Art Comes Alive
Fredericksburg Area Museum started off the amazing weekend of the arts for museum patrons, fellow artists, and our guest visiting artist Holly Schineller https://www.facebook.com/HollyGrounded from Tempe, Arizona. Holly and I met in Houston as roommates for Via Colori 2012, and I was overjoyed to have her visit our local festival this year. She is a thoughtful artist who takes great care in designing and executing each piece. For our 2013 Via Colori festival, she chose Georgia O'Keeffe, her childhood role model, with an original collection of her images. I made sure she had the complete experience, including Hyperion, Carl's, Allman's, Baba Ganoush Grill, Orion, Kybecca, and Ponshop in our four days together.
As Larry Hinkle's band played on the top floor, artists painted to the music, conversation, and treats from Bistro Bethem. I was glad to catch up with fellow artists Ed King, Nicole Hamilton, Collette Caprera, Ellen Killough, Nina Angelini, and Nick Candela. As the auction took place, Via Colori was well underway as our team leaders Christa Stabler, Dan Goldstein, and Roy Jarnecke led a team of volunteers to create the outlines of more than 120 squares along the streets of Sophia and Charlotte. There are endless details to tend to as team leaders, such as city permits, barricades,sponsor assignments, wine and food vendors, candles and sandbags, Boy Scouts and tents. A year of hard work paid off for a committee of eight and countless volunteers who played an essential role for our festival. Thank you, each and every one who helped with this year, especially the artists( and chauffeurs) who worked throughout the weekend catching up from the rain!
Via Colori 2013
On Saturday morning, we started with breakfast and a chance to meet fellow artists. Ages 3-"well up there" participated. It was a great opportunity to mingle before we all got hard to work and tried to beat the impending rain. Over fifty students, faculty, and family members from my school, Fredericksburg Academy, worked on images or visited the squares. We all worked until the first shower crept near in the early afternoon, and some attempted to save the work with tarps, cardboard, cups, duct tape, and prayers.
Holly and I went on to dinner at Castiglia's with our team of Via Colori directors Christa and Dan and guest artists Chris Carlson and Nick Candela. What a memorable night as the rained poured, we laughed, shared stories ,and binged on tirimisu.
Sunday at 7 a.m., Holly and I discovered the complete disappearance of our drawings from the day before, so "back to square one" took on a whole new meaning. We worked without a break until 5 p.m. and then joined all of the other artists for a group shot and congratulatory moment. We warmly received a wonderful turn-out from our community, all love and support. Thank you for validating our efforts to bring a quality art experience to our town.Scott Wilson Photography of Via Colori 2013
Toast of the Town by Robs Army
Image of Enzo , Robs Army
An hour after the festival ended, a monumental celebration and auction buzzed to life at the Inn at the Olde Silk Mill for our arts patriarch, Rob Grogan. Rob has published the free local magazine The Front Porch for 17 years now and is receiving costly treatments for a rare carcinoid cancer. With $10K/ monthly in out-of-pocket expenses, we came together for one evening as a community to assist with our art, money, and love. Please see Robs Army website for more information on helping a local hero with his recovery journey.
The event of the decade housed every local artist, patron, and musician wall-to-wall with love and energy. We lined up in procession to hug this amazing man and let him know how much he means to us. The total money raised is still being audited, but the unofficial estimate is over $50,000. My original piece, Enzo, auctioned off and served as the Arts Along the River event avatar to my surprise. Finally a chance to wear my Botticelli dress for the right occasion:)
Monday evening the 23rd, Holly and I spent our last evening together attending the Guerin Wolf art opening at Kybecca. Guerin is the host of the Arrrrt! https://www.facebook.com/ArrrrrtFxbg and quite a lively chap with officially the coolest name in town. We met while recording a promotional Via Colori show, then as fellow artists at Via Colori. His current work is executed in oil pastel (Sennelier, no less- my favorite) and represents strong point-of view landscapes and cityscapes. He evokes a bold, big-sky feeling and transports the viewer to either impending thirst, frostbite, or cliff-hanging from city dwellings. And then there's some wild 3-d happening behind the Enomatic machines- LOVE it! Please go see the show up through October.Guerin Wolf Solo Show
Friends, students, and art lovers, be proud of the amazing events that make our little town have a big heart!!
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