Archive for the Art Category

Photo Credit: Charlie Whitescarver of Whitescarver Photography, LLC

The Montgomery Museum of Art & History has garnered state-wide recognition this week as it received the 2023 Innovation Award presented by the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM). The museum’s brand-new mental health series, “The Art of Happiness,” was awarded the Innovation Award for its contributions to Community Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion, and Audience Expansion. The Innovation Award is given each year at the annual VAM conference to one museum across the Commonwealth that demonstrates a commitment to use their platform as a trusted source of information to build relationships with its community and create long-term positive impacts for community members.

“The Art of Happiness” is an interactive series for adults that focuses on aspects of positive psychology and the role that art can play in our general happiness and well-being. The sessions are led by Shelby Wynn, a registered art therapist and licensed professional counselor. This series has included the use of visual music, mindfulness clay sculpture, coping with words to understand your thoughts and emotions, and Zentangles, a practice of mindful doodles that is useful when other coping skills are inaccessible. Support from the LewisGale Hospital Montgomery made this program series successful through a generous sponsorship, which enabled the museum to open up additional sessions.

Montgomery Museum Executive Director, Casey Jenkins, traveled to the annual VAM conference on March 13 to receive this prestigious award. “We are so proud of this new, innovative program series. It was amazing to see the interest and demand from everyone, especially young people who participated in these free sessions,” said Jenkins. “This award validates our important charge and mission to be a community-wide museum for everyone to be a part of and we are very grateful for the generous support given to us by LewisGale Hospital Montgomery.”

“The Art of Happiness” offers mental health self-help tactics and strategies by using art exhibits, materials, and spaces as helpful tools. Spots filled up quickly with enthusiastic support from the community.

A press conference was held in the main lobby of LewisGale Hospital Montgomery the morning of Wednesday, March 22. Community members, hospital staff, and museum board members were in attendance. VAM representative, John Long, presented the award to Jenkins and the Montgomery Museum. Jenkins and Board President, Jean Haskell, gave brief remarks and the press conference closed with remarks by hospital CEO, Lauren Dudley.

Media Contacts:

Casey Jenkins – Executive Director; director@montgomerymuseum.org; (540) 382-5644

Courtney Amos – Events and Marketing Coordinator; marketing@montgomerymuseum.org

The Montgomery Museum of Art and History is gearing up for another spectacular year as we prepare an exciting slate of events in 2023 to celebrate our 40th anniversary! Our major special events offer excellent visibility, exposure, and networking opportunities while simultaneously supporting our growing museum! I hope you will consider supporting the museum by sponsoring Arts❤️NRV Market and/or Heritage Day as an individual or organization.

With much gratitude,

Casey Jenkins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MONTGOMERY MUSEUM RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION TO PRESENT MULTICULTURAL CONCERT THIS FALL

The Montgomery Museum was the only recipient in Virginia. Other individual and organization grantees were from Alaska, Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, California, and even two awardees from India and Kenya.

The Montgomery Museum of Art and History (MMAH) is becoming a draw for local citizens.  An early reception in the new facility drew about 50 art lovers.  The next event attracted 100 people, and the most recent gathering more than 200.  The museum’s mission is to appeal to all citizens of all generations.  For years the museum has reached out to students throughout the New River Valley and intends to contact them about future exhibits.  The next art exhibit will feature works by students from Christiansburg High School grades 9 through 12.  Led by art teachers Carrie Lyons and Taylor Hanks, the students have been working hard to complete their works in time for the exhibit opening March 2 and continuing through April. The students are responsible for framing the art and hanging it in the museum.  By subject? By frame color? By theme?  There are lots of choices, and decisions on how to display the works are part of the artistry.

Those of us who live in Montgomery County are fortunate to have a school system that values and promotes the arts.  Some of the presenting students have taken Advanced Placement (college level) art class twice—once for painting and again for sculpture.  Students who can’t fit art into their schedule but still paint in their spare time can join the Art Club and submit works for inclusion in the show.

The variety of media in the show speaks to both the program’s broad educational reach and to the choice to let the more advanced students take the lead on what inspires and works for them.  For example, students made a still-life of a skull (à la Georgia O’Keefe) from the angle of their choice and zoomed in or out.  The viewer would not know they were painting the same thing.  The exhibit includes works in collage, gouache, ink, acrylic, watercolor, alcohol markers, and more.  An intricate work showing a lush garden scene was done with ink and a dip pen, which is something like a quill and not the easiest tool to use.  If you went to school before 1950 and the invention of the ball point pen, you may have struggled with one of these things.  The MMAH exhibit also features some three-dimensional art including sculpture and ceramics. There are cupcakes and pancakes and fabric dogs and ceramic pumpkins and a piece depicting Disney rides. A rendition of a eukaryotic cell is made from beads.

In some cases Lyons gave the students a broad theme to work with such as Journey or Sustained Investigation.  One journey painting shows a skeleton reaching out toward the path to be taken with a cat alongside as a companion.  Another painting from the journey series shows a shark in a coral reef and kelp forest with a volcano in the background.  A girl with an umbrella is another type of journey.  A sustained investigation painting of Notre Dame Cathedral depicted before and after the fire features the pieta sculpture “Descent from the Cross” that somehow survived the conflagration.

Many of the paintings feature objects or animals precious to the artist.  A deep sea fish painting is one example. Another artist painted a collection of her Bratz dolls sitting on a shelf, as in “putting away childish things.”  One painting is entitled “Fear of Cats.”  Another painting is of a German Shepherd that died.  Another maudlin puppy picture?  Hardly.  This dog repeatedly ran away and bit his owner, leaving a two-inch scar.  Still, he was loved and is missed, and now he is immortalized having fun with his owner in a lake.  A companion piece shows the town in Germany where the German Shepherds originated.

Christiansburg High School students will host (another part of the learning experience) an opening reception at the MMAH, 4 East Main Street in Christiansburg, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on March 2.  People will come to support the students and stay to enjoy the art.

Feb 1

The Montgomery Museum of Art & History will host an open house on Thursday, Feb. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. to launch two new art exhibits and two new history exhibits, collectively titled “Art x History.”

The museum will showcase a 1920 Maxwell automobile as the focal point on the main gallery floor. This extraordinary vehicle will be on display courtesy of Jackie Shelton and her family. In addition, the museum will bring back an old favorite, “Lewis Miller’s New River Valley.” Miller’s travel-journal-style artwork and sketches offer a glimpse of New River Valley history and stories.

On the art side, the museum will present works by two regional artists, David Petersen and Tom Jenssen. Petersen’s art exhibit, titled “Tranquility,” is a collection of local and distant “tranquil” places depicted in painting and photography, in color and black and white. Jenssen’s pottery exhibit, “From Earth to Stone,” features glazed ceramic with melted glass and painted imagery to offer the viewer a sense of wonder.

Jan 2

Montgomery Museum of Art and History

“From Earth to Stone” by ceramist Thomas A. Jenssen

After retiring from the Biology Department at Virginia Tech in 2007, Tom Jenssen returned to an undergraduate interest in ceramics. His creations are thrown pieces to which are added glazes, melted glass, painted imagery, and “appropriated” objects. “Good Dog” is such an example, where a jar totes a family salt shaker on its lid. (This won 1^st prize at the Radford City Fine Arts Show in 2018). Clearly, there is a playful nature here, but there can be more serious intent in other works, such as a panther stalking through a swampy habitat.

The animals depicted in the current exhibit range from the aquatic to the amphibious to the terrestrial.  Examples include a great white shark, sea turtle, octopus, rhinoceros, and giraffe. One piece even features a mermaid.  In each case, animal behavior and habitat are depicted with accuracy and detail (well, except for the mermaid!)

To produce the images, a slurry of iron oxides, a very fine paint brush, and a whole lot of patience were needed.

The animal-oriented theme resonates from Jenssen’s career in biology and from an interest set early as a youth. His family rented lakeside cabins for entire summers during which the boy was never seen in anything but his bathing suit. Swimming, catching turtles and frogs, exploring with his dog — these were the activities that set the stage for his career in field biology. There were mentors along the way, like John Goodman (University of Redlands), Charles Carpenter (Oklahoma University), and Ernest Williams (Harvard). With their guidance and example, Jenssen developed a consuming interest in evolutionary biology, herpetology, and, in particular, the behavior of lizards. It was the latter that took him to tropical habitats in Mexico, Panama, Hawaii, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

As a ceramist, Jensenn initially produced pieces that carried a whimsical sense with a touch of kitsch. More recently, however, topics have turned increasingly toward literal expression, as Jenssen continues to explore the traditional with the unexpected.

Take a close look at the black panther piece.  The panthers running around the base of the jar have the same musculature as the one on the lid, an object found in a tractor store.  Getting the dark color of the animal just right took many layers of black clay applied to the surface.  The panther images had to be carefully scratched into the surface of the clay.  This level of detail is unusual in ceramic art.  Notice, too, that the panther on the lid is not just standing there.  He has a foot resting on a log and seems to be standing in shallow water.  Panthers often live in swamps, so the panther is in his natural habitat.  He is at home.  The log was formed from red and black clay, the water was made from glass, and an extruding tool was used to make the vines.  Attention to detail and authenticity is a hallmark of the artist’s work.

Tom Jenssen’s ceramic pieces are on display until the end of March at the Montgomery Museum of Art and History, 4 East Main Street in Christiansburg, Virginia.  A public reception will be held on February 2 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Dec 22

Start off the new year with the Montgomery Museum of Art & History as we host a night of networking and conversation for young adults in our community.
Our Emerging Leaders Open House will take place Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at our new location, 4 East Main St. in downtown Christiansburg.

Enjoy appetizers and adult beverages on the house, and experience our new facility and exhibits as we share our vision for 2023 and explore how to better engage young adults in Montgomery County and the New River Valley.
This event also serves as an interest meeting for our Emerging Leaders Advisory Board. In 2023, the museum is creating a board of leaders aimed at enhancing the accessibility, involvement and engagement of young adults. This is a great way to start demonstrating leadership potential and gain experience to eventually serve on a nonprofit board while giving back to your community!

We are so excited to welcome you back to YOUR reimagined art and history museum! We cannot wait for our soft opening on Wednesday, June 22, which is also Give Local NRV Day. We are accepting donations for Give Local through the 22nd. For more information and to donate, please visit https://www.givelocalnrv.org/organization/Mmah

Now on to the exciting itinerary that we have planned for the soft opening! Mark you calendars and bring your friends and family-9am The Montgomery County VA Chamber of Commerce will hold a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Breakfast items such as coffee and pastries will be served10am-3pm: A Bouncy House for children will be on-site in the back parking lot12pm-1pm (noon): A celebratory cake cutting will take place in the museum lobby. We will celebrate until the cake is gone! 12:30pm and 2:30pm: After the cake cutting stick around for Story Time with Joelle Kathryn Shenk with the kids! 12-7pm: We will have food trucks on-site in the back parking lot. 4pm: “Bonus Happy Hour” which will continue through 7pm as we celebrate our local member-artist who will display their work in the lobby. Wine and Cheese will be served.