E-Day Art Show

A new type of outreach brought the beauty of the environment and the degradation of our natural world closer to West Virginia legis- lators. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (WVHC) sponsored an "Art from the Heart" show and reception in the upper rotunda on E-Day, February 25. It was made possible thanks to generous loans from The Art Store, Roger Lucas Gallery and Taylor Books Annex as well as some renowned West Virginia Artists.

Tico Herrera, Larry Stark, David Smith, Ruth Blackwell Rogers, Arnout Hyde, Jeff Fetty, Brad Basil, Woody Woodcock, Debby McHenry, Cubert Smith, Eric Pardue, Bozena Plucinska, and Jude Binder had pieces on display.

One exciting piece was a sculpture by Mark Blumenstein, "Through the Looking Glass, Where Are the Mountains?" which faced the Senate side.

Other noted pieces included, "Eagle Rocks" by Bob Gates, "West Virginia Hills" by Susan Poffenbarger, "Rhododendrons" by Helen Chilton, "Kayford Mountain" by Carol Jackson and "Blackwater Falls" by Dorothy Debomski. The numerous wildlife pieces by Roger Lucas were a special treat.

One of the most chilling works was Debbie McHenry’s triptych, "Barbie and Ken’s Lament," on the effects of cancer-causing chemicals on the human body.

We could not have displayed any of this without Paula Clendenin’s and Kelli Burns’ organizing skills. Kelli is Director of Exhibits at the Museum in the Community and Paula teaches at West Virginia State College. One of her students, Robert Carter, took part in the exhibit.

The opening reception in the morning attracted legislators before they went to committee meetings. Quite a few ate our cinnamon buns and drank coffee.

Interspersed between exceedingly lovely watercolors, photographs, oil paintings, crafts, and sculptures by some of West Virginia’s leading artists were displays focused on the WVHC’s top legislative priorities. This included information on our sediment control and logging bill, the post mining land use bill, and quarry legislation. Many people stopped to look and ended up signing petitions and discussing issues with our volunteers.

Sandy Fisher and Lois Carter acted as docents and provided background for the artwork to State Capitol visitors, state employees, legis- lators and lobbyists.

Sandy commented later, "It was such a positive experience sitting in the capitol rotunda surrounded by the beautiful vistas, flowers, waterfalls and forests of West Virginia. I hope the show sent a message to law makers that the wealth of our state includes the works of our West Virginia artists and the subject of those works should be protected and preserved."

Carol Jackson, Judy Rodd and Sandy Fisher laid the ground work in advance and Tom Rodd, Hugh Rogers, Larry Gibson, Kate Long, Julian Martin, Lois Carter, Mary Pat Peck, Lisa Diehl, Cindy Rank, Kasey Russell, and Deana Smith helped set up, explain, and take down the exhibits. Our efforts on E-Day allowed legislators and the general public to learn about environ- mental issues in a whole new way.

Our fearless leader in all of the above was Carol Jackson.