Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Floyd artists are still creating - in spite of everything

Wall Street is melting down and the Presidential campaigns are sowing discord, but here in Floyd County new and old artists are still creating art that touches the heart and imagination. The Jacksonville Center in Floyd County, Virginia, held an Artists Reception for the "Mountain Color" Exhibit at the Hayloft Gallery on Saturday October 11.

Karen Sewell's tryptich was titled "Color Beyond Belief" and has already been snapped up by a fortunate buyer.

Fred First's trio of photographic images elicited a lot of favorable comment, both for the subject matter and composition and for the stunning frames created by local artist Ron Campbell.

Ron Campbell also submitted this marvelous creation in wood and stained glass titled, "Scooter and Wedge"

Gretchen St Lawrence's pastel drawing, "Mountain Sunset" attracted a lot of attention.

My personal favorite was her still life "Floyd Peaches".

A new artist to me was Barbara Gillespie whose painting, "God's Hand in Light" lit up one end of the gallery.

Pat Bonsignore's paintings have a classical feel and her "Sunlight and Shadow" captivated viewers.

Charlotte Lou Atkins pastel, "Mushrooming" captures the spirit of bygone times and blazing fall colors.

Catherine Pauley, one of Floyd's art legends, displayed several pieces that were a complete departure from her usual style. This silkscreen print called "Father's Day" demonstrates her ability to touch our emotions regardless of what media she work in.

This will be the last exhibit of 2008 and will be open through November 30. If you tour the Blue Ridge Parkway this Fall, make sure you take time to visit Floyd and the Jacksonville Center.

Another artist with a spirit of play

 

Martha Jane McDowell has long been one of my favorite artists/ sculptors/ creative spirits because she is always willing to work in new mediums and her work generally has an element of wry humor.

This concrete and tile goat, titled Sustainable Living I, is determinedly consuming recyclable plastic bottles.

The title worked for me on several levels. The goat is recycled and it is depicted in the act of recycling.

With its skinny rebar legs, and its lacework scarf and gold earring, it has a certain jaunty air even while it reminded me of those unfortunates who eke out a living picking through other people's refuse.

Like many of Martha's works, it made me think of issues far beyond the quiet gallery in which it stands.

Way to go, Martha! I can't wait to see what you do next.

There are many excellent artists on display in the Jacksonville Center's Hayloft Gallery. Indulge yourself and take an hour to wander through the 6th Annual New Works Exhibition by Regional Artists which runs through September 29.

You may find that every piece on display has something to say to you.

What does the Jacksonville Center do for Floyd County?

It helps keep Floyd green

For 13 years, the Jacksonville Center has been supporting artistic endeavors and rural creativity in our region. It is an organization of dedicated volunteers backed up by an extremely small group of paid staff members.

It serves as a focus for creating and supporting new artists and artisans. There is no other activity in Floyd that is dedicated to that activity. The public schools offer art instruction and various artists offer internships, but until recently, there were few other opportunities for artists to learn new skills and display their works locally.

Not everyone is aware that some internationally renown artists and artisans teach courses at the Jacksonville Center. Some instructors drive long distances to help students develop their skills and launch careers.

One of the outstanding aspects of the Jacksonville Center Community is the way experienced and successful artists share their hard-won knowledge with newcomers to the field of art.

Hundreds of successful artists and artisans in the region are members of the Jacksonville center and some are members of the Board or manage the Hayloft Gallery exhibitions. Their actions inspire others to contribute to the Center and to take courses.

Every year, some students choose to become artists and artisans after taking courses from the professional artists at the Jacksonville Center. These new artists become contributors to the local economy and some return to teach at the Jacksonville Center as they gain professional skills and generate their own following of fans.

There is a synergy at the Jacksonville Center that keeps it going, even though the Center is perpetually strapped for operating funds. Grant money may pay for buildings and additions, but operating expenses are supported by donations from businesses and individuals. That is why there are so many volunteers who give time and money to keep the center open. It is one of the few places in the county where you or your children can unlock your creativity and learn skills from professionals in the field of arts.

But, even after 13 years of serving Floyd County, some people still don't understand why government grant money is provided to the non-profit Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd instead of "deserving individual artists".

They really don't comprehend that the Jacksonville Center IS DESERVING INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS.

They also don't understand that grants aren't "given" away. They must be won through a carefully thought-out application process and after a lot of hard work. The grants are government's way of extending government services without adding the taxpayer burden of a staff of government employees and a local government office.

The few naysayers who say "stay away from the Jacksonville Center and support local independent artists and craftspeople and their displays in privately owned galleries and studios" do not have a clue what the Jacksonville Center does and must not be talking to the many artists and gallery owners who support the Jacksonville Center and donate time to it.

If you are an artist, you want your work in as many venues as possible and you want those venues to promote you and your privately owned studio as much as possible. The Jacksonville Center does this. It is open to all artists and is a resource that this county is very fortunate to have.

The next time you find someone criticizing the Jacksonville Center for "competing" with Floyd artists in any way, you might ask them exactly "who" is being affected. You will not get any specifics, only general grumbling.

The Jacksonville Center is non-commercial and is run by local artists and other volunteers. Anyone criticizing the Jacksonville Center as being "bad for local art businesses" has a hidden agenda and deserves being investigated themselves.

We need all of the cultural incentives we can muster to inspire us to unlock our creativity. The Jacksonville Center and the artists who support it are a driving force for self-sustaining economic development in Floyd County. Selling talent will help keep Floyd green. Selling only land leads to another, and less desirable future for Floyd.

Help develop local talent in all areas and help keep Floyd green.

Breaking the rules is harder than it seems

This is Ed Dolinger, one of the instructors at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA. He is teaching a class called "Assemblages" which to my mind is a wicked misnomer. In my mind, the course should be subtitled, "Learn a whole new way of looking at design."

Yes, the class develops the ability to create assemblages of found objects, but in order to do this and get something out of the class, one has to throw away lots of "now I'm supposed tos" and even discard one's usual proclivity to create order out of chaos.

Creating assemblages is much harder than it looks. I spent several hours in the classroom shooting photos and this class opened me to entirely new ideas about the creative process. After years of product design, I thought I was pretty grounded in the basics of creating "new stuff" out of "old stuff". Ed's course was an eye opener.

Ed manages to guide his students through mental barriers and confusions without imposing his ideas on their creative activity. He introduces the idea of letting found objects and their characteristics drive the design process and then moves on from there to aspects of design I'd never considered.

Even though I was only there to observe and take photos, Ed's words and the creative activity of the students began to change some long-held ideas for me.

Watching this mean looking bluebird emerge from a collection of metal and wood scraps and the jawbone of a small animal was enough to inspire me to think about creating assemblages of my own.

I know for a certainty that I will never look at a rusty metal object or a broken piece of paneling in the same way again.

The Jacksonville Center offers courses in many media and their highly motivated instructors bring out the best in students. It is an incredibly supportive environment in which to rekindle your interest in the arts or to achieve a new plateau of proficiency. Check out their website at jacksonvillecenter.org

If you get a chance to take a course from Ed Dolinger, don't pass up the opportunity.

The end of a silo

In the early dawn, a high reach trackhoe frames a silo marked for demolition

This seventy year old silo had been disintegrating for years and was becoming a risk to nearby buildings. This silo was so old that it used horeshoes and wagon wheel rims for reinforcing. I arranged for its demolition and was able to capture the process in still images and video.

The demolition of a local landmark is news in a small community and merits sufficient explanation to enable understanding and acceptance.

This event made the Floyd Press and is discussed in more detail with pictures and a video clip on the Jacksonville Center website.

And a good time was had by all...

It was a cold and rainy Friday night at the Jacksonville Center, but that didn't stop 75 artists and art supporters from gathering to admire an imaginatively conceived display of works related to the canopy of trees which cover much of this planet.

Art lovers came from as far away as Roanoke and Manassas to celebrate the final 2006 exhibition in the Hayloft Gallery at the Center.

Young or old, they all found renewal in the creative outpourings of artists working in a wide range of media. The theme was trees and the media ranged from acrylic, to pastels, to mahogany and beyond.

I overheard several discussions between highly regarded artists and newer artists and I was impressed by the supportive attitudes expressed by the experienced professionals.

Recognition of any kind means a lot to an artists starting out and when the comments are encouraging and right on the mark, it strengthens the resolve of the new artist to continue striving toward their artistic goals.

Most of the artists I know in this community of Floyd are still struggling to achieve financial success but their level of cooperative activity is truly heartwarming.

Instead of viewing artistic and financial success as a zero-sum game, they have wisely taken the position that sharing resources and advice is the way to achieving mutual satisfaction.

We brought some distant friends to the event and they got right in the spirit of things and signed up to became members of the Jacksonville Center. One of them, Dickie Conn is a high tech executive who is following the path Gretchen and I took when we made the transition from industry to the arts. She makes extraordinary quilts of a non-traditional design and I now have one hanging in my office.

My Sony DSC-F828 camera chose this particular event to get finicky about focusing and I lost many excellent shots. If anyone knows of a good Sony Repair center, please drop me a line. I need to get this camera back in action ASAP.

It's Party Time Again!

At the Jacksonville Center in Floyd, 71 works of art by 32 different artists have just been mounted in the Hayloft Gallery.

This exhibit is called The Canopy of Trees and the works are either made of wood, have trees as a subject, or are in reference to trees. The quality and variety of work is already producing rave reviews from visitors.

I had a chance to visit the gallery for a few minutes last week when the committee was setting up the exhibit and I took this photograph of Ron Campbell's "Country Porch Swing" under Adele Wayman's "Winter Trees".

The exhibit will be running until November 25, so you will have a chance to see what these 32 artists have conceived.

On the other hand, if you want to meet the artists themselves, you need to come on down to the Jacksonville Center tonight and join in the fun at the Artists Reception which starts at 6pm and runs to 8pm.

Refreshments will be served and a good time will be had by all. These "Meet the Artist" receptions are attracting more people each time we hold them. The receptions are a great way to meet the movers and shakers of the Floyd art world.

You can make some artist's day by buying their work. Everybody likes to see a "sold" sticker on pieces in an exhibition.

There is also a ballot for selecting the work you like the most. You fill out your ballot and put it in the milk can ballot box.At the end of the exhibition in November, the work that gets the highest number of votes is awarded a $50 prize for being the popular favorite.

When you have toured the gallery and met all of the artists, you will still have time to drive down the hill for the Friday Night Jamboree at the Country Store and a latte, coffee or a glass of wine at the Cafe Del Sol.

Fall foliage is already beginning to show in Floyd. Maybe we will see you this weekend!

It's Showtime!

The Jacksonville Center in Floyd is putting on the biggest exhibition of the year, and it starts tomorrow. The campus has been filled with visitors and students all week.

For the past three days, people have been trotting by my office carrying artwork and tools and muttering under their voices about the problems of fitting more than 85 pieces of art into a gallery that can hold 65 works if they are small. They have finally solved the problem by letting the exhibit spill out into the upstairs hallway and cascade down the stairs.

I started on the exhibit program this morning and managed to finish it off by late this evening. If I can design a poster tomorrow and get it distributed this weekend, we will probably be in good shape.

The press releases went out some time ago and my article showed up in today's paper, so we have alerted the good folks of Floyd County that their friends and neighbors are exhibiting here.

In a county where there are hundreds of artisans and artists, this exhibition is a great place to get together and compare notes.

Gretchen and I have each entered works. Blogger Doug Thompson and his wife Amy have also entered some great photos. One family has three artists and they all entered something.

Tomorrow I will have time to capture some of this with the camera. Tonight I am thankful that the day is over.

For more discussion of the implications of the Floyd Artists - New Work exhibition go to Jacksonvillecenter.info, the weblog for the Jacksonville Center.

The week winds down - FloydFest begins!

FloydFest is a three-day World Music Festival held annually in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, showcasing great examples of World, Bluegrass, Reggae, Folk, African and Appalachian music, as well as quality local Arts and Crafts.

The festival started late today and the FloydFest business office across the hall from my office sits empty and silent after months of non-stop activity.

People would ask me how I could stand working near so much noise and commotion, and I would laugh. There was so much energy pouring out of that office it was electrifying.

Jacksonville Center Sign Contest Update

The sign aspect ratio is being changed to present a more pleasing shape and allow for more variations in design. A photo album of early entries has been added. Go to Jacksonville Center Online for more details.

You still have time to submit your own designs and win art classes worth hundreds of dollars. You may submit as many designs as you wish. This contest is open to anyone who wishes to enter.

UPDATE: Kudos to Sean Pecor. He sent in a sign design based on the new aspect ratio before I had time to clean up my email. I am showing it here to encourage you to do some of the same.

Note to readers: My new position at the Jacksonville Center in Floyd gives me the opportunity of a lifetime. I get to work with dedicated and creative people and one of the long term objectives is to help the local economy by enabling artists, craftspeople and musicians to develop viable businesses. To see what all the excitement is about, go to The Jacksonville Center website.