PARKERSBURG - Art lovers came out Sunday for the opening of three exhibits at the Parkersburg Art Center.
The largest of the events is the ninth West Virginia Art and Craft Guild Biennial Juried Exhibition, said Abby Hayhurst, executive director of the center.
"This is a pretty prestigious organization and each piece goes through a stringent jurying process," Hayhurst said. "We are proud to show the 75 winning pieces and every single one of them is wonderful."
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Julian Siefeit, 9, of Vienna, looks at one of the Artist-Trees to find items during Sunday’s opening of three exhibits at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo by Jolene Craig)
The West Virginia Art and Craft Guild is a nonprofit membership organization formed in 1963 by people determined to preserve and promote the creative lifestyle in West Virginia. Its projects include workshops, a craft marketing program, co-sponsorship of the Mountain State Art and Craft Fair at Ripley and the juried exhibition.
The show will remain in the art center through Dec. 31. at which time it will move to Wheeling for a months-long exhibition.
"This is really one of my favorite shows," Hayhurst said.
In the Ebsenshade Gallery, the Marietta Calligraphy Society opened its exhibit Sunday of many pieces of writing art.
"I brought calligraphy to this area in the early 1980s when I moved to teach at Marietta College," said Jeanne Tasse, chief scribe of the organization. "This is our 31st year and to celebrate we decided to have this show."
Tasse said the group has a show every other year to share what its members do with the community.
"I am extremely proud of what everyone has done," she said. "Each member has done tremendous work."
"It's an old and marvelous art that needs to be preserved," Hayhurst said of the calligraphy exhibit.
The third exhibit to open Sunday was the art center's own Artist-Trees, which involved art center volunteers decorating trees based on themes taken from famous paintings and other works of art.
"They started to be our interpretations of famous works of art as Christmas trees and they have just grown," Hayhurst said.
Each year the center tries to have five or six new trees with favorites brought out. This year the event includes 10 new trees.
"They are just something we do that the community seems to truly love and have fun with," Hayhurst added.
