Community Calendar

Thursday’s Painting Group is a meeting of artists who want to paint! The group will gather at SVAC on Thursdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at no cost to the artists. Take advantage of your fellow painters for inspiration and light critique, if you are interested. Come relax, share ideas or techniques, and independently work in the medium of your choice! Please call SVAC if you are interested in joining! (540-949-7662) (October 6, 13, 20, & 27)

Saturday Art for Kids is back!!! SVAC Saturday morning kid's classes have started their fall schedule. Come spend Saturday morning in the gallery from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Kids will be working on a new project each week (unless signed up for a special multi-week session). Single week classes tend to focus on fine art skills and creative expression. Session classes are creative life skills including sewing and fine motor skill development. Sign up each week by Thursday to guarantee your spot, or drop in Saturday 9:45-10:00 a.m. and if there’s room, we’ll take you! Spots not reserved by Thursday will be first come, first served.

“True Grit” Exhibition by Nekisha Durrett
Sept. 7-Oct. 15
Artist Talk by Nekisha Durrett: Sept. 7, 5 p.m.
True Grit Opening Reception: Sept. 7, 6-7:30 p.m.

Gallery hours: T-Sa / 11-5

The Duke Gallery of Fine Art is excited to open the 2022-2023 academic year with Nekisha Durrett's immersive exhibition, “True Grit.” Rooted in Durrett's experiences as a Washington D.C. native, “True Grit” honors the process of place-making in opposition to the colonial forces of dispossession and extraction. Monumental text panels, encrusted with the soil of the Brookland neighborhood in which she grew up, spell out "Watch Me Bless This House" across the gallery wall.
Inverting the association of true grit with the macho swagger and "frontier justice" associated with the Western film of the same title, Durrett instead venerates the strength of family matriarchs who heal, bless and build lives. “True Grit” invokes the red clay of the U.S. South as the familiar backdrop to many African American experiences. Creating monuments to the power of memory, Durrett engages in storytelling and a poetic study of language.

October on the Mezzanine: “Friends of the Earth” by Marsha Heatwole. Marsha says that this series of paintings are illustrations of her perceptions about nature and our world. They include well known animals and the lush life which we are lucky to have here in the Valley. Marsha desires to explore what we have, what we are losing, and what we can do about it. Beside each painting are inspirational quotes.
--First Friday: October 7, 5-7, with live music by Cousin Jimmy’s Stringband
--The show will be up through October 28.

Enjoy an old-fashioned Fall Festival here at Back Home on the Farm! 🗓 Fall fun begins September 6!

A new exhibit from the Virginia Center for the Book features a collection of poems by Virginia artists, responding to sexism, racism and biases in our cultural landscape. The opening reception is open to everyone and will include poetry readings by Furious Flower Executive Director Lauren K. Alleyne and Assistant Director L. Renée, Graduate assistant Jessica Carter and 2022 Carmen R. Gillespie Fellow, Lily Craig, as well as a gallery talk by visiting poet and artist Lyall Harris. Co-sponsored by the College of Visual and Performing Arts, JMU Libraries, and Furious Flower. RSVP not required.

Comedian and actor, Bert Kreischer will take the stage at JPJ Arena on October 7, 2022 for his “The Berty Boy Relapse Tour!” Tickets on sale NOW at Ticketmaster.com or Johnpauljonesarena.com 🤖 ✨

An exciting concert given by people from around the world, planing instruments from around the world, making music together from around the world.

Project Locrea is a world-folk fusion ensemble created by flutist Yana Nikol, dedicated to creating and performing original compositions and contemporary arrangements inspired by folk music of different countries. Combining sound and instrumentation of world folk traditions with classical, jazz and contemporary music conventions, the project’s focus is to bring a better understanding and deeper connection between cultures in current days.

AUDIENCE CHOICE POLL WINNER! An experience 400 years in the making, Wolfbane is bringing this classic to terrifying, new life. One of our most popular Shakespeare adaptations, set in pre-history Scotland, this intense, action-packed production will christen the new building at the PAC, immersively staged within a medieval hall, with a Skyrim meets Game of Thrones flair.

Gates 6:30p | Curtain 7:30p

Duration: 2hr 45 minutes

Five Weekends:

September 29, 30, and October 1

October 6, 7, 8

October 14, 15, 16

October 20, 21, 22

October 27, 28, 29

The American family takes center stage in this haunting and humorous work by rising playwright Stephen Karam. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his family from Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in Lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the dilapidated pre-war duplex, eerie things start to go bump in the night—and the Blake clan’s deepest fears and greatest follies are exposed. Winner of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, The Humans is “truly remarkable and exceptionally moving…a play about the horrors of ordinary life, and the love we need to counter them.” (Chicago Tribune) Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance.