Park Gables Gallery in Harrisonburg, Virginia, has outstanding annual juried show
Last week I had a chance to visit the VMRC Juried Art Exhibition. This is an exciting national multimedia show that is a product of the residents at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Their Park Gables Gallery has served as the venue for this annual open-call for 14 years. Over five hundred submissions were received this year, and roughly 100 pieces are selected by a distinguished panel of artists and art educators.
This year the exhibit is outstanding, as usual, and I had a very interesting talk with the director, Anne Pauley, about the trends that she saw in the submissions.
There were more photographs than ever. A friend of the Wednesday Studio, photographer Rindy O’Brien of CHAL has been selected again this year. Pauley said that so many exciting techniques are being explored digitally that photography has overwhelmed the hundreds of submissions. Thirty of the 100 pieces chosen were photographs. Photos on paper, glass, aluminum, stainless steel, canvas, cotton . . . you name it.
Rindy O’Brien: Sahara Sunrise. Photograph.
One (spectacular) soft pastel and fewer than usual oil paintings were selected. There was also more oil pastel used than I’ve seen since college.
It seemed to me that the real trend was “mixed media”. All matter of materials beautifully assembled on all manner of supports. They were fascinating. It made me sad that the next day I had to return to DC, leaving my studio behind.
You can view the pieces at:http://www.vmrc.org/filephotos/150/2017%20Juried%20Art%20Exhibition%20-%20Preview.pdf
Take a few minutes to view the show. You’ll find it very interesting!
Linda Norton
Wednesday Studio watercolorist
THE WEDNESDAY STUDIO 