Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100035
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Each March, the center sponsors a show featuring works by New River Valley students. This year, elementary art teachers chose "The Chair" as the theme for their students.
Michael Dowell, executive director of the center, said he was eager to see what the children would come up with based on this theme.
"I was really curious," he said. "I'm amazed at how innovative the students were. The things that have come in have been just great."
Dowell said entries range from thrones to high chairs to a folding chair painted to look like a person's face.
"The children have done a lot with perspective drawing," he said. "I'm impressed with the results."
Some of the elementary school children also made quilts with designs drawn from storybook tales.
"One group made their own Indian designs. They are fascinating," Dowell said.
Middle- and high school students participating in the show weren't given a theme. Their work is done in a variety of media, including collages, pen-and-ink drawings and studies in pointillism, an impressionistic approach in which the artist uses tiny dots of color that blend together when seen from a distance.
"The older students submitted art that runs a gamut," Dowell said.
The show is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The gallery is at 21 W. Main St. in Pulaski.
A reception for the artists will be held March 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.
STREET LIGHT TONIGHT: The Sounds of Harmony will perform tonight at the Street Light Cafe in Christiansburg's Straight Street Youth Center.
The group sings traditional hymns, old-time Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music. Members are Danny and Carol Vaughn (a husband-and-wife team), David Thomas (Carol's brother) and Tony Gallimore.
The foursome averages 60 appearances a year and has recorded several projects. Their latest was a 1994 release.
The Street Light Cafe will be open from 7 to 11 tonight and Saturday night. The coffee house offers a full menu in addition to homemade pies and pastries.
Admission is free, but a $2 donation at the door is suggested for tonight's concert.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: The Monthly Gospel Sing celebrates its fifth anniversary Saturday with a joyful noise at the OCAW Building on Peppers Ferry Road in Fairlawn.
The Highland Gospel Singers and The Gospel Strings - regulars at the event - will be there, along with guests The Farley Brothers and Young at Heart. The local groups are inviting gospel music lovers to join the celebration.
The singing starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and a door prize will be awarded.
For more information, call Carl Ratcliffe at 382-7571 or 382-4654.
SAWING LOGS: You won't be doing that Saturday night if you're at the monthly jamboree put on by the New River Community College Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Club.
The jamboree starts with jam sessions and recorded music from 5 to 7, followed by live bluegrass music from 7 to 10.
This week, Larry Sigmon and Barbara Poole will play. The Blackburn Brothers will pick some tunes, too.
Admission is free. Donations are appreciated to help pay traveling expenses for the bands.
STRING ART: Mike Mitchell plays a style of rock 'n' roll you won't hear very often - on violin.
His partner, Chuck Andrews, is the rockin' guitarist. He plays the 12-string and 6-string with equal expertise.
Together, Andrews and Mitchell are The Bare Essentials.
The West Virginia duo plays each Friday at Jacob's Lounge in the Blacksburg Marriott. You can catch them tonight at 10.
With a combined background in rock, blues, bluegrass and classical music, it's hard to put a label on The Bare Essentials' musical style. It's basically a folk-rock blend with some fine vocal harmony.
The cover charge for tonight's show is $2. You must be 21 to get in.
BE THERE AND BE SQUARE: The Blacksburg Old-Time Music and Dance Group will have its next mountain square dance Saturday, starting at 8 p.m., at Kipps Elementary School. Doors open at 7:30.
Ginger Wagner and Bill Richardson are the callers. Shay Garriock and The Brush Mountain Sand Sifters will play the tunes.
As always, the dance is open to everyone. You don't have to be an ace on the dance floor. The callers teach all the steps.
Admission at the door Saturday is $4.50. To get to Kipps Elementary School from the U.S. 460 bypass, take Prices Fork Road west. The school is on the left just past the fire station.
OUT OF AFRICA: Lexington artist Marsha Heatwole says her trips to Africa taught her the power of sketching.
She begins work with a specific thumbnail sketch that, she says, "is concerned with basic movement and tension within and against the rectangle."
Heatwole's paintings of exotic animals are what draw people to her work, perhaps because her work is out of the ordinary.
"I give myself permission to use my imagination to interpret the power, beauty and whimsy of the animals that choose me to paint them," she has said. "Breaking away from the comfortable is hard, but it is through risking new ways of doing and seeing that we grow as artists and as human beings."
An exhibit of original paintings and prints by Heatwole is on display now at Matrix Gallery in Blacksburg. The show will continue through April 7.
You'll have a chance to meet the artist today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the gallery, 115 N. Main St.
POTLUCK O' THE IRISH: That's what organizers at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Newbern are calling their annual Founder's Day feast. It's happening Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
For $4.50, you can dine on cabbage rolls, corned beef and cabbage, Irish potatoes, bubble and squeak (a traditional casserole with sausage and cabbage in a white sauce), soda bread, salad, iced cake and a drink.
While you're at the museum, take a look at the current exhibit of artifacts and photographs of local archaeological finds. Books on local history will be on sale in the gift shop, too.
Professional archaeologists will visit the museum Sunday to share information about items in the display. Author Mary Kegley of Wytheville will be on hand to autograph her latest book, "Early Adventures on the Western Waters, Volume III."
Admission to the museum is free. To get there from Interstate 81, take Exit 98 to historic Newbern.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***