On Friday, April 6th, the 12th Annual Student Art Show of Excellence will open at Artworks in the Centre Market. The show opens at 5:30 and runs until 8PM with Awards being presented at 7PM. Refreshments will be available. Some of the artwork will be for sale. This is the only professionally presented show for children ages 8-14 in the tri-state area. Professional artist judges choose the winning entries from the various elementary, middle, and junior high school entries. Prizes are awarded for ecology reuse of items, watercolor, photography, and a variety of other categories.

Since 2000, this show has showcased student artwork in the same manner that adult art shows are presented. Professional judges are used to pick the winners, money prizes are awarded to each winner along with a personalized certificate and a wonderfully gaudy ribbon to each young winning artist. This year’s judges are distinguished local artists, Janet Rodriquez and Cheryl Harshman.

A number of other prizes are picked by those persons interested in childrens’ art, and who are willing to promote young children’s art with their donations. Awards are given by a variety of patrons either to honor their profession or to memorialize relatives or friends who have been painters and creators, or who love beauty and children. Rarely do children in this age group receive such recognition or awards. This is the only venue showing this age group of artists and awarding them this level of prize money.

New donors this year include Alice McCoy, the Women’s Club of Wheeling, and Jeremy and Paula Larance. Continuing sponsors of ribbons include Artworks Around Town member artists sponsors for six ribbons, Bob Sako and Shauna Benson sponsors of the Art Teachers Creative Thinking Award, and interested individual awards sponsored for a variety of reasons and memorials which include: Liz Neumann, Mary Ann Lokmer, David Shaeffer, William Hooker, Kirsten Moller, Lisa Minder Liu, Michael Minder, Michael, Jean, and Jessie Bailey, Lynne and Jeff Mamone, Jay Stock, Andrea Cowan, Georgette Stock, Michael and Lenora Turbanic, Dick Taylor, Robin Rhodes, and Judy Minder.

Continuing this art show is a necessity. There is no art show like it in the area. Children’s art is often shown but rarely in a juried situation. Most children’s show are exhibitions, the art is merely shown not awarded prizes as in the Student Art Show of Excellence. This show has two important reasons behind it, one to show and reward young children’s art professionally and have those young artists understand how adult art shows work and what benefits and joy can come from artistic creation. The second reason is that this show promotes the idea that art is a lifelong interest. Other interests can fall by the wayside because of age or health reasons, but art can brings beauty and the satisfaction of creating something with personal ideas and processes for as long as someone cares to create art. Age, illness, or disability is no barrier to the creative process and the creation of art.

Interested in joining the sponsorship of the Student Art Show of Excellence? Call or email Judy Minder creator/coordinator of the show at 304-233-0780 or at judyminder@yahoo.com.

“Thought provoking, mysterious, and sometimes humorous.” These are the words that Bob Villamagna uses to describe his work. His assemblage and collage pieces will be displayed in the Studio Gallery of Artworks Around Town during the month of March, with the exhibit opening Friday, March 2nd, from 5:00 to 8:00 at the monthly Gallery Hop.

Artworks Around Town is located in the north end of the historic Centre Market at 2200 Market St., Wheeling. The Hop is free and open to all. Visitors will enjoy refreshments and music as well as the artwork, and have an opportunity to meet the visiting artist and the artist members of the Gallery.

Bob Villamagna grew up in the Ohio River rust belt, and the themes in his work come from his own life experience as well as from stories or feelings that the found objects he uses might suggest.

Assemblage and collage make up the majority of his works at present. In his words, ” I have been drawing and painting since age 5, but for the past 20 years I have focused on creating work using found objects and non-traditional materials. I love working with found materials, especially those items that show use, wear, rust; stuff with character. I wonder about the person who made these materials, who used them, who held them. I like to think that a part of the soul or energy of that person is still contained in these things and now is transferred into the artwork. I am giving that old piece of metal or that broken toy a new life, a different life. These various materials are every bit as much my palette as is a tray of oils for a painter. For me, walking through a flea market is like walking through a well stocked art materials store. The flea market is my palette.”

Bob Villamagna is an Asst. Professor of art at West Liberty University, and is also director of the University’s Nutting Gallery. He teaches workshops in assemblage and metal collage at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, and will be teaching a metals collage workshop at Touchstone Center for Crafts this coming spring.

His work is shown at the Gallery on 43rd St. and the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, and has also been displayed at the Carnegie Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum, The Mattress Factory, The Erie Museum of Art, The Ohio Craft Museum and the ARC Gallery in Chicago, among others. Two of his works are presently on exhibition at the Dairy Barn Center in Athens, Ohio.

His awards and honors would be too extensive to list, but, when asked if anything very special came to mind, he recalled the Penn State University New Year’s Eve celebration. Each year, the University chooses an artist to produce a piece of installation art which will be set up on the campus the day of New Year’s Eve and will remain through New Year’s Day. It must be sturdy but easy to assemble and disassemble, and it must be interactive with the visiting public. Meeting all of these requirements was no small task, but being selected as the visiting artist was a high honor, so Bob agreed to undertake the project.

He came up with an inspired idea. Recalling the back yards of his childhood when people had clotheslines and billowing laundry drying in the wind and sun, he designed a miniature back yard. With solid stanchions to hold the clotheslines, he placed them at a reachable height and decorated the lines with small lights. Available nearby were note papers, white on one side for messages and silver on the back to catch the light as they moved in the wind. Holes were punched in the papers, and visitors were to write their New Year’s resolutions and attach the note to the clotheslines. The messages were anonymous, so not only did people have the pleasure of writing their own messages but the fun of reading others’ notes.

Upon removal, the pieces are stored, and each one is reassembled for 2 more years, so there are always 3 installations, one new and 2 from previous years . . . except for Bob’s! His display was so popular that it has been reassembled for 5 years. This year, he was asked to do the new installation for the celebration. He reluctantly declined due to other commitments, so the clothes line may wave again in 2012.

One of Bob’s art students, Victoria Lavorini, has discovered her own passion for assemblage art as well as absorbing some of his philosophy. She will be joining him in the Studio Gallery with a display of some of her pieces. Speaking of her work, she said, “Growing up in the small traditional town of St. Clairsville, I have always been surrounded by antiques and objects with rich histories, but it wasn’t until I studied with Robert Villamagna that I realized that I could turn these items into meaningful artworks of my own. Unlike other art forms, assemblages provide a way for the artist to give objects a second chance at life. Some items have a well understood past, while others possess a past that has been lost throughout its journey to my hands. Either way, I make it my personal goal to place these wonderful objects together in a way that asks viewers to look upon them with a newfound reverence.”

Artwork in the North Gallery will come from the Sexual Assault Help Group.

For further information, go to www.artworksaroundtown.org or call (304)232-7540.

Marilyn Hughey Phillis, AWS, NWS,  Artworks Around Town  and Studio Gallery Director  has been elected by the American Watercolor Society to Jury their 145^th International Exhibition held at the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue.  She is chairman of a three man jury consisting of herself,  Henry Casselli, AWS-D.F.  internationally known portrait painter;  George James, AWS-D.F, Professor Emeritus from California State University and innovative contemporary painter.

A Jury of Selection chose from over 1200 international entries approximately 120 works for this long time exhibition.   In the past AWS has included such renowned names as John James Audubon, George Innes, James Whistler, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran, John Singer Sargeant, Maurice Prendergast, John Marin, Arthur Dove, Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper,  Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Tobey, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Helen Frankenthaler,  Adolph Dehn, Barse Miller, Milford Zornes, Ogden Pleissner,  Chen Chi,  Mario Cooper,  Robert Laessig,  Edward Betts,  Andrew Wyeth,  and many other notables respected in the use of watermedia painting.  Starting as a society for painters of watercolor, and progressing as advancements in materials were made, the society expanded its accepted media to include gouache,  inks, egg tempera, casein, and acrylics.   The 100^th Anniversary Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1966.

Marilyn Hughey Phillis, recipient of many national and state awards,  has served as an AWS  Board of Directors member as well as on previous AWS selection and awards juries along with juries of other major national and regional exhibitions.    This year she will be co-juror of the West Virginia Allied Artists Exhibition.  She received her art training from The Ohio State University,  The  Toledo Museum of Art, and under a series of master watermedia teachers.   Phillis is listed in  Who’s Who of American Art, Who’s  Who in America, and was elected to the Wheeling Hall of Fame and the Kent, Ohio Hall of Fame in 2000.

She states,  “As a Juror, one has a tremendous responsibility to choose award winners that depict the high points of creativity and artistic excellence along with memorable expressions of personal input.  Works must go beyond technical excellence to profound statements of the soul of the artist.   AWS awards range from nearly $4000 for the top award to $500 for the lowest.   The Exhibition is open to the public at 47 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY daily at 1:00  to 5:00 PM except on Monday’s.   Two Demonstrations will be held  Tuesday evenings at 6:00 to 8:00 PM on April  10,  with nationally known artists , Professor Lilit K. Masih, AWS,  landscape,  and on April 17 with Roberta Carter Clark, AWS, portrait.

Gardens and flowers of every kind will grace all 4 walls of the Studio Gallery as Artworks Around Town introduces its FIRST ANNUAL WINTER FLOWER SHOW. Leaving behind the blustery cold of February, visitors can bask in an atmosphere of warm and sunny mid-summer, if only briefly.  The show will open at the regular monthly Gallery Hop, Friday, February 3rd from 5:00 to 8:00.  Gallery members will have their finest examples of everything floral on display.  Not only the painters and photographers but the 3 dimensional artists including jewelers and potters will display pieces carrying out the theme.

The Gallery Hop is free and open to all.  Artworks is located in the North end of the historic Centre Market at 2200 Market St. in Wheeling. Visitors will also enjoy refreshments and music.

Well known artist, Marilyn Phillis, who is a  member of Artworks Around Town and the curator of the Studio Gallery, had some interesting information and comments about the history of floral painting, “Going back to the great masters of Renaissance painting, artists combined representational painting of flowers with still lifes, landscapes, and figurative  works.  Flowers were seldom the main subject but a natural part of the environment depicted within the context of the subject.

In the 20th and 21st centuries great changes took place in the art world and the sociological world. It was a time of experimentation and new thinking.

In our own time, most of us were students whose teachers set still lifes of flowers before us or took us outside to paint the beauties of gardens. Flowers were popular subjects for clients purchasing art, and the advent of competitive art exhibitions also offered venues for display, comparison and evaluation. Florals were IN!

Few serious artists of modern times paint floral subjects exclusively but use them in a general approach to form and concept. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, for example, shine today as just one example of his approach to painting his world.  Charles Demuth captured the lushness of floral exotics while illustrator, Charles Reid, is captivated by the fragility and place in design of ordinary flowers. The growing understanding of Zen made a huge impact on flower arranging which affected floral design in painting. There is no end to using flowers as a conceptual element in painting.

Flowers are not just a feminine subject, but an element of color, shape and beauty that can be expressed in many different forms. Photographers have long relished the formal beauty of gardens or the color added to landscape forms by flowers. Artists are learning to look at a flower in a new way through design, color, space and placement. Floral painting is here to  continue challenging today’s artists.”

Janet Rodriguez, Artworks member and watercolor painting instructor, loves to paint flowers and shares this enthusiasm in  her teaching. She cites Art Nouveau artist,  Louis Comfort Tiffany who once said that one can learn everything one needed to know about  painting by painting flowers.

This is how Janet describes the watercolor process. “Flowers are simply fun to paint – the use of all the many colors in nature(nothing has ‘to match’) or the use of wet on wet techniques in watercolor that allow the paint to run, blending together forming unplanned leaves and flowers. This technique is both exciting and challenging. All of these painting experiences are creative enough to encourage the painter to continue, hopefully with success. If not, the artist can turn the page over and try, try again.

Sometimes success comes without planning-often after several hours of no success. Flowers may appear with a few splashes of color, guiding the artist to a completely new composition. That is when painting flowers is really fun and rewarding, and, without being trite, flowers make people happy, the artist as well as the viewer.”

The North Gallery will host the work of Shadyside High School students. Their instructor, Jeff Mamone, is also a member of Artworks Around Town.

For further information, visit the website, artworksaroundtown.org or call (304)232-7540.

Artwork Around Town’s featured artist for January, 2012 is highly acclaimed regional artist Gerald Van Scyoc. “Oil Dependency”, his newest one man show opens Friday, January 6th, at the Centre Market gallery. This visually enthralling show can be viewed in the Studio Gallery, and attendees will be able to meet the artist from 5:30 to 8PM. The public is always invited and refreshments are provided.

Van Scyoc is a well-known regional artist whose paintings are in many private collections as well as permanent collections in public venues such as Ohio University Eastern and the Martins Ferry Public Library. Lately, his painting “The Truth About Everlasting Love” was awarded first place in the oil painting category of the “Ohio Show” at Zanesville, Ohio.

The Artworks show is entitled “Oil Dependency”. The play on the political aspect of the title is typical of the actual paintings of this realist painter with a twist. Influenced by Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Willem DeKooning, and other realists with a surreal edginess, Van Scyoc’s paintings are deceptively realistic and beautifully rendered in exquisite detail, but always with a hidden or not so hidden “other meaning” taking the painting into the more surreal genre.

Most of the large pieces of art work are visually overloaded, with vivid color, and masterful composition. Every square inch of these large canvases is active. Two paintings, “Custer” and “Guernica, Ohio” are good examples of this type of Van Scyoc’s work. Since the beginning of 2011, Gerald has created some new works which contain a calmer side of the painter. Negative space has become a part of some of this new work, tempting the artist to call this show, “Some Calm, but Mostly Chaos”. No matter the compositional style, the artist’s idea is to create a work of art that is remembered long after it’s viewed.

But the show “Oil Dependency” reflects more about the artist’s attitude and his dependency on oil painting. He loves the timelessness of the medium and the idea that it never gets old. Styles may change in oil painting, but the fundamentals always remain the same; a canvas, brushes, and oil paint. This mainly self-taught artist admits to being dependent on a grid to draw. His paintings are first composed on a computer and then are painted from color printouts. Van Scyoc is a visual artist using the oldest of mediums to express his creativity generated on the most modern of artistic tools, the computer.

This full-time graphic artist avoided learning anything about art in college, using the techniques to paint that he learned in high school. Through his personal research he has studied many artists who have influenced his work. Van Scyoc is an oil painter of the old school who has advanced the craft in his own style welding it with the accuracy and precision of the computer. This isn’t Painting 2.2 upgraded from Painting 2.0. This is vivid, active, funny, clever, ingenious painting rendered with Old Master’s attention to detail by a superb craftsman. Living artists that inspire him include: Dana Schutz, Justin Mortimer, Ryan Trecartin, David Lynch, Radiohead, and Che Elias. His studio is in Shadyside, Ohio.

As always two shows open each month at Artworks. The show in the North Gallery this month displays the work of students of the Lyceum Academy. Their instructor Georgette Stock, well-know art teacher and college lecturer, exposes her students to a variety of media. Student work is always refreshing and fun to view.

Artworks Around Town is a non-profit cooperative featuring the work of local artists installed in the Centre Market at 2200 Market St, Wheeling, WV,. Each month Artworks sponsors two new shows opening on the first Friday of the month.

The annual tradition continues at Artworks Around Town of featuring the gallery’s new member artists of the year at the December Gallery Hop.  An open reception for the public will be held on Friday evening, December 2nd from 5:00 to 8:00 in the gallery to meet the artists and view their work.  Hors d’oeuvres and appetizers will be served.

The North Gallery, which features area art students, will host the work of the students of Natalie Zambori from Martins Ferry Middle School.

The December Gallery Hop features six new artists who became part of the Artworks family this year.  The show will consist of the collage and digital images of Lynn Anderson; the photography of Charlene Bernardi; the oil and watercolor paintings of Georgia Dangel; the jewelry of Christa Devine; the fine art digital photography of Joan E. Kerns; and the jewelry creations of Sandra Ziolkowski.

Lynn Anderson is a resident of Quaker City, Ohio.  She is a former educator and editor of an internationally circulated four-color Arabian horse publication.  Her degree is from Ohio University along with graduate studies at West Virginia University. Joan’s artistic pursuits include painting, mixed media, digital collage, and jewelry.

Charlene Jarrett Bernardi is originally from Bridgeport, Ohio.  She is the daughter of Virginia Bailey Jarrett and the late Calving E. Jarrett.  Charlene graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1977 and attended West Virginia Northern Community College.  She married Robert F. Bernardi, Jr. on June 15, 1985 and lived near the Pocono’s for a couple of years before relocating to Pittsburgh, Pa.  In 1991 she and her husband moved to Rhode Island.

Charlene always had a keen interest in photography, and as a small child would use a toy camera following all of the adults around pretending to take their pictures.  She loved dancing and posing in front of store mirrors and told her parents that someday, she wanted a real camera!

Charlene finally took a serious interest in photography in 1997 while living in Rhode Island.  She purchased her first manual Nikon and was surrounded by beauty everywhere she went.  Charlene loves taking pictures of anything to do with nature or the outdoors, as well as anything interesting in front of the camera.

She recently purchased the Nikon D7000 and loves the panoramic view of the Ohio Valley.  Artworks Around Town has enabled and established her craft to be taken to a higher level.  Charlene’s personal interests include all types of photography, biking.

Thanks to her mother and grandmother, the influence and support of art has always been present in Georgia Dangel’s family.  For 24 years, her husband was in the Air Force, which involved state‑side and overseas duty.  This gave them the chance to travel and view different areas of the world.  She now incorporates what she and her family experienced in her art.  Georgia started taking tole painting classes in the early 1980’s before moving to England.  Then after moving back to the states, she started taking classes to learn the Bob Ross way of painting.  She took a couple of classes to learn to mat and frame that has helped to put the finishing touches to her artwork.

In 1993, her family moved back to the Ohio Valley area, where she learned to glass paint, while working at a glass factory.  Once the factory closed, she opened her own shop where she showed her hand‑painted and kiln fired glass, lamps, crocks, china, jewelry, and paintings.  For 10 years, her painted wares could be seen at artisan shows in the tri‑state area.  She has given up shows for the time being.  To continue her current training, she has taken classes and attended seminars from Kitty Gorrell, Robert Warren, Anne Kingslan, (oil) Mark Polomchak, (watercolor), Kathy George (Batik), and Joy Wilson (portraits).  Georgia has taught adult night classes at the local branch of Belmont Technical College.  She has also taught small classes at her own studio from time to time.  Her teaching and the making of instructional packets have been a welcome addition to the business.  She will be adding more packets with the addition of each new painting. To improve her artistic skills, she has tried to become more knowledgeable of the different mediums and surfaces from classes, reading, asking questions, and just experimenting on her own.

To replenish ideas for her paintings, Georgia and a friend (Martha) make many I to 3 day trips in the Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania area, taking pictorial history everywhere they go.  They plan many trips out of the tri‑state area, looking for new photo opportunities for future painting subjects.

Her style of watercolor painting is different because of  her oil painting background; however, it still comes out in her paintings.  She tries to include, when and where she can, the looseness and softness of a traditional watercolor painting. Winter scenes, done in watercolor, are her favorite type of paintings.

Georgia has painted signs on a large scale. Two signs (12′x 4′) for the Monroe County Fair Grounds, the county in which she lives.  There was also a (4′x4′) address sign for a friend. She has painted book covers for the Double Edge Press Publishing Company.  In the last couple of years, she has been painting from photographs, family homes, and family pets. She can also replicate any photo into a painting. For the past few years she has been doing portraits for her family and on consignment.

Teaching has been put on the back burner for the time being; she and her husband are the caregivers for her 85 year old mother.  Setting her paint station close helps to be there for her mother. She works on patterns, paintings, and making instructions.  Thanks to her husband, she can get away from time to time to take a class that is close by.

Since 2004 she has entered her paintings in art shows in the surrounding area.  She has entered in Homecoming Hues Art Show, Monroe Artists Art Show; Georgia was accepted at the Cross Currents Art Show at the Oglebay Institutes Stifel Fine Arts Center at Wheeling WV. (Spring of 2010); and Steubenville Art Association Art Show in the spring of 2011.  Her various awards range from: Peoples Choice, Best of Show, 1 Place, 2nd Place, Place, and Honorable Mentions.

In June of 2010 her 1′ book, “Speaking of Art” was published. This book features many of her paintings and their stories.  She is now working on the 2″ “Speaking of Art” book.  In August of 2010 she had an article published in the Interactive Artist Magazine.  The article was on, The “Quilt Barns”, the beautifully painted patches that have been popping upon barns around the country for the last 10 years.

As a painter I try to paint with an open mind and although it sometimes takes awhile, with patience and a lot of practice it all comes together.  My Grandmother and Mother had a big influence in getting me interested in my drawing and painting.  I started drawing when I was a child and continued to date with oil and watercolor painting. My style of painting is very precise and detailed.  I started out being an oiliest, but decided to try my luck at watercolor, to see if I could loosen up my oil paintings. Well after 10 years of trying, I can say that it didn’t work, as I am still tight. When you look at one of my watercolors it will remind you of an oil painting.  I’m still open for any new ideas that come my way.

Christa Devine joins the group of new member artists as a jeweler.  One of Christa’s many talents includes the creation of chain and pendants using the ancient technique of Viking Knitting.  “Viking knitting” is not actually knitting in the way you might think (i.e. with two needles), but is actually a type of weaving.  Chains are made from long pieces of wire that are worked by hand into interconnecting loops.  For those who knit with yarn, the connected loops look like twisted knitting (knit through back loop).  Necklaces may contain up to 60′ of wire, so several shorter pieces must be joined together during construction of the chain.  This can be done without the use of solder because the wire is spliced together in a way that is nearly impossible to detect in the finished piece.  The raw chain is woven around a form (Allen wrenches or dowels) and is typically then pulled through holes in a wooden drawplate to tighten the weave and make the chain pliable.  Necklaces containing irregular gemstones, however, cannot be pulled through a drawplate and must be pulled by hand.  The ends of each chain are finished by hand-coiling a heavier gauge wire, again using only cold connections and no solder.  Examples of these chains have been found at various archeological sites in Scandinavia dating back to the 8th century A.D (the Viking era).  Similar chains have been found in other areas of the world, so the technique may not have been unique to the Vikings.  Indeed, chains that look identical can be made with a different weaving technique that forms the chain in the opposite direction.

As a retired teacher and native West Virginian, Joan Kerns is now finding much needed time to explore her passion, the multi-faceted world of photography.  Since her first black and white experiences in a basement darkroom as a teen, she has been fascinated with her ability to capture that which the naked eye cannot or does not observe in day-to-day life, especially through the use of macro.  Being self-taught has made the photography adventure one of discovery and reward, as opportunities to share the world around us with others continue to present themselves.

Sandra Jean Ziolkowski is an expert professional artisan creating handcrafted works from silver, copper and various metals as well as beautiful one‑of‑a‑kind glass jewelry pieces. Besides Artworks Around Town many of Sandi’s original jewelry designs and silver crafts (including intricate belt buckles and other silver works combined with glass beads) can be found at the Stifel Fine Arts Center, in Wheeling WV, and at the Tamarack, in Beckley, WV.  Her handcrafted silver and glasswork can be seen at local artists’ fairs in the area as well.

Sandi’s crafting and artistic abilities are continuously developing.  Presently, Sandi holds certification in Precious Metal Clay (PMC) from the Rio Grande Rewards Precious Metal Clay Program. Under the discipline of world‑renowned metal smith/PMC jewelry artist Tim McCreight, Sandi has incorporated all of her experiences and developed a beautifully unique style of jewelry making.  Sandi has studied with professional coppersmith Frank Glapa at the Roy Croft Campus in East Aurora, NY where she learned techniques in Repousse.  Sandi attended the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts where she studied the art of “lost wax casting.”  Additionally, while visiting Arizona, Sandi met and learned from well‑known artisan Kate Drew‑Wilkinson, where she became familiar with the art of glass jewelry design.  Still Sandi remains active, continuing her inspirations by studying with various artists in the area.

Sandi attributes her creative abilities to her mother and father.  She remembers watching her mother make beautiful handcrafted quilts and needlework, and enjoyed being in the workshop while her dad refinished antique furniture and handcrafted his own wood pieces.  Sandi is happily married and has two sons.  She has recently started teaching at Artwork Around Town and at the Stifel Fine Arts Center where she is thrilled to share her abilities with others.

ARTWORKS around town is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that operates a Gallery and Art Center for the benefit of the artists and general public of the region.  ARTWORKS around town’s Mission is to: promote and encourage public interest in support of the arts, offer quality arts programming for all ages, and provide opportunities to display art work in a gallery setting for students of art as well as for accomplished artists in the local community and the region. The Gallery and Art Center is operated by The Board of Directors with assistance from artist associates and other volunteers from the local community and region.  It depends for its financial support primarily on contributions, gifts and grants.

Artists may apply to be juried  for exhibiting in the gallery.  Through this jury process the Board of Directors considers artistic merit, content and craftsmanship as well as the applicant’s resonance with the Mission of the Gallery and Art Center, and the availability of space.

As a special feature, artists whose works are on display are found in the gallery as guides, providing interaction with visitors, and often opportunities to watch the creative process.  These artist associates also support the mission of ARTWORKS around town by volunteering to help with  office work and  maintenance, teaching  workshops, curating and hanging shows and many other aspects of the day-to-day functioning of the Gallery and Art Center.

The Gallery and Art Center is located at 2200 Market Street, in the Upper Market House of the Historic Centre Market Area.

Leslie Nutting was born in California and has lived in New Mexico, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, DC, Canada and Hong Kong as well as West Virginia.  Usually this would not be the first information of interest in introducing the visiting artist in the Studio Gallery of Artworks Around Town for the month of November, however, in this instance, knowledge of this background is germane to an understanding of her art and her philosophy.

Her work will be introduced at the monthly Gallery Hop on Friday, Nov 4th, from 5:00 to 8:00 at the Artworks Gallery, 2200 Market St. in the North end of the Historic Centre Market.

Leslie Nutting paints Appalachia. Coming to West Virgina with a world view and wide experience of other places, people and cultures, she has, perhaps, a sharper eye for and a more sympathetic image of what she defines as, “This rust belt region of coal mines and dominating steel plants along the Ohio River”.  In her view these things symbolize America’s industrial decay and her belief that the people who suffer from this situation are known mainly through stereotypes.  She describes her work as portraiture, figurative compositions and landscapes which address this long-suffering but proud population: tied to the land, coal plants, factories and small family businesses in a world apart and left behind.

She paints with oils for their permanence and longevity.  In her words, ” a portrait is often a record of a moment in one’s life that is saved for generations.  Even if a painting is not a formal portrait, I feel compelled to make my work of the highest quality I can.  For me longevity is a central element. I hope my work can ultimately be viewed in the continuum of painting history.”

Analyzing her portrait work further, she adds, “I explore my portrait and figure subjects in a sympathetic way that reflects my personal interest in them as individuals or as archetypes in their community.  I intend my paintings to be honest and approachable.  They speak to our common humanity and current issues.”

Her work is not limited to the depiction of the people of Appalachia as she also has a deep affection for and appreciation of the beauty of the landscape.  In her words, “I revel in the ever-changing light effects and the impossible beauty I find wherever I look. I enjoy the adventure and physicality of painting, the unabashed sensuousness of the art form, and the freedom to explore abstraction, realism and anything in between.”

Leslie earned her degree in History from Williams College and immediately entered government service as a foreign affairs officer which allowed her many opportunities over the years for travel all over the world as well as in her own backyard.  Just this past year she received her MFA in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is a memberof the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the Oil Painters of America and the Portrait Society of America.

The art work of students from Union Local Elementary School will be displayed in the North Gallery.

The Gallery Hop is free and open to all.  Visitors will also enjoy refreshments and music and the opportunity to meet the visiting artist as well as regular artist members of Artworks Around Town. For further information call (304)233-7540 or contact the website at artworksaroundtown.org

Marie Dolmas Lekorenos

ARTWORKS around town is proud to host the works of Cambridge artist Marie Dolmas Lekorenos as their featured artist in the Studio Gallery for the month of July. The gallery has a reputation of presenting quality artists for the patrons of Wheeling to meet, and enjoy an evening with their works. Marie continues that tradition and then some. An open reception for the public will be held on Friday evening, July 1st from 5:00 to 8:00 in the gallery to view the artist’s work. Hors d’oeuvres and appetizers will be served. A special open reception for the public to “Meet the Artist” will be held on Friday, July 15th, from 4:00 to 6:00 in the Studio Gallery.

Lekorenos was born in Massillon, Ohio and found her love of the arts at a relatively young age. Marie attributes her interest to her fifth grade teacher, Ms. Mary Nosis, while attending Edmond A. Jones school in Massillon. She remembers fondly how Ms. Nosis would always include drawing as part of any special project that she assigned her classes. She remembers Ms. Nosis’ vibrant energy and how she always met the children with a smile and laughter. Unknowingly, Ms. Nosis left a lasting imprint on the future direction of this young artist. Marie also attributes a lot of her talents to her mother who was very creative herself. She taught Marie how to sew and cook. Lekorenos sewed many of the outfits that she wore to school and says that her mother’s Baklava was “the best ever!”. It was during her middle and high school years that Marie honed her skills as a writer while serving as editor of her junior high school newspaper and as a reporter for The Washington High Times throughout high school.

Marie continued her studies in the arts as her husband Chris’ job took their family of four to Adrian, Michigan. She studied drawing, painting, design, sculpture, jewelry and welding at Sienna Heights College while living in Michigan. After a short couple years in Cleveland Chris’ job moved the family on to Cambridge, Ohio. Marie had no idea at the time that she would be spending the next forty years plus calling this small southeast Ohio town “home.” Her daughter, Christen, now live in Concord, Massachusetts and her son, George lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Throughout the years Marie has not only successfully raised a family and continued her studies in art, having graduated, with an Art Degree, from Muskingum University but she has also been a very successful entrepreneur. She recognized a need for an upscale gift shop specializing in gift baskets and was determined to meet that need. Marie owned and operated “Giftgram”, in Cambridge, for seven years. When her husband retired Marie decided to close the shop and enjoy retirement with him.

With this busy lifestyle Marie was never far from her art. She is an elected member of the Ohio Watercolor Society, the National Collage Society, the Society of Layerists in Multi Media, the Oklahoma Watercolor Society and the International Society of Experimental Artists. In addition, Marie is a member of the Southeastern Ohio Watermedia Society, the Bexley Art League, the Zanesville Appalachian Arts Project, the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society and the Eastern Ohio Art Guild. She is also an affiliated artist with Mac Worthington Galerie Website of Columbus, Ohio. She has paintings in over 260 corporate, business and private collections.

Lekorenos has exhibited her work throughout the United States, England, France, Ephesus, Turkey and Beijing, China. She has won “Best of Show” awards, “First Place” and “Purchase” awards in regional and national exhibitions. She has had over 15 solo exhibitions.

Lekorenos has studied with 30 or more well known artists. Her art is published in numerous books and has been on the cover of exhibition programs and invitations.

Marie Dolmas Lekorenos is a dedicated artist who is concerned with design. She infuses her work with dynamic energy to stir the senses. The viewer must be absorbed into the painting. She eloquently creates a mood, a feeling, an ambiance; by bringing into her work an essence of the inner spirit.

ARTWORKS around town is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that operates a Gallery and Art Center for the benefit of the artists and general public of the region. ARTWORKS around town’s Mission is to: promote and encourage public interest in support of the arts, offer quality arts programming for all ages, and provide opportunities to display art work in a gallery setting for students of art as well as for accomplished artists in the local community and the region. The Gallery and Art Center is operated by The Board of Directors with assistance from artist associates and other volunteers from the local community and region. It depends for its financial support primarily on contributions, gifts and grants.

Artists may apply to be juried for exhibiting in the gallery. Through this jury process the Board of Directors considers artistic merit, content and craftsmanship as well as the applicant’s resonance with the Mission of the Gallery and Art Center, and the availability of space.

As a special feature, artists whose works are on display are found in the gallery as guides, providing interaction with visitors, and often opportunities to watch the creative process. These artist associates also support the mission of ARTWORKS around town by volunteering to help with office work and maintenance, teaching workshops, curating and hanging shows and many other aspects of the day-to-day functioning of the Gallery and Art Center.

The Gallery and Art Center is located at 2200 Market Street, in the Upper Market House of the Historic Centre Market Area.

For more information please visit us on the web at: http://www.artworksaroundtown.com

ARTWORKS around town Inc., located in historic Centre Market, is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization operating a Gallery and Art Center to benefit the artists and general public of the region.

ARTWORKS around town
2200 Market Street, Wheeling WV 26003
Phone: 304-233-7540
Hours: Mon – Thur & Sat 10:00 – 5:30, Fri 10:00 – 6:00
Gallery Hop first Friday of every month, 5:00 – 8:00
Coffee House third Friday of every month, 7:30 – 10:00