Artworks around town is proud to host the third Ohio Valley Plein Air Paint Out from Wednesday, September 27th to Sunday, October 1st.  Under the direction of founder Eric Dye, the five day event will feature painting opportunities in four areas of the valley.  Sandscrest, Moundsville, Oglebay and Wheeling are the venues selected for this year.

The Paint Out will begin with a meet and greet session Wednesday evening for registered artists where they will pick up their packets and receive guidelines for the event.  The next four days are set aside for painting outdoors.  The works will be judged by Dr. Yan Sun, Dean of Art at Muskingum University and founder of the Yan Sun Art Museum and Gallery in Zanesville, Ohio.  Cash awards will be presented on Sunday at a public reception beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Artworks.

Dye has been planning for this year’s Paint Out for many months, working tirelessly to make sure all painters will have the best experience possible.  He is a member of Artworks around town and has won numerous awards for his paintings and sculptures. He has been working with students from Marshall County, giving workshops on painting outdoors and encouraging their participation in the Paint Out experience. 

Completed works will be exhibited in the Gallery for the month of October and many will be available for purchase.  Join the artists for a reception on Sunday, October 1st at 2:30 p.m.  During the party, Dr Sun will explain the process he used to determine the awards for each piece.

Sponsors for the 2023 Paint Out are: Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission, Wheeling Ohio County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Moundsville City Council, Gary Dietz Insurance Agency Artworks around town and two anonymous donors.  Artworks around town is a nonprofit art center dedicated to serving the public in the Ohio Valley.  Located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market, the Gallery is open six days a week from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

September’s Gallery Hop ushers in two exhibits at Artworks around town.  Jane Seward’s stunning watercolors are in the Studio Gallery for a second month. Three artists from our Gallery, Sandra Hadsell, Bobbi Priebe and Janet Sheehan, participated in Les Journees des Peintures 2023 in Manchester UK last July.  Their paintings will be presented in the Student Gallery.  The shows will open with a free public reception on Friday, September 1 from 5:30-8 p.m at Artworks in the Centre Market.

Jane Seward’s watercolors have awed visitors to Artworks in the last few weeks.  Her use of light, color and design are amazing and worth a visit to the Gallery this month.  Living near the woods that have inspired much of her work, Seward has absorbed the atmosphere around her and successfully transferred it to paper so vividly, we feel we are beside her as she walks. 

Janet Sheehan, Sandra Hadsell and Bobbi Priebe traveled to Manchester, UK in July to participate in an international group of painters who gather every few years to paint for a week in a different host country.  Painters from the United States, Switzerland, France and the UK capture local scenes of churches, farms and historic buildings.  Visiting painters stay with host families between painting sessions.  Finished works are exhibited after each day’s session and at the end of the week.  Wheeling artists hosted the previous gathering a few years ago.

Artworks around town is sponsoring it’s own plain air event.  The Ohio Valley Paint Out is scheduled from September 27 until October 1. 2023.  Based at Artworks, scenes to be painted include Sandscrest, Moundsville, Oglebay and Wheeling.  Details at the Gallery or on line: artworksaroundtown.com.

Artworks is hosting a Critique on Saturday, September 2nd at the Gallery in Centre Market at noon.  Bobbi Priebe and Greg Siegwart lead this informal gathering of artists with their finished works or those in progress.  Helpful hints are shared in a relaxed, judgment-free atmosphere.  These meetings take place every three months.  Artworks is a non profit gallery and education center serving the community in promoting fine art.  Open six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 am. until 5:30 p.m.  Artworks welcomes qualified new members.  Please stop by the desk for information or go to the website: artworksaroundtown.com for information and an application.

Artworks is pleased to host author Cindy L. Johnson as she launches her new fiction work,  “Hiding”.  A reception and book signing will be held in the Gallery at Artworks Around Town on Saturday July 29, 2023 at 7 p.m.  The event is free and open to the public.  A special guest will be WVU’s Mountaineer.

Johnson’s first volume is part of a trilogy.  She is currently working on the second one, titled “Hunting”.  “Healing” will be the last in the series.  The first book deals with New York City lawyer Camilla S. Kennedy’s involvement with a man whose power and control eventually force her to escape to her home in West Virginia.  As the back cover of the book states, “She was going home to the hollow. The place she left over twenty years ago.  Now was the time for Hiding”.

 “It’s not based on anybody I know.  It wasn’t a story that I set out to write.  It just came tumbling out”, Johnson stated in an interview recently.  Her character’s home is Pocahontas County in West Virginia.  The trilogy promises to be a good read for all and especially those who love the state, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.

The reception and book signing will take place in the Gallery of Artworks Around Town, located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market.  All are welcome to meet the author, Cindy L. Johnson, purchase her book and have it signed, enjoy some cake and meet WVU’s Mountaineer.

Artworks is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibit for April is an exciting body of work by the students of member artist, Greg Siegwart.  The show will open with a free, public Gallery Hop on Friday April 7 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.  This will be a great time to meet and celebrate these talented artists.

Siegwart teaches at Artworks around town and Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Center as well as holding private lessons in his home.  Teaching for about 15 years, Siegwart specializes in oil and acrylic instruction.  His students range in age from 10 to 81 years of age.  Still life studies as well as landscapes make up most of the paintings.  All are framed beautifully and many are for sale.

Artists participating are: Laura Armstrong, David Bartsch, Sammy Jo Buchanan, Cheryl Childers, Asher Chao, Diana Diosi, Donna Hirauk, Bill Kent, Sandy Kent, Janet Metzner, Sue Milhern, Audrey Moore, Ashley Otto, Linda Porter, Jeannie Schmitt, Zoe Vickers, Connie Young and Macey Zambori.

Siegwart’s primary goal “is to teach an understanding of what the materials do and how to use them.”  That is the technical part, helping each artist find their style and vision is different and Siegwart strives to guide them on that journey.  He is a long standing member of Artworks, is on the Board of Directors and co-hosts the popular “Critique” with Bobbi Priebe every three months at the Gallery.

One of the students is presenting the very first painting she ever completed.  Sammy Jo Buchanan’s “Tumbleweed” is straightforward and colorful.  There is a husband and wife team who have several works each in the exhibit.  Another very young student is showing three of her paintings.  All the artists have every reason to be proud of their works and of their teacher.

Artworks is a non-profit fine arts Gallery located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market, open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with Fridays extended until 6 p.m.  Over twenty artists have original work for sale.  Various workshops and classes are available every week.  Those interested in joining Artworks are invited to ask at the desk for an application or go to the website: http://www.artworksaroundtown.com.

Visitors to Artworks Around Town in March will be treated to two exhibits in the Studio Gallery.  Oglebay Institute sponsored, “Ceramics Takeover Wheeling 23” and James Luke’s “Images of the Cosmos” will be displayed for the month beginning Friday March 3, 2023, with a festive Gallery Hop from 5:30 to 8 p.m.  The reception is free and open to the public.

Artworks is honored to participate in the citywide “Ceramics Takeover”. One of six sites in the area exhibiting works done by nationally known ceramists, the Gallery  will feature creations by Bo Bedilion, Betsy Cox and Tom Thomas.  According to Oglebay Institute, the Takeover is “ a citywide event that will celebrate ceramic artists and clay enthusiasts alike”.

Bo Bedilion has been an Associate Professor at Columbia College in Kansas since 2010.  He received his MFA in Ceramics from Kansas State University and his BA in Art from California University of Pennsylvania.  He states,
“Making pottery satisfied my desire to create useful objects with my hands. … I strive to manifest visual representations of loosely held memories, while retaining the structural integrity of a well-made pot.”  He is an active potter and exhibits his work both regionally and nationally.

Betsy Cox is an award winning ceramic artist who has been creating treasures in clay for over 27 years.  She works in various styles with a concentration in primitive types of firings, including wood, Raku, pit and Saggar.  Her love of archeology has had a profound impact on her styles, shapes and surfaces.  Her works can be found in numerous private and corporate collections. Cox has participated in solo, group and invitational exhibitions and has been featured in many publications. 

Tom Thomas has experimented in several mediums but clay is the one he has preferred to work in for the past eight years.  He states, “Clay has allowed me to express and illustrate my impressions of our world.”  The majority of his creations are hand built, starting from a rolled out slab, ultimately creating a unique piece of art which will be pleasing and enjoyed by others.

If you have not had the opportunity to see James Luke’s stunning metal prints of nebulae and planets, visit this month because they will adorn the walls of the Gallery until the end of March.  Come to the Market, have coffee and see and purchase original works of over twenty local artists. Artworks Around Town is a non profit fine arts gallery located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market, open six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.  Anyone interested in joining Artworks, visit the website: www.artworksaroundtown.com for information and an application.

Visitors to Artworks Around Town in February will experience one of the most exciting exhibits the Gallery has hosted.  Astrophotographer, James Luke will be displaying 24 metal photographic prints of deep space in the exhibit he has titled, “Images of the Cosmos”.  The show will open with a Gallery Hop on Friday, February 3rd, from 5:30 until 8 p.m. in the Centre Market.  The event is free and open to the public and is a great opportunity to meet this talented photographer.

James received his first telescope when he was just 11 years old.  His study of the universe had to be put on hold when he finished high school but his love of the subject was rekindled when he served on active duty while he was in his mid-thirties.  

In September of 2012, he purchased his first Orion 10-inch telescope along with a web camera.  James states “My first night observing the skies would mark the beginning of my passion for deep space photography.”  He grew in appreciation of celestial bodies as his technical skills were honed in astrophotography and post-processing.  

His passion is evident in his meticulous presentation of the work he has produced.  James has held presentations and talks on astrophotography as well as publishing some of his best images.  James said in his biography, “I’m particularly grateful for the opportunity to exhibit some of my best work yet with Artworks Around Town Gallery”. 

Artworks Around Town is a non-profit fine arts gallery located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market and is open six days a week from Monday through Saturday from ten a.m. until five thirty p.m.  Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Gallery, please access the website at artworksaroundtown.com for details and an application form.