Heather Bell
RADFORD – Several New River Valley artists are showcasing their work in an event just in time for holiday gift buying, with the added bonus of raising money to combat hunger locally.
Photographer Susan Lockwood has made her art Holiday Open House a yearly tradition, and this year the artists will donate a portion of their sales to various organizations that provide food for people in need. The event will take place Saturday, Dec. 6 and Sunday, Dec. 7, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 408 Eighth St., Radford.
Artists Robert Smith, Jennifer Carpenter, Frank Leonetti, Susan Lockwood and Faye Vander Veer are donating original artwork for the event. For a $10 donation, attendees will be entered for a chance to win art created by the participating artists.
Winning tickets will be drawn at the close of the show. All proceeds generated by the ticket sales will go directly to area food banks and food pantries. Art featuring the four artists will also be on display during the free event and available for purchase just in time for holiday gift giving while also shopping locally.
Funds generated from ticket sales of $10 each are headed to local food banks serving the NRV. Each of the four artists participating will designate where their share of the ticket proceeds will be contributed in addition to donating one of their pieces of work for the drawing at the end of the show.
“As evidenced by the increased demands on food providers for people in need, food insecurity should be a top priority,” said Lockwood. “The four of us artists are happy to contribute to this worthy cause.”
“Since leaving my 20-plus years corporate career, I have discovered immense bliss through photography,” she said. “Photography allows me to express the way I view the world around me and translate this vision to others. Sharing the vast visual richness which connects us defines me as an artist. My adrenalin flows freely whenever engaged in my art, no matter where my journey takes me.”
Colored pencil artist Jennifer Carpenter’s charity will be Vittles for Vets-Radford.
“Every raindrop holds a tiny little secret wanting to be heard. Anything that shimmers begs for attention. Glass is never just the color by which we call it. Reflections of any kind permit the viewer to look two places at once,” says colored pencil artist Jennifer Carpenter of her work. “These observations and many more are the basis for every drawing I create in colored pencil, each with a story waiting to be told.”
Robert H. Smith is an artist, sculptor and jeweler who has been creating one of a kind works of art, in metal, wood and stone for 55 years. His work has been collected and shown in galleries nationwide, and private collections worldwide and he has won many best in show and other awards for both his jewelry and sculptures. He has served as Artist in Residence for Virginia.
Smith’s contribution will go to the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program.
“As a young man some sixty years ago, I worked at the LA Free Clinic, serving homeless for food and medical care, and today waging the same war,” said Robert Smith, a jeweler who will have his work at the open house. “The richest country in the world, still can’t seem to solve this dire need. I’ve served with the Share program and local food pantries, and I wish to support MCEAP. Living in Christiansburg, [I know] they do a tremendous job. No discrimination, no hassles, only giving as one human to another.”
Frank Leonetti has been a woodworker for the past 35 years. He grew up watching and helping his woodworking dad build furniture in the home basement shop. “Although I still enjoy building furniture, my passion is woodturning,” said Leonetti. “It is a very creative avocation.”
Faye Vander Veer is an award-winning Impressionist oil painter from Virginia Beach.
