AHACC Annual Fall Festival Art Exhibit participants and winners announced

The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is pleased to announce to announce the participants and winners for the 2023 Fall Festival Art Exhibit currently on display in the Center’s Gallery at 439 E Ridgeway St. Clifton Forge. The Annual Fall Festival Art Exhibit opened at noon on Friday, October 20 with 124 entries from 45 artists from 3 states.  Work was arranged in 8 media categories. Admission to the Center and exhibit is free to the public during the from 10-4:30 Monday through Saturday and 1-4 pm on Sundays..

Our thanks to the artists for their hard work and great turn-out. There were 47 artists from three states participating, offering 124 entries. This is the 52^th year for this exhibit, which the Center has housed since 1985. We are delighted to welcome several new participants and renew old friendships as well. I hope everyone will take time to enjoy it –and vote for their favorite work for People’s Choice award. The show is on display through November 24, 2023.  The People’s Choice Award will be announced at the conclusion of the exhibit. There are ballots and boxes in each part of the gallery. 

Participating artists include: Blacksburg VA: David Pearce; Boones Mill, VA: Gayle Atkinson-Hinkley; Clifton Forge: Libby Burger, Sabrina Burks, Catherine Drummer,  Allen Hickman, and Nancy Newhard; Covington:  Bonnie Keyser, Gertrude White,  Leigh Ann Woodward and Taylor Wolfe; Eagle Rock: Hazel D. Bowers, Lois McMullan; Gap Mill, WV Louise Chandler, Greenville, WV: Donald Earley; Lexington: Courtney Lee Jarvis, Lauralee Sorenson Hart, and Carl F. Pattison; Leesburg, Va: Amelia Waring; Lynchburg, VA: Julie Sewald; Millboro, VA: Lorraine McCune; New Hope VA: Michael Hough; Newbern NC: Mary Ann Meador; Newport, VA: Jennifer Lovejoy; Pembroke, VA: Sharon Dowdy; Rainelle WV: Sharon Johnson; Rockbridge Baths VA: Lori McMahon, Tim McMahon; Roanoke: Sally Grace Branch, Betsy Briggs, Pat Carr, Rita Carroll, Bobbie Caton, Lynn Cothern, Susie Feinour, Anne Marshall Gillespie, , Mike Hutkin, Michael Morris, Suzanne Davis Ross, Cat Shrewsbury, and Joel Tucker; Salem: Bill Hill, Mary Lou Hill; Troutville, VA: Judy Lochbrunner, Krys von Tornado; Shawsville VA:  Melissa Pilkington; Staunton: Juliette Swenson; Troutville: Judith Flynn Lochbrunner; Vesuvius VA, Mariam Todd; Verona VA: Ace Rogers and Warm Springs: Sarah Williams .

Visitors to the Center during Festival weekend were delighted by the humor, variety and range of artistic skills in the gallery.  Along with the artists, a huge amount of credit and appreciation goes to our volunteers who really make the show happen in an amazingly short period of time. Work must be checked in, arranged, hung by category, and properly lighted. Works are identified by number to ensure anonymity when being judged, but each piece is identified by a number that links to the copies of the Gallery Guide available for visitors. Needless to say, all document gets proofread several times before printing. Thanks go to Becca Ball, Connie Baker, John Barnes, Donna Beirne, Betsy Carter, Lori McMahon,and Ace Rogers. Without their help the show would never get done so efficiently; with their help, together, installing can be a lot of fun. Congratulations to all of those who have made this exhibit a great experience for our visitors. Our appreciation goes to the artists for their hard work and great turn out for the 2023 show.  Over the years of presenting this special open call exhibit we have seen artists – and the show itself—grow and develop. Artists tryout new ideas, others exhibit work for the first time, and many continue to polish their skills. The community is richer for their efforts. I hope everyone will take time to see and enjoy it –and vote for their favorite for People’s Choice award, while the show is on display. Each year it just seems to get better and better Congratulations to all those involved  for making this a great show for our guests!”

AWARDS-FALL FESTIVAL 2023

BEST IN SHOW      #104   Pat Carr, Roanoke, VA      In the Spirit of Its Maker #1

VIRGINIA FRASIER MEMORIAL AWARD         # 11 Lori Mc Mahon, Rockbridge Baths, Dogwood Under Mountain Mist

J GAIL GEER MEMORIAL SCULPTURE AWARD      # 16    Michael Hough, New Hope VA, Tool Chicken

MEDIA AWARDS : OIL

First Place                    # 2        Superman Where                                              Donald Earley, Greenville, WV  

Second Place               # 66      Small City Sidewalk                                           Sally Grace Branch, Roanoke, VA

Honorable Mention        # 12      House Mountain from Maple Swamp Road,        Lori McMahon, Rockbridge Baths, VA

WATERMEDIA

First place:                 # 58    Almost Home Revisited                              Louise Chandler, Gap Mills, WV

Second Place:          # 37    Spring Caucus                                             Bill Hill, Salem, VA

Honorable Mention # 111    On the Way to the Bay                              Susie Feinour, Roanoke VA

MIXED MEDIA/COLLAGE

First Place                 # 115  Nevermore                                                    Mike Hutkin, Roanoke VA

Second Place           # 110  Eden’s Pear                                                  Bobbie Caton, Roanoke, VA

Honorable Mention # 94    Her Favorite Season                                   Susan Davis Ross, Roanoke, VA

FIBER

First Place                 # 73    Michael’s Sunflowers                                 Bonnie Keyser, Covington VA

Second Place           # 24     Sweet Sky                                                    Lois Mc Mullan, Eagle Rock VA   

Honorable Mention # 105 Stumped                                                        Pat Carr, Roanoke, VA

DRAWING ( pen & ink, pencil, colored pencil, marker)

First Place                 # 74    Michael’s Sunflowers                                Bonnie Keyser, Covington, VA

Second Place           # 88     Eddie’s Tigers                                              Joel Tucker, Roanoke, VA

Honorable Mention # 98    Polly                                                              Ann Marshall Gillespie, Roanoke, VA

SCULPTURE

First Place                 # 18    Twisted                                                          Michael Hough, New Hope, VA

Second Place           # 60    Artemis                                                           Michael Morris, Roanoke, VA       

Honorable Mention # 119 Flower-Hope                                                 Sharon Dowdy, Pembroke, VA

PRINTMAKING (drypoint, etching, linoleum cut, monotype)

First Place                 # 72    Bev’s Sunflowers                                        Bonnie Keyser, Covington, VA

Second Place           # 15    Where the Wild Things Grow                   Mariam Todd, Vesuvius, VA

PASTEL

First Place                 # 108 Lone Canadian Pine                                  Carl Pattison, Lexington, VA

Second Place           # 39    Shenandoah Twilight                                Bill Hill, Salem, VA

The judge for this year’s exhibit was David Eakin of Lynchburg, VA. Eakin works in several media and has won numerous awards for both his representational and abstract work. He is a Signature Member of the Virginia, Baltimore, and National Watercolor Societies and participates in several plein air painting events in the region. A brief interview is posted on our Facebook page and website. The public is invited to cast their votes for the people Choice award. It will be announced after the show concludes on November 24. There are ballots and boxes in each part of the gallery.

The AHACC is open Monday-Saturday,10:00-4:30 pm, Sundays 1-4. It is supported by its members, contributors, the Town of Clifton Forge, City of Covington, the County of Alleghany, The Alleghany Foundation, The Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Westrock. We’re on Facebook and twitter and at highandsartsandcraft.org@gmail.com.