The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will unveil a new exhibition, Real Opportunities Make People Productive (ROMPP), in the wings off the Great Hall on Monday, Nov. 26, at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. There will be a lecture and opening reception that evening from 5 - 7 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
ROMPP is an art exhibition of works by West Virginia artists who have disabilities. The show was organized by the Center for Excellence in Disabilities (CED) at West Virginia University in Morgantown. “The fine arts are one of the most beautiful things life has to offer, but many people with disabilities that I know have never been in a museum, or had an opportunity to paint or play an instrument, for example. That is totally unacceptable,” says Helen Panzironi, fine arts program coordinator for CED.
Panzironi will begin the evening with a talk about the artists and artwork in the show. She also will discuss the ROMPP program and CED. In addition, there will be artists demonstrating their work and how they use technology to create some of their pieces. Christie Wilfong and her mother Donna will scan one of Christie’s paintings into a laptop computer, use various programs to enhance and alter the painting, then print the image onto cloth. Using a combination of hand painting and sewing, they will continue to change the image, then rescan it. Christie will then create a wall hanging design.
There are 47 pieces of artwork in the show in a wide variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, quilts and wall hangings, collages and drawings by 32 artists. Many of the works are for sale. Some artists will have additional works for sale only during the opening reception.. The exhibition will remain on display through Dec. 26.
The mission of CED Fine Arts program, ROMPP, is to support artists who have disabilities so they may achieve their goals for the future, whether interested in the arts as a profession or as a hobby. The program involves increasing access to community resources to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in the fine arts.
For more information about the ROMPP exhibition, contact Adam Hodges, director of museums for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 127. For more information about the CED Fine Arts program, contact Panzironi at (304) 293-4692, ext. 1154.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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