STUDIO SALE: Keith Lahti Clay Open Studio

The annual Keith Lahti Clay Open Studio, featuring pottery by Keith Lahti, runs noon to 5 p.m. this Saturday and SUnday,Nov. 11 and 12. There will be a large selection of pottery to choose from, just in time for you to wrap your head around Xmas presents, along with what a press release describes as "plentiful gourmet snacks" (like what, for instance?).

The studio is located in Clay County about 10 minutes from Exit 40 on Interstate 79. Take exit 40, go north on Rt. 16 about 3 miles to Nebo, turn right or east on Nebo-Walker Rd., go 8/10 mile to fork, left up the hill at fork, up and over the hill. The studio will be on the left at the bottom on the other side.

More info: Call 286-2635 or email lahticlay@yahoo,com.

OPENING: "Bob Ross Don't Live Here No More" OVEC Benefit

OPENINGS: The new environmentally-inspired group exhibition, "The Appalachian Landscape: Bob Ross Don’t Live Here No More," opens 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11 at Huntington's Arcade Building, 949 3rd Avenue (across from Pullman Square). MORE INFO: OVEC website

This week-long exhibit benefits OVEC, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, from the sale of any of the artworks. Bob Ross, of course, was the painter with frizzy hair and a soft-spoken manner whose TV programs showed people how to paint pretty landscapes with fluffed clouds, swatches of trees, rolling mountain ranges and tumbling streams. Why then is Bob being used to promote the show? "Art is powerful when used to raise individual consciousness and to sensitize entire communities. It allows us to see the actual landscape, something not seen in a Bob Ross inspired painting," says a press release about the exhibit. Artists were invited to submit three works of art "that address the broad and contested issues, political, social, psychological and spiritual, affecting the Appalachian landscape in our day."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Say goodnight, Blogger

There will be no new posts at thegazz.com lineup of blogs all day Tuesday, Nov. 7 as we switch to a new blogging program. We are abandoning blogger.com and moving to an in-house version of the Word Press blogging program. It's hard to complain about a free program (which blogger.com is) and are thankful blogger.com blogs got us blogging in the first place. But long lulls in fresh posts to our gazzblogs have not always been because of bloggers asleep at the switch. Sometimes, the switch didn't work. We have too often been unable to post for long stretches of time and it went on one time too many. And on the web, no one can hear you scream (which is what I was doing when our blogs were down). Our hope is the new program, hosted on our own servers, will allow is to serve up more frequent content to gazzblogs. Stay tuned.

thegazz.com editor
Douglas Imbrogno

CLOSINGS: Museum in the Community

If you missed this story in Tuesday's Charleston Gazette, here it is: the Museum in the Community in Hurricane has shuttered its doors. Pretty abruptly, too, we hear: the place still contains art exhibits by Dolly Hartman and a fiber arts show. At least one of the artists was locked out of retrieving her artwork when she went to the place. Watch for a follow-up by Gazette reporter Bob Schwarz, probably in the Tuesday, Nov. 7 business section of the Gazette.

Reprinted from the Oct. 31 Charleston Gazette

By Bob Schwarz
Staff writer

The financially ailing Museum in the Community in Valley Park, Hurricane, has closed while its board considers what steps to take next.

"We are currently experiencing a cash flow crunch due to a very difficult year of fundraising," said John Arthur, the immediate past president and designated spokesman in a voice-mail message left Monday evening following a board meeting. "We're very hopeful that our doors will reopen soon."

Arthur said he is grateful for all the support the community has given. "We're basically asking the community - local, county and state governments - to help us with ideas in our time of need."

Burdened by $700,000 in construction debt on the $1.8 million new home it moved into eight years ago, the situation boiled over in early August when board members pushed out executive director Kelli Burns.

Melissa Wober, then a member of the four-person, executive committee and Abby Lyons, both BB&T employees, signed the news release that announced Burns' departure. The museum would become less of an art museum and more of a children’s museum emphasizing all the arts, Wober said over the next few weeks.

She and Arthur both spoke briefly at a wine-tasting which nearly 100 Putnam County residents interested in the museum's future attended at the museum in late August.

Wober said she has left the board, and Lyons is now working for BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C. Board members have not named a new executive director.

The museum's Web site does not appear to have been updated since last spring, when it was promoting watercolor classes for March, April and May, the museum's annual auction May 13, and a "Healing through Creativity" exhibit that was coming up in July.

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.

OPENING: Jude Binder lecture, film and exhibit opens Nov. 17 at state Capitol Complex

Jude Binder will present a lecture and the premiere of her film "Field of Flowers" at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 at the W.Va. State Theater inside the Cultural Center at the state Capitol Complex. Her "Moving Wood" exhibition will be on display in the Balcony Gallery from Nov. 17 through Jan. 7

REVIEW: Allied Artists Exhibition, Parkerburg, WV

Be sure to peer down the gullett of "WV Bone Fish with Trailer" by David Riffle. Photos of artworks by Sandy Fisher

IF YOU GO: The Allied Artists of West Virginia 65th Juried Exhibition, now showing through Nov. 3, at Parkerburg Art Center, 725 Market St. Call(304) 485-3859. Hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tues. to Sat.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

By Sandy Fisher
For thegazz.com

Emerging artists join old-timers like David Riffle, Raymond McNamara, Caryl Toth and Chris Dutch and Robin Hammer at the Allied Artists Juried Exhibition, now showing at the Parkersburg Art Center. Crafts are engagingly displayed near paintings in this show of 67 works chosen from among 166 entries by juror Wallace Hyleck of Berea College. Wallace chose photographs, sculptiures, pottery, prints and acrylics that would usually be too diverse to be placed side by side. Thanks to the professional look of the art center and expert placing of the works, the effect is a seamless round of colors, textures and forms.

Diversity in style is matched by diversity of artists. Two newcomers are Debbie McHenry and Riley A. Vann. McHenry is an attorney and an acrylic artist. She works by trowling on acrylic paint then scratching into the canvas with toothpicks, forks and her own nails. The result is "Where Dreams Increase," a colorful human head-like form from which dreams radiate, textured and hot pink, as delicately as flower tendrils. This is a second Allied Artists show for Vann and his patterned photo "Switches" is a striking work. Everday objects -- in this case something as prosaic as a group of electric light switches -- are given a real depth of meaning.

Young talent gives way to a tried and true professional. David Riffle delivers a mixed-media piece titled "WV Bone Fish with Trailer." This sculpture literally hangs over your head. It's fun to peer into the belly of the fish and see that it has eaten Riffle's trailer. As a retelling of the story of Jonah and the Whale, the work is charming, even as it represents everyday objects we see in West Virginia. The day before seeing the exhibit, I'd spotted a blue heron while walking my dog alongside the Kanawha River and so especially enjoyed the small replica of a heron flying above Riffle's fish. For me, this is part of the joy of viewing works of area artists-- they resonate as I have experienced much that they interpret. Riffle deservedly won an Award of Excellence for his work.

My friends and I from Charleston piled into the car to see this exhibit and then ate dinner on the patio of the Blennerhasset Hotel down the street from the Art Center. The evening was exhilarating and we had fun discussing the art on view. With a show this large, there was much to discuss.

--Sandy Fisher is a Charleston resident.


Despite the diversity of art forms on view, the effect is a seamless round of colors, textures and forms.

OPENINGS: Felix Krasyk, the New York Paintings at UC's Frankenberger Gallery

"River of Dreams," watercolor on paper, 11.5" x 17.5", 1959, by Felix Krasyk

OPENING: "Felix Krasyk: The New York Paintings," opening reception 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 24, Gallery Discussion 6 p.m., at Frankenberger Art Gallery, on 2nd floor, Geary Student Union, University of Charleston. Runs through Nov. 22. Call 357-4795.

By Mark Tobin Moore
Frankenberger Gallery director

"I loved design. I wanted to create my own impressions, like Picasso, and not like Rembrandt or Rubens, who were about naturalism. I wanted to paint abstract impressions of the aura and spirit of a person to show what your eyes don't see." -- Felix Krasyk

In 1952, Felix Krasyk left Charleston, West Virginia, to work and learn textile design in New York City. A year prior to leaving, he won two prizes in the 16th Annual Exhibition of Allied Artists of West Virginia. He'd never before exhibited his work. "My acceptance came only 14 hours before the show, and when 'Passers By' By won first place in the oil paint division, I was more surprised than anyone else," he says.

In New York, he worked at B. Altman's by day and painted at night. He used almost any materials he could find, bought inexpensively, or borrowed from a friend. He usually painted with oils or watercolor on canvas, paper, cardboard, or show card, a poster-like-surface used by commercial sign painters at the time. A large Picasso exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art affected his own paintings for years. There were no art classes available for Krasyk at Charleston Catholic High School; nor were there any art museums in Charleston when he was growing up, so this Picasso exhibition served as a revelation. It freed him to paint without questioning himself. Krasyk attended the Art Student's League briefly upon arriving in New York but felt dissatisfied. "There were just too many rules," he recalls. "I really just loved Picasso's freedom of design. He could take a person and make him look like a balloon, and it was okay."

He cites other influences including European painters like Paul Cezanne, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dali, and American artist Stuart Davis. Cubism and Surrealism had a direct effect on Krasyk's abstractions as well; but there is also a concern for story-telling narratives, including both documentary and fantasy imagery. And he had other motivations. "I painted to keep myself from going nuts. Whenever I went home at night I closed and locked the steel apartment door and it felt like I was in prison. After all, I am a 'country boy' and I missed West Virginia."

In late 1959, Krasyk returned to Charleston to care for his ailing parents. He landed a professional design position at Woodrum's Department Store and some years later became a co-founder of Interior Design, Inc. in Kanawha City. Krasyk never painted again and he has never exhibited these works in public, except for 'Passers By' and 'Cockfight.' It may be said that the works in this exhibition serve as a kind of time capsule of Felix Krasyk's New York experience, as well as a visual diary, perhaps, of a young man's search for himself and his artistic vision for one brief decade.

Off to Zurich goes a Poffenbarger

How much is art worth in West Virginia? Well, if it is the 31" x 47" pastel on paper painting "Winter Stripes" by Susan Poffenbarger (at right), the exact figure is $4,015. And it's headed out of state. To Zurich, to be exact, says Ellie Schaul of The Art Store. We were curious about the painting, which we used in a post below to pump the opening of the store's fall season this past Saturday, featuring nature-inspired works on display by homewoman Poffenbarger and Massachusetts artist Nancy Berlin. Oh, and it cost $300, Schaul says , to ship the work across the Atlantic to its new digs in Switzerland.

-- by Douglas Imbrogno

Clay Sculpture Takes a Bath

The local sculpture some people like, others are indifferent to and some love to hate, "Festival delle Arti," in front of the Clay Center, is going to take a bath. Well, the Clay Center folk are announcing that it will be cleaned, actually, by "metal specialist" Chip Schwartz today and tomorrow.

EVENT: Art Walk, 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, downtown Charleston

The interior of Gallery Eleven, one of the sites on this Thursday's Art Walk in downtown Charleston

Take a walk. Not that kind, this kind-- an Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. this Thurday (oct. 19). The monthly event in downtown Charleston keeps galleries open later, often with beverages and snacks and sometimes performers at hand, along with the art and the craft on display. This Thursday's Art Walk features:

ROGER LUCAS GALLERY: New works by Kemp McElwee, Roger Lucas, Elly Rashid, and Mort Kunstler of landscapes, flowers, abstract, and wildlife. 1031 Quarrier St. Call: 344-2787. Hours: M-F, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Website: www.rogerlucasgallery.com.

SHOWCASE WEST VIRGINIA: "Scenes of West Virginia," featuring photography by Bruce Haley, Thomas Fletcher, Frank Ceravalo, Steve Payne, Moriah Gioulis Scher, Bryan Lemasters, and Betty Rivard. Samples of West Virginia foods will be available during the Art Walk. Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 6, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 906 Quarrier St. Call: 342-8527. Website: www.showcasewv.com.

ANNEX GALLERY TAYLOR BOOKS: New collages by Eric Pardue, figure drawings by Rob Cleland, pastels by Dolly Hartman, oils by James Ferguson, & wood carvings by Charly Hamilton. 226 Capitol St. Call: 342-1461. Website: www.taylorbooks.com

ART EMPORIUM GALLERY: "West Virginia Landscapes" by Betty Rivard, Bruce Haley, Joel Sites, Laura Moul, David Fattaleh, Steven Rotsch, and Clayton Spangler. Artist reception night of ArtWalk 5-8 pm Allied Artists lower level. 823 Quarrier St. Call: 345-2787. Website: www.artemporium.net

GOOD NEWS MOUNTAINEER GARAGE GALLERY: "Bruce Haley's Photographs." 221 1/2 Hale Street. Call: (866) 448-3227. Website: www.goodnewsmountaineergarage.com

GALLERY ELEVEN: Watercolors of Frankie Wheeler capturing the spirit, beauty and nostalgia of Appalachia. A cooperative of 15 artists featuring fine crafts, glass, jewelry and cards. 1033 Quarrier St. Call: 342-0083. Hours: M-Sat, 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. Website: www.galleryeleven.com

ROBERT C. BYRD U.S. COURTHOUSE: "Charleston and Vicinity," with David Fattaleh, Bruce Haley, Robin Hammer, Michael Keller, Thorney Lieberman, Laura Moul, Steve Payne, Betty Rivard, Mark Wolfe and Amy Williams. Hours: M-F 8 to 5 p.m.

OPENINGS: "Wild Wonderful Fibers" at Museum in Community

"Youdoo" voodoo dolls by Amy Williams are among works by more than 15 artists working in fiber, which opened today at Museum in the Community

OPENINGS: "Wild Wonderful Fibers" opens today (Oct. 10) at Putnam County's Museum in the Community. There's an opening reception 1 to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 at the museum, at Valley Park, Hurricane. Call 562-0484

"Wild Wonderful Fibers" is a brief survey of contemporary West Virginia fiber artists that features work by Elaine Bliss, Cyndi Bolt, John Bernatitus, Lynn Creamer, Michael Davis, Susan Feller, Victoria Fergus, Lori Flood, Jane Frenke, Sharon Goeres, Laurie Gundersen, Betty McMullen, Cynthia Myerberg, Liz Nutter, Lisbet Okun, Kim Potter and Amy Williams. The exhibition is the second of six showings throughout West Virginia. Some artists in the show use traditional media such as quilts and rug-hooking, but present their designs in a nontraditional manner, including abstract and expressionism. Others create wearable art that feature creative contemporary designs. Several of the artists use a conceptual or post-modern approach to their pieces.