Community Calendar

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.

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.

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.

SAVE THE DATE! The Shenandoah Valley Art Center’s 51th Annual Fall Foliage Art Show will be held October 8 – 9. One hundred and fifty fine artists and artisans will showcase their works including painting, printmaking, wood, pottery, glass, jewelry, sculpture and mixed media. The artists bring high quality art and craft to this two day outdoor show. Join us as we turn the streets of downtown Waynesboro into an outdoor fine art festival for the weekend! Also featured are gourmet food trucks, craft beers, and great local music. Visit SVACart.com for more information for this free admission art experience.

Experience this meditative art exhibit with archetypal mother figures created by artist and psychotherapist Denise McMorrow. Listen to a recording made specifically for this exhibit by grammy award winner Erik Lawrence.

The Shenandoah Valley Art Center’s 51st Annual Fall Foliage Art Show will be held October 8 – 9. One hundred and fifty fine artists and artisans will showcase their works including painting, printmaking, wood, pottery, glass, jewelry, sculpture and mixed media. The artists bring high quality art and craft to this two day outdoor show. Join us as we turn the streets of downtown Waynesboro into an outdoor fine art festival for the weekend! Also featured are gourmet food trucks, craft beers, and great local music. Visit SVACart.com for more information for this free admission art experience.

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.

The Duke Gallery is excited to open the 2022-2023 academic year with Nekisha Durrett's (http://www.nekishadurrett.com/) 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 a backdrop to African American experience in the US South. Creating monuments to the power of memory, Durrett engages in storytelling and a poetic study of language.

An award-winning artist, Durrett has exhibited her work extensively both nationally and internationally. She earned her BFA at The Cooper Union in New York City and MFA from The University of Michigan School of Art and Design as a Horace H. Rackham Fellow. Durrett was honored as a finalist in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and is featured in The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today exhibition.

Her recent installations include: Up ‘til Now, a freestanding, solar powered sculpture that evokes the history of Washington, DC’s landscape and architecture, in Washington’s Golden Triangle neighborhood; “Messages for the City” in collaboration with For Freedoms in Times Square, New York; and a wall mounted public sculpture in the Liberty City community of Miami, Florida made in collaboration with conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas; and a permanent installation on the glass-walled vestibule in the newly renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington. Magnolia, a series of leaves perforated with the names of women murdered by law enforcement, was on view at Cody Gallery at Marymount University and the Atlanta Biennial at Atlanta Contemporary.

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, September 7, 5:00p: Artist talk by Nekisha Durrett
Wednesday, September 7, 6-7:30p: Opening Reception of True Grit

“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.