Press Release

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is proud to announce that Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC will be the presenting sponsors for SECCA’s reopening celebration on July 15 and the entire Summer@SECCA education program series. SECCA has been closed for renovations since January 2009.

SECCA Foundation Board member and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Reynolds American Judy Lambeth said, “SECCA is a tremendous asset to this community as well as one of the main cultural attractions that help make our city such an enjoyable place to live and work. Reynolds American is delighted to be teaming up with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in sponsoring SECCA’s reopening and associated events for this renowned art center.”

The reopening will begin at 7 p.m., and admission is free. SECCA is located at 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.secca.org.

“Having these two iconic Winston-Salem businesses be a part of our reopening and summer events is a superb endorsement of SECCA and our vision for our future,” said Mark Leach, SECCA’s Executive Director. “SECCA is at an exciting moment in the center’s organizational life. Our reopening and exciting summer series will reintroduce the art center and give us an opportunity to share two international exhibitions, our renovations including the upgraded McChesney Scott Dunn Auditorium, as well a diverse series of programming events.”

SECCA’s summer series includes artist and curator panel discussions, curator lectures, films, a free Second Saturday Community Day (part of the series of summer long events hosted by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources) and live performances. For more information about SECCA and the upcoming summer events, visit www.secca.org.

The two exhibitions for SECCA’s reopening are:

Look Again
Organized by SECCA; Curated by Steven Matijcio
Look Again examines contemporary translations of the centuries-old "trompe l’oeil" (trick of the eye) tradition, gathering an international group of artists who build and break a world of illusion we have come to accept as reality. Beyond the canvas and tricks exclusive to the eye, these artists use humble materials to create objects and environments that surround the viewer in the experience of artifice. The show includes 15 artists from Argentina, Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden and the United States.

GlassWear ... Glass in Contemporary Jewelry
Organized by the Museum of Arts & Design, New York and the Pforzheim Jewelry Museum, Germany; Curated by Ursula Ilse-Neuman

GlassWear surveys the medium of glass in an expanded field of contemporary art practice and design. Moving from jewelry through sculpture, assemblage and installation, this exhibition brings together work by 60 artists from countries including Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa and the United States. Across the intersection of tradition and experiment, audiences will delight in new formulations of craftsmanship, spectacle and ingenuity. 

For information about RAI, visit their Web site www.reynoldsamerican.com.

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC is a full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle serves a wide range of regional, national and international clients in industries that include financial services, life sciences, commercial real estate, information technology, health care, manufacturing and telecommunications, as well as educational institutions and governmental bodies and agencies. For more information, visit www.wcsr.com.

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, N.C., is an affiliate of the North Carolina Museum of Art, a division of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. SECCA is also a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. For details, please visit www.secca.org.