The Carrack Opens Tonight

Durham artist John Wendelbo is opening his fund-raising headquarters/art gallery, The Carrack, tonight at 111 Parrish Street for the Durham Sculpture Project.  From this space, Wendelbo intends to further his public sculpture project to build Dionysys, a 35 foot-tall publicly-funded sculpture that will be donated to the city for installation upon completion, as well as establish Durham as a large-scale sculpture construction and viewing destination.  The project will create permanent jobs and materials from this project will also generate other pieces, as well.  There is a larger social narrative to his project that is detailed here.

Tonight's event is not open to the public, but the gallery will be open this weekend from 1 to 4 PM each weekend day.  The opening exhibition will feature works by many local artists presenting work in a variety of formats from two dimensional to digital projection.  For the culturally inclined, this is not a show to miss.

Wendelbo, a French ex-patriot who came to the US to build Frank Stella's landmark sculpture The Prince of Hamburg, came here after years in New York because Durham is the sort of open and artistic community where he and his wife could raise a family.  He works at Carolina Bronze in Seagroves, NC, a nationally recognized foundry whose statue of Ronald Reagan is to be unveiled at the US Embassy in London on July Fourth.

The gallery name is a reference to the type of sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for exploration voyages. Wendelbo considers his project in a similar light.

Normal hours for the gallery are 4 to 8 PM Tuesday to Friday.  Art is for sale and the general public is encouraged to visit after tonight's opening event. According to Wendelbo, the space will be available to rent for private events, as well.