Community News

Parkersburg Art Center ready to open Artistic Buffet

PARKERSBURG -- A new exhibit will be opening at the Parkersburg Art Center on Friday with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. entitled "The Artistic Buffet" featuring the work of two women artists who call West Virginia their home.

Jerre Watkins is a native of Oklahoma but has made her home in Cross Lanes. Watkins has a background in interior design. She entered the field of fine art in 1981, and has studied with many nationally known artists. She completed her MA degree in Fine Arts/Painting at Marshall University in 1995. Her paintings have won numerous awards and hang in many collections in West Virginia and other states.

Her works are usually inspired by nature with a strong emphasis on composition and design. Using her photographs as references, Watkins does a contour drawing of shapes focusing on including and often exaggerating the complex variations nature has to offer. The entire process is aimed at communicating a personal statement of the artist's feeling for the spirit of nature.

Sandra King's work is also inspired by nature and her immediate surroundings, be it the arrangement of multi-colored roses in her garden, her family farm, the forest, mountains, rivers and streams that surround her Clay County, W.Va., home.

Many of her works reflect a longing to have a simpler life style on the river.

Her style has been classified as "modern realist" which are paintings inspired by nature, imbued with intense color and exaggerated spaces. Her paintings are a result of direct observation and her unique personal vision. Her emotions, life experiences, fantasies and dreams are revealed in her oil and pastel works.

"'The Artistic Buffet' is a very appropriate title for this exhibit because there is really something for everyone's taste and there is A LOT of it! This is one of our biggest shows in years!" said Abby Hayhurst, PAC Artistic Director. "Sandra and Jerre have both created works that feature West Virginia's beauty and serenity as well as pieces that are vibrant abstractions. These works are for sale at very reasonable prices. This is a great opportunity to breathe new life into your home or office with the purchase of some original, regional art created by these two women of West Virginia."

The PAC Exhibit opening reception on Friday cost $10 to attend but is free to Art Center members and children 12 and under. Hor d'oeuvres and refreshments will be available.

The exhibit will remain on display through June 23 and can be viewed Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular entry to the Art Center is free in 2023 thanks to the sponsorship of WVU Medicine Camden Clark.

The Parkersburg Art Center is located at 725 Market St. in downtown Parkersburg at the corner of Market and Eighth streets with ample parking in the lots along Eighth Street between Market and Juliana. Find out more about the Art Center on Facebook, Instagram or the website www.parkersburgartcenter.org.