» By CONOR SCRUTON – cscruton@my.apsu.edu

I decided to travel slightly off the beaten path for this week’s column. Taking an All State coworker’s recommendation, I headed to No Egrets Tattoo Studios Saturday, Jan. 28, for a free art show.

No Egrets is a tattoo shop many students are familiar with, located only a couple blocks from APSU at 1128 College St. It’s worth looking into for anyone wanting a tattoo, but that story will have to wait for another column; this week, I was just checking out some art.

The art show featured over 15 artists from the Clarksville and Nashville areas displaying and selling their original works. January’s show featured a superhero theme, so there was an abundance of colorful comic book characters decorating hand-painted canvases.

One of the cooler aspects of the show was the fact most of the artists were there in person.

They were not hard to find, as I ran into several simply standing by their displays. It was definitely nice to talk to the artists about their work in person, as it adds a certain amount of depth to interpreting the art.

Ricky Cavaness, one of the displayed artists I talked to, described his show as “kind of focused on a low-brow community.”

While there were plenty of pieces on sale for high prices, some of the bigger works going for hundreds of dollars, I’d recommend this show to anyone looking to buy original art.

If you look through some of the smaller paintings, it’s not hard at all to find art for $20 or less.

While the art show was the main event, there was always plenty to keep guests occupied. Some of the highlights included a superhero costume contest with an art giveaway for the winner, $5 professional photos and live music.

The show’s curator, Joe Melanson, said he started the show to give “forgotten” artists recognition, since many had been turned away by professional galleries. Melanson has been behind the No Egrets art show for the past year, running five shows so far.

The next art show is a “diorama show” scheduled for April 28, featuring mostly sculpture and shadowbox art.

Whether you want a tattoo or just want to see someone else’s art, you might want to stop by No Egrets this semester. TAS