Winter is approaching. Soon days will be short and nights long. We are inviting our guests to go up in the attic and dust off their scariest Halloween get-up and join us for the 4^th Friday reception and opening of new exhibits from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. It’s not all scary stuff, as we are also inviting children to an artful scavenger hunt. Wear a costume and you will be entered in a drawing for the door-prize. Exhibits include What Once Was, Still Is, Just Different by Joshua Leland Yurges, The Altar America Project, Textile Tales of Interiors by Sarah Wiley and Dark Art—an all-media juried show.

The exhibits continue through November 10, 2024.  Joshua Leland Yurges’ exhibit continues through November 16, 2024. The event is free and open to the public.  Don’t forget, parking is also free. Come and join us for a night of art and celebration. Then have dinner at one of the restaurants in Manchester.

Exhibits October 25 – November 16, 2024

What Once Was, Still Is, Just Different by Joshua Leland Yurges

Think about it. Everything that ever was on earth is still here—fascinating.   The 130-140 million people born each year—all matter, changing shape—a constant evolution of material.

Joshua Leland Yurges asks us to consider two stories in his life: a young person working with his dad, everyday learning carpentry—the tools, the wood.  Then 20 years later, working at Whole Foods—in the prepared food department baking bread in hotel pans and baking sheets.

A lady I worked with wanted the food to be cut in the pans the same way, every time, by everyone. After a few people failed to follow verbal direction, she drew a diagram for all employees to view and initial. Three cuts down, seven cuts across. 32 evenly cut pieces, every time. And this was the beginning of a series “32 Pieces of Pie” that I am still trying to get right 11 years later. 

Yurges cites these instances because they both help feed his desire to create work that has a repetitive act. He enjoys the meditative process of pattern in the many ways it can manifest; stripes, a series of boxes, making the same cut five hundred times in a row. Life is always providing material and ideas for me to use and expand upon. It is my job to see the spark, make the connection, and explore what could be. Never stop being curious. The exhibit will be in the Jane Sandelin Gallery.

DARK ART ALL MEDIA ART SHOW

This exhibit is a focal point of all Art Works’ openings. It is a juried show with cash prizes and is open to all artists and all mediums.

The theme is “dark art”. After all it is Halloween, and a spooky exhibit seems fitting. The juror will be Noah Scalin. Learn more about the juror by visiting his website: Click here.

Call for entries is September 15^th – October 14, 2024. Submit your entries through our online form. Check our website for details on submitting your artwork: Call for Entries. 

The exhibit will be in the Skylight Gallery.

Textile Tales of Interiors by Sarah Wiley

With a passion for interior design and all things miniature, Sarah Wiley brings these interests together and creates rooms in miniature. Wiley is a self-taught artist, both in her former career in interior design and now in textile art. Using a machine’s process, when drawing a scene, it must be created sequentially, even though the original design on paper and pen is not in that order. Using an embroidery machine, Wiley creates the image, layer by layer. By repurposing interior design memo samples and used fabrics, she creates a composition. The details build slowly as she assembles, chooses, and places each successive piece of fabric. With a keen eye for detail, she takes special care to drape the fold of a curtain or to stuff a cushion.

Textile Tales of Interiors invites viewers to explore the combination of art and interior design through the medium of fabric. This art show celebrates the beauty, creativity, and versatility of textiles as they transform ordinary rooms into extraordinary spaces. Each piece on display offers a unique interpretation of an interior, highlighting the rich colors, textures, and patterns that textiles bring to our living spaces. The exhibit will be in the Corner Gallery.

The Altar America Project

More than an art show, this is a festival of cross-cultural ancestor remembrance celebration inspired by Dia de los Muertos and many other ancestor remembrance celebrations from around the world.

Join us for the 3^rd annual Altar America Project exhibit. We have invited artists to submit proposals for altar creations of all sorts. And we encourage artists who have created altars for the previous exhibits to create new altars or to expand and/or change their current altars. This year CRIMEBABIES will be presenting an AI interactive altar.

Cultures worldwide have numerous ancestor remembrance traditions, but America does not, particularly because American ethnocide has not wanted people of color to collectively gather, remember their past, and retell their stories. Ethnocide is the destruction of culture while keeping the people. Art Works issued an altars call-for-entries for this exhibit to create altars. The aim is for the greater RVA community to see these examples, and become inspired to engage in their own, culturally relevant acts of remembrance. This exhibit will be in the Port and Centre Galleries.

The exhibit opens on October 25^th.  Then on November 3^rd, the Altars Festival RVA 2024 will be held at Art Works and is a collaboration with The Sustainable Culture Lab, Philanthropy Journal. The Altar America Project and festivals counter ethnocide by empowering people to remember, sustain, and celebrate their culture, while also providing a safe communal space for coping with the generational trauma and loss brought on by American ethnocide.