An art exhibit titled “Gift: A Unique View of Adluh” opened to the public earlier this month at the Frame of Mind eyewear store and art gallery. The exhibit allows visitors to view an artistic interpretation of what the Adluh Flour Mill looked like before it was refurbished.
Pleasinger brought together five artists, Whitney LeJeune, John Powell, Alicia Leeke, Dan Newbanks and Jenna Sach, and let them go into the old building and take photos. The exhibit is a mixture of everything from photography to drawings with a common thread throughout showing the aesthetic of the building.
Mark Pleasinger, owner of Frame of Mind and curator of the exhibit, said that the idea for the display came from the people at Adluh who contacted him before they tore down the building.
“So they wanted to go in and renovate it, but before they renovated it, they wanted to have a unique way of documenting what this space looked like before they did all the renovations,” Pleasinger said. “So they got in contact with me and asked me to put together a roster of artists that could go in and could document it from an artistic standpoint, and that is the genesis of this show.”
The artwork allows viewers to see the building in different perspectives. All five of the artists brought their own vision and unique style to their representation of the antique building.
“People know that we’re turning work over and they usually come to see the new shows, but even beyond that we’ve had an interesting response of people who’ve come out because Adluh has the name, is attached to it,” Pleasinger said. “It’s a part of the culture or the history of the city.”
Pleasinger said that the exhibit has received a positive response from both regulars and new attendees — even through a hurdle on opening night.
“The only downside we had was our original opening was the night that Hermine went through so it kind of dampered, because it was a hurricane and people weren’t sure about what the weather would be,” Pleasinger said. “We still had about 40 or 50 people show up, even in the middle of a hurricane.”
The Adluh art exhibit will be up in Frame of Mind until Oct. 1, and the exhibit’s hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon-4 p.m. on Saturday.