Piedmont through the artist’s eye

Contributed
Published: November 6, 2008

Fifty-plus area artists, musicians, authors and film makers have teamed up with four contemporary art galleries and the Arts Center In Orange in an ambitious parade of talent displaying the artistic perspective on the Virginia Piedmont while testifying to the sheer size of the arts community in Orange County.
“Virginia’s Piedmont, Through the Artist’s Eye,“ which runs between Oct. 23 and Nov. 29, “is a celebration of the creative impulse our area generates in the dozens of artists who have chosen to live and work here,“ says Laura Thompson, executive director of the Arts Center in Orange, a sentiment echoed by Ed Harvey, president of the Arts Center’s board.
“Those of us who live in the Piedmont are fortunate to reside in one of America’s most beautiful natural settings and we are blessed to have so many wonderful artists living among us who can capture that beauty. We are grateful to them for sharing their talent and insight with us,“ said Harvey. Harvey is also a board member of Virginians for the Arts, a grassroots organization that Thompson claims is “full of passionate, creative people who advocate on behalf of the arts in Virginia.“
Throughout the five week celebration, The Arts Center will present a special exhibit of works by emerging artists from the area. They will be joined by established artists who have worked in Orange County for years and who are being shown in various venues throughout the area.
“Encouraging artistic expression is what the Arts Center in Orange is all about,“ says Thompson. “Introducing new artists is a special privilege and paying tribute to those artists who have been contributing to our active arts scene for a long time is a real pleasure. They are an asset to our community that helps make it a wonderful place to live.“ On a practical level, Thompson pointed out that the presence of so many artists in the area helps make Orange an attractive destination for tourists.
“We are noticing that more and more visitors are stopping by the Arts Center and many express surprise that a town our size has such a center,“ Thompson said.
Visitors attending “Virginia’s Piedmont, Through the Artist’s Eyes,“ will get to know the area well because galleries in Woodberry Forest and Barboursville are participating.
The Baker Gallery at Woodberry Forest will feature the photography of Richard Robinson, whose work has appeared in the Washington Post and at the Smithsonian; Bill Moretz, known as a “photographer’s photographer,“ whose mastery of the craft is reflected in the photographers he has mentored, and Lon Holmberg, an award-winning photographer and documentary film producer.
Paintings by Pam Black, a professor at the University of Virginia known for her animal-related works; Megan Marlatt, a professor of art at UVA as well, and sculpture by self-taught artist Sean Samoheyl who works in cast-off wood, metal, and wool. Marlatt describes her work with paintings of “Happy Meal toys” as founded in a fascination with plastic toys and the underlying messages they convey about our culture. “Colorful and glossy, these small toys in densely packed piles speak to me of mass consumerism, chaos and cultural vertigo,“ she says. A special feature will be new works by Woodberry Forest School’s Art Director Kelly Lonergan.
Also at Woodberry Forest School, the upper gallery of the Walker Galleries, “A is for Art,“ an exhibit and book release on the works of the late Orange artist Laura Lambe Burrell will be on display. Twenty-six images from her book, which is scheduled to be released Nov. 15, will be shown. In the lower gallery the paintings of outsider artist Joe Simms will be featured. His works have developed a national following and he exhibits in New York City as well as Orange.
At the Ed Jaffe Gallery, 108 West Main Street, in Orange, sculpture in stone, bronze, clay and wire by Jaffe, Thomas Marsh, Aimee Hunt, and Aggie Zed will be shown.
Jaffe’s abstract painting and marble sculpture are familiar to Orange, where he has worked for several years and sells to an international clientele. Marsh is a classical sculptor who recently moved to Orange from northern California and whose nationally-known works include a wide range of representational interpretations of the famous as well as symbolic expressions of moral values. His latest work includes a “Victim of Communism Memorial,“ in Washington, D.C. based on the resistance of Chinese students to overwhelming military oppression.
Aimee Hunt is a ceramic sculptor and is the education program coordinator at the UVA Art Museum. A past executive director, she remains active at The Arts Center In Orange as a ceramics instructor.
Aggie Zed, a resident of Gordonsville, holds honors from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has numerous group and one-person exhibitions to her credit and her humorous and poignant figurative sculpture are collected worldwide.
The Corner House Gallery, 173 West Main Street in Orange, will focus on artist Linda Boudreaux Montgomery’s interpretation of Virginia’s historic sites and landscapes.
Montgomery’s works include representations of daily life at Montpelier that are mounted throughout the grounds at Madison’s estate.
No fewer than 11 area artists will be shown at the Frederick Nichols Studio and the Nichols Gallery Annex in Barboursville in an exhibit entitled “Scenes of the Piedmont, From Real to Sublime.“ The collection of paintings and original prints depict scenes of everyday life in the Piedmont alongside majestic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Among the exhibiting artists are Nancy Bass, Ron Boehmer, Richard Crozier, Gray Dodson, Durwood Dommisse, Frank Hobbs, Frederick Nichols, Lindsay Nolting, Tom Tartaglino, Priscilla Whitlock, and Steven Wolf.
All are well established artists whose works appear in many collections.
Award winning author and Orange resident Sarah Collins Honenberger will read selections from her newest novel, “Waltzing Cowboys,“ scheduled for release in January. She will read between 1 and 3 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the Arts Center. Her work has appeared in the Antietam Review, the New Millennium, South Lit., The Hook, as well as the highly regarded 2007 Blue Ridge Anthology. Her story, “The Serengeti of the Heart,“ was the 2005 winner of the statewide fiction contest of the Virginia Writers’ Club. In addition to a fellowship with the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, her essay, “Gathering Rosebuds: A Manifesto for Working Women,“ was included in a 1998 Oprah book club segment.
On Nov. 15, between 2 and 5 p.m., all galleries will hold open houses, at which some of the participating artists will describe their works. Between 6 and 8 p.m., at the Arts Center in Orange, a silent auction of many of the works will be held, with the proceeds benefiting the Arts Center.
This event is sponsored in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, Orange County Tourism, and The Inns at Montpelier.
The Arts Center In Orange is a non-profit (501c3) community arts center located at 129 East Main Street, Orange, VA, Phone - 540-672-7311, http://www.artscenterorange.org. Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Saturday, Sunday 1-3 p.m.