VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS FESTIVAL JURIED ART SHOW

The Arts Depot, in conjunction with the 56th Annual Virginia Highlands Festival, is pleased to announce the opening of the Virginia Highlands Festival Juried Art Show beginning with a reception on Friday July 30th at 8pm in the Arts Depot's galleries. There is no admission and the public is invited. The show continues through August 15th and encompasses all the galleries within the Arts Depot. This will be the fourteenth consecutive year the Arts Depot has hosted this event. Also during the show local artist Ed Chitwood will conduct four special guided 90-minute gallery tours. These tours will begin at 11 am Tuesdays, August 3rd and 5th and Thursdays, August 10th and 12th. The Arts Depot's special extended viewing hours during the festival are Monday- Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, and Sundays 1- 5 pm. There is no admission charge. In addition to viewing the Festival Art Show, the Arts Depot resident artists welcome you to visit them in their studios.

Beginning at 7 pm Friday July 30th, Festival juror and watercolor painter Harry Thompson will present a short lecture and slide show followed by the awards presentation. Both of these will be held at the Abingdon Baptist Church and are open to the public. Mr. Thompson, from Kennebunkport, Maine is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and is a widely know watercolorist. He has been recently published in The One Hour Watercolorist that discusses his workshops and gives examples of his work, including his traditional scenes and figure studies.

The awards Mr. Thompson will present are: three Awards of Excellence ($750 each), the Tom Perryman Recognition Award ($300), four Awards of Distinction ($200 each), and four Awards of Merit ($100 each). During the first seven days of the Festival visitors will be given a ballot to select their choice for "People's Choice Best in Show". This award of $250 will be announced by the Festival Art Committee on August 9th. All these awards will be chosen from the approximately 100 art pieces selected to be in the show from over 250 entries. The art encompasses most two-dimensional media and the majority of the works have been created by regional artists. Immediately after the awards presentation, the Festival Art Show grand opening and reception will take place at the Arts Depot, a short walk from the Baptist church.

The Arts Depot is a non-profit volunteer organization that is dedicated to promoting the arts in the community and features the region’s artists in its galleries and in seven working artists studios. The Arts Depot is located in the historic Depot Square area of downtown Abingdon, VA. For further information, please contact the Arts Depot at (276) 628-9091, or e-mail at artsdepot@naxs.net.