Visiting Teaching Artist: Terry DeWitt
The Art of Architecture, 2020

Join us Thursday, May 12, 2022, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm at Crosstown Arts in the Crosstown Concourse for an exhibit of student work created under the tutelage of Terry Dewitt, pre-pandemic.

The exhibit is located on the second floor near the red staircase and will be on display May 9 - 16 2022.

Terry DeWitt first became involved at CAG in 2017 as president of the Memphis-Germantown Art League (MGAL). Terry reached out to CAG to learn more about our programs and went on to make several financial contributions to CAG through MGAL over the years.

In 2019 Terry transitioned into the role of a volunteer as a small group art class instructor. Terry’s first workshop explored architecture in our neighborhood, using sketching and watercolors to examine the buildings and houses on Carpenter Street. This class was an introduction to architecture as we prepared for our art immersion trip to Chicago that October.

In February of 2020, Terry returned to lead a painting workshop based on iconic Memphis architecture. CAG artists studied buildings specific to their hometown, sketching the details before visiting one of these sites. A surprise up to the day of, six students traveled to Crosstown Concourse to sketch the different spaces with Mr. Terry. In class three of four in the workshop, we brought our sketches back to the Purple House to project sketches on large watercolor paper. We were scheduled to wrap up the project on Thursday, March 12, 2020, a class we would never complete.

In the following weeks, the Art Garden took a two-month pause from all programs as we turned our attention to understanding and responding to the global pandemic. Our small group art classes tuned into take-home projects and online videos for the next year. Memories from that final workshop were used to count the passing time until we could safely invite CAG members back on site.

During this time, children have grown into teenagers, middle school students are in high school, and CAG members have moved away or returned to the neighborhood. We have also experienced loss, with Mr. Terry DeWitt passing away in November 2020 due to Covid-19. We are honored the DeWitt family and friends made donations in Terry’s name to our programs, and are working with the family to donate supplies from his personal studio to our small group art classes.

Small Group Art Classes Continue

With the opening of the Purple House in 2014, CAG began hosting weekly small group classes for students interested in going more in-depth with their artwork. This curriculum focused on exploration, access, and healing through workshops led by professional artists. Over the past decade, CAG has had the pleasure of hosting hundreds of local and national artists including George Hunt, Christian Robinson, and Lonnie Holley. These classes provide the framework to learn new techniques, create artwork for our annual art shows, and allow students' work to be displayed alongside professional artists.

Two years later, we are excited to safely bring back Small Group Art Classes with our first anime class in March 2022.