It’s a “Matter of the Heart”

The Arts Council of the Valley proudly presents mixed media work by Sam Hunter. The show opens Friday, November 6th from 5-7pm. There will be complimentary appetizers and beverages for the public to enjoy while viewing the challenging work of this candid artist. The variety of mediums and styles not only engages the audience but also reflects the array of issues discussed in these pieces.

“Matters of the Heart” is a series of drawings and garments that discuss the delicate and complex nature of the human health condition. In May 2008, Hunter had a heart attack that disrupted her life and consequently her art. This body of work is an exploration of her heart and her ongoing health concerns. Hunter explains, “These works are about trying to understand and assimilate the new identity that my health has insisted I create.” She chose to design fabric garments, intentionally making them appear wearable. This signifies her ownership of the emotions in response to the heart attack and the resulting quality of life.

HDR, City Give $16K to Beautify Downtown

he sixth year of the Downtown Façade Enhancement Grants will benefit twelve businesses.  Thanks to a collaborative effort between the City of Harrisonburg’s Department of Economic Development and the Economic Development Committee of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, these façade enhancement projects will improve the appearance of downtown as well as the value of the businesses and buildings in the district.

“These grant awards encourage significant private investment and create a domino effect in property improvement downtown,” says Eddie Bumbaugh, Executive Director of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance.  Recipients of the 2009 Façade Enhancement Grants include:

Local Chop and Grill House – $1,500

AC Studio Suites – $2,500

Asbury United Methodist Church – $500

Wetsel Complex, LLC     – $5,000

Virginia Quilt Museum – $400

The Yellow Button – $500

OASIS Art Gallery – $750

On the Turtle’s Back, LLC – $750

Granny Longlegs – $500

Franklin’s Café – $1500

Cat’s Cradle – $200

Arts Council of the Valley – $2000

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Façade Enhancement Grants. Twelve businesses, organizations and property owners will receive awards totaling $16,000 for exterior paint, signs, awnings and other beautification projects. These façade enhancement projects will improve the appearance of downtown as well as the value of the businesses and buildings in the district.

Now in its sixth year, the Façade Enhancement Grants are made possible through a collaborative effort between the City of Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance. As a member-supported non-profit organization, HDR is grateful to our donors for making this program possible. Past grant awards have been used to enhance or renovate the exterior of buildings containing businesses such as Clementine, You Made It!, Blue Nile Ethiopian Cuisine and Cally’s Restaurant & Brewing Co.

Map for Oct. 2 Museum and Gallery Walk

Time again for the Museum and Gallery Walk! The fall 2009 event will take place from  5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, October 2 and everyone is invited to enjoy free art, music, dance and more. Highlights of this fall’s walk include Block Party in the ‘Burg battle of the bands and several stops at new downtown establishments including Madison Interiors, The Gaines Group, Harrisonburg League of Therapists, and Zion Gate Center for Positive Living. Download the map here, or keep reading for the list of exhibits and links to artists.

From Sea to Shining Sea: Bob Anderson’s “American Landscapes” at Darrin-McHone Gallery

The Arts Council of the Valley presents “American Landscapes” by Bob Anderson to the Harrisonburg community. As part of First Fridays Downtown, the show opens on September 4th from 5-7pm at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House at 311 South Main Street. There will be complimentary food and beverages for the public to enjoy as they savor the breath-taking landscapes of this accomplished painter.

New Window Art for One Court Square

Dear Eddie: I notice several new posters on buildings around downtown and new art on the One Court Square building. Can you tell me more about these projects and how they came about?

Blue and gold signs indicate businesses opening soon

From time to time Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance receives suggestions from downtown business people or the general public that can lead to positive changes. Barton Mercer, co-owner of Madison Interiors, commented that occasionally visitors to downtown see vacant buildings and assume there are no plans for occupancy. This led to HDR producing five attractive blue and gold signs announcing the plans for five new businesses to fill existing downtown space. Look for signs in the windows of Union Station, Pennybackers, Beyond, Polished*, and Digital Phenom, with additional signs for new businesses expected to be added soon.

Downtown’s All A-Twitter

Here’s a running list of downtown-related businesses and organizations now using Twitter:

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance: DowntownHburg
HDR’s Twitter feed is the best way to stay informed or get reminders of events. Miss the antique milk truck exhibit? Got to Court Square Friday only to find out Fridays on the Square was moved to the Turner Pavilion? You wouldn’t have if you were following us on Twitter.

Arts Council of the Valley: HarrisonburgArt
Keep up-to-date on arts related news and events downtown, including gallery exhibits, movies and live concerts, and First Fridays.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: BBBSHR
The Harrisonburg branch of this non-profit located near on High Street is a great source for family-friendly events both downtown and beyond. Also interesting RTs on articles related to child development.

Blue Nile Ethiopian Cuisine: The_Blue_Nile
All locals in-the-know have Blue Nile near the top of the list of nighttime haunts, or at least they should. Unfortunately, their Twitter feed hasn’t had an update for months, but used more regularly, this would be a great place for finding info on upcoming shows.

Blue Ridge Design Studio: blueridgedesign
Randall Seitz, co-owner of this downtown architect firm, has a Twitter page that is a bit difficult to describe…much like Twitter itself. Find photos, interesting articles (some even related to architecture!) and a few random musings in the mix.

By the Side of the Road B&B: HburgVaBandB
By the Side of the Road is one of Harrisonburg’s three B&Bs, all located near downtown. Owner Janice Fitzgerald keeps her page fed with room specials tied to local events, but also tweets about the day to day trials and joys of owning a bed and breakfast.

Chaz Evans-Haywood: ClerkChaz
Follow the Rockingham County Clerk of Court as he tweets from his office in the Court House. It’s actually more interesting than it sounds; Chaz lives a busy life, from traveling to Peru to volunteer in an orphanage to kissing a cow in the name of cancer research.

Daily News-Record: DNRonline
Kudos for the local paper for joining Twitter! Though so far the DNR is only re-tweeting content from its web page, breaking news is also posted here, so there’s a possibility you may see breaking headlines first on Twitter before you check DNRonline.com.

DIGICO: ShootPostDesign
The owners of this video production company tweet about cool projects they are working on, downtown sights from their vantage point on E. Market Street, and construction updates on their future site on Water Street, next door to the Free Clinic.

The Gaines Group: G2Architecture
Architecture and design firm The Gaines Group “gets” Twitter in a way that 98% of other Twitter-ers don’t. RTs of downtown news, words of wisdom, articles on green building (the company’s specialty), and the occasional tweet on Twitter’s most fundamental question, “what are you doing?” are all there for you to follow.

hburgnews: hburgnews
The micro-blog of hburgnews, the forum for news and all things Harrisonburg, often features downtown happenings, observations, and recaps of business from the city municipal building (which is of course located downtown).

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint: JackBrownsJoint
Downtown’s newest restaurant stays jam packed almost all the time, thanks to its intimate size, reasonable prices and good food. Its tweets are much like their burgers: meaty and to the point.

Joshua Wilton House: WiltonHouse
Chef Mark Newsome’s decision to tweet from the Wilton House kitchen is what inspired this blog post. Anyone who has ever wanted to get into the mind of a chef in an upscale restaurant, or anyone who loves gourmet food from fresh ingredients, should definitely become a follower.

Kai Degner: KaiDegner
Harrisonburg’s young major is undoubtedly the most plugged-in of all time. He ran on a pro-downtown platform, and his tweets show it.

Kline’s Dairy Bar: Klines_DairyBar
Never miss another weekly flavor forecast from Kline’s! Need we say more? I think not.

Rosetta Stone: rosettastone
Rosetta Stone is practically a household name in the US, so it follows that they get way more action on their Twitter page than anyone else on this list. The company stationed in downtown Harrisonburg uses their account to respond to fans and product users from around the nation (turns out #jason_mraz is using their software to learn Spanish).

Sancar Flats/Liskey Building: SJDonuts
SJDonuts is the business name of the developer working to restore the Sancar building on West Rock and the Liskey building on South Main (the red building that houses the Harrisonburg Beauty School). It’s a personal Twitter account, but one that includes construction pictures from inside the buildings and peaks of the completed rental units.

Travel Counsellors: TCItravel
Yes, that is an acceptable spelling variant of “counselors.” I think it’s British. The TCI folks (in a new location on West Market Street) are so well travelled, it makes sense they would bring some European flair to the party. Their Twitter updates include their latest special package deals and rates, travel advice, and general greetings to their followers.

WHSV-TV3: WHSVnews
Much easier to follow than TV-3’s web page, a tweet from an hour ago from the station located off Court Square involved the increasing popularity of farmers markets. We like that.

The Yellow Button: TheYellowButton
What happens when we say the following: Shoes! Designer Handbags! Sales! Did your heart just skip a beat? Do the words “Lucky” and “Free People” conjure up images of fabulous fabrics and stylish clothes rather than leprechauns and the Revolutionary War? If so, get thee to The Yellow Button, re-tweeting entries from their blog on a regular basis.

Ann Cheeks at Darrin-McHone Gallery in August

The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens August 7th from 5-7pm. There will complimentary food and beverages for the public to enjoy while exploring the landscape, seascape and forest paintings. The pleasant use of color and texture encourages the viewer to simply look and appreciate the beauty in each piece.

The subject matter for Cheeks’ body of work is overlooked places and moments in nature. Cheeks explains that the places which she chooses to paint “calm and bring me back to what is real and important in the world”. The tranquil and often cathartic images reflect the elegance in nature and the power of existence itself. Moved by “the heat of the sun, the roar of the ocean, and the smell of the earth,” Cheeks creates paintings of places where one can “just be”. Although her subject matter may be simple, her method is surely not simplistic.

The large-scale paintings are mixed media, including acrylic, fabric and pastel. Cheeks’ technique for her paintings speaks to her personal experience and her past. Originally, Cheeks created traditional quilts but felt that the process for patchwork, appliqué and quilting stitches not only took too long but also resulted in pieces that were too stiff. She began to experiment, leading to the development of the technique she currently uses. In the body of work at the Smith House, the paintings are created by first making a loose painting on stretched canvas. Next she proceeds to add fabric to the foreground and finishes by adding in details with pastels. The variety of media adds interest to each painting as the viewer can observe the texture and depth in her work.

Cheeks, a Charlottesville resident, has a variety of experiences, both professional and personal, that have developed her skills and interests. After receiving her B.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University, she worked in Washington D.C. for a few years as a graphic designer. Cheeks then transitioned to mainly working as a freelance designer. Cheeks returned to her art and began teaching art to others after she took a pause while raising her two sons. Her work has been in solo and group exhibitions in The Nature Gallery at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, The Women’s Institute and Gallery in New Harmony, Indiana and Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia. The National Institutes of Health, University of Virginia Cancer Center and the Martha Jefferson Hospital Women’s Center have all purchased work by Cheeks.  The restful and graceful quality of her paintings is evidenced in the buying of work by these health centers that seek to bring a sense of repose to their patients.

As a member of the McGuffey Art Center, Cheeks has served with this co-operative art center on the executive committee. She coordinated community outreach projects, such as “Planet Art” and “the Holiday Open House.” Cheeks also volunteered during the past year and a half on “Forest Discoveries”, an intense program that joined art and science for two Boys & Girls Clubs, culminating in a professional show at the McGuffey Art Center. Recently Cheeks has returned to her graphic design background as the need for clear communication grows. Apparent in her life of service, she has worked to make art accessible to many people. The Arts Council of the Valley is pleased to be showing her paintings and supporting the work of this community-oriented artist.

The Arts Council of the Valley’s monthly exhibitions are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.  For more information, please visit www.ValleyArts.org or call 540-801-8779.

The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House at 311 South Main Street. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens August 7th from 5-7pm. There will complimentary food and beverages for the public to enjoy while exploring the landscape, seascape and forest paintings. The pleasant use of color and texture encourages the viewer to simply look and appreciate the beauty in each piece.

Lynda Bostrom featured at Darrin-McHone Art Gallery (Smith House)

From the Daily News-Record, posted 2009-06-25:

The Arts Council of the Valley will host the work of Lynda Bostrom at the Darrin-McHone Art Gallery at 311 S. Main St. In conjunction with First Fridays Downtown, the show opens from 5-7 p.m. on July 3.

The exhibition includes works from “Loss and Learning” and “Conversations and Speech.” Through ceremonial pieces and large paintings, Bostrom’s art reveals her per-sonal life and inspirations while communicating in a universal manner, organizers say.

A visual artist from the Tampa Bay area, Bostrom graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., before working as the Chief Exhibitions Coordinator of the Art Center of Sarasota.

Bostrom brings a new perspective to the Shenandoah Valley with her unique upbringing and wide range of celebrated skills. Though it is her visual art that will be showcased at the Smith House, Bostrom is also a talented musician with her own album “The Trees Knees and Pretending” (Arkain Records, Richmond).

For more information on exhibitions or the First Fridays Downtown initiative, visit www.ValleyArts.org or call 801-8779.

“The Nest” to Open in Downtown Harrisonburg

At least one new business plans to take up roost downtown this Spring.  Opening in April, The Nest will offer high-end studio photography from the top floors of the Houck Building on Main Street (next to the Bank of America Building), which also houses Blue Ridge Design Studio and Eugene Stoltzfus Architects.

High-end studio photography? What’s that?

The Nest photographers/owners Rebekah Girvan Budnikas and Katie Stoops seek to offer a different choice to families and couples looking to document their lives through photographs. Like many, I remember Family Photo Day as a grueling affair where we all hiked to the mall dressed in matching outfits, posed unnaturally close together and were punished for not smiling at the right moment and ruining the shot. The only consolation was that Family Photo Day, like visiting the dentist, only happened once a year.

At The Nest, the process will be much more relaxed, and the product is art with you as the subject. Seeing is believing: check out Budnikas’ wedding and family portfolio here and Stoops’ wedding portfolio here. If their work looks very different from the posed studio shots you remember from your childhood, it’s because it is.

Photo by Katie Stoops, Open Air Photography (skyelark2.bigfolioblog.com)

Why Downtown? The Houck Tannery

Perched on the uppermost floors of one of the tallest buildings downtown, when it opens The Nest will already come with an old soul. The building housing the studio served as the Houck Tannery from 1870 to the 1920s – hooks used in the process of turning hides into leather still hang from the ceiling. Read more about the Houck Tannery in this recent article in eightyone magazine.

Photo by Rebekah Girvan Budnikas (rebekahgirvan.blogspot.com)

The decision to open downtown, especially in these economic times, was a calculated risk on the part of the owners, but being artists, was not without some romance. Says Budnikas, they wanted The Nest to be downtown in order to share their creative space with the community.  At their open house on Friday, April 17, they plan to display photographs of famous local characters, including quotes from the subjects ruminating about downtown.  You can suggest people to be included in the “Faces of Downtown” project here on this blog (Too late – I’ve already nominated Eddie Bumbaugh).  Opening night will also include a photo booth where members of the public can take photos of themselves with various props, and the owners are already anticipating participating in the Spring and Fall Museum and Gallery Walks, hosted by Arts Council of the Valley.

“[The Art Walk] is a great opportunity to meet other people who are interested in the arts,” says Budnikas. “There’s no other hub for that in town.”

Arts Council Names New Director

From the Daily News-Record:

Valley Arts Council Taps New Director
Posted 2009-01-26
By Jeremy Hunt

HARRISONBURG – Cecilia Carter Browne was drawn to the city’s downtown.

When she found out she was in the running to take the helm at the Arts Council of the Valley, Carter Browne explored Harrisonburg and found the downtown to have the right combination of design, ambience, culture and history.

“There’s something about the downtown area that has a really good feeling to it,” she said. “This place has something special.”

The arts council board apparently had a good feeling about Carter Browne too. They hired her and last week, Carter Browne began settling into her post as the Arts Council of the Valley’s new executive director.

The council, a nonprofit organization that supports the arts in the Valley through grants, fundraising and other means, was founded in 2001.
She succeeds Kai Degner, the new city mayor, who left the position to work at the Community Mediation Center.

Carter Browne has a bachelor’s in art and art history from the University of Texas and a master’s in museum studies and marketing from Texas Tech University.

In 2001, the Texas Tech University system hired Carter Browne to launch a public art program for its campuses.

In 2006, it was named one of the top 10 university public art programs in the U.S. by Public Art Review, a journal devoted exclusively to the field.

Since taking the job at ACV, Carter Browne has been splitting her time between Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, where her husband works at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Carter Browne says she’s been getting familiar with ACV, reading through past strategic plans and meeting board and community members.

“I’m sort of in an orientation phase right now,” she said.

Her varied experience working with museums, theaters and visual art made her a “perfect fit” for ACV, said Ann Menefee, president of the board of directors.

“We see her as a leader with the expertise and the vision for enhancing the cultural opportunities we have here,” Menefee said.

Carter Browne credited the council’s previous directors for building a strong program, and she wants to take it to the next level.
“I’m looking forward to taking the Arts Council to another step in its journey and developing it further,” she said. “I am enthusiastic and passionate about this opportunity.”