July Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
The Distance Between Memories and Nostalgia

The Distance Between Memories to Nostalgia was a joint exhibition from husband and wife Steven and Kyung Cavallo. This exhibition featured both watercolor and acrylic paintings created over the span of 15 years, highlighting the couple’s travels across America to South Korea. The display features images of fragmented memories depicting two travelers on the road from America’s Eastern Seaboard to the western deserts and to South Korea, telling a series of stories and recollections both comforting and haunting. Many of the paintings merge reality and memory with dreams, often on the verge of fading into obscurity; and as in memory, they become one, blurring the lines between fact and imagination. 

Director's Gallery:
The Land, The Sea, and the Sky

The Land, The Sea, The Sky was a solo exhibition from New Bern artist Fran Kohlmeier, featuring paintings and landscapes highlighting Kohlmeier’s practice with waterfront horizons as a water media artist. Fran Kohlmeier loves to discover beauty in both the ordinary and the extraordinary, drawing inspiration from landscapes, abstract shapes, and collage. Her coastal landscapes begin with a wash of vermillion or raw sienna. With the landscape emerging, this allows the underpainting to peek through and enrich the subsequent colors. Kohlmeier hopes this show can highlight sensory awareness using by color & light, allowing the viewer to activate their own senses and respond in their own way. She has retired twice, first as an Arts Copyright Specialist at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, then as a Teaching Asst. at Charlotte Latin School (NC). Kohlmeier has a B.A in Art Education, and has taught art workshops for over 28 years.

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June Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
Juneteenth

Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th annually and commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in the state of Texas after the Civil War. In honor of this historic celebration of freedom in the South, Craven Arts Council & Gallery annually hosts local African American artists for the month of June. The exhibit goes beyond just history - it will explore culture, identity, and personal expression through a wide range of artistic styles. Visitors can expect to experience pieces that reflect both the struggles and the beauty of Black life, past and present, while also highlighting creativity, pride, and community. Participating artists in this year's exhibition include curator Diamond Campbell, Crystal Felton, Tyrone Brown, Chrystal Fonville, Brandon Campbell, and more.

Director's Gallery:
Peer Inside My Head

Peer Inside My Head is a solo series created by oil painter Jeanne May, inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem, The Pedigree of Honey, which examines the concept of self-worth. The chaotic texture of the honeycomb and oil sticks, contrasted with the boldness of the flowers serves as a metaphor for the abstract nature of how we perceiev our own value. Jeanne May is a contemporary figure painter based in Stella, North Carolina. As a self-taugh artist, Jeanne actively develops her craft through workshops, open studios, and critque sessions with established artists, both locally and internationally. Her work visually explores themes of solitude, resilience, and self-determination. In 2025, her paintings her featured in American Art Collector and Artist Talk magazines, as well as exhibition catalogs for 33 Contemporary Gallery and PoetsArtists. Jeanne is an active member of three local arts councils and currently serves as Chairperson for the Carolina Artist Gallery in Morehead City. ​

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May Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
​ROY G BIV

ROY G BIV is an exhibition by Craven Arts Council & Gallery showcasing the use of color. Each artist received a 12” x 12” cradled board and drew a random color. Each panel in the Main Gallery at Bank of the Arts will be filled with works featuring that color, creating a rainbow that moves across the gallery. Qualified works will be judged for a chance to win one of over twenty prizes, and artists​ may sell their work on a 60/40 split in the artist’s favor. Featuring 200 artists, ROY G BIV is one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year; and is an original exhibition by Craven Arts Council & Gallery highlighting the use of color. 

Director's Gallery:
New Bern High School Students

Craven Arts Council & Gallery was proud to present the work of New Bern High School students in the Director’s Gallery for the month of May. This exhibition features exceptional student art work from the art department and Art Honors Society at New Bern High School. Work is selected from students who have shown a great ability and dedication to growing as artists. Artworks represent their thought process for tackling certain thematic goals. Students brainstorm and visually plan for each piece, with the goal of effectively communicating their themes to their viewers. 

April Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
​TRAA & CCC Student Exhibition

Craven Arts Council & Gallery was proud to host the 2026 Twin Rivers Artists Association & Craven Community College Judged Exhibition this April at Bank of the Arts. This exhibition is open to current members of the Twin Rivers Artists Association, and students enrolled in arts classes at Craven Community College in the spring 2026 semester. Cash awards for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mention. Additionally, one cash award is gifted for outstanding student.

Director's Gallery:
​The Rat Selfie Project

We were proud to display The Rat Selfie Project by Jennifer WinterRose for our April Director's Gallery exhibition. This exhibition featured gouache 2D self-portraits of Jennifer and her pet rats over the years, as they encompass times of happiness and health, and times of struggle and sadness. Speaking on her exhibition, WinterRose states, "This series is one that I’ve been fighting to bring forth for a few years now. One of my long time loves has been the care and keeping of pet rats, and they have been with me throughout my journey. ​

March Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
For the Record

Craven Arts Council & Gallery's For The Record  asked artists to submit work utilizing vinyl records as the predominant medium, and submissions included various 3D sculpture work as well as 2D creations. Artists received up to 20 vinyl records to use for their piece as part of their entry fee.  Craven Arts encourages the creative use of the materials: paint on the vinyl as a canvas, cut them out, create a collage with the sleeve artwork, made a sculpture, etc. All artworks were judged for prizes by Dare Oliver.  ​

Director's Gallery:
Private & Homeschooled Student Exhibition

The Private and Home Schooled Student Exhibition featured artwork created by students in art classes from local classrooms such as Epiphany Global School, Art House, St. Paul's Catholic School Annunciation Catholic School, and various home schools across the county. Their work was on display for the month of April, ranging from sketches, colored drawings, paintings, and more! Art has been shown to have an integral beneficial effect on youth education in subjects from math and science to literary analysis. Bank of the Arts is pleased to reinforce these ideas by offering the students a ​platform to exhibit their works in a gallery setting. 

February Exhibitions

Main Gallery: 
A Mason Duet: Color, Movement, and Mark-Making by Georgia & Nicola Mason

This February, we were proud to present the works of mother daughter duo, Georgia and Nicola Mason in A Mason Duet: Color, Movement, and Mark-Making. The title highlights the techniques used by both in the creation of colorful, abstract works of art, utilizing mixed media layered in colorful shapes, lines, and arcs. Both artists create abstract and impressionistic works, that express their creative and process and mind, inviting the viewer to study the worked surfaces and hinted forms to find their meaning. 

Director's Gallery:
In Search of Color by Chuck Colucci

In Search of Color featured a variety of nature photography and Colucci’s distinct editing style highlighting colors, themes, and objects within his subject matter. ​

January Exhibitions

Main Gallery:
​ReNew

Craven Arts Council & Gallery was proud to present the second annual ReNew exhibition, an exhibition to showcase the creativity and work of our 300+ membership base and highlight YOUR role and importance in helping us to fulfill our mission. Artists could submit a number of entries based on their current membership level. ReNew showcases an opportunity for our membership base to display a diversity of artistic styles, calling for all artworks from 2D, photography, contemporary crafts, and indoor sculpture. 

Director's Gallery:
2026 Craven County School's Valentine's Day Card Sale

Craven Arts Council and the Twin Rivers Artists Association were proud to present the 2026 Craven County Valentine’s Day Card Sale in the Director's Gallery for the month of January 2026. Created by art students in all grades in Craven County Schools, all proceeds are donated to Craven County art teachers for purchasing classrooms supplies. This year’s sale took place in the Director's Gallery at Bank of the Arts for the month of January. Priced at $3.50 each, these affordable Valentines gifts help fund arts education in Craven County, by donating all proceeds for the purchase of art supplies.

Valentine's Day cards will remain on sale until February 28th!

January Exhibitions