A legacy in glass
Some of the surprising and beautiful byproducts of art-making are the stories that are told within the work. You don’t have to be skilled, famous, or in the least bit conceptual to have your unique creation and your unique story. Heidi Thompson, from Barbara Atkinson’s Intermediate/Advanced Stained Glass class, shared her story with us.
Heidi comes from a family of makers. Her sister-in law works in stained glass, as did her recently passed mother-in law. Heidi points out how one can always see the person in the glass. How they cut it, ground it, the choices made, the hand in the work. It’s all there; “you can really see the person’s personality” in the work. Heidi is finishing this glass panel that was started by her late mother-in-law for the front door of her sister’s home. The accompanying panel already complete, Heidi has undertaken a piece that is work of a familial legacy.
Kids say the darndest things
Well, they write them, too.
We regularly offer a book for visitor comments outside our True F. Luck Gallery. The Oscar Munoz exhibition has prompted responses from guests of all ages. Here’s a sampling:
From college students:
A beautiful depiction of life and death, a concept I aspire to get to the heart of every day though my own work. — Melissa
So beautiful, the most successful work I’ve seen dealing with the topic of memory — Elise
Using the table tops as screens for installing the videos was such a smart idea – really involves the viewer — Caitlin
From elementary-school kids:
I like sink art – Jacob
I like the dark room* and the movie of the man – Isabella
It is awesome and I like when the man drew the face – Jerzzee
I like when Oscar painted on the concreek [sic] – Phoebe
From other visitors:
Beautifully installed and a perfect start to a day that includes a tour of Hollywood Cemetery. Real substance! – Clare
The beauty of the ephemeral . . . well curated and wonderfully displayed, especially the charcoal on water portraits. – Nikki
Extremely well put together, the best thing I’ve seen since living here — Megan
*The small groups from Central Montessori School have also visited our upstairs darkroom for black-and-white photography, so several youngsters commented on that!
Dierdra McAfee Shares a Story
Writing instructor Dierdra McAfee has been awarded a fellowship by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), located near Sweet Briar College in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. During April and May, she will be among approximately 25 Fellows focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for visual artists, writers and composers. Serving more than 350 artists a year, the VCCA is one of the nation’s largest year-round artists’ communities.
Dierdre also recently reviewed Caitlin Horrocks’s story collection, This Is Not Your City, for The Collagist (Issue 26); and read her own short-short that was chosen for Artspace‘s “ThinkSmall 6” exhibition. Here is that story, “Mudra”:
Member Duo Praise VisArts Experience
VisArts member Nancy Alpine submitted this post about the joy she and daughter Allie Stough have found through their classes:
“When my daughter was in high school I talked her into taking a class with me at the Visual Arts Center. Little did I know how that would lead her to major in art and allow us to spend many fun hours learning art together.
“I had always wanted to know how to make rag rugs – the kind I remember my grandmother having in her home. When I saw a class for Rug Hooking taught by Mary Henke I thought I had found the place to learn how to make them. Reluctantly, Allie agreed to take the class. However, these were traditional hooked wool rugs, not rag rugs. We both began work on a sampler rug. Her reluctance turned into utter enthusiasm finishing her sampler and mine as well! She has been creating rugs ever since. She joined the Shockoe Slip Rug Hookers Guild, attending many workshops and hook-ins. Two of her rugs have been published in Rug Hooking Magazine and the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists Newsletter. Who knew?
“But that was just the beginning of many classes and hours of fun at the Visual Arts Center. Once Allie decided to major in art, her professor Michelle Delano at Richard Bland College advised her to take classes and expose herself to many different media. What better place than where it all began? Together we have explored a variety of classes and workshops. It has turned into the most rewarding and bonding mother/daughter experience for me as well as a wonderful learning experience for us both. I can hardly wait for the class list to be published each season so I can see the new offerings. In October we decided to try the Masks and Margaritas workshop. What a fun evening – layering our faces with petroleum jelly and casting plaster to create our own images! An adventurous evening for this Mom!
“Over the past few years we have tried pottery – Allie getting into throwing on the wheel and me the hand building, printmaking and silk screening – making framed prints and stationery as well as screening tote bags and napkins. Making hand-made books has been a favorite – Allie incorporating her hooking into covers for her books. We have dabbled in weaving, jewelry, sculpture, dyeing scarves, illustrating children’s books and drawing. One of our favorite activities is to attend Art and Coffee when time allows. The topics are so enriching. At one of the sessions we listened to Nancy Ross Hugo and Dr. Jeffrey Kirwan discuss their book Remarkable Trees of Virginia. We bought the book and have taken many short trips to visit some of the trees in person.
“Allie is now a senior at Christopher Newport University majoring in art education. The Visual Arts Center has been influential in her decision to teach art. For me it is a place where I can explore my creative side and enjoy some relaxation and family time. The Visual Arts Center has so much to offer and Richmond is so lucky to have this gem.”
Staffer Designs VCU Award
Virginia Commonwealth University commissioned our own Jeff Vick, clay studio manager, to create the 2011 milestone gift available to employees in recognition of 25 yeas of service. Jeff designed a lidded jar that was raku-fired. (Raku is the ancient Japanese technique that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns an design.) Jeff received his MFA from VCU’s Crafts Department in 2006.
Tanner Earns Awards
Painting and Drawing instructor David Tanner’s work was recognized in a number of regional and national competitions in recent months. Congratulations, David!
His oil portrait entitled Siesta (above) was selected as Finalist in the 28th Annual Art Competition for The Artist’s Magazine in the Portrait/Figure category. The painting is one of 12 finalist’s paintings featured in their 2012 calendar, where it represents the month of June.
Another oil, The Laundry Line, was awarded second place in the ArtSpace Herndon 2011 “Expression” Portrait Competition, a regional competition open to portrait and figurative artists in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.
And Tanner’s By the Fireside was selected as a finalist in the Raymar Art 5th Annual Art Competition, 2011 International. More information about the honors can be seen at David’s website.
Art After School Student Work Published
The Redwing’s Nest, Sabot at Stony Point’s new online journal of literature & the arts for preschool through 8th grade, includes poems and stories by four of our very own Art After School students–Madison Hoffman, Julian Edwards, Fernanda Galarce and Isaiah Timmons. The inaugural issue acknowledges the primacy of Place in the lives of children.
The Redwing’s Nest provides a place for children to publish and exhibit their work. The goal of the journal is to give children a venue for their creative voices to be heard, as well as to build a community of young artists and writers. The journal’s reach is global and inclusive, accepting submissions from children pre-school through 8th grade from public, independent and homeschool learning communities.
Click here to read The Redwing’s Nest! Keep an eye out for our students’ works!
Every Day’s a Good Day to Dye
Last week we happened onto a chance to join a special workshop in the fiber studio. As two of the three most fiber-fiendish staffers, how could we refuse? Instructor Maripat Hyatt had spread a table with silk scarves and implements to block their dyeing. Shibori is the Japanese term for tie-dye, and that’s what we did, with stitches, rubber bands, dowels and tongue depressors. What fun! Then we moved to the dye table and applied the color. Into the microwave went the silks for setting, and in the mean time, we practiced a little silk painting. Both of these techniques are offered in upcoming classes in the VisArts winter-spring schedule! We unwrapped our dyed fabrics, ironed them dry, and here are the results ~ [Registrar Shannon Fuller and Maggi Tinsley]
Seniors Tell Their Stories
Writer and teacher Valley Haggard recently spent her first morning with a group of seniors from Richmond’s Peter Paul Development Center at VisArts. She shared this report:
“People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.” — Studs Terkel, Pulitzer Prize winner, remembered for his oral histories of common Americans
Walking to school six miles through the forest, slaughtering hogs, tending chicken coops, saving Green Stamps to buy a pair of shoes, cooking cornmeal in a skillet on a wood stove, being the first African-American woman to serve in the Navy in World War II and how to survive the Great Depression were topics of conversation last Tuesday in the Weinstein Writing Room at the Visual Arts Center.
After introducing themselves and telling brief stories about where they’re from, 13 senior citizens from the Peter Paul Development Center are ready to rewrite history. Or re-tell history, as the case may be, in the new Oral History class with instructors Barry Wilder O’Keefe and Valley Haggard.
“How can they say that Christopher Columbus discovered America when the Indians had already discovered it?” asked 88-year-old Pauline Wheeler. “Shouldn’t we say that Christopher Columbus discovered the Indians?” The excitement in the room — about the opportunity to ask and answer such questions — was audible. And during the course of the next five classes, we can’t wait to hear more.
C+D Artist – Jewelry: Emma Villedrouin
Renaissance art, ornate Byzantine detail and the simple flowers of her garden inspire Emma Villedrouin’s luminous gold pieces. She uses traditional techniques to create heirloom worthy pieces that are fresh, playful and elegant. Emma thinks of herself as a colorist who uses richly hued stones and pearls to create her compositions. She was raised in Haïti, moved to New England as a teenager, and currently resides in Washington, DC. Emma’s bicultural heritage strongly influenced her sense of color and bold shapes. During the Craft + Design Show on Nov. 20-21, she will be located at Booth 37.
