees grow right out of the water forming wonderful verticals and emotional forms of arms reaching for the heavens. The light of the dramatic skies reflected in the waters and the heavy atmosphere make for a feeling so strong that one cannot help but be compelled to try to capture on canvas the varying moods one absorbs from the landscape and/or reflects onto the landscape. The artist is inspired to create a variety of mood coming from the mystical feeling when foggy to the dramatic color at dawn and dusk to the rapidly developing storms that hit with a thunder and lightening that sends the artist scurrying for cover. In North Carolina, I have found an instant heartfelt affinity with the sky, water, and luxuriant growth of Robeson County. Blake Tyner comes by his love of history naturally. A descendant of some of the earliest colonial settlers of North Carolina, he grew up with a love of history that has propelled him to delve into the records and archives of North Carolina from an early age. He is currently a history major at UNCP, where his undergraduate historical research has led to the publication of two books Images of America: Robeson County and Robeson County in Vintage Postcards. He pursues his avocation as curator of the Robeson County History Museum. Tyner has complied available research on Floral College, the first college in North Carolina to confer degrees to women. The college charter on January 11, 1841 continued until 1872 was an educational haven not only for the young ladies of Robeson County but attracted a large amount of girls from lower North Carolina and upper South Carolina. The exhibit documents over 250 graduates of the school and includes letters from several of the girls written while a student at the college. Letters included in the exhibit are from sisters Julia and Martha Turner of Averysboro, Catherine McNeill, and Elizabeth Ann Hamer of Little Rock, South Carolina. The exhibit also highlights the time that the Bellamy family spent at the college during the Civil War. Ellen Douglas Bellamy, the daughter of the Bellamys wrote in 1937 a booklet entitled ?Back With the Tide? which gave a wonderful insight into their life in Robeson County during the Civil War. Do not miss this opportunity to experience the Robeson County and the secrets of her swamps. For more information call 910-827-5504 or email me at [email protected] For information: Contact: [email protected] Phone: 910-827-5504 # # #