Original works by Charity Ray will be on display at Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill.
A reception will be held Saturday, February 11, 2023 from 12-4 p.m.
Our Story, This Place Book Signing
Our Story, This Place tells the fascinating history of the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School in the Long Ridge Community of Mars Hill, North Carolina, providing comprehensive information about Black education in the rural South from after the Civil War through the time of desegregation.
Published in August 2022, this new book tells the story of the almost century-old Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School in the Long Ridge Community of Mars Hill, North Carolina. This new, notated history includes stories, photos, and memories from alumni, friends, and descendants of the Long Ridge Community.
Mars Landing Galleries is located at 37 Library Street, Mars Hill, NC 28754. Visit MarsLandingGalleries.com.
About Charity Ray
Charity Mae Ray was born on June 1, 1937. She was called home to begin her heavenly journey on October 2, 2020. Charity was the daughter of John and Augusta Briscoe Ray and sister to Dorothy Ray Coone and Christina Ray Rucker all of whom are deceased.
Charity was a fifth-generation resident of the greater Mars Hill area. Her family first lived in a log cabin near the present Ingles grocery store in Mars Hill, later building their home in the Long Ridge Community. Charity and her sister Dorothy resided in their parents homeplace before passing.
Charity’s love for art and painting “was a gift, it wasn’t anything I learned,” she said. She began her art at age five at the Mars Hill Rosenwald School where the teacher allowed her to “doodle” as Charity described it. In retirement, she joined the weekly meeting Art Group, in Mars Hill, the Church Mice. Her watercolor paintings have brought pleasure to many near and far.
Charity worked to help rehabilitate the Rosenwald School Building where her art began. As an alumna, she served as a member of the Friends Group and member of their History Committee.