Eugene Wolf
On Jan. 11 at 7 p.m., the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s Virtual Speaker Series and Arts Alliance Mountain Empire are partnering for a hybrid virtual and in-person event. A panel of local artists discuss what it is like to work in the arts field and how their work is represented in art. This program ties into the Smithsonian exhibit “The Way We Worked” on display at the museum through Jan. 23. A curator guided tour of “The Way We Worked” follows the discussion for interested attendees.
The event will be moderated by visual artist Richard Graves (richardgravesart.com), who works in portraiture, figure drawing and the surreal. Joining Graves are four artists who work in the Tri-Cities region.
• Artist Leigh Ann Agee (leighannagee.com) began painting as a hobby, but in time found that this was her calling and made art her work. She paints custom murals, and is the creator of Moon Bound Girl, “a brand that inspires girls and women everywhere to dream big and pursue their passions.”
• Cellist Cherylonda Fitzgerald (cherylonda.com) both performs and teaches her instrument. She is principal cellist with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra and performs with the Symphony of the Mountains and The Paramount Players, among others; she teaches privately in the “Cello Underground” in her home, as well as at Milligan University.
• Sculptor Val Lyle (artnowllc.com) creates public art, and her local pieces include the interactive “Take the Stage” outside the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, “Caterpillar Crawl” in downtown Bristol, “The Sentinel” and “The Spirit of Generosity” in Kingsport, Tennessee, and the “ASPIRE” mobile and “Forward Rhythms” at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Abingdon, Virginia.
• Actor and musician Eugene Wolf has appeared on the Barter Theatre stage many times, played with the Brother Boys along with Ed Snodderly, and most recently brought his own childhood to the stage in his one-man show “The Book of Mamaw.” Among his recordings is a collaboration with Russian folk musician Mitya Kuznetsov.
According to the BCM’s website, “The Way We Worked” explores how work became such a central element in American culture by tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the past 150 years.” The BCM has augmented this exhibition with “a supplementary display related to work in Bristol and the surrounding region from major manufacturing and resource extraction (e.g. coal, timber) to retail, food services, farming, local industry, and the local newspaper.”
But what does work have to do with artists?
Writing in the New York Times, critic A.O. Scott suggests, “In the popular imagination, artists tend to exist either at the pinnacle of fame and luxury or in the depths of penury and obscurity — rarely in the middle, where most of the rest of us toil and dream. They are subject to admiration, envy, resentment and contempt, but it is odd how seldom their efforts are understood as work” (emphasis added). This panel allows local artists to help us understand how they work at the intersection of imaginative freedom and pragmatic demand – how they create art that will provide an income.
All of our panelists have made art their work in multiple ways, and their versatility and business acumen has augmented their ability to bring their creative vision to the world; each has made the Tri-Cities region a good place to live. Join us in person or online to hear their stories and celebrate the work of these beloved local artists.
In-person audience members are required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours for entry.
