WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEPTEMBER WITH FALL ART TOUR VENUES AND ARTISTS!
Just two months until this year’s Fall Art Tour! The 19th Annual Fall Art Tour of the Artists or Rappahannock is November 2-3, 2024 – we hope to see you there! Maps will be available the week before the Tour here on our website, or subscribe to our newsletter to get the maps and other news directly to your inbox!
Come out to Rappahannock this month to enjoy world-class local and national fine art art – there are fabulous exhibits at all of our galleries! It’s a wonderful time of year to come out to the County for the day or weekend, do some shopping in all of our galleries and local shops, and enjoy our wineries, micro-breweries, farm stands and markets.
Visit these links to award-winning local wines and micro-breweries, numerous amazing restaurants for every budget (did you know there are 3 new restaurants in Rappahannock?!), and lots of options for overnight accomodations.
There’s something for everyone in Rappahannock!
Check out the permanent collections at these local galleries as well as the current exhibitions featured below:
Artful Friends Gallery: Located in the new Marketplace in Sperryville, this gallery is a partnership of six artists and longtime friends (including two sisters). In alphabetical order, we are: Holly Flowers, Mary Berk Gidzinski, Nancy Kline, Patricia Reid, Beth Schmaltz and Jacque Towner. Every item for sale in this gallery is hand made by one of the artists. You’ll find an eclectic bunch–there are fine art mosaics, creative and original textile pieces, watercolors, wearable art, jewelry, repurposed and unique functional items, and much more.
R.H. Ballard Shop & Gallery: Housed in a 1930’s building on Main Street in Washington, VA, since 1996, Ballard’s includes both a beautiful art gallery in its downstairs space as well as an award-winning shop upstairs featuring one-of-a-kind finds, table wares, European & vintage items, women’s accessories, and so much more. Ballards has won many awards and accolades, including “Best Shops in the South” by Southern Living Magazine, “Best Shops in Virginia” from THE SHOPKEEPERS, and in the press in the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine among others. It has also been awarded 5-stars and touted on TripAdvisor by loyal fans and clientele.
Cottage Curator: Cottage Curator is an independent art gallery owned by artist/curator Jackie Bailey Labovitz. As a curator with over thirty years’ experience in organizing art collections for corporations, embassies and public spaces around the world, Jackie now assists residential clients with the purchase and placement of her own art as well as artworks by other local, regional, and nationally recognized fine art and fine craft artists.
Gay Street Gallery: Located in picturesque Washington, Virginia, Gay Street Gallery sits centrally within two blocks of restaurants, shops, entertainment and lodging. An adjacent courtyard makes the perfect place for a picnic lunch, and in the Fall, our outdoor fireplace is a good spot to warm hands! Gay Street Gallery presents the work of select, award-winning artists from Virginia and around the country. With a focus on representational landscape and figurative paintings, the Gallery also shows sculpture and other three-dimensional art, and also hosts exhibitions of contemporary work in various media.
Haley Fine Art: Established in 2000, Haley Fine Art (HFA) presents its collection in Sperryville, Virginia. Ensconced in the Blue Ridge Mountains, HFA provides a quiet natural space for collectors and artists to connect. The gallery offers two to three shows annually, typically on the second Saturday of May, October and December. Decades-long relationships are the norm, Chris Stephens, Robin Purnell, Patton Wilson, Drew Ernst, Michael Fitts, BK Noh, Woody Blackwell, and Tom Mullany are among the artists represented by HFA for more than twenty years. HFA features works sold for each artist on the website—a testament to lifelong commitments.
Hazel River Arts and Antiques: This local gallery and antique shop features the work of several local artists on the Fall Art Tour. The shop and gallery covers over 8,000 square feet and features these artists as well as over 100 dealers, and consignors displaying antique and vintage furniture, home decor, art, rugs, jewelry, collectibles, and much more.
Middle Street Gallery: The Middle Street Gallery is an artist-owned gallery run by its members. It was established in 1983 and is located at 311 Gay Street, Lower Level, facing Main Street & across from Ballard’s in the town of Washington, Virginia. The Gallery’s mission is to support quality and innovation in the arts and to promote its members work. As a non-profit cooperative, it also strives to foster interaction and collaboration among members and non-member artists and the general public. Members’ work includes all aspects of the fine arts: drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, mixed-media, photography; the gallery also embraces new developments in art-making.
SPAC Gallery: Sperryville ARTist Cooperative/SPAC Gallery is an artist-owned studio, gallery and event showcase that features, emerging, and established fine artists, and craftsmen who celebrate the natural beauty and farmland heritage of Virginia’s Piedmont Region. This rustic yet inviting artist-operated gallery exhibits an enticing collection of multidimensional, paintings, mixed media, photography, and art of social commentary. Considered a welcoming center for the River District area, Sperryville ARTist Cooperative, now located inside the Marketplace, Sperryville VA provides visitors with a unique and personal experience.
Thornton River Art is a collaboration of three Rappahannock County artists: Patricia Brennan, Heidi Morf, and Martin Woodard. Located on Main Street in Sperryville, it features the work of 30 local artists.
Here’s what’s happening this month:
Click all images to open them in lightbox.
THORNTON RIVER ART
Kathy Stewart’s Plein Air Paintings
September 1 – September 22, 2024
37C Main Street
Sperryville, VA 22740
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thornton River Art is proud to show Kathy Stewart’s plein air paintings, primarily of the American West, expressive still lifes and evocative portraits.
Kathy grew up in Texas and after a brief stint in a convent, she went to medical school, specializing in oncology. Upon retirement, she attended an intensive four-year studio art school in Philadelphia. After completion, she moved back to Virginia and built her home near Little Washington.
Kathy’s appreciation of the beauty of the human body and her familiarity with anatomy and physiology imbue her portraits with power and authenticity. Her still lifes are remarkable for the interplay of form, light and shadow. Edges are lost and found, forms recede, and her deft use of light creates subtle highlights. Kathy’s expresses her love of the natural world through plein air paintings that distill the environment into magical compositions of light and form.
Call 540-547-7845 for more information
MIDDLE STREET GALLERY
“NATURE COLOR INK AND PAPER”
Fae Penland
September 6 – October 13, 2024
Artist Reception: September 14, 2024, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Middle Street Gallery
311 Gay Street, Lower Level, facing Main Street & across from Ballard’s Gallery
Washington, VA 22747
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
R.H. BALLARD GALLERY
Meg Walsh Plein Air Paintings
R.H. Ballard Gallery
307 Main Street
Washington, VA 22747
Hours: Daily, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
R.H. Ballard Gallery is featuring beautiful new paintings by Meg Walsh, one of their longtime Plein Air artists.
Also this year, during the Fall Art Tour, Ballard’s is having an exhibit of encaustic and oil paintings by a long time Virginia artist, Giselle Gautreau, who will also be doing an Encaustic Demo on Saturday, November 2 from 1pm – 4pm. She will be on site that afternoon to answer questions about her inspirations and work.
Image 1: Meg Walsh paintings in the gallery.
Image 2: Giselle Gautreau’s encaustic paintings in the gallery.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS:
GAY STREET GALLERY
Martin Woodard, Kristen J. Morsches, and Kevin H. Adams
August 10 – October 16, 2024
Artist Reception: August 10, 2024, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Gay Street Gallery
337 Gay Street
Washington VA 22747
540-227-5100
Wednesday-Monday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, or by appointment 540-522-9688
“Sunset Rain” by Martin Woodard
Martin Woodard draws inspiration from the panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains as well as intimate details found along old back roads. The Sperryville-based artist’s oil paintings embrace shapes, colors, shadows, and compelling compositions to provide thoughtful interpretations of nature. “My work is inspired by nature but it is really about a philosophy of life,” Woodard has observed. “I hope to express my belief in the beauty of nature, the goodness of man and the importance of self-awareness. It is eliciting emotions such as joy, sadness, loneliness, security, love or dignity that makes a painting sing with life.”
“Hidden Treasures” by Kristen J. Morsches
Kristen Morsches, who currently lives and works in Evanston, Illinois, formerly was Resident Artist and an instructor at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. Morsches constructs delicate and intricate sculptures in stoneware, porcelain and paper clay. Her work ranges from installations to intense sculpted objects of complex narratives. As she explains, “I draw upon my love of the natural world and everyday objects to hand-build vignettes of experiences that present notions of conflict and change through memories of the passage of time.”
“Smith Island” by Kevin H. Adams
The Gallery also continues to show signed and unsigned oil paintings, watercolors, prints and other “sketches” from the archives of the late Kevin H. Adams, the Gallery’s beloved and much-missed co-founder.
ROSABEL GOODMAN
Rosabel Goodman’s show in France, featuring work from two series, “Doodles in the Dark” and “Falling/Dying Trees.”
August 24 – September 15, 2024
Rosabel will also have lots of new earrings for the Fall Art Tour, a few of which are featured here.