Abingdon artist Adelaide McKenzie Moss is the Virginia Highlands Festival's Signature Artist for 2016. Her work, "Paint the Town," was recently unveiled.
ABINGDON, VA - The Virginia Highlands Festival announces this years' theme and Signature Artist. The theme for the 2016 Festival is "Paint the Town." Abingdon artist Adelaide McKenzie Moss is the festival's Signature Artist for 2016. Her work, "Paint the Town," was recently unveiled.
Each year the Virginia Highlands Festival commissions a local artist to create a piece of art that embodies the theme of that year's Festival. This artwork becomes the central image of the Festival and graces all festival marketing materials for 2016, before becoming part of the public art collection for everyone to enjoy.
Moss is beginning her 11th year as an Abingdon resident, and finds "there is no shortage of lovely things to paint here: the old buildings in town, the hills and mountains, all are alluring to me."
She trained at Hollins University in oil painting, and since that time has ventured into pastel painting, watercolors, and oil sticks on different surfaces (among other media).
She is the organizer for the Wednesday Morning Painters at the Arts Depot, and occasionally teaches art classes. She hopes that her Signature Artwork captures some of the iconic buildings of Abingdon's Main Street.
Founded in 1948, the Virginia Highlands Festival is an annual, 10-day event devoted to the celebration of Southwest Virginian heritage and rich Appalachian tradition. Held in historic Abingdon, Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Festival attracts about 200,000 visitors each year. The Festival was selected as the "Best Art Event" by the readers of Virginia Living magazine in 2015 (fourth year in a row), recognized as a Top 20 Event by the Southeastern Tourism Society and has been consistently named as one of the American Bus Association's Top 100 Tourist Attractions over the past four decades. In 2016, the 68th Virginia Highlands Festival runs from July 29-Aug. 7 (Antiques Market July 30-Aug. 7) and features live concerts, a juried arts and crafts show, and an antique market, as well as workshops, lectures and tours. To learn more about the Virginia Highlands Festival and this year's events, visit www.vahighlandsfestival.org.
