A 1988 painting of downtown Parkersburg by Williamstown artist Marj Teague. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Two new pop-up exhibits offering visitors a nostalgic look at childhood play and a retrospective of a celebrated regional artist will open on Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center.

Running from Saturday to March 28, the Toy & Doll Museum Pop-Up Exhibit is a collaboration between the Art Center and the Children’s Toy and Doll Museum of Marietta. The show highlights the craftsmanship and history of vintage toys, their role as beloved playthings and detailed works of art.

The display in the Reception Gallery will feature 23 models representing vintage and antique fire trucks from the 1890s through the 1950s. Historical black-and-white photographs, along with images of the Marietta City Fire Department, will provide context and storytelling to accompany the models.

A selection of vintage board games will be included, giving visitors of all ages a chance to recognize familiar favorites and discover long-forgotten classics. The exhibit is family friendly, bridging art, history and nostalgia.

Art Center volunteers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday will help guide visitors and answer questions.

A collection of toys, dolls and board games from the Toy and Doll Museum in Marietta will be on display starting Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. Admission is free through a sponsorship by WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center. (Photo Provided)

All dolls and toys featured in the exhibit are part of the museum’s extensive collection housed at 206 Gilman Ave. in Marietta. The museum offers a glimpse into what entertained and educated children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and will reopen for the season in May.

Opening the same day in the Mezzanine Gallery is “38 Years of Art by Marj Teague,” a retrospective honoring a local West Virginia artist and veteran whose career spans decades.

Marj Teague, based in Williamstown, opened the Marj Teague Art Gallery in 1964 and built a reputation for her oil paintings, particularly her regional scenes. Among her most recognized works are paintings of covered bridges and a notable depiction of the Delta Queen sternwheeler steamboat.

Before establishing herself as an artist, Teague was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps until 1962. She gained national attention through one-person exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Atlantic City and Virginia Beach before moving to West Virginia in 1962.

Teague primarily works in oil paints, focusing on regional, historic and nostalgic subjects such as abandoned oil derricks and Appalachian landscapes. The Art Center’s retrospective will feature oils, mixed media works and prints, with a limited number of pieces available for purchase.

The work of renowned artist Marj Teague is one of two pop-up exhibits opening Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo Provided)

The exhibit is curated by guest curator Dottie Enoch and will remain on view through April.

The exhibits are free and open to the public thanks to the admission sponsorship of WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center. Regular Art Center and Market hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Also on Saturday, the Art Center will host its free community arts day, ArtOrama, and its annual YART Sale.

Twenty-three models of vintage and antique fire trucks along with historical black-and-white photographs and images of the Marietta City Fire Department will be part of the Toy and Doll Museum exhibit opening Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo Provided)

A portrait of a dog by Williamstown artist Marj Teague. Her work will be on display at the Parkersburg Art Center beginning Saturday. (Photo Provided)