first friday

First Friday Art Gallery opening featuring Amanda Dicken

After a couple months off for the cold weather, we are back! Come see us this Friday!

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!

Artist: Amanda Dicken

Bio:

Amanda Dicken was born near Cleveland, OH in 1980, and grew up surrounded by the artistic talents of her parents. Early on she knew she wanted to pursue art full-time, and spent her college years at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, where she attained her Bachelors of Art degree and realized she had a knack for figure drawing. She spent a summer abroad, studying art with her professors and peers in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France, and the next summer at the New York Art Academy for an intensive training course in figurative art.
She spent ten years living in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, teaching painting and drawing while experimenting in many different mediums, including pastels, oil, and acrylic painting. She finally combined her love of drawing and painting using watercolor and Micron pens, and has continued using these mediums for her ever-evolving portraits and frames. She and her boyfriend moved out of the congested city and into the mountains of Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she makes portraits and works in the art community.

Statement:

Each portrait is made from either a family photograph or photograph found at flea markets or antique malls. Micron pen, layers of watercolor, gouache, and other mixed media are combined to bring the portrait to life, capture the passage of time or forgotten identity of each individual. Each frame is built-in foam board and created by this same process, and is designed to capture their personality, era when they lived, or the feeling their lives are long past. I’m excited when a person viewing my portraits is reminded of people in their own lives, whether past or present, and encourages me to keep developing this unique, family oriented body of work.

Check out her work here: www.ArtmandaJane.com

Visit with Santa at the Chesapeake Western Railroad Depot First Friday Art Opening

Take your picture with Santa!

 

Listen to the Red Wing Academy

Exhibit: Scenic Shenandoah Mountain

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:

www.friendsofshenandoahmountain.org

Reddish Knob

About the artist, Bradley A. Striebig, Ph.D.

Santa at the Depot

Go ahead and mark your calendar for Santa at the Depot on December 1st. Just like last year, we will host the jolly elf in the Marvin Window and Doors showroom in the downstairs of the Depot on First Friday. Come up to our First Friday Art Opening upstairs for some cookies and hot chocolate (maybe something with a little more kick for the parents) before heading downtown for the parade. We will also have a special performance by Red Wing Academy – you will not want to miss this event.

This now annual event is free and open to all. We have some great parking around our building so it is the perfect place to start your evening of fun downtown. We will open our doors at 4pm and close at 6:30 so we can all be on the parade route in time to see the JMU marching Dukes. Go Dukes!

Thanks to Monger Lumber for letting us use their space and decorating with a huge 12′ tall tree to make the photos of your kids even more amazing. Our artist for the month is Brad Striebig who will show his amazing photography. I will post more details in the coming days.