Illustrious processions of artistry abound in the month of March, and our fine ladies of the arts in Virginia are at the helm. The Rising Stars in the Arts organizers have collected a spectacular array of special programs and events celebrating the contributions by women to our arts and culture. The events begin in March and continue through June. Several of the fine art festivities have a momentous appeal. Virginia portrait artist, Patsy Arrington Dorsett is participating in several capacities starting as one of the newest stops on the monthly Art by Night, gallery crawl. The wistfully introspective celestial bodies of Susan Jamison, as one of our regions most renowned artist, are lifted up for display at the Taubman Museum of Art. For a singular event with a more pluralistic presentation of women in the arts try ArtJam held by The Piedmont Arts Center in Martinsville. Women are subject and creator, muse and artisan, no one can refuse their overwhelming contribution to the arts. Now is the time to commemorate there involvement, while participating in the pageantry of our regional arts.
1. Art by Night with Patsy Arrington Dorsett
Thursday, March 4th, 5 – 9pm
Dorsett Portraits, studio/gallery
234 West Augusta Avenue
Vinton, VA 24179
Dorsett Portraits, studio/gallery is one of the newest stops on the Art by Night gallery tour. The desire to emulate Patsy Arrington Dorsett’s work is a frequent response to her fine art portraiture and landscape paintings. They enhance the perception and appreciation the traditional realistic fine art form. Luckily, she offers a weekly Open Life Painting session. Come see this working artist, find out more about her open art sessions and view recent works or browse her portfolios of past portrait commissions. Dorsett is a member of the Portrait Society of America, Cecilia Beaux Forumand Arts Council of the Blue Ridge.
Patsy Arrington Dorsett’s, Minds Open Wide exhibit is part of the Rising Star: Virginia Celebration of Women in the Arts organized by The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge and Art by Night. Art by Night is the first Thursday of every month from 6-9pm. For more information call 342-8367 or visit www.dorsettportraits.com or www.roanokeartbynight.com.
2. Into the Forest Exhibition with Susan Jamison
Fri March 5th 12-5pm
Taubman Museum of Art
110 Salem Ave
Roanoke, VA 24011
Taking inspiration from a variety of sources including fairy tales, Renaissance portraiture, and botanical illustration, Roanoke-based Jamison uses egg tempera to paint women adorned with vibrant pink patterns reminiscent of embroidery and medical illustrations. Hairless and free of clothing, they are surrounded by a cadre of flying birds, squirrels, albino deer, and domestic objects that reference culturally familiar stories and images. The animals and plants are carefully chosen for their symbolic meanings and lend the Snow White-like female figures a contemporary, feminist inspired point of view.
The Taubman Museum of Art showcases some of the best art in the United States. The inclusion of local artists is a wonderful occasion to celebrate. The Tuabman and The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge invite you to join Southwest Virginia for the Rising Stars: Women in the Arts series of festivities. For more information call the Tuabman at 342-5760 or visit www.taubmanmuseum.org or www.risingstarsinthearts.com.
3. ArtJam
Sat, March 6th 10am-5pm
Piedmont Arts
215 Starling Avenue
Martinsville VA 24112
ArtJam features work by six regional female artists, curated to showcase a varied array of media, including sculpture, fiber arts, multimedia, painting and jewelry. This exhibit offers the unique perspective of artists who collaborate and exchange creative processes. ArtJam is curated in conjunction with The Rising Stars in the Arts: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. An exclusive reception and gallery talk for members will be held Friday, March 5, 2010 at 5:30 pm.
The Peidmont Arts is a multifaceted arts organization providing a plethora of experiences in the visual and performing arts to enrich and enlighten our lives. They cultivate an appreciation for the arts through their facility and in the community through exhibits, live performances, and educational programs for children and adults. Additionally, Piedmont Arts invites participation in the arts with display, marketing and performance opportunities available for artists and craftsmen. Together with Southwest Virginia they have jumped on the statewide initiative, The Rising Stars in the Arts: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. For more information call (276) 632-3221 or visit www.piedmontarts.org or www.risingstarsinthearts.com.
4. Meg Feldman Exhibit at Signature 9 Gallery
Signature 9 Gallery is featuring paintings by 2008 Hollins Graduate, Meg Feldman, for the month of March. An opening reception will be held March 4th during Art By Night. Meg’s husband David, a professional cellist will provide the evening’s music. David Feldman is a member of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and has performed as principal cellist with the Opera on the James. He plans to perform movements from Bach’s suites for solo cello.
Signature 9 will also exhibit selected works in March titled “A Few of Our Favorites.”
Signature 9 Gallery is located at 301 S. Jefferson St. in Roanoke. 540-342-0703
5. Brian Counihan and Jeffery Stockberger Exhibitions at Roanoke College in Salem
Brian Counihan presents Paraphernalia for the Passage, in which he explores the notion of contemporary ”phylatics.” Is it possible that we use fetishes and charms today to protect us from harm (literally pro phylactics) as people once carried medals and icons for spiritual security? Sacred and secular, literary and art historical, humor and grief intermingle in his work as he ponders the means and media in which life’s mysteries have been unveiled to us though the cultural cannons we inherit.
Jeffery Stockberger’s desire to paint the figure, compose more dynamic spaces, and, ultimately, develop a more expressive brushstroke has led him to the amorphous discipline of an indirect process. This method allows content to arise from the erosion of the preconceived as one constantly defines, destroys, and reestablishes form.
Stockberger will present an artist lecture on March 11 at 5pm in Olin Hall room #231. An artist lecture and opening reception for Counihan’s work will happen March 12 from 6-8pm in Smoyer Gallery.
These exhibitions will run March 12 –April 9. Visit www.roanoke.edu for more information.
6. “Happy Birthday, Blue Ridge Parkway” Art Show at the Gallery by the James
This exhibition will run March 4 – May 2, 2010. “Art selected for this show in the Gallery is inspired by the views, landscapes, animals and history of the Blue Ridge Parkway,” notes artist member Jessie Burton. ”And that inspiration is in many media: paint, collage, photography, textiles and jewelry.”. Gallery by the James is located at 19827 Main Street in Buchanan, Va.
7. “Compositions” Paintings by Alan O’Neal at Angelo in Charlottesville
O’Neal’s small paintings present reductive visual elements in simple structural relationships —repetitive rhythms of contrasting lines, tonal values and colors on the ground of visual perception. The individual Compositions appeal to aesthetic experience on the level of contemplation. Historically images like these have been used to induce concentration and enhance intuitive perception. This exhibit runs March 1 through April 30. A reception for the artist will be held on March 5 from 5:30 – 7:30pm.
8. “Men Say They Know Many Things” Exhibit at Nelson Gallery in Lexington
Lexington’s Nelson Gallery presents work by three painters, two photographers and one potter from March 1 through 31. Curator Brett LaGue asked the artists to create their pieces in response to Henry David Thoreau’s brief poem “Men Say They Know Many Things.” The final two lines of the poem give title to the exhibit “The Wind That Blows (Is all that anybody knows).” Participating artists are Sarah Hazlegrove, Ann Glover, Mary Bullington, all of Roanoke, Kay Franz of Glen Allen, Virginia, and Jim Newbury, of Decatur, Georgia. For more information, visit www.Nelson-Gallery.com or call 540.463.9827.