
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993                   TAG: 9309230177
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

ART COMES OUT ONTO SIDEWALKS SATURDAY IN BLACKSBURG

Putting on an outdoor art show requires equal parts of curator skills, marketing ability and weather prognostication, which is why the 1993 Blacksburg Sidewalk Art Show - "Art Along The Fence" - has been moved to autumn.

The show is Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., on College Avenue. It is sponsored by The New River Valley Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, the Downtown Blacksburg Merchants Association, the town of Blacksburg and the Blacksburg Regional Art Association.

Artists will display sculptures, paintings, photographs and other work on the wrought-iron fence bordering College Avenue. The juried show will be judged by Linda Atkinson, director of the Olin Gallery at Roanoke College.

Throughout the day, artists and visitors will be entertained by musical performers, including the Roanoke Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Downtown restaurants will have food stands featuring house specialities on the building side of College Avenue.

The show was staged in the spring from 1986 through 1990, but April showers consistently blotted out parts or all of the event. In those days, the event was sponsored by the Downtown Blacksburg Merchants Association and the town. Between the weather and dwindling participation, the show took a break in 1991 and 1992.

But these are hard-core artists around here, and they pestered Dorothy Lemme Egger, owner of Second Seasons and the organizer of the show, until she agreed to work on another one. For her, the show is not a street fair but an elegant party.

"I'm trying to pull off a much classier event," she said. "I see the vendors selling crepes rather than egg rolls and pizza. The music is all classical and jazz, no rock 'n' roll. If I could, I'd serve champagne."

Thirty artists have registered for the show, "all the fence can hold," Egger said.

Well-known artists include Tom Butterfield, Marie Livermore, Vickie Stone and Sally Mook. There also are several new names on the list, including Robin Boucher, Yaprak Jegin and Margaret Branch, usually known for her singing.

The lineup of musical guests includes classical guitarist Zdrothko Medic at 10 a.m., the Riverboat Ramblers at 11 a.m. and the Blacksburg Community Band at noon. At 1 p.m., jazz group 2-Hot Sodas performs, followed by the Chamber Orchestra at 2 p.m.

Another jazz band, Picasso's Fish, performs at 3 p.m., and the Blacksburg German Band wraps it up with a 4 p.m. performance.

"Those who go to the Maryland game will miss the symphony," Egger said. "You have to make your choices."

by CNB