“Old Blue Truck” by Carol Hilleary will be among the pieces on display at the West Virginia Watercolor Society show at the Parkersburg Art Center where an opening reception will be held 1-3 p.m. Sunday. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Art Center will celebrate the exhibit of the West Virginia Watercolor Society with an opening reception on 1-3 p.m. Sunday.

The show will be on display during regular hours through Dec. 22 and by appointment the week of Dec. 26-29.

The biennial exhibit at the Art Center brings together the works of the most talented watercolorists in West Virginia.

Theme of the show is Anything Goes as artists can use any painted surface and any soluble media. The idea is to have fun and get creative!” Debbie Lester, exhibits director at the Watercolor Society, said.

Watercolor is difficult, according to Abby Hayhurst, artistic director of the Parkersburg Art Center.

“Daybreak” by Kristen Colebank, the Best of Show, 2022 All Member Exhibit, at the West Virginia Watercolor Society exhibition, is among the work to be on display at the 2023 show opening Sunday at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo Provided)

“I have nothing but admiration for the artists who produced the work that was accepted for this exhibit,” Hayhurst said.

“When you touch brush to paper, you have to be right the first time. Unlike oils or acrylics, you can’t scrape it off and hope for steadier hands tomorrow,” Hayhurst said. “Precise detail is hard to achieve when your paint wants to go for a stroll.”

Many of these pieces are for sale and several of the artists have made prints of their work that will be available for sale for the duration of the exhibit. A selection of greeting cards also will be available.

Items can be purchased at the reception desk. Original works will be available on Dec. 22 and prints and cards are cash and carry.

The West Virginia Watercolor Society was organized in 1984 to guide and inspire watercolor artists, highlight the broad scope of watercolor painting and promote high standards of the art in the state of West Virginia.

The society holds workshops, publishes a newsletter and hosts both juried and non-juried exhibitions. For more information, go to http://www.wvwatercolorsociety.org.

The opening reception is free for members of the Art Center, children under 12 and artists plus one guest. Otherwise, admission to the opening reception is $10.

Appetizers and beverages will be available.

Hours for the Art Center, 725 Market St., at the corner of Market and Eighth streets, are 10-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission to the exhibit is free from Nov. 21-Dec. 22 thanks to the sponsorship of WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.

For more information about the Art Center, go to its page Facebook, Instagram or www.parkersburgartcenter.org.

Viking pub crawl. (Jamie Kelter Davis)

1. Revel

The sixth annual Viking Pub Crawl is expected to draw more than 300 costumed Vikings to Andersonville. Tickets include a commemorative glass, an appetizer and access to drink specials. If you really want to go all out, a limited number of cow horn drinking horns are available.

Details: 3-6 p.m. Saturday along Clark Street and Ashland Avenue in Andersonville. $35

Looking for more events? Check out the season’s light shows, markets, performances and pop-ups in our 2023 Chicago Holiday Events Guide.

2. Glide

Three ice rinks in the Chicago area open this weekend. Lace up your skates or rent a pair at Maggie Daley Park’s Ice Skating Ribbon or Millennium Park’s McCormick Tribune Ice Rink. Or head to the Chicago Wolves Ice Rink at Parkway Bank Park, where you’ll also find a “Light Up the Park” tree-lighting ceremony Saturday featuring an afternoon of family-friendly programming.

Details for the Ice Skating Ribbon: Friday through March 10 at Maggie Daley Park, 337 E. Randolph St. free-$20 / MAP

Details for the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink: Friday through March 3 at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St. free-$20 / MAP

Details for the Chicago Wolves Ice Rink: Saturday through Jan. 28 at Parkway Bank Park, 5501 Park Place in Rosemont. free-$8 / MAP

McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, 2021. (Courtesy of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events)

3. Mangia!

At Eataly’s Holiday Kick-Off Taste-Around, guests receive two glasses of regional Italian wine and access to at least 10 tasting stations. On the menu are Wagyu spiedini, black truffle agnolotti, and pear and truffle honey crostini.

Details: 6-7:30 p.m. Friday at Eataly Chicago, 43 E. Ohio St. $65 / MAP

4. Imagine

Calling all “Downton Abbey” fans. “Downton Abbey: The Exhibition” has set up shop in Skokie with production props, exclusive footage from the series, more than 60 costumes, and recreations of Mrs. Patmore’s kitchen, Carson’s office and the Crawley family’s dining room. Read a review from WTTW News reporter Marc Vitali.

Details: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday through March 31 (closed Thanksgiving) at Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center, 4905 Old Orchard Center in Skokie. $27-59 ages 12 and up; kids under 12 free / MAP

5. Collect

Shop local and support artists at three markets this weekend. Refine Collective’s third annual Maker Mall features women and POC makers; you’ll find more than 30 businesses represented, plus a non-alcoholic spritz bar courtesy of San Pellegrino. Show of Hands is putting on a 10th Anniversary Holiday Show. Expect one-of-a-kind items from more than 30 vendors; a Friday night preview includes cocktails from Bitter Ex Bitters. And the Millennium Park Holiday Art Market features dozens of local artists selling jewelry, pottery, paintings, drawings and more.

Details for the Refine Collective Maker Mall: noon-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at salonlb., 1010 W. 35th St., suite 500. Free / MAP

Details for Show of Hands 10th Anniversary Holiday Show: 5-9 p.m. Friday ($10), 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (Free) at Color Club, 4146 N. Elston Ave. / MAP

Details for the Millennium Park Holiday Art Market: noon-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday at Millennium Park, Chase Promenade North, 201 E. Randolph St. Free / MAP

Millennium Park Art Market, 2019. (Courtesy of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events)

Events listed are subject to change. We recommend double-checking times and locations before you head out the door. Want to share your upcoming events with us for consideration in a future roundup? Send us an email.

Melbourne-based upcycling clothing project Not Sew Fast is hosting a slow fashion and art market over the coming weekend in Brunswick. With a plethora of labels like Clingy Bags, Pebble Gems, Spiraro and more, you can browse slow fashion pieces while enjoying music and art provided by local talent. For more information, head here.

Want to be notified of new fashion sales weekly? Sign up to FJ Sales here.

NORMAN – The Native American Law Student Association at the University of Oklahoma College of Law will host a Native Roundtable and Art Market on Friday, Nov. 17, to coincide with national Native American Heritage Month.

The NALSA Native American Heritage Month event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the OU College of Law, 300 Timberdell Road, in Norman.

The roundtable will feature tribal leaders, including Chad Harsha, Cherokee Nation attorney general; Richard Phillips, Muscogee Nation chief of Lighthorse Police; and Carol Chapman, secretary of the Pawnee Nation Business Council.

“This is an opportunity for law students and the general public to listen to the issues and concerns that face indigenous populations in Oklahoma and throughout the country,” Savannah Francis, president of NALSA, said. “It’s also an opportunity for everyone to come together and appreciate Native art and culture.”

In addition to the roundtable and events for law students, nearly a dozen Native artists will be exhibiting their work, the college will be hosting a drum group from O Ho Mah Lodge, and the Sam Noble Museum’s Native American Languages collection manager, William Madison, will talk about the museum’s collection and the importance of language preservation as cultural preservation.

OU Law has a long and rich tradition in American Indian and Indigenous Peoples Law, led by world-class faculty members. Almost half of OU Law students take at least one American Indian or Indigenous Peoples’ Rights course during their time of study.

By Anila Yoganathan, contributor

Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates Downtown Development Authority intends to temporarily lease the old Finders Keepers space to the farmers market and the former Edwin Jarvis space to the contractor company which will lead construction of The Dale.

The farmers market is planning to move operations to the Town Green in December, but vendors will need a place for storage and the use of restrooms, which could be provided through the former Finders Keepers space at 84 N. Avondale Road, according to a discussion held at the Nov. 14 DDA board meeting.

However, the space is in need of some maintenance which Peter Constructive is willing to provide as a trade for using the Edwin Jarvis space at 88 N. Avondale Road, Assistant City Manager Shannon Powell said.

“We would allow them to use the Edwin Jarvis Building. They’ll pay for the utilities. They will fix the Finders Keepers building so that it can be used by the farmers market,” Powell said. “It’s a barter.”

The board discussed stipulations on the proposed lease for the Finders Keepers space to include making sure the farmers market keeps the restrooms clean and there are limitations regarding storage. The board passed a motion to create temporary leases for both spaces.

In other business, the DDA also voted to approve already budgeted funds of up to $1,500 for marketing of the Winter Wanderland event.

“We’ve got about 17 businesses that have specifically signed up that will either have music, or pictures with characters or discounts or holiday specials or decorate cookies…to draw people into businesses,” DDA Board Member Stacia Familo-Hopek said. “We’re also going to have [an] artist market at the pavilion that will be for artists from the film industry.”

Finally, the board discussed plans to consolidate the city’s Wine Walk event with an art festival to be held as a new event sometime in the spring. The Wine Walk would be ticketed, but the art festival would be open to the public.

Ellen Powell, communications director, said they’re in the process of reaching out to the Avondale Arts Alliance to help with the art portion of the event. A date for the event has not been picked yet. Shannon Powell said she will bring back a budget for the event for the board to look over.

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In the 250 years since its fabrication in the studio of jeweler and entrepreneur James Cox, the Silver Swan automaton has beguiled viewers. The mechanical sculpture continues to live up to its original purpose, designed as a crowd-puller to the artist’s workshop in 18th-century London, which also served as a small museum. Today, it is an iconic resident of the The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle in County Durham, U.K.

Cox modeled the life-size creature on a female swan, incorporating 2,000 moving parts, including 139 crystal rods and 113 neck rings. A slew of delicate pieces are encased in chased, repoussé silver, operated by three clockwork mechanisms that control a music box, a pool of glass with swimming silver fish, and the complex movements of the swan’s head and neck. At the 1867 Paris International Exhibition, its large scale and hefty price tag of 50,000 francs—today that would be well over $200,000—created a sensation. Five years later, the museum’s namesake, John Bowes, bought it in Paris for a tenth of that price and brought it home to the U.K.

In a video produced in 2021, a specialist team of conservators and curators painstakingly dismantled the sculpture to examine the condition of its mechanisms and create a plan for its preservation. This year, the swan is undergoing meticulous repairs and cleaning, and the museum anticipates that the work will be completed by the end of the year.

Cox also designed the well-known Peacock Clock for Catherine the Great, a treasure of the State Hermitage Museum’s collection in Russia. Learn more about the Silver Swan on The Bowes Museum’s website. (via The Kid Should See This)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article The Iconic ‘Silver Swan’ Automaton Gets a Well-Deserved Fluff of the Feathers appeared first on Colossal.

By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter Josie Wahl

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? Kentuck Art Center‘s monthly Saturday Art Market might have exactly what you need for someone else or just yourself.

This month’s market is Saturday, Nov. 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, 503 Main Ave. in Northport.

The market features a variety of artists showcasing their work alongside activities for children like a drum cart and a craft station. Every month’s selection of artists is different, but you can expect crafts like printmaking, wood working, jewelry, origami, painting and mixed media work.

“We have a really diverse group of artists,” said Kentuck Marketing Manager Ashley Williams. “We would love to invite the public to do their holiday shopping with our local artists.”

This month’s even features 15 artists, makes for the largest art market Kentuck has had, Williams said.

“This is going to be a really great month to get your Christmas shopping done,” Williams said.

And if you don’t see anything at the market you fancy, Kentuck’s Gallery Shop will be open and offering a 10% discount.

Found yourself staying later and getting a hankering for creating art of your own? Kentuck is hosting its A La cARTe workshop at 2:30 p.m. The event, which is designed for children and adults alike, features a rotating selection of art mediums for participants to work with.

“Everyone is welcome and everyone’s welcome to come create in our space,” Williams said.

Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are requested. The cost is $15, and you can learn more or register right here.

WEYBURN – Over 40 vendors are lined up and ready to show what they have for the 10th annual Winter Gifted Art Market at the Credit Union Spark Centre on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

“This is our 10th year, so it’s very exciting to have watched this sale grow and evolve to such a huge success,” said Krystal Glowatski of the Weyburn Arts Council.

“This year we are excited to be hosting our show at the Credit Union Spark Centre, a change in venue from years past. We will be spread out around the Legacy Park school gymnasium, down the Spark Centre hallways, in the art gallery and multi-purpose rooms,” she explained.

The parking for the Gifted art show will be in the Legacy Park school parking lot off Douglas Road, as a soccer day tournament will require the main parking lot for the Spark Centre on Saturday.

“We continue to have more applicants than we can accept for each show. Gifted is very much a curated show, meaning we as the Arts Council carefully adjudicate and hand select each vendor. This allows us to bring the best of the best and eliminate overlap in products being offered,” she added.

“The result for our vendors is better sales and for our guests is a one-of-a-kind one-stop shopping experience for everyone on your list. We are thrilled to coordinate this incredible show and sale for the people of Weyburn.”

Vendors range from pottery, macramé, crochet, photographers and artists to craftspersons of various mediums and kinds, as well as booths for face-painting and kids craft-making, and author Dr. Gary Hoium will be present with his second book about his veterinary experiences in Weyburn.

A cascading bamboo lattice shelters diners at the new Keeng Seafood Restaurant in Long Thành, Vietnam, with a nod to the local ecology. Architecture studio BambuBuild designed an elegant hall with a thatched roof evocative of a ship’s prow, supported by columns reminiscent of nipa palms, a riverside plant common in south Vietnam.

The firm was tasked with designing a structure that would be both strong and built quickly. Thanks to a tensile strength comparable to steel and a compressive strength twice as high as concrete, the medium is sometimes called “iron bamboo.” Traditionally, a pole is used as a post, beam, or truss, but BambuBuild saw potential in a shape called a hyperbolic paraboloid, also known as a hypar or “saddle”—think of the shape of a Pringle chip. Not only does this produce graceful arches and curves, but it can carry a huge load, perfect for supporting a show-stopping canopy.

See more on BambuBuild’s website. (via Designboom)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article At a New Restaurant in South Vietnam, Dine Under a Dramatic Thatched Bamboo Canopy appeared first on Colossal.

DROOL, an online destination for contemporary art prints and posters, is popping up IRL with a special Christmas market. The DROOL curators have selected the 30+ artists whose work – which spans a variety of mediums, including graphic design, illustration, painting and photography – will be on sale at the one-day market. The featured creatives will include top sellers like Alexander Khabbazi and John Schulisch, as well as the London-based artists Matteus Faria, Othman Zougam, and Hayley Wall. Besides the opportunity to stock up on unique Christmas gifts (or buy something for yourself) with up to 60% knocked off the price, there’ll be free mulled wine, interactive installations and giveaways. It won’t cost you anything to attend, but make sure to book your ticket below so you’re on the list.

Sat 2nd December 2023, 10am – 6pm
Protein Studios, 31 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EY
drool-art.com