Community News

New exhibits opening at Parkersburg Art Center

PARKERSBURG -- Two exhibits are opening at the Parkersburg Art Center.

The Art Center from 5-7 p.m. Friday will host an opening reception for the "Four West Virginia Regionalists: Depicting Appalachia" featuring art by Tom Acosta, John Coffey, Frederick D. Hays and Robert Walker and for the Ki No Kaze Bonsai Club.

Regionalism is an art term derived from nationalism, a painting style popularized during the depression in the 1930s and 1940s. Artists at the time tended to paint whatever was outside their windows, focused on the hardships and struggles of the times, yet depicted with a sense of pride.

Curator Jose Rizo chose the four artists because he believes their work accurately reflects life in the region.

"This will be perhaps the best show Parkersburg Art Center has this year. Eighty works by four West Virginians who know how to paint," Hays, one of the exhibitors, said "Make your plans now. Thanks to Jose L. Rizo for organizing this one!"

The Four West Virginia Regionalists exhibit will be on display through October.

"From the neon punctuation in Fred Hays' works to the elegant lines in the work by John Coffey, these four artists each have a very different take on life in West Virginia," Abby Hayhurst, artistic director at the Art center, said. "Each of their visions is unique and each is valid."

Also opening on Friday is the living art created by the members of the Ki No Kaze Bonsai Club, a Mid-Ohio Valley group that meets monthly offering one another advice and support.

"Trees from the Ki No Kaze Bonsai club will be featured as living art. Come experience the unique and unusual!" Steve Ritter, a past club president, said.

The Bonsai show will be on display through Sept. 30.

The opening reception is free to Art Center members and those attending the Parkersburg Piccalilli Arts Conference. Cost for the opening reception is $10 for others.

For more information call 304-485-3859 or email info@parkersburgartcenter.org.