Meet the Folk is an introduction to the cultural practitioners, artists, educators, collectors, makers, scholars, visionaries, and organizers of our surrounding communities. The Reece Museum is devoted to providing a platform for the people who make the place we call home. This series aims to highlight the bountiful perspectives, backgrounds, knowledge, and talents that shape the diverse characters of the Appalachian region.
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Meet the Folk │ Martha Alfonso: Embraced by Art
The Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University
Martha Alfonso welcomes us into her eclectic home and into a world of stories embedded in the art she has collected throughout her life. The artworks graciously displayed throughout her home are just as much a celebration of community and friendship as they are of artistry. She tells us, “You know there’s an expression I like that says, ‘Life is short, but art is long.’” For Martha, the storied histories of each artwork transcend the lifespan of their makers. The memories and beloved relationships formed with the artists are at the heart of the works she collects and the stories she shares. During her time as a gallery owner, Martha recognized the beauty, care, and vulnerability that went into being an artist and advocated for that: “Do you know what courage it takes for an artist to really put their work out there? To believe it’s important enough to show?”
In 1984, Martha moved to Johnson City and soon connected with Helen Roseberry, the director of the Reece Museum at the time, who said to her, “Martha, you know so many artists, and you have such an interest. We have in Johnson City a real need for somebody like you. We have artists but nobody to represent them or, really, a place to show them.” And so, the seed for Ralston Fine Art was planted: “Our daughter, Allison, had just come back home from Ohio where she just had finished college at Kent State and was searching for a job. And I thought, well, we could do this together. She’d have a job, and I’d have something to do. But we didn’t know what in the world we were doing. So, we were just out there. We rented a space on West Unaka. It was two rooms. And we just hung up a sign. We didn’t have a typewriter. We didn’t have anything. I think I must have been really courageous.” Ralston Fine Art gallery, named for Martha’s father, ran from 1987 to 1999 representing artists such as, Andrew Moore, Charles Lawson, Bessie Harvey, Mike Smith, Sammie Nicely, Suzanne Stryk, Bill Nickels, Steven Wyandt, and more.
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Meet the Folk │ Calvin Nicely: Eternal Flame
The Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University
Calvin Nicely begins his glasswork with only the gesture of an idea. The glass has just as much say in how this all turns out. "I’m letting the glass lead me to what it wants to be,” he tells us. Pushing and releasing, moving in and out, Nicely’s studio practice is a laborious dance with the glass. Flow is important and leaves little room for pause. Glasswork requires you to be just as loose and flexible as you are strong and enduring. There’s a beautiful contrast between the making of Nicely’s work and its final presentation. These artworks were born out of an environment of motion, heat, and intensity, though what he presents in the gallery space is resolute, quiet, and still.
“It's just magical what you can do with glass. Only you limit it, really, by the limitations of your own skill and imagination,” he says. Nicely’s imagination dives deep into the interior world of humans and also transcends into the spiritual world, seeking to connect with something beyond our everyday presentations and experiences. The mask and flame are common motifs in his work, ones he describes as “spirits frozen in time.” Endowed with great care, these sculptural objects invite a deeper engagement and contemplation. Nicely shares, “I always say that everybody, when they leave the house in the morning, puts the mask on. You're dealing with your children, your husband—you have one mask; you go to the grocery store—you have another mask; you go to work, you have to put on another demeanor. So, people are not always presenting what's there. You have to look behind the mask to see what's really there.”
Calvin Nicely is an African American glass artist who resides and works in studios in Tennessee and also Western North Carolina. He is a veteran of both the United States Air Force and Navy. Calvin began working with hot glass in 1994 as a studio assistant, where he worked for over twelve years gaining knowledge and insight into the medium of studio glass.
Calvin was selected in 1998 to design and create the “Tennessee Governor’s Awards in the Arts,” presented by the honorable Don Sundquist, State Governor of Tennessee. His work is in several private and public collections and has been shown at various venues in major cities throughout the country including Atlanta, Chicago, and Las Vegas. Five of Calvin’s glassworks are part of the Reece Museum’s Sammie L. Nicely Collection.
