Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993 TAG: 9306060023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As in, just before a savage thunderstorm tore through the Roanoke Valley Friday night, ripping their artist's tent out of the ground and knocking it about Elmwood Park.
"It was like we were looking for Dorothy and Toto," said Andrea Frings. "The whole thing came down. Everything was down."
"A whole fence fell over," said Carolyn Greene, a docent for the Art Museum of Western Virginia, which sponsored the two-day show that concludes at 5 p.m. today.
None of the artwork was damaged, however. That didn't go up until Saturday morning, long after the last storm hit about 3 a.m.
A light shower that fell around 11 a.m. briefly taunted the 240 artists who traveled from 11 states to sell their sculptures, paintings and prints.
It passed without doing any harm, but that didn't stop James Underwood, of Bedford, from scurrying to cover his pastels.
The rain didn't prevent Marilyn Williams from coming to the show - and walking away with a watercolor by Yumiko Ichikawa.
Williams is a regular at the show, proud of the fact she purchased a $15 "Amish picture" by Waynesboro artist P. Buckley Moss many years ago, an item she estimates is now worth several hundred dollars.
"I have bought some of my best artwork down here," she said.
By noon, the sun was out again, warming the crowds meandering through Roanoke's 35th annual art show and its neighbor, Festival in the Park.
The Festival, which started last weekend, also concludes today.
John Will Creasy, who chaired the art show for 14 years and still comes out to sell his paintings, remembered when there was no Festival, when all there was was a handful of artists leaning their paintings against the walls of the downtown library.
Creasy joined the show during its second year, then moved with it down to the American Theater on Kirk Avenue, now the site of the Dominion Bank building. Later, the festival combined with the art show and they've been partners ever since, he said.
But more than the show's location has changed since the 1950s, he said. One thing he misses is a traditional gourmet lunch he used to share with several local artists who always displayed their work together.
One artist left town. Another suffers from eye problems. A third had to attend to a sick family member this year.
So instead of an elaborate shrimp and quiche spread this year, Creasy said he'd settle for something from one of the vendors - "Probably a hot dog."
The number of artists and the popularity of the show have also grown over the years, said museum director Ruth Appelhof.
The fund-raiser has become so popular, in fact, she now uses the postmark on the artists' applications to determine who signed up first.
"We have a long waiting list," Appelhof said.
The museum takes in between $20,000 and $25,000 each year from selling space to the artists, who travel from Florida, Pennsylvania, even Wyoming - sort of.
Michael Piggot, who lives in Wyoming with his Roanoke bride, mailed his oil paintings to his mother in Lynchburg so that she could frame them and put them on display.
"He couldn't afford to get them framed and the plane ticket," said Piggot's mother, Toni, who came to the show with his mother-in-law and sister. "So we are here to peddle his work."
by CNB