The Observer Newspapers | GRACE Partners With Arts Council

June 20, 2008

GRACE Partners With Arts Council

By Leslie Perales
Observer Staff Writer

Starting Saturday, local art lovers will have the chance to see the Arts Council of Fairfax County's juried exhibit at the Greater Reston Arts Center. The annual exhibit features contemporary pieces from 21 artists from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., including Reston artists Brenda Belfield, John Adams and father and son artists Guy and Marco Rando.

The arts council started its annual exhibit more than 35 years ago in 1971 as the Area Exhibition of Painting and Graphics. Though the exhibit was held in various location in the past, this will be the third show the council has presented with GRACE, according to Joanne Bauer, exhibitions director for GRACE "It's great for us because it's attracted a wider range of art," she said of the partnership. She said both the arts council and GRACE have benefited from the collaboration.

Henrik Sundqvist, director of visual arts for the arts council, said there were about 100 submissions for the open group show. "There are lots of interesting pieces," he said. "It's grown in quality even from last year to this year."

Because the show was open and did not have a theme, a wider range of contemporary artwork was selected, he said. "Most galleries have theme-based shows, so we're excited at the arts council to be able to give those artists a venue and a voice," Sundqvist said. "That is what's great about the collaboration."

The exhibit features paintings, clay and ceramic sculpture, photography and other forms of mixed-media art. Marco Rando's piece "Cork Screw" is a collection of wine corks on wire sculpted into the shape of a corkscrew. Artist Heidi Fowler used fabric, vinyl, acrylic paints and junk mail on her pieces, "No. 062.82.007" and "No. 031.72.007." The pieces show scenes of linear metal objects, such as a shopping cart, in a natural environment. Layers of junk mail can be seen underneath the paint.

"I think we have a really great cross-section of work from throughout the region," Bauer said. Many pieces involve imagery of childhood, such as Katie Miller's "Children with a Toy" in which a group of children play with a light-up toy in the middle of a dark living room. Robert Cantor paints portraits of toys and small figurines in "The Bald Musician" and "Party Animals." Cantor's painting of "The Bald Musician" is his playful interpretation of Edouard Manet's "The Old Musician."

The opening reception and awards ceremony will take place at GRACE from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. "Last year we had a really great turnout and we expect the same this year," Sundqvist said. The arts council awards prize money, with $1,000 given to the first place artist and another $1,000 given to other top artists. An artist dialogue will be held at 7:30 p.m. July 10. Sundqvist said artists would explain their work during the dialogue, which is open to all members of the community. The arts council's exhibit runs through Aug. 2 at GRACE.