A pair of new exhibits at the Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center attempt to showcase a variety of different ideas from community artists. The gallery’s latest endeavor runs through April 27.
The first WCAC member’s co-op of 2018 debuted with a reception Monday evening. The site hosted three such exhibits in 2017, but the positive response prompted president Janis Wood and company to plan four throughout this year.
“This is so much fun, to have the co-op shows,” Wood said. “The whole idea of this is to encourage artists. It gives them a chance without having a big body of work.”
The show features 16 artists and pieces include paintings on canvas and rocks, photography and hand-poured candles in the center’s main gallery.
“We like to mix it up. We have all different styles,” Wood said.
Artists include gallery staples such as George Van Eron alongside newcomers such as Candy DeJesus, both painters.
The exhibit comes as WCAC plans to debut a new concrete patio and backyard area for private events. The organization is also planning a yard sale featuring art and artists’ supplies in June. Wood said the center’s new signage is also helping attract more visitors. She said the gallery has come a long way since moving to its Westover Avenue location, which opened in early 2017.
“We’re just happy with it,” she said.
Nine visions become one
The middle gallery features a different type of exhibit. Each month for nine months in 2015, a group of nine women met to collaborate on different pieces. Each woman picked a theme for her canvas and painted a related vision at its center while the remaining eight each contributed their own interpretation in a surrounding section as they passed around the painting.
“The idea is that we would like to promote women coming together. This would be a helpful thing to do,” said Ginny Fisher, one of the nine artists.
Her theme of perseverance was inspired by several historical figures and her mother. Other themes tackled included spirituality and healing. The artists also maintained journals chronicling their ideas for their own and others’ themes. The paintings were previously shown at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.
“It was a delightful experience,” Fisher said. “We felt very close and bonded.”
She hopes it will resonate with the community.
“Each canvas, I think, is pretty powerful in and of itself,” Fisher said.
Want to go?
The show runs through April 27 at Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center, 110 Westover Ave. The show is free.
