Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990 TAG: 9003310118
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jeff DeBell
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In that capacity, she will do the same work she's done for years as the society's president: hiring performers, scheduling and publicizing concerts, selling tickets, keeping records, writing grants applications and soliciting contributions.
The difference is that now she'll get paid for it.
Horner had recently announced her resignation as society president in order to seek paid employment. Her decision placed the organization in jeopardy because no one else was willing to take on the workload as a volunteer.
"I see this as a renewed commitment from myself, the board of directors and the friends of chamber music," Horner said.
The chamber music society brings in professional ensembles for an annual series of performances before the area's small but loyal chamber music audience.
Horner will be the organization's first paid employee. In hiring an executive director, the society takes a step that most of the Roanoke Valley's other arts organizations took long ago.
Giving the job to Horner seems to make perfect sense, as it meets both her need for paid employment and the society's need for the competent management it must have to survive. The wonder is that it took Horner's resignation to make it happen.
No repeat winners
William Rutherfoord, who took the best-in-show award at last year's Roanoke City Art Show, will not win this year.
He won't even be in the show. Nor will Beth Shively or Brian Sieveking, who both won awards of excellence last year.
Those three 1989 winners are all ineligible for the 1990 show because they work for the Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts, which is where the show will take place.
The feeling is that their participation might be perceived as a conflict of interest despite the fact that the show is not run by the museum.
The show opens May 26.
New RSO series
A new performance series featuring Roanoke Symphony members playing chamber music at Olin Hall Gallery will be introduced next season.
Performances in the "Art Sounds" series will take place at the openings of new shows in the gallery.
"I'm excited," said Linda Atkinson, director of the gallery. "It should make for an interesting collaboration."
The new series will focus on creativity, according to symphony conductor Victoria Bond, by emphasizing new music and encouraging interchange between musicians and visual artists.
"I want to take the orchestra out of the `museum' and put it into an environment where artists can grow and meet each other," the conductor said. "A more vital, alive environment."
Bond said she expects the composers to be present for "Art Sounds" events.
The chamber series will dovetail with the programs in the orchestra's regular 1990-91 subscription series, which also will be emphasizing the work of 20th century composers.
NOW honors 2 Va. artists
Lexington photographer Sally Mann is one of two Virginia artists who will be honored by the state chapter of the National Organization for Women for achievement in the arts.
In recognizing Mann, NOW cited her series on 12-year-old girls and recent family portraits, saying the pictures "are about women's lives and speak uniquely of women's feelings."
Alexandria artist Hilda Thorpe also will be recognized by NOW.
New museum shop
Starting Wednesday there will be a new place to shop on the Roanoke City Market: the store of the Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts.
It will sell hand-made crafts and gifts, mostly by artists of the region, as well as catalogs, posters and other museum items.
The store is on the ground floor of the museum, which is in Center in the Square. It will be accessible both from the museum's main gallery and from Market Square.
It is hoped that the market access, which is something new for the store, will be a boon to business. Past museum stores, on the second floor, have not been financial successes.
Initially, the new store will simply open its doors and maintain regular hours. After a shakedown period, there will be a more official "grand opening."
by CNB