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 and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
April 5, 2019
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Gaines Group Architects – The Depot Gallery (second floor)
Exploring the contrast of textures and textiles created in nature and by the human hand. The fabric of the elephant’s skin is coarse and rigid, filled with lines and wrinkles, and infinitely detailed. It’s a landscape that reads to the life of the animal. By contrast, the quilt has a unique texture with a palette uniquely its own. The stippling is as purposeful to the quilt as wrinkles to the elephant. In this case, each quilt depicts an abstracted landscape of their own. The purpose of each piece of art is to explore the visual textures that forms the fabric of the subject. Textures and textiles can be more alike than we think, the beauty is when all of it can live in harmony.
Hi, I’m Meg Laughlin! I’ve filled my studies and my career path with various architecture and construction practices. Having studied architecture at the University of Virginia, taking architectural history and landscape design courses, and working professionally as an architecture intern and currently as a construction project coordinator; the underlying theme of my creative endeavors and pursuits is the exploration of “making.” I’m constantly curious about what invites people and nature to grow and thrive. I’m a hands on learner and producer, feeling a greater connection to my surroundings when I’ve had a hand in making their form and function. I love to dream and explore new ways to study my surroundings and develop a greater connection to it. Drawing and quilting are avenues in which I more deeply explore what makes me curious and becomes a language in which I reflect what I learn. Thank you for taking the time to observe these works and my hope is that it inspires you to delve into your own personal exploration.
Read about our previous First Friday Art Opening shows here:
Each month on the First Friday we host a new artist art opening 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 and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
December 7, 2018
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Gaines Group Architects
141 W. Bruce St. Suite 201
Harrisonburg, VA
Please join us to take your own picture with Santa, listen to Red Wing Academy students perform, and purchase art work from Eastern Mennonite School students at this month’s open house. We will have cookies and drinks available. Note the special hours!
ART SHOW
Title: EMS Seasonal Student Artwork
Media: Photography, Drawings, & Mixed Media
Artists: Eastern Mennonite School Student Work
Bio: We Serve is a student-led organization at Eastern Mennonite School which focuses on service projects and events in the local community. The club is sponsored by Rockingham County Rotary as a chartered Interact Club. Previous outreach projects include meals for the Open Doors shelter for the homeless, volunteer work at Anicira (the local no kill animal shelter), meals for Ronald McDonald House families and a local road clean up. Students raise money each year to help fund these projects that benefit our community.
This year, EMS students have created various forms of artwork for display and sale to support their future projects. In appreciation of the changing seasons, many of the pieces will celebrate the fall, winter, and upcoming holidays.
We are also thrilled to welcome back Red Wing Academy students to our space again this year.
Red Wing Academyis open to non-beginner violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin and banjo students. Students will receive individual and group instruction from highly trained music teachers and will also be coached by members of The Steel Wheels throughout the week. Daily curriculum will include group classes, mini lessons, improv and jam sessions, technique and tone development, stage performance, electives, recreation, panel discussions, and more. Each day will close with a camp wide rehearsal to practice for Red Wing performance.
Throughout the 4-day workshop, students will learn several tunes to perform collectively. On Friday, July 12th, 2019, the Academy experience will culminate at Red Wing Roots Music Festival with a live, on-stage performance with The Steel Wheels.
Email academy@redwingroots.com or call 540-588-0332 for more information.
Red Wing Academy is hosted by Eric Brubaker of The Steel Wheels as a four-day intensive camp held at Eastern Mennonite University on July 7-10, 2019.
Each month on the First Friday we host a new artist art opening 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 and get a tour the Depot! We will have food and drink available!
October 5, 2018
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Gaines Group Architects
141 W. Bruce St. Suite 201
Harrisonburg, VA
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Confluences
Scott Jost
The Chesapeake Bay and its watershed extend over parts of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Chesapeake Bay is the third largest estuary in the world, and its watershed is home to more than 17 million people. In these photographs and my forthcoming book, Confluence: Rivers and Streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, I am creating a portrait of this vast historical and ecological treasure by focusing on its river and stream origins and confluences. To date, I’ve photographed approximately 180 sites in 6 states.
Differences in the landscapes surrounding places where rivers and streams originate reveal the Chesapeake Bay watershed’s tremendous range and diversity. Confluences are the points at which waters originating in varied geographies and ecosystems within the watershed meet. They are often historically important in relation to settlement, industry, commerce, transportation and defense, and represent important intersections of nature and culture.
Confluence: Rivers and Streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, expected from George F. Thompson Publishing in fall 2019, will include 70 full-color panoramic photographs, an essay on the photography by Seth Feman, Curator of Photography at the Chrysler Museum of Art, several additional brief essays written by environmental historians and others with specific expertise in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, maps, and interpretive captions.
Through these photographs, I hope to contribute to a greater understanding of the historical and contemporary Bay and its watershed, and to reflect on its prospects for the future.
Ultimately, I hope my work can contribute to an enhanced awareness of and appreciation for our local, regional and national waterways.
Join us for a very special First Friday night before heading downtown to the Harrisonburg Holiday Parade. On December 1st, Santa will join us at the Depot in the R.S. Monger & Sons window and door Showroom. Take pictures with the kids and start your Christmas celebration early. Then join us upstairs for hot chocolate, cookies, and libations. Red Wing Academy will be performing in The Gaines Group Architects office. Brad Striebig will have his photography on display in our gallery. Everyone is welcome!
Take your picture with Santa!
Listen to the Red Wing Academy
First Friday Exhibit: Scenic Shenandoah Mountain
I grew up in a farming community in Pennsylvania and loved the outdoors. I spent as much time as possible in the mountains and waters along the Appalachian mountain chain, ofter with camera in hand. I love the vibrant colors of the seasons throughout this region.
The photographs in this exhibit represent the beauty of this region’s Shenandoah Mountain. Located west of the Shenandoah Valley in the George Washington National Forest, Shenandoah Mountain is one of the largest tracts of wild land in the Eastern United States. Shenandoah Mountain provides diverse wildlife habitat, outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities, and clean water for drinking and aquatic life. It also helps support our local tourism-based economy. Friends of Shenandoah Mountain is a coalition of local citizens, businesses, faith groups, wilderness advocates, mountain bikers, hikers, hunters, and other forest users working to protect the wild heritage of Shenandoah Mountain for future generations. To help provide good stewardship for this unique are visit the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain website to endorse a proposal to make this area a National Scenic Area at:
Photography is something I’ve enjoyed since I was about 6 years old, when my father introduced me to to film cameras. I haven’t put the camera down, although the camera has changed quite a bit, since that first brown plastic Kodak I had as a kid.Over the years, my work has been published in newspapers, calendars, magazines, book covers and numerous websites. I have been fortunate to be able to incorporate photography into service work with Engineers Without Borders and other NGOs. Currently I am working with Friends of Shenandoah Mountain to help conserve this rare wilderness in the Eastern US. Photography has played an important role in documenting various projects in Benin, India, Malta, Rwanda and the Nez Pierce Reservation in Montana. I have also worked with local non-profit organizations, donating services to the Lehman Center, a home for children, and the Interfaith Peace Camp at Eastern Mennonite University.
In addition to photography, I am a founding member and professor in the Department of Engineering at James Madison University. Prior to joining the JMU Department of Engineering I was a faculty member at Gonzaga University where I helped developed the WATER program in Benin. I am also the lead author of Engineering Application in Sustainable Design and Development, published by Cengage Publishing in 2015.
I’ve been blessed with two children who bring home the importance of pursuing sustainability. They also serve as a constant reminder that the pursuit of one’s curiosity can be a fun, exciting and sometimes downright silly pursuit – and also a meaningful journey.
I love hosting artists in our space. It gives them a place to engage fans, sell their work, and frankly makes our space look even better. It takes time and money to hang the work, feed the attendees, and host the party. It is so worth it for me! This past month our artist was able to sell two pieces during the opening on First Friday. Her work is amazing and I love that it found a home. This month our artist did an ink drawing of the depot as part of the show – how cool is that?
Please come visit us. We have free parking, plenty of food and drink, and amazing art to look at and talk about. See you on October 6th!
Official announcement:
Each month for Harrisonburg’s First Friday, 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 and get a tour the Depot! We will have refreshments available!
Artist Statement – Elwood Madison
As an artist that loves this town, I try to capture the spirit of Harrisonburg in the quick strokes of the pen. There is a creative energy that I feel when I walk these streets. A vibration seeking to burst from the stone and bricks. On strictly architectural terms, the first impression might reveal little more than another small southern town but have begun to perceive a more distinguished collection of structure and space that potentially materializes from years of accumulated experiences. Rather than attempting to capture an exact photographic representation, I tend to let memories and history rise to the surface. If any of the musicality that I feel in the heart of our city is expressed in the renderings of these architectural portraits, then I suppose I have achieved some level of success with this pursuit.
Bio:
Elwood Madison is a local artist and designer with a special interest in whimsical, playful imagery. Much of his recent work is composed of unconventional ink and watercolors of both recognizable and less obvious public spaces in Downtown Harrisonburg. He currently is working as a graphic designer and illustrator for various locally based small businesses.
I love hosting artists in our space. It gives them a place to engage fans, sell their work, and frankly makes our space look even better. It takes time and money to hang the work, feed the attendees, and host the party. It is so worth it for me! This past month our artist was able to sell two pieces during the opening on First Friday. Her work is amazing and I love that it found a home. This month our artist did an ink drawing of the depot as part of the show – how cool is that?