A photograph by Gayle Hardy of Art in Bloom at the NC Museum of Art: Rodin’s sculpture Fallen Caryatid with a Stone inspired Designer Heather Ann Miller of Raleigh.
The halls of Capitol Broadcasting’s Western Blvd headquarters became a veritable art gallery during a remodel several years ago and part of that collection included several locations for video art throughout the buildings. CBC featured the work of several North Carolina artists and now has gone a step further to feature the video art of a few of our very talented employees.
CBC’s Video Art collection rotates around the buildings and during the month of May included the work of three different CBC employees.
Today we take a closer look at the video created from the photography of FOX 50 Art Director 1 Gayle Hardy, ‘Art in Bloom’:
‘Art in Bloom’ is the NC Museum of Art’s inaugural festival of art and flowers. Floral designers from across North Carolina and beyond bring springtime into West Building by interpreting masterworks from the permanent collection of 45 breathtaking flower displays.
Hardy explained how she came to photograph the temporary collection for CBC:
When WRAL-TV Station Manager Jim Rothschild first asked me if I would be interested in shooting the Art in Bloom exhibit at the NC Museum of Art in March, I was honored, nervous and excited. I had been lightly dabbling in photography for years but getting more into it recently. I admit I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to represent CBC properly; there are so many really wonderful – and formally trained – photographers working here! So, even with some doubt about my own abilities, I happily accepted the assignment.
My favorite subjects to shoot are flowers and my love for art is unquestioned, so it turned out to be one of the most fun, challenging and scary things I’ve done in my years working for Capitol. The fact that I was allowed to wander the museum for hours shooting art that normally the public isn’t allowed to shoot was awesome! After an hour or so I lost my nervousness and just immersed myself in two of my favorite subjects in a way I’ve never been able to do. Wow!
I shot a total of 6 hours over the course of 2 days; the first day the museum allowed me to come in and shoot early in the morning, while the floral artists were working and while that area of the museum was closed to the public. Most of the photos I included in the slideshow are from that day. The next day I went back to try and get the ones that weren’t completed the day before. The second day proved to be difficult – the public flocked to the exhibit’s opening, and made shooting nearly impossible! (I really have a lot of respect for these floral artists because, unlike most art, theirs only lasts a couple days and they really pour their heart and soul into the pieces.)
My self-imposed challenge was to have the camera capture and visually interpret the connection between the traditional art and the floral art. Sometimes the interpretation was quite literal and sometimes it was more abstract, but my goal was to make the viewer feel like they were there at the museum experiencing the exhibit for themselves. That’s why I used a lot of eye level close-up shots where I tried to get a feel of the floral piece and a bit of the traditional art in each photo, along with a lot of white space, allowing the viewer’s eyes to rest and contemplate. The white space occurred naturally in the photos because the museum walls are – literally – painted white, and the strong morning light coming through the skylights is wonderful. Those two factors made it easy for me to consider the balance of positive and negative space in the composition, and capture it in the photos.
I totally enjoyed doing this, and I hope viewers enjoy the photos as well.
FOX 50 Art Director 1 Gayle Hardy
About Gayle Hardy
Hardy has been in television for 32 years. She said that back then she had no idea TV stations employed artists – finding out only when her hometown CBS station (WTKR in Norfolk, VA) contacted her for a freelance gig for them. Hardy ended up convincing them they needed her full time and worked there 6 years before moving to the Triad area of NC, working first for then-ABC-affiliate WGHP (now FOX8) and after that, helping launch (and switch to ABC-affiliate) WXLV. From there, she came to CBC, specifically to launch FOX 50, working a while for both WRAL and FOX 50 until we had staff in place to begin the arduous task of switching WB50 to FOX 50.
An artist at heart, Hardy earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.
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Thanks to FOX 50’s Gayle Hardy for these capcom photos.
