Heather Bell
RADFORD – The works of painter Felta Virginia will be adorning the walls soon at Glencoe Mansion, Museum & Gallery.
The Gallery will host an opening reception on Tuesday, May 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“Virginia’s “Searching the Blue,” exhibit is a retrospective of 20 years of work while growing a family, exploring the spirit, and experimenting freely with ideas and techniques across realism, expressionism and abstraction,” explains Scott Gardner, director of Glencoe Museum and the Radford Heritage Foundation.
“In Felta’s work, calligraphic black line is used to enhance color and contrast but also to express power and energy, as well as that struggle between personal discipline and personal freedom. Balance of composition is found in asymmetry. This collection of work is held together by a search for the color blue, which can represent the spirit, the sky, shadows, the suggestion of trust and stability, the color of a loved one’s eyes, fresh breezes, clarity of thought, and the simplicity of a favorite color.”
Felta Virginia grew up between Europe and northern Virginia. She now calls Blacksburg her home. Felta served in the U.S. Army as a Chinese linguist before completing her B.A. in Painting from North Georgia College and State University in 2001. She has exhibited across the United States, in Germany, and Austria. Virginia says “faith, philosophy, family, social issues, and nature are the driving inspirations for her work.”
Everyone is welcome to attend the reception. “Searching the Blue” will be on display through the end of June.
Glencoe Mansion, Museum and Gallery is three museums under one roof. The Mansion portion shows visitors what the home looked like as a private dwelling.The gallery at Glencoe Museum exhibits the art and works of contemporary Appalachian artists from around the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia. The museum portion includes rotating exhibits.
“Glencoe Mansion gives visitors a fascinating look back at the Victorian way of life during the post-Civil War years,” reads the Glencoe website. “Built by Confederate Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton, the house and grounds provide an intimate view of life from another era. Across three floors visitors can learn about the people who called Glencoe home from the Wharton family to the domestic help.Experience the post-Civil War Victorian lifestyle of Southwest Virginia. Tour the grand home of Civil War General Gabriel Wharton, built on a bluff above the New River.”
