On Friday, June 2nd from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to host a First Fridays Gallery Opening at The Depot featuring artistVeronica Horst! Veronica is a talented artist with experience in a wide range of mediums. Their exhibition ‘Stitched in Place‘ brings together embroidery, watercolor, pen and ink, 3D canvas elements, and interviews to create interactive portraits that tell the story of each individual’s connection to a space. Join us to welcome Veronica and to enjoy food, refreshments, and community. Also don’t miss our other featured artist, Asha L Beck for her exhibition “The Earth on Our Backs”.
Below they share more about their work and journey as an artist, and you can view the online gallery and expanded artist statement here.
Veronica Horst (they/she) graduated in May 2023 from Eastern Mennonite University with Bachelor’s degrees in Art and Psychology. Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they have enjoyed living in Harrisonburg and exploring the Shenandoah Valley. Veronica values experimentation as part of the artistic process and has utilized mediums including ceramics, stained glass, wire, fabric, charcoal, paint, and stitching. They created and displayed their first mixed media series entitled “Stitched in Place” this Spring as their senior thesis project at EMU. Although the pieces being displayed are not for sale to the public, commissions are open for anyone interested in a map portrait of their own!
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
Explore More Discovery Museum brings so many exciting opportunities for families to our community. We were able to partner with them again this year to support First Lego League Jr. This event brings teams of budding architects and engineers together to solve problems, learn teamwork, learn programming, overcome obstacles, and tackle design challenges.
First Lego League Jr. is built on 6 core values, Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and FUN!!! By embracing the core values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.
Meeting with these teams and hearing about their design solutions was inspiring and exciting. These 6 – 10-year-olds learned about solar photovoltaic energy and wind energy, designed inclusive spaces, and explored their own creativity.
We love partnering with Explore More Discovery Museum and supporting all the amazing programs and services they provide in our community. They are just one of the many ways that our community creates such an incredible quality of life of families attracting so many to live, work, and play in our community. Charles also serves on the Explore More Discovery Museum board of directors and their building committee.
On Friday, May 5th from 5:00pm-7:00pm, we are thrilled to host a First Fridays Gallery Opening at The Depot featuring artist Bill Del Gallo. Bill is a talented artist, specializing in acrylic paints and pours of cosmic colors. Join us to welcome Bill and to enjoy food, refreshments, and community. You do not want to miss the dazzling array of colors in his artwork. Below he shares more about his work and journey as an artist.
Dozer’s Cosmic Creations is an art experience created by Bill Del Gallo, a local to Harrisonburg, VA growing up in the Broadway area.
Dozer’s Cosmic Creations specializes in fluid art using various techniques such as Flip Cup, Open Pours, Dutch Pours, and Swiping. All acrylic paints are mixed with latex-based pouring mediums, then applied to canvas and manipulated by tilting, spinning, and even through use of a blowtorch to achieve these exquisite cosmic and psychedelic inspired pieces. Many pieces are also UV reactive or glow-in-the-dark to give them more depth and reveal alternate images within each creation.
Bill took up this hobby in preparation for double heel surgery and was taught by his good friend Brad Robbins of Louisa, Virginia an independent artist in his own right. Since 2019, Bill has been a featured artist online, at local breweries, and in art festivals. He does commissioned work and sells his own private creations as well.
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
First Fridays Downtown has been going strong all year, and we are excited to feature artist Joey Truxell for our first gallery opening of 2023 at the Depot on Friday, April 7th, from 5:00pm-7:00pm. Join us in welcoming this multi-talented artist. He shares about his work and journey as an artist below:
Joey Truxell is a father, husband and philanthropist who resides in his hometown of Waynesboro, Virginia. His passion is creating art that aims to make people reflect, reminisce and challenge the way they see art.
He began his journey as a young artist in 1974. Joey has worked as a graphic designer, muralist, fashion illustrator, wedding dress designer, book illustrator, freelance illustrator and painter. He graduated from VCU with a Bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1991 with a focus in figurative illustration.
The gallery “FACES and PLACES”:
“Working primarily in acrylics, it is my goal to capture the light. It is the light that tells the whole story. In a matter of minutes a brightly colored landscape can become a dark silhouetted mass framed by the setting sun. When it comes to people or animals the light is inside them. As an artist, pulling the light out of each subject is the focus. I use color, shadows and imagery in my pursuit to find the light in every piece.”
“Art should both challenge and inspire the viewer.”
Joey Truxell
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
They are a wonderful organization who support one-to-one mentoring for local youth and match youth to local mentors. They have a number of program options that are based in every elementary and middle school in the area, community-based, and everything in between. Their intentional care and support for the community is evident and we thank them for that.
There are many youth waiting to be matched with a mentor, and just a simple vote will help with this matching process. BBBS is especially in need of male mentors because of the nearly double amount of boys than girls on the waiting list, so consider volunteering if you’re able. Check out this link for more ways to get involved with BBBS!
We’re so proud to have such involved people at Gaines Group Architects who are committed to giving their time to the community. This week we highlight Mariya Chesnov. Mariya is a designer on our team that previously attended Massanutten Technical Center (MTC). You can learn more about MTC here.
Outside of her designer role, Mariya helps to lead the kids choir program atFirst Russian Baptist Church in weekly practices and services on special holidays and celebrations, like Christmas and Easter. Below, Mariya answers a few questions about her involvement with kids choir.
Kids sing at First Russian Baptist Church
How did you first start helping with kids choir?
I started doing kids choir back in 2021 after I got baptized. I’ve always loved serving so I wanted to have a new way to serve the Lord. I love kids and singing so that was one of my top options.
What do you do specifically?
Specifically, I do the poems and verses for the choir. When we participate in church I basically give each child a small poem to learn to say in church.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what it’s like to work with the kids?
It can be stressful and challenging with 50 kids at times but I am so happy I joined because I get to serve the Lord with some of my closest friends with a passion that we have in common. There are many other ways to serve but to me children are so pure and wholesome. It is a beautiful reminder to me that the Lord wants us to be like them, trusting, humble, and forgiving.
Thank you Mariya for your time, energy, and gifts that you share with the kids in our community.
