March 29, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) has unveiled a new exhibit, Portraits of Historic West Virginia Figures, the fourth and final installation in the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The show is in the Commissioner’s Gallery of the West Virginia State Museum and will remain on display through Aug. 26, 2012. The exhibition is free and the public is invited to view the show which consists of 29 works by 20 artists in the areas of painting, print/drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts. A complete list of exhibitors, including the award winners, is included.
Mary Gray, director of the Riffe Gallery for the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) in Columbus, Ohio, served as juror for the show. Gray is responsible for managing exhibition selection and coordination and all administrative work for the OAC. She oversees the gallery education program, marketing, designs installations and works with curators and artists. She has juried several exhibitions for museums, galleries and organizations in Ohio and regionally. Gray is a member of the Commission on the Moyer Judicial Center and is chair of the Art Acquisition Committee.
The Inspired series of exhibitions was conceived by WVDCH Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith as a way to commemorate the Mountain State’s sesquicentennial, which culminates in 2013. The series harkens back to the museum’s early days, when artists were asked to focus on a specific theme to help increase the size of the state’s art collection.
For more information about the exhibition Portraits of Historic West Virginia Figures, contact Charles Morris, director of museums and exhibits manager for the Division, at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Portraits of West Virginia Historic Figures Exhibitors
John Michael Vincent Barone
Morgantown
Robert C. Byrd
Lithograph
and
Waitman Thomas Willey
Oil on Canvas
Brooke Blatt
Huntington
The Visionary: Collis P. Huntington
Graphite Drawing
Shelia Chipley
Princeton
Mother Jones
Mixed Media
and
Robert C. Byrd
Mixed Media
John Farley
Huntington
Don Kinnard: When we die, we will
die with our arms unbound
Colored Pencil on Paper
Third Place, $250
Jan Lewis Haddox
Point Pleasant
Mad Anne Bailey
Oil on Canvas
Sharon Harms
Charleston
American Genius: Pearl Buck
Watercolor
and
History Maker Jim Justice
Watercolor
James Huffman
Tornado
Jesse “Don” Knotts
Pencil on Paper
Nancy Key
Morgantown
Portrait of Earl Ray Tomblin
Acrylic
and
Portrait of Jay Rockefeller
Acrylic
Laurel E. Mackenzie-Gage
Capon Bridge
Byrd with Fiddle
Pencil and Charcoal
Laura Moul
Charleston
Basketball Legacy
Digital Photograph
and
Legacy of Service
Digital Photograph
Derek Overfield
Fairmont
Captain Brown Contemplating his Mission
Oil Paint with Photographic
Transfer on Canvas
and
The Proud and Mournful Buckhougahelas
Acrylic, Photo Transfer and Cut Fabric
Wanda Qualls
Hurricane
Stonewall Jackson
Oil Painting
and
West Virginia Coal Miner
Sandi K. Reinhart
Craigsville
Old Timer Coal Miner
Sepia Oil Painting on Leather
First Place/Purchase Award, $1,000
Mary Russell
Charleston
The Miner’s Angel
Watercolor
Gregory Sava
Birch River
Robert C. Byrd, Jr.: Man of Justice
Digital Photograph
Debbie Kalt Sisson
Ripley
Jennifer Garner
Acrylic on Canvas
and
Memories of Robert Byrd
Watercolor
Stephen Sisson
Ripley
Jerry West
Pencil Drawing
Tommy Warf
Huntington
West Virginia Coal Women’s Auxiliary
Ceramic Installation
Honorable Mention, $150
Wendy Wassink
Fayetteville
Portrait of Senator H. Truman Chafin
Oil Painting
Second Place, $500
Sandra Wright
Mt. Storm
Melvin the Miner
Mixed Media
and
WV Finest: Pearl S. Buck
Nobel Prize Winner
Mixed Media
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