Patrick County arts organization Bull Mountain Arts announces an exhibition to be on display at the Creative Arts Center in Stuart through September 4. Members of the arts collaborative have assembled an exhibition that includes paintings, pottery, fiber and glass works.
The public is invited to the show opening on Friday, August 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Creative Arts Center. Refreshments will be served and visitors will have an opportunity to speak with members.
Bull Mountain Arts is an organization dedicated to promoting the visual arts in Patrick County and the surrounding area. It was formed in 1998 as a cooperative gallery, as part of a downtown redevelopment plan for Stuart. Its artist and artisan co-op members ran the gallery for four years, until declining revenues forced it to close.
At that point, a large part of the members decided to keep the organization alive even without the gallery. A few years later, it operated a second gallery, just up the street from the first one, for another three years. When the second gallery also closed, the group decided to keep itself going in the interest of helping the arts in any way it could.
Bull Mountain ran Patrick County’s JEB Stuart Art Show for a dozen years, starting in 2000, and continues to help the Reynolds Homestead with it now. This annual juried show is designed to encourage local talent at any level. It is hanging at the Homestead in September and October, and the winning entries will be displayed at the Stuart library in November.
BMA also helped establish the Patrick Community/School Partnership for the Arts, and several of its members exhibited in that group’s Arts on Main Gallery while it lasted. The group helped the Partnership with its Art in the Park Festivals as well.
Over the years, Bull Mountain Arts has mounted several group shows at the Reynolds Homestead, two at the Stuart Library, and one each at Piedmont Arts Association in Martinsville and the Jacksonville Center in Floyd. It also set up temporary displays at a few local festivals.
Besides exhibiting its own members’ artwork, and sporadically the work of other artists, the group has from time to time encouraged the general public to develop its own talents, in classes and workshops — and for a while, via programs at BMA.’s semi-monthly meetings.
Over the years the group’s membership has waxed and waned from about 35 members to maybe 15. The skill level varies, from nationally known professionals all the way to rank amateurs. All are welcome, from fine artists to more craft-oriented artisans, with the goal of helping everybody reach their creative potential.
Meetings are currently held at 2 p.m. on the second Monday of each month in the Creative Arts Center. The meetings are open, or for more information, write the BMA at P.O. Box 1353, Stuart, Va., 24171, or via email at greencat@embarqmail.com.