In harmony with the increasing color pallet of fall, Southwest Virginia is providing an abundant array of arts events throughout October. The choices span all genres, sizes and times. My Hot Picks for the month are also chosen in accordance with the diversity of the season. The can’t miss art event of the Fall in Roanoke is the 30th Annual Roanoke City Art Show, held by The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge as a part of the 3rd Annual Roanoke Arts Festival. A smaller event that is a perfect opportunity to take in the fall colors and a cultural taste of the Blue Ridge is Art on the Parkway at Tuggles Gap restaurant and hotel near Floyd. For hands-on fun and a family friendly Hallows Eve experience, go to the Scarecrow Harvest Art Contest the weekend before Halloween at the Grandin Gardens. All the art events of October are to numerous to mention. So fill your days with the arts and make sure to leaf through our events calendars.
1. Event: Roanoke City Art Show
Opening Reception: Oct. 1st, 5:30-7:30pm
Exhibiting Hours: Thurs-Sat 11-4pm and Sunday 1-5pm
Location: 2nd floor galleries of Center in the Square
101 Market St, Roanoke
Cost: Free
The 30th Roanoke City Art Show is the premier art show for area artist. Coveted accolades including a purchase award by the City of Roanoke make this show a shore stop for the best artist of Southwest Virginia. Don’t miss the opening reception October 1st from 5:30 – 7:30pm the same night as Art by Night. The Roanoke City Art Show is also a part of the larger Roanoke Arts Festival.
The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge is coordinating and promoting the third annual Roanoke Arts Festival during the first weekend of October as a part of 40 Days + 40 Nights (An Arts and Culture Explosion) October 1 – November 9, 2009.
Roanoke Arts Festival: City Soul! will be held Oct. 1 – Oct. 5. Featuring the Roanoke City Art Show, Art By Night, Studio Roanoke, Southwest Virginia Ballet, The Jefferson Center, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Taubman Museum of Art, downtown Roanoke, Inc. and the Harrison Museum of African American Culture. Limited number of one-priced tickets are available for full access to all events. For more information visit ww.theartscouncil.org or call 540 342-5790.
2. Event: Art on the Parkway
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct 17th, 8am – 6pm.
Location: Tuggles Gap, 3351 Parkway Lane S.
Floyd, VA 24091
Cost: Free
Local artists will have booths with artwork on display and sale at Tuggles Gap Restaurant/Motel, visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile Post 165.2. Demonstrations of painting and drawing will happen throughout the day. See the artists at work and enjoy the beautiful artwork during the peak of the Fall Foliage Season. Artists who wish to display can contact the Floyd Artists Association. For more information visit www.floydartists.com or call 540-745-7367.
3. Event: Scarecrow Harvest Art Contest
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct 24th, 1 – 4pm
Location: Grandin Gardens, 1731 & 1719 Grandin Rd. (beside the Post Office), Roanoke
Cost: Free
This event is a part of the week long Healing Through Creativity Festival and is inn honor of harvesting abundance and reducing our carbon footprint, as celebrated by projects at www.350.org, Grandin Garden’s artists will create scarecrows and invite you to bring yours or create one on site from recycled materials. Activities also include prizes, apple butter, smoothies, sack races and music. Finished scarecrow sculptures will be displayed for judging at 2 pm and made available for viewing throughout the gardens and on area porches. For more information visit www.grandingardens.com or call 540-581-0530.
4. Beyond the Frame, hosted by John Reburn
Date: October 13, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: O. Winston Link Museum
Cost: $5
The Link Museum presents evening of entertainment and exploration with a new kind of gallery reception. John Reburn of Roanoke Valley Printworks will host an artist’s interview with George Warner about his exhibition, work, and life in the style of the popular television show “Inside the Actor’s Studio”. In our G.E. Theater, John, George, and their audience will discuss topics of interest this evening in a casual and entertaining setting with food and spirits provided in the adjoining Robert Kulp Trackside Lobby. For more information visit http://www.linkmuseum.org or call (540) 982-5465.
5. “On the Block” A Photographic Exhibition by Roanoke Times Photographer Jared Soares at the Link Museum
October 23 – January 26
Roanoke Times photographer Jared Soares will exhibit a personal project this fall in Robert Kulp Trackside Gallery at the O. Winston Link Museum. This group of more than 30 images offers a photojournalist’s unique perspective on a selected few individuals living in northwest Roanoke, Va. engaged in hip-hop culture. This project spans 2008 and 2009 and is not meant to be the definitive history of hip-hop culture in Roanoke. It is rather an unobstructed view into the daily life of these young people as they make music, create fashion, and interact with each other without reservation. Soares has built friendships and developed trust with the people in his images, giving the project an obvious and valuable sense of truth and authenticity.
Opening Reception: Beyond the Frame with Jared Soares, hosted by Cyrus Pace. October 23 at 7pm. O. Winston Link Museum. www.linkmuseum.org
6. “Art for the Earth” at Gallery 108
The opening reception for “Art For The Earth” will be held at Gallery 108, Oct. 1st during Art By Night. The show features landscape related works by the gallery’s member artists as a fundraiser for the Catawba Sustainability Center and is the second year Gallery 108 has supported local environmental groups through art sales. The show will remain on display throughout October. Gallery 108 is located at 108 Market Street in Downtown Roanoke. Hours: Tue-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-4.
7. “Virginia Pastoral” by modern fauvist Robert Lazo at Art Pannonia
The exhibition runs from September 30 to December 1.
Dr Lazo is a very gifted artist and a beloved physician from Galax.
His lush strokes of expressionist landscapes are easy to recognize
as the art of a mature, experienced painter.
A Meet the Artist reception will be held on Friday, October 2, 5 – 7pm in the Art Pannonia gallery.
8. Citywide Tour of Betty Branch’s Public Works
Saturday, October 17, 2009, 2 – 4:30pm
Begin tour at Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, in the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center
Artist Betty Branch and Hollins Museums director Amy G. Moorefield will give a tour of the Branch’s exhibition at the Wilson Museum before leading a citywide tour of Branch’s public artworks. Downtown Roanoke locations include the Taubman Museum of Art, the Roanoke Public Library, and outside the Museum of Transportation. The artist will discuss the process of public commissioned artworks as well as insights into these specific monumental pieces. The tour will end at Branch’s studio for with demonstrations for more information visit www.hollins.edu.
9. Art Teacher Show
Friday, October 2, 2009, 9am – 5pm
WVTF Art Gallery 3520 Kingsbury Lane Roanoke, VA 24014
WVTF Art Gallery will feature an Art Teacher Show during the month of October. Open house is October 16, 2009 from 5 – 7 pm. Catering provided by Center Stage Catering. Enjoy live music too! www.wvtf.org/art_gallery