DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710170072

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   36 lines

UP-AND-COMING ARTIST FEATURED AT ANNUAL FEST

ON WEDNESDAY, Virginia Beach artist Peter Paul Connolly set up his art in the high-profile museum shop windows of New York's Museum of American Folk Art.

Today, Connolly's back in Hampton Roads, sitting alongside his work at the Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, taking place today and Sunday in a residential park in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood.

A longtime exhibitor at this show, the 33-year-old artist is among the 135-plus painters, printmakers, sculptors, jewelers and more displaying their work. The show also features live music, children's art activities and a college art competition.

Those who wander by may also watch Norfolk artist Anita Bradley do some creative brushwork on a van owned by Hope House Foundation Thrift Shop. The show is organized by and benefits Hope House, a local nonprofit group that helps support people with developmental disabilities.

Connolly's work is being prominently showcased at the folk art museum's retail shops alongside art by his famous mother-in-law, folk artist Nancy Thomas of Yorktown. His wife, painter Hunter Thomas, used to work at the shop.

The museum has a shop on its premises, at 65th Street and Columbus Avenue, and a satellite shop at Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan.

``We thought it would be wonderful to showcase someone new,'' said Caroline Hohenrath, who manages the Rockefeller Center shop.

Shop director Marie DiManno made the decision, though Hohenrath happily agreed, being a top fan of Thomas' work.

Connolly's work deserves gallery representation, Hohenrath said, and such prominent placement can help an artist achieve that goal.

Meanwhile, Connolly's and Thomas' art will be featured for about two weeks, Hohenrath said.

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