March’s Fun and Wine Reception Features Photographer Mary Ann Gilfillan

March’s Fun and Wine First Friday Reception Features Photographer Mary Ann Gilfillan

by Amy Nichols

Award winning photographer, Mary Ann Gilfillan is the Art Guild’s featured artist for March and will be honored during the Fun and Wine First Friday Reception on Friday, March 1st, from 5-7 PM at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Dr.

The public is welcome to attend this free event. Come enjoy a glass of wine or non-alcoholic beverage, enjoy some live music, feast your eyes on beautiful works of art and meet Mary Ann and other artists who will also have their artwork on display during the month of March.

I had a chance to meet Mary Ann over a cup of peppermint mocha (me) and hot chocolate (Mary Ann). She shared that she wants to change the way people see things – to stop and enjoy the beauty around them. Her stories included an obsession with getting a perfect picture of a barn – which she got – and the time she was lying on the ground in downtown Crossville to get the perfect shot of a tulip…and drew the attention of a local policeman! This is the life of a photographer who sees life in “captures.”

If you enjoy beautiful photographs of eagles, barns, flowers, and sunsets then you should plan on visiting the small gallery at the Plateau Creative Arts Center in Fairfield Glade to enjoy Mary Ann’s creative photography.

Mary Ann has been capturing the beauty of Tennessee since moving to Fairfield Glade in 2018. She is one of a handful of Tennesseans to be honored to be part of the 2023 class of Periscope: Rural Artist Development (Periscope RAD), an online training and mentorship program uniquely designed to be a transformative experience empowering rural artists with the entrepreneurial skills to help them thrive.

Her photos can also be found locally at Dogwoods Exchange LLC and Pretty Clothes Shoppe in Crossville and The Tomato Head in Knoxville, as well as on her website, alteredlifephotography.com.

Mary Ann’s artwork will be on display at the Plateau Creative Arts Center from March 1 – April 4. The Arts Center is open the month of March during winter hours from10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday – Saturday. Hours will resume to 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. in April. All artwork in the gallery and in the Endless Possibilities Shop is available for purchase.

Visit plateauarts.org for more information.