Joel Dugan, chair of the Department of Architecture, Art and Design at Fairmont State University, will participate in a panel discussion on public art during the Piccalilli Parkersburg art conference 9-10. September in the city of Parkersburg. (Photo provided)
PARKERSBURG – A two-day art conference called “Pickalilli Parkersburg” will be held 9-10. September in the city of Parkersburg.
The conference is for working artists, art educators, college art students and art organizations and will include workshops, hands-on art making, networking and special collaborative evening events.
The conference is hosted by the Mid-Ohio Valley Arts Collaborative, the Parkersburg Center for the Arts and the Tamarack Foundation. Registration is open at https://tinyurl.com/42mk58er.
Early registration through August 19 is $95. Beginning August 20, registration is $120. Special rates for full-time art educators and full-time students are $75.
Piccalilli Parkersburg has two songs, one is all about the financial side of being a working artist. Others include workshops by some of the region’s leading artists with opportunities to make art. On Friday afternoon, Piccalilli Parkersburg participants will be treated to a progressive reception that will move from Parkersburg Art Center to Artbeat Studio and up the block to Artsbridge. There will be food, music and a pop-up exhibition of the works of participating artists.
Sassa Walker will be among other artists and professionals participating in the Piccalilli Parkersburg art conference in September in the city of Parkersburg. (Photo provided)
“All registered conference-goers are invited to bring up to two pieces of their original art to be displayed in the pop-up exhibition on Friday night, and if they’re musically inclined, we’d love to have you play that night,” said Jessie. Siefert, Managing Director of the Parkersburg Art Center. “The idea behind this conference is participatory. We can learn from the presenters but we can also learn a lot from others.”
The conference will conclude with a behind-the-scenes tour of the recently opened Discovery World on Market STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) museum. continental breakfast, Friday lunch and Friday afternoon reception fees are all included.
The Parkersburg Piccalilli economic art presenters include:
* Jennifer Reis, creative entrepreneur and arts administrator, shares ways to take creative assets and make them marketable.
* Elaine Grogan Luttrull, CPA, and founder of Minerva Financial Arts, will lead participants in a workshop that will help connect financial decisions with creative goals.
* Angelica Gillera is an arts advocate and owner of Strong Rapport. He will share information on how artists can be represented by the Tamarack Foundation Creative Network and how to write an artist statement.
* Jenna Green, artist and grants coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, will share information about the state’s individual artist grants and how to apply.
* Elizabeth Yeager, coordinator of individual artists in the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, who oversees several grant programs directed to individual artists in professional development and folk art.
* Kristin Meeks, owner of West Virginia Social Media, will provide tips and tricks to get noticed and followed on social media.
* Sassa Wilkes is a working artist who will talk about managing her time and motivation as an independent artist and how her project “100 Days of Badass Women” helped her create a community and income.
* Panel discussion on the economics of art presented by Reis, Luttrul and Gilleran.
The art making series will feature:
* Wood County Society will host a studio space and participants will learn all about working with artists with disabilities and take on the collaborative art process.
* Virginia Killian, a multimedia artist and retired art teacher, will lead a workshop where participants will begin three new works of art as she offers suggestions for winding down the project.
* Ratu Domenica, a Hispappalachian mixed media artist, will engage participants in using textile art techniques and heritage fibers to create heirloom works of art from waste plastic.
* Wilkes will work on a piece of public art installation throughout the two days of the conference, and attendees are encouraged to join the fun whenever they want throughout the two days.
* Vance Hewitt, Parkersburg Art Center Craft Studio Manager, will give a mini wheel throwing lesson.
* A panel discussion on public art will feature Joel Dugan, chair of the Department of Architecture, Art and Design at Fairmont State University, and Bobby Rosenstock, owner of JustAJar Design Press, a letterpress studio specializing in wooden posters. Rosenstock is also an adjunct professor at Marietta College and chair of the Marietta Main Street Public Art Committee. The third panel member will be Nichole Westfall, a muralist living in Charleston whose work can be seen across the country.
* Michelle Waters, working artist and professional portrait, art and concert photographer, will lead a walking tour of public art in downtown Parkersburg.
Questions can be directed to Jessie Siefert, Parkersburg Art Center, artstart06@gmail.com; Senta Goudy, WVU-Parkersburg, sgoudy4@wvup.edu; or Domenica Queen, Tamarack Foundation, dqueen@tamarackfoundation.org
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