WV artists roundup
Internationally renowned photographer Jay Stock, 87, of Martins Ferry participated in an illuminating charity event in Schenectady, N.Y., this spring to showcase the creation of an energy and water solution for Third World schools that are without electricity and clean water.
The event was held at Proctors GE Theatre, where 100 of Stock’s best photographs were displayed as part of “Play for Water, Power, Peace.” The ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District in Schenectady served as the host for the charity event, which was underwritten by the Sabre Cos. of New York.
Stock said he became involved in the project after meeting Karen Cavanagh, executive director of the Water, Power, Peace project, and John Mason, Sabre’s chief technical officer, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sabre employees helped clean structures in New Orleans, where Stock took photos to document the cleanup efforts.
More recently, Sabre engineers developed special playground equipment that creates kinetic energy to pump clean water and provide power to schools in remote areas of the world. A prototype of the playground was built at a Montessori school in East Greenbush, N.Y.
A working model of the playground is being constructed at the Schenectady Science Center. In addition, work is expected to begin this summer on construction of a similar playground at a sister school in Babati, Tanzania.
In interviews with newspapers in the Schenectady area, Cavanagh said of Stock: “His work by itself tells stories and this is a great story to tell,” and “He is probably the most magical person that I’ve ever met.”
• Internationally known artist Joseph Hughes, a Moundsville native who has lived in San Francisco since 1967, has another exhibition of selected paintings on display at the Bergner and Job Galerie in Mainz, Germany.
The exhibition, which opened Tuesday, June 1, continues through Saturday, July 10, at the German gallery. A reception for the artist was held Saturday, May 29, as part of Mainz Museum Night.
• Wheeling artist Robert Villamagna is playing a big role in this year’s FestivALL, the signature arts festival in Charleston.
Several West Virginia artists were chosen to complete an artistic rendering of one of the letters spelling out FestivALL, and Villamagna was assigned the letter “F.”
After receiving delivery of the letter, Villamagna proceeded to take the larger-than-life-size letter, which he dubbed “The Big F,” on a tour of Wheeling last week. He photographed “The Big F” at various city landmarks, including the Capitol Theatre and the “windmill” atop Wheeling Hill, in the style of photographic documentation of garden gnomes’ travels. Villamagna posted “The Big F” tour photos on facebook, along with photos depicting his step-by-step transformation of the big letter into a work of art, done in the artist’s distinctive style.
Meanwhile, FestivALL, which opened June 18 and continued through June 27, offered 10 days of performances, concerts and exhibitions at various venues in Charleston.
• We have more positive news to report about Glen Dale native Brad Paisley. We have learned that $1 from every ticket sold to the country music star’s concert at Blossom Music Center in Cleveland Friday, July 23, will be donated to the Cleveland Clinic to fund cancer research and support programs for patients and survivors.
Contact Linda at letters@graffitiwv.com