THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050553
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Art officially took over the oldest crossroads in Portsmouth Thursday night.
The occasion was the long-awaited ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration for Tidewater Community College's Visual Arts Center at High and Court streets.
The center opened to students in January amid unfinished renovations. But four months later, not a speck of dust remained.
In fact, the $2.6 million poured into renovations has made the old Famous department store building look new - a sparkling white set off with red columns.
Outside the building Thursday afternoon, long, silky red ribbon streamers moved gently in the wind as staff members rushed to place seats around a podium.
Even Anne Iott, the center's director, wore red and white to coordinate with the building's exterior.
Inside, the public gallery was filled with light, color and art - ready for special guests and the public to pour in for guided tours later in the evening.
And with that public introduction, the intersection that has been the heart of Portsmouth since the city was founded in 1752 officially took on a new personality.
The four corners of High and Court streets paint a picture of Portsmouth, past and present.
The TCC arts center includes a public exhibit area on the first floor of the building, which will complement the exhibitions and workshops at the 1846 Courthouse gallery adjacent to the center.
Across the street is the Olde Towne Gallery and adjacent to that, Trinity Church, the oldest in the city and a treasury of stained glass windows.
Portsmouth supporters have visions of art supplies stores and antique shops popping up in empty buildings, bringing browsers to the High Street corridor.
The 33,330-square-foot Visual Arts Center has definitely brought its share of people downtown.
More than 500 students attend the center, which brings together almost all of the art classes once taught at separate TCC campuses.
In Virginia, it is the only visual arts center of its kind based at a community college, Iott said.
The staff of 30 art teachers offer classes on everything from painting and drawing to sculpture, printmaking and photography.
But on Thursday, the three-story building was clean and empty of most students as Iott dashed through a quick tour of the maze of classrooms and studios.
Some of the students were to return later to serve as tour guides for visitors.
For those who wanted to see the students' work, however, the best was hanging downstairs in the public exhibit area.
The grand opening was scheduled this week to coincide with TCC's 24th Student Art Show, which features more than 200 works. About $2,500 in awards were given out.
The exhibit is free and is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Tony Russell, on ladder, and Jim Perkinson put the finishing touches
on the renovated Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth.
by CNB