LAKE GASTON — Showcasing the works of 26 artists who use many different mediums, the first Fall For The Arts brought 200 people out on a warm but rainy day, criss-crossing Lake Gaston  to enjoy the art, music, good food and the chance to meet and speak with some talented local artists.

Paintings by Tina Gregory were one of many of her works displayed during the Fall For The Arts event held Saturday. This grouping actually tells a Grimm’s fairy tale story and each of the animals is looking into a window at the viewer. Photo by Hank Dewald | Daily Herald. Advertisement

Organized as a fundraiser by a group called O’Sail, the unique event took folks to six locations around the lake. Various artists, specializing in different art forms from painting, sketching and pastels to metal sculpture and photography were at each location, as were various local musicians.

O’Sail is an acronym for Organization to Support the Arts, Infrastructure and Learning on Lake Gaston. It is a non-profit organization started by individuals who recognized the wealth of local talent in the Valley. They wanted a way to showcase the artists’ work while raising money to benefit the Lake Gaston community.

Saturday morning at Randy and Cathy Dikeman’s house in the Ferncliff subdivision, volunteers greeted and helped park cars, and escorted patrons to the house. On the porch, guests signed in and each received a gift before being taken around the house to the Dikeman’s beautiful outdoor kitchen, where works by Tina Gregory, Fred Kessler, George Nelson and Susan Watson were on display.

The huge, covered kitchen area was filled with artworks, as were several outbuildings and gazebos. Musicians Sparky Watts and Alan Stallings entertained the group from a small outbuilding porch that also displayed some of the larger works of art.

Artists Watson and Gregory are both retired art teachers from the Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools District and both were thrilled to have the opportunity to display their work in such a unique setting.

“This (O’Sail) is a fabulous organization that is very encouraging for artists,” said Gregory as she and Watson greeted several of their former students. “It put a little friendly pressure on us to get some works finished for this, but isn’t it just wonderful?”

Gregory, who taught art at Roanoke Rapids High School, and Watson, who taught at Manning Elementary said they have taught art to more than 10,000 students in their career, but only rarely got to showcase their own work locally.

Artist Judy Bauman displayed her paintings at the home of Fred and Mary Ann Gasko, in the East Fork Plantation subdivision across the lake. “They (The Gaskos) have such a beautiful setting to display our works,” said Bauman, “This is the first year and it is just beautiful. I’m just tickled to death to see all this support for the arts.” Each of the stops on the tour was a different and unique setting.

At the Gasko home, metal sculptor Jonathon Bowling and many of his very large sculptures greeted patrons, while works from Gasko himself, Bauman and painter Jessica Matte were displayed throughout the home.

Matte’s and Gasko’s work filled a beautiful sun room that looked out over the lake, while some of Gasko’s best photos splashed across a huge plasma TV below a second story walkway, where Mike Butler entertained the guests below with his guitar.

 Dikeman said the idea for O’Sail began with a core group of artists and friends of the arts, who decided they should encourage support for the arts and raise money to enhance causes concerning Lake Gaston.

“There was a group of people that was the nucleus of ideas and it just grew from there,” Dikeman said, “We’ve got new people involved, in fact the Wenzels, Mary and Tom, are the co-chairs of this event. This is the first thing we’ve worked on with them and they’ve had a ball.”

Dikeman was thrilled with the response Fall For The Arts has received, saying the original idea was to limit the tickets to just 100, but due to the response, the number was upped to 200. “This is just the first event and look how well it has gone. I’m sure this will grow just as The Crossing has.”