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| With Noelle Ward and "Dunn's River Falls II" |
When Petersburg Regional Art Center was purchased in 2013 and closed for renovations, I was saddened. After all, the historic old building with all its flaws and woes had been a part of my life for ten years. Before that, I spent a few years as a resident artist in Shockoe Bottom Arts Center in Richmond which was the predecessor to PRAC. When SBAC was forced to close and move, I decided to follow Rusty Davis and Deanna Thomas, the founders, to Petersburg, a community like my native Fredericksburg where memories of the Civil War still lingered.
It was a fascinating time. I watched Old Towne go down following a damaging tornado, then rise up again. I saw original artists disappear from their gallery spaces, and new ones come in to replace them. Soon after Rusty carried a large painting up to the third floor for me (since it was too long for the elevator), he vanished due to illness. His mother was gone soon after, leaving only his sister Donna to carry on. She worked with enthusiasm, but there was a severe sense of loss because hopes and dreams were left in the lurch.
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| "Monet's Pond" and "Budding Falls" in the Underground |
Now the Ward Center for Contemporary Art has opened with a richness of bright, well-lit gallery walls and spaces. I was honored to have a one-person exhibition, "Passenger to Paradise" hanging on the walls of the Grand Gallery for the opening events last summer. The original wooden floors remain in the Grand Gallery as does the historic staircase. The Ward Center has begun its own journey through time with new art and massive possibilities. Hopes and dreams are alive once again. Perhaps the best is yet to come.
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| "Rose Hall Great House" |
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