08/19/2024
Find âSanctuaryâ at Woodberry Forest
Thereâs a cool new art exhibition at Woodberry Forest Schoolâs Baker Gallery. Titled âSanctuary,â the show features work in a variety of media by members of the Firnew Farm Artistsâ Circle, a group of artists that painter Trish Crowe first convened at her Madison County farm 22 years ago. According to Crowe, the group started out small and gradually grew to âwell over 40 member-artists from as many as eight counties in Virginia.â
In defining the new showâs theme, she said, ââSanctuaryâ is a place that is safe, peaceful, and a comfort of refuge and rest in this noisy, chaotic world.â Woodberry Forestâs fine arts coordinator, Elena Kritter, curated the exhibition, which is Firnewâs eighth at the prep school.
Among the artists with work in the show are Ramey Campbell, Kitty Dodd, Katie Griffin Hand, Davi Leventhal and Barb Wallace, all of Orange County, and Orange County native Kelly Lonergan, retired chair of Woodberryâs art department and the showâs featured artist. The Firnew groupâs executive director, Deb Erickson, told me that in collaboration with Crowe, Lonergan started the tradition of Firnew art shows at Woodberry. In Ericksonâs view, the current exhibition âis the finest and most diverse show in our history.â
Located in the Walker Fine Arts Building, the Baker Gallery is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, 1-5 p.m. âSanctuaryâ runs through the end of August.
