The Art for Everyone visual arts series at the Birmingham Public Library kicks off the new year with a solo show by watercolorist Sophie McVicar Tate. "Gathered Sanctuary" opens on Friday, January 23, in the Central Library's Fourth Floor Gallery. Inspired by scientific illustration and religious iconography, McVicar Tate’s ethereal depictions of animals reflect a holistic, sometimes contradictory interpretation of the natural world.

A reception for the artist will take place on Friday, February 13, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. McVicar Tate will close her show with a discussion about her works on Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m.To learn more about the artist, visit her website at https://www.sophiemcvicar.co/. The Art for Everyone exhibition series is made possible in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts awarded to the Friends Foundation of BPL.

The Birmingham Public Library is honored to announce a new art exhibition by Jon Osborne. Scheduled to open in the Central Library’s First Floor Gallery on Friday, February 13, “Avant Garden” features a series of colorful abstract paintings inspired by various genres of music and mixed media. After viewing Osborne’s show, please join him in the Fourth Floor Gallery between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. as he celebrates his opening.

Osborne describes “Avant Garden” as a “poetic, visual interpretation of community, humanity, and the story of the common resilience of everyday people.” Through his kaleidoscopic works, he strives to make the public aware of the beauty of overcoming hardship.

His artwork is influenced in part by a condition known as “synesthesia," the result of a traumatic brain injury he sustained in 2019. Osborne’s particular type of synesthesia allows him to see colors and patterns when he hears sounds and music, which he incorporates into his paintings.

Osborne is a self-taught artist of African-American heritage. His artwork has been featured in galleries and festivals throughout Alabama and on the national level. He advocates for the strong healing power of art and music, supporting the community as a Board Member and Teaching Artist for InToto Creative Arts Forum, a local nonprofit organization.

Learn more about Osborne and his artwork at https://www.facebook.com/jonosborneartist. “Avant Garden” is part of the Art for Everyone project, made possible in part by a grant from the Alabama Council on the Arts.

Jason Tanner Young

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Jason Tanner Young received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2011 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2008.  He is currently an Associate Professor of Art and director of the Sculpture concentration at the University of Montevallo. Young previously worked at Ohio University, where he taught courses in Sculpture + Expanded Practice as well as the Foundations Department.

Young was awarded the Pentaculum Scholarship in Woodworking to participate in the week-long residency, Spring Pentaculum, at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (2022). At the University of Montevallo he received a Summer Stipend for Pre-Tenured Faculty (2020), and he has also received a Teaching and Scholarly Projects Grant (2022).

Young shows his work extensively, and has been included in exhibitions at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center (Mobile, AL), Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment (Huntsville, AL), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), The Sculpture Center (Cleveland, OH), Axis Gallery (Sacramento, CA), Weston Art Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), Manifest Gallery (Cincinnati, OH) the Young Sculptors Competition at Miami University (Miami, OH), the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Montgomery, AL), Visual Art Exchange (Raleigh, NC), Evansville Museum (Evansville, IN), and Rosalux Gallery (Minneapolis, MN) among many others.

An opening reception will be held Thursday, February 19, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm

The exhibition will be on view February 20 - April 17, 2026.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and by appointment.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Space One Eleven presents

“Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity“
José Villalobos

José Villalobos is a multidisciplinary artist exploring identity, queerness, and cultural heritage through sculpture, performance, and installation. Growing up between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, he confronts the conflicts between tradition, faith, and sexuality within Mexican and American cultures. Rooted in personal experience, his practice challenges machismo and the violence of assimilation, transforming materials and symbols to reclaim queer visibility. Villalobos has exhibited nationally and internationally and is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant. Recently he became a Trellis Art Fund Stepping Stone Fellow. His work affirms resilience, tenderness, and the power of self-expression within queer and borderland communities.

For the exhibition “Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity,” Villalobos presents a collection of new and past works that create a dialogue about masculinities within Norteño culture, its subcultural predecessors, and related historical movements. Villalobos’ aesthetic often combines the rugged iconography of the West (boots, cowboy hats, leather, ropes) with the flamboyance, glitter, and vulnerability of queer expression. The result is a powerful tension: the imagery of strength, control, even violence (e.g., rodeo, bull-taming) juxtaposed with fragility, costume play, and critique of the structures that define “manhood.”

An opening reception will be held Thursday, February 19, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm

The exhibition will be on view February 20 – April 17, 2026

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and by appointment.
Admission is free and open to the public.

As part of Create Birmingham’s Business of Creating Workshop Series, AEIVA is excited to offer a free professional headshot session for local artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs, led by Birmingham-based photographer Ambre Amari.  Participants will receive a professionally photographed headshot, guidance on posing and presentation, and a high-quality image suitable for digital and print media. This opportunity is free and open to the public, with limited slots available. Advance registration is required.

This arts pop-up showcases the wide-ranging talents of UAB's BFA students with art on view in the accompanying art exhibition, BFA Exhibition 2026. Come make art with the graduating BFA artists and check out their accompanying exhibition, all while enjoying tasty food available for purchase from a local food truck.