Natchez — ArtsNatchez Gallery is moving to 425 Main St.

The grand opening will be celebrated with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on first Friday, Oct. 1.

The reception will have featured works of local photographer Shirley Byrne, and potter Roy Hershey.

Byrne, who graduated from Mississippi College with a bachelor of arts degree also received a degree in visual communications and graphic design from Nashville State Technical Institute.

Her photographs and graphics have appeared in several books including “Evolution of Modernist Jewelry: Form and Function” and “Legends of the Natchez City Cemetery.”

She has created numerous event posters in Natchez, and Byrne operates a graphic design and photography business. Byrne recently received a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission; she will display her photographic series titled “Windows” at the opening exhibit.

Hershey is new to Natchez and the gallery. He was born in New York City and raised on Long Island, N.Y.

Hershey studied horticulture from 1973 to 1975 at the New York Botanic Gardens and he is considered a master pruner. After living in Europe for five years, working as an organic gardener, he returned to the states and took up “throwing” class in Denver, Colo.

He received a bachelor of fine arts degree at Kansas City Art Institute where he studied under Ken Ferguson. Hershey went on to earn his master of fine arts at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale.

“I’m trying to create something of my own unique style — a contemporary statement in ceramics,” said Hershey describing his ceramic decal collage technique.

Hershey creates both functional and two-dimensional nonfunctional pieces of art and pottery.

For more information call 601-442-0043 or visit www.artsnatchez.org.