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By Holley Calmes Staff Correspondent
Suwanee Arts Center kicks off 2022 with the opportunity to broaden visitors’ worlds by opening minds and hearts to the artwork of painter Dice Carter.
Winter art classes also begin in late January. The Art Center is located in the City of Suwanee’s Visitor’s Center.
“Whether you’re new to art or advanced in your skills and are looking for a creative challenge, the Suwanee Arts Center offers a fun way to learn and explore a new medium or improve your technique,” SAC Director Aggie Nivilinszky said. “We offer a variety of classes and workshops from pottery, photography, drawing, calligraphy, and more for children ages 6-15 and adults ages 16+.”
Visit www.suwaneeartscenter.org/classes-workshops for details and registration.
The first featured artist this year is Dice Carter. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and transplanted to Atlanta as a youth, his inspiring personal and artistic journey is translated visually in his work.
“Dice is a self-taught, color-blind artist. Colored overhead lighting will capture the multi-dimensions of color in his paintings. He also translates stories of his personal life and the resilience of others to bring different aspects of well-being back to baseline,” Nivilinszky said. “The works exhibited include themes relating to masculinity and femininity, divinity, Black History and love.”
Carter’s personal journey started with a difficult beginning.
He said: “Most of my childhood coincided with that period known in NYC as the ‘crack era.’ Widespread penury, violence and lack of opportunity plagued the area. Directly affected by these factors and without the care of my biological parents, much of my childhood included constant transitions to foster homes, schools, project housing, and homelessness.”
The fall of the World Trade Center served as a catalyst for his move to Atlanta in 2003.
“Unfortunately, the environmental factors I experienced in New York City followed me South along with along with new variables including Southern racial attitudes and pejoratives. Despite these circumstances, I earned my high school diploma and ultimately my college degree from Georgia Gwinnett College in 2015,” he said.
“Throughout my youth, I would constantly, in secret, write poetry and doodle as a catharsis from the chaotic reality I experienced every day,” Carter said. “These would serve as the building blocks and source material for my artistry.”
He painted his first canvas in 2016 after getting jobs that afforded income for art supplies. He has not looked back.
“A lot of my art as a youth centered around light and God. Light was of interest to me because of my undiagnosed colorblindness. What I saw depended on what color lighting was in the room, or the time of day. My concept of God was focused on prayer poems about my safety and aspirations to get out of the ghetto,” he said.
“At first, painting served as a tool for personal healing. Now, I desire similar outcomes for those who experience my work and to inspire individuals to re-engage in their own creative gifts.”
Visit www.suwaneeartscenter.org for more details about the Dice Carter exhibition. A virtual format option is available.
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