Fine Art and Photography highlights include the Juried Art Show, Youth Art Show, and Juried Photography Show. Exhibits at museums and galleries in Abingdon serve as a cultural mosaic - from photographs of trains to displays of traditional pottery and contemporary artwork.
The Festival also offers lectures and workshops in both fine art and photography.
JURIED COMPETITIONSWORKSHOPSAREA EXHIBITIONS AND RELATED EVENTS
Juried Fine Art Show
Entries will be accepted at The Arts Depot from 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 19-20. The entry form, fees, and instructions can be downloaded from the Festival website.
The awards presentation and lecture by the juror and workshop instructor, Anna Kay Singley, will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, July 25 at Abingdon Baptist Church, followed at 8 p.m. by the show opening and reception at The Arts Depot. The Fine Art Committee will present a memorial award in honor of Tedd Blevins who passed away in January of this year; this award will be determined by votes cast by visitors during the first eight days of the exhibit.
During the Festival, local artist Ed Chitwood will conduct interpretative Gallery Tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., July 29 and 31, Aug. 5 and 7. The show will be on display July 26-Aug. 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.
Juried Youth Art Show
Entries will be accepted at William King Regional Arts Center on July 13, 19, and 20 from 2-4 p.m., $3 per entry; limit two. The awards presentation and reception will be held Sunday, July 27 from 3-4 p.m.
Juried Photography Show
Art & Photography Workshops
Jeff Sturgill will present two lectures on digital photography, Nature Photography,(Tuesday, July 29: 6:30 p.m. and Portrait Photography, Tuesday, Aug. 5: 6:30 p.m. at Abingdon United Methodist Church.
Iconography, Monday-Friday, July 21-25. Students will pray, study and learn the traditional method of egg-tempera icon writing/painting. Participants will learn the various natural materials and practice the techniques and spiritual disciplines for creating traditional icons. Limit 15 students. This five-day workshop will be led by Father Brendan McAnerney, OP, at the Jubilee House Retreat Center. McAnerney has painted since childhood. He studied Iconography with the Antioch (Syrian) Orthodox School in Pennsylvania, and later with the Russian Master Vladislav Andrejev. McAnerney has chosen to study and paint in the Byzantine tradition. Cost $500 for commuters (additional $150 for meals or $300 lodging and meals) Register by July 10: 276-619-0919.
"The Wonderful World of Watercolor," a watermedia workshop concentrating on experimental techniques, will be conducted by Anna Kay Singley Tuesday-Saturday, July 22-26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Christ the King Catholic Church.
Cost $300. Limit 25. To register, download forms from the Festival website or contact the Fine Art Committee, P. O. Box 801, Abingdon, VA 24212, 276-628-9091.
The workshop is a relaxed, joyful experience for intermediate and advanced painters. Learn interesting and unusual techniques such as making and dyeing rice papers for use in watercolor collages, shaving cream marbleizing, and the application of a variety of papers to complete a finished painting.
Anna Kay relates, "Seeing color is like seeing through an artist's eyes for the first time. Most of us do not interpret color alike, thus we often mix colors to 'suit us,' that is whatever is convenient at the time."
Community Exhibits & Related Events
Lecture: "Collecting & Conserving Cherished Keepsakes", Monday, July 28: 7:30 p.m. Robert Weisfeld offers visitors an informal sneak peek at the Star Museum's summer exhibition, showcasing the apparel and belongings of a galaxy of stars. Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, Mae West, Elvis Presley, Jayne Mansfield and numerous others will be represented. He will give you a sense of how he created his collection, starting from the local five-and-dime, and building it to an archive that Appalachian Regional Community Television calls "the best kept secret in Southwest Virginia." $5 donation suggested. By reservation only: 276-628-2962.
Realizing many collectors wish to acquire and keep documents, photographs, quilts, wedding gowns or military uniforms, Weisfeld will discuss how to curate and care for your cherished collectibles, especially paper and fabric; giving advice on safe framing, storage options and resources; and getting you on the road to careful -- and timeless -- preservation of your valuables. By reservation only; admission is $10.
"A Certain Distance: Simulacra of Coulthard, Kellogg, McElroy", July 26-Sept. 20, in The 1912 Gallery at Emory & Henry College. An Artalk will be presented Sept. 8 at 7:30 pm in the Van Dyke Center. Simulacra: The concept that images and signs merely simulate one's idea of reality. This collaborative installation includes work by photographer Jon Coulthard (BFA, Long Beach State University), media artist Mark Kellogg (MFA, Rhode Island School of Design), and glass sculptor Christopher McElroy (BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University). Each artist is originally from this area and currently practices his art from "a certain distance" -- California, Rhode Island, and Montana.
Gallery hours during the festival: daily noon to 5 p.m. For additional details, call 276-944-6866.
Cave House Craft Shop
276-628-7721, www.cavehousecrafts.org
"A Celebration In Stitches", July 25-Aug. 9. A "People's Choice" award will be presented at 2 p.m. Aug. 9. Wall hangings created by the fabric artists of the Holston Mountain Arts & Crafts Cooperative and the Wolf Hills Quilt Guild will be on display. "A Celebration In Stitches" was chosen as the theme to commemorate all the birthdays in our community -- the Virginia Highlands Festival is 60, the Barter Theatre is 75, the Town of Abingdon is 230, the Virginia Creeper Trail is 20, the Abingdon Volunteer Fire Department is 200, and the Cave House (the Adam Hickman House) is more than 150 years old. In creating quilted wall hangings, we also celebrate our heritage of combining art and function in the creation of quilts.
Craft Demonstrations, Friday, July 25; Saturdays July 26, Aug. 2, Aug. 9: 1-5 p.m. Featured on Friday, July 25 will be "The Basket Cases" -- Marty Dunn, Brenda McCall and Linna McCall -- demonstrating basket making. On Saturdays, traditional and contemporary crafts will both be featured. Artisans will include quilter Sondra Blevins from Meadowview, Va.; wood carver Blake Lunsford from Bristol, Tenn.; jewelry maker Jeaneane McKinnon of Marion, Va.; and Ray Hall of Bristol, Va., creator of miniature buildings.
Children's Craft Classes, Saturdays, July 26, Aug. 2, Aug. 9: 12-2 p.m. Children are invited to learn skills from talented artisans on the porch of the Cave House.
William King Regional Arts Center
276-628-5005, www.wkrac.org
Tuesdays 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sundays 1-5 p.m.;
Mondays, Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Arts & Crafts Demonstrations, Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m. The following artisans will be showcased at the Demonstration Tent on Stonewall Square: Val Lyle, portraiture in clay; Polly, Sarah and Tom Heffinger, carving and painting gourds, stone carving, and wood sculpture; Kathy Gibian, paper hat making for kids; Linda Saliba, origami; Susan Powers, stained glass; Frank Kerr, metalwork; Katie McLaughlin, spinning natural fibers; Jana Fox, weaving with handspun llama yarn; Keith Vuncannon, bird carving; Susan Powers, handbuilding clay vessels; Chad Rodrigues, gunstocks and custom carving; John Dancer, fiddle and violin making; Nick Aloisio, wood turnings; and Arts Center staff members with an Art Surprise!
"A Century of Furniture: The Rose Cabinet Shop", July 25-Jan. 4. This exhibition features more than two dozen pieces of furniture made by the Rose Family, in addition to the family's history, genealogy, and importance to the region and nation throughout the 19th century. John Erhart Rose (1767-1860) apprenticed in Philadelphia, owned a shop in Abingdon, and worked in Knoxville, Tenn. His sons continued making furniture in the second half of the 19th century in Abingdon, Va. The family's furniture spanned more than a century, creating and modifying styles such as federal, empire and gothic revival."Surface, Identity, and Time: The Self-Portraits of Vaughn Garland, June 27-Sept. 7. Garland is a self-portraitist. True, the appearances of his paintings cannot instantly be recognized as being characteristic of traditional self-portraiture, but this is because Garland introduces elements of autobiography during the painting process. The finished piece is not intended to represent anything objective other than a two-dimensional plane holding various layers and colors of paint. It is in how the paint is applied, layered and sometimes removed, that drives Garland's point that these paintings are metaphors for a human life formed from the additions and reductions stimulated by maturing change.
"George: An Exhibition of Works by George Chavatel" Highlights include a reception on Tuesday, July 29, 7-9 p.m. Chavatel was an important artistic figure in the region, not only to arts organizations, but also to fellow artists and aspiring students. His influence can be heard in the stories of those inspired by him, glimpsed in the works of now accomplished artists throughout the area, and felt with every beat of the arts community's pulse.
Chavatel received his painting degree at the University of Georgia before becoming a full-time Professor of Art at Emory & Henry College, where he taught and inspired his students and colleagues. Upon retirement, Chavatel never veered from his role as educator. He maintained a home studio and from there continued to create, converse, and expand the scope of and acceptance for regional contemporary art.
Arts & Crafts Demonstrations
Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m., at the Demonstration Tent on Stonewall Square
The following artisans will be showcased at the Demonstration Tent on Stonewall Square:
- Val Lyle, portraiture in clayPolly, Sarah and Tom Heffinger, carving and painting gourds, stone carving, and wood sculpture
- Kathy Gibian, paper hat making for kids
- Linda Saliba, origami
- Susan Powers, stained glass
- Frank Kerr, metalwork
- Katie McLaughlin, spinning natural fibers
- Jana Fox, weaving with handspun llama yarn
- Keith Vuncannon, bird carving
- Susan Powers, handbuilding clay vessels
- Chad Rodrigues, gunstocks and custom carving
- John Dancer, fiddle and violin making
- Nick Aloisio, wood turnings
- Arts Center staff members with an Art Surprise!
Family Art Activities in the Cool.
Relax inside on a hot festival day with two fun programs. During Pop-Top Paintings, Wednesday, Aug. 6: 2-3:30 p.m., apply pop-tops for a unique "found object" mixed media painting inspired by the George Chavatel retrospective exhibit at WKRAC. In Wash Mural Paintings, Friday, Aug. 8: 2-3:30 p.m., find yourself in an abstract multimedia collaboration that will hang in the Student Gallery. These activities will take place on Level One. Advance registration requested, call 276-628-5005.
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