"Ingongrous Orange" by J Lamar Burnette. (Photo Bob Cassell)
ABINGDON, VA -- The Arts Depot, in conjunction with the 61st Annual Virginia Highlands Festival, is opening of the Virginia Highlands Festival Juried Art Show. There is no admission and the public is invited. The show continues through Aug. 9 and encompasses all the galleries within the Arts Depot. This will be the 19th consecutive year the Arts Depot has hosted this event.
Also during the show local artist Ed Chitwood will conduct four special guided 90-minute gallery tours. These tours will begin at 11 am Tuesdays, July 28 and Aug. 4 and Thursdays, July 30 and Aug. 6. The Arts Depot's special extended viewing hours during the festival are Monday- Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sundays 1- 5 pm.
This year there will be a special Trolley Tour of the Arts Gallery Hop Aug. 6 from 6-9 p.m. and the Arts Depot will be open until 9 p.m. on this day. There is no admission charge.
In addition to viewing the Festival Art Show, the Arts Depot resident artists welcome you to visit them in their studios.
ABOUT THE JUROR
This year's Festival juror and national award winning watercolorist is Steve Rogers, from Ormond Beach, Fla. He has been a professional painter for over 30 years, and is a highly sought after workshop leader who conducts his workshops all over the United States and Europe. Educated in the arts at Monmouth College in Illinois, Rogers is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and received the 2008 NWS Purchase Award given to the "Best in Show". His paintings have literally won hundreds of major awards all over the country and are in public and private collections worldwide, including eighteen paintings in Florida's Walt Disney World. His paintings emphasize the use of light, color, and value to make a landscape become alive on the paper. Rogers also led a "sold-out" week-long workshop in Abingdon prior to the festival with many enthusiastic regional artists participating.
AWARD-WINNING ART
The awards selected by Rogers are: three Awards of Excellence ($750 each) to J. Lamar Burnette, Jeff Chapman-Crane, and Z. L. Feng, five Awards of Distinction ($200 each) Leslie Davis, Parvin Pejman, Jim Stagner, Gari Stephenson and Thelma Wyatt, and five Awards of Merit ($100 each) to Carole Farris Blevins, Paige Cantrell, Bill Deel, David Eakin, and Nancy Stark. There were also 18 Honorable Mention Awards presented.
VOTE FOR PEOPLE'S CHOICE
During the first nine days of the Festival visitors will be given a ballot to select their choice for "People's Choice Best in Show." This award of $250 will be announced by the Festival Art Committee on Aug. 3. All these awards were chosen from the 94 art pieces selected to be in the show from 185 entries. The art encompasses most two-dimensional media and the majority of the works have been created by regional artists.
