VMRC Juried Art Show A Benefit To Residents, Artists, Community
May 29, 2018
By SHELBY MERTENS
Daily News-Record 5/25/18
HARRISONBURG — After jurors sifted through 558 submissions, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community’s 15th annual juried art exhibition is set to showcase 94 pieces from artists across the country.
The work will be on display for five weeks, starting Sunday until June 29 in VMRC’s Park Gables Gallery.
Three jurors selected this year’s pieces based on excellence in design, creativity and technique. The jurors for this year’s show are Scott Jost, the art department chairman at Bridgewater College, Elise Schweitzer, a professor of painting and drawing at Hollins University in Roanoke, and Ronald J. Wyancko, a professor emeritus of art and art history at James Madison University.
Anne Pauley, the director of the exhibit, said the team grouped the pieces into three divisions for the first time this year.
“Fifty-one, a little more than half the show, are painting, drawing and printmaking,” Pauley said. “Then a fourth of the show is photography and digital art. The last fourth is 3D, multimedia and others: some fabrics, some glass, some wood.”
The exhibit includes artists hailing from 20 different states.
Nine of the artists are from Harrisonburg. There are 58 returning artists and 31 artists who are showing their work at Park Gables for the first time, according to Maureen Pearson, the director of public relations and outreach for VMRC.
“One of the reasons why it’s popular is that the artist receives all of the proceeds from their sale,” Pearson said. “When a gallery hosts a show, there’s usually a commission involved to offset expenses for having them show. We don’t do that here. A lot of artists appreciate that.”
The artwork available for purchase ranges in price from $250 to $3,000.
A number of awards will be announced at the reception on June 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. During the exhibit’s opening week, visitors can vote for their favorites after perusing the gallery. The top four Popular Choice Award winners will each receive $250. The jurors will pick a Best in Show piece, which comes with a $1,000
prize; three Best in Division winners, which get $500 each; and an Honorable Mention, which is a $250 prize.
A new award was added this year called the Juror Choice Award, where jurors will choose three pieces that “speak to them in a special way.” The winners will receive $250.
The annual show was started in 2004 as a celebration of VMRC’s 50th anniversary and has since become one of the retirement community’s biggest events.
Having an art gallery in a retirement community can help the 55 and older residents with maintaining cognitive skills, VMRC officials said.
“It is very stimulating,” Pauley said. “The visual images encourage us to slow down, pause and think about something beyond the obvious level. It helps our slowly deteriorating brains to interact with art.”
Pearson said viewing art also benefits the social and emotional wellbeing of all ages.
“I think there’s value for all of the ages,” she said. “Viewing art stimulates intellectual curiosity and conversation, so those are aspects that naturally come out of viewing art, whether it’s the visual arts or listening to a live performance. So, you have social connections through art; you have intellectual engagement; and sometimes emotive. There’s an emotional connection to art in its various forms.
“To have it here for the residents is one benefit for the community who lives here, but the other is that we have a public gallery that has grown through the years. And the juried art show has continued to grow an interest in people coming from different states because of the venue and the awards.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Park Gables building is at 1491 Virginia Ave.
The 15th annual juried art exhibition at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community will be on display at the Park Gables Gallery from Sunday until June 29th.
Daily News-Record 5/25/18
HARRISONBURG — After jurors sifted through 558 submissions, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community’s 15th annual juried art exhibition is set to showcase 94 pieces from artists across the country.
The work will be on display for five weeks, starting Sunday until June 29 in VMRC’s Park Gables Gallery.
Three jurors selected this year’s pieces based on excellence in design, creativity and technique. The jurors for this year’s show are Scott Jost, the art department chairman at Bridgewater College, Elise Schweitzer, a professor of painting and drawing at Hollins University in Roanoke, and Ronald J. Wyancko, a professor emeritus of art and art history at James Madison University.
Anne Pauley, the director of the exhibit, said the team grouped the pieces into three divisions for the first time this year.
“Fifty-one, a little more than half the show, are painting, drawing and printmaking,” Pauley said. “Then a fourth of the show is photography and digital art. The last fourth is 3D, multimedia and others: some fabrics, some glass, some wood.”
The exhibit includes artists hailing from 20 different states.
Nine of the artists are from Harrisonburg. There are 58 returning artists and 31 artists who are showing their work at Park Gables for the first time, according to Maureen Pearson, the director of public relations and outreach for VMRC.
“One of the reasons why it’s popular is that the artist receives all of the proceeds from their sale,” Pearson said. “When a gallery hosts a show, there’s usually a commission involved to offset expenses for having them show. We don’t do that here. A lot of artists appreciate that.”
The artwork available for purchase ranges in price from $250 to $3,000.
A number of awards will be announced at the reception on June 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. During the exhibit’s opening week, visitors can vote for their favorites after perusing the gallery. The top four Popular Choice Award winners will each receive $250. The jurors will pick a Best in Show piece, which comes with a $1,000
prize; three Best in Division winners, which get $500 each; and an Honorable Mention, which is a $250 prize.
A new award was added this year called the Juror Choice Award, where jurors will choose three pieces that “speak to them in a special way.” The winners will receive $250.
The annual show was started in 2004 as a celebration of VMRC’s 50th anniversary and has since become one of the retirement community’s biggest events.
Having an art gallery in a retirement community can help the 55 and older residents with maintaining cognitive skills, VMRC officials said.
“It is very stimulating,” Pauley said. “The visual images encourage us to slow down, pause and think about something beyond the obvious level. It helps our slowly deteriorating brains to interact with art.”
Pearson said viewing art also benefits the social and emotional wellbeing of all ages.
“I think there’s value for all of the ages,” she said. “Viewing art stimulates intellectual curiosity and conversation, so those are aspects that naturally come out of viewing art, whether it’s the visual arts or listening to a live performance. So, you have social connections through art; you have intellectual engagement; and sometimes emotive. There’s an emotional connection to art in its various forms.
“To have it here for the residents is one benefit for the community who lives here, but the other is that we have a public gallery that has grown through the years. And the juried art show has continued to grow an interest in people coming from different states because of the venue and the awards.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Park Gables building is at 1491 Virginia Ave.
The 15th annual juried art exhibition at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community will be on display at the Park Gables Gallery from Sunday until June 29th.
