If your New Year’s resolution is to rediscover the finer things in life, the Hinesville Area Arts Council has upcoming events aimed to help you succeed.
On Jan. 9, a new artist, Ashley Kukula Cuevas, will open her exhibition “No, Not the City…” in the council’s Commerce Street facility. The council will commemorate the exhibition with a reception from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12.
The exhibition, which replaces the hand-made quilts display by Dewayne Stewart, will feature a look at life through the artwork of a central New Yorker.
Cuevas, a military spouse who recently began teaching several series of art classes for the council, said the work will show scenes from “upstate” cities such as Syracuse, Rochester and Oswego.
“I think it offers a glimpse into a part of New York that kind-of gets overlooked,” she said. “We call it upstate, and New York isn’t all the city.”
The show’s title, “No, Not the City,” is a common phrase many others from outside of the Big Apple use when explaining that they are not affiliated with New York City.
“I’m really proud to be from that part of New York, because it’s so culturally rich,” said Cuevas, who lived in the Syracuse suburb of Liverpool for about 10 years before moving to Hinesville.
Cuevas completed most of the work, which includes watercolor, acrylic and pastel paintings and pencil and colored pencil drawings, while completing her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in art education at the State University of New York at Oswgeo last summer.
“I didn’t realize how different urban landscapes were until I took these classes … there’s so much information, and you have to get the relationships correct,” she said. “To format it, you have to sort of contain all of that information and make a good composition and get it all correct, which is very different from a portrait.”
Those looking for a more sensory experience will find one later this month, when the council offers a second round of French cooking classes led by South France native David Karoudjian.
Karoudjian, who works for SNF Holding Co. in Riceboro, taught pupils how to prepare ratatouille, a sweet potato soup and an apple tart during two consecutive classes last summer.
On Jan. 28 and 29, Karoudjian will once again offer his culinary prowess with hands-on lessons in high-end fare.
The menu for the upcoming class includes a pastry stuffed with goat cheese starter, or feuilleté de chèvre, and an entrée of duck breast with honey and acorn squash risotto, or magret de canard au miel accompagné de son risotto au potiron. The meal will be finished with a profiteroles au chocolat, or a chocolate puff pastry with vanilla ice cream.
The classes will both be held at 11 a.m. at Poole’s Deli in Hinesville, and registration is $50 per person. Last week, the arts council reported that only six slots were left for the Saturday class, and one was left for Sunday.
To register for the classes or for more information about these events, visit www.hinesvillearts.com.