THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080272
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The art scene in Portsmouth is getting bigger all the time with another new gallery opening, this one Fridayat the old Pythian Castle, 612 Court St.
Martine A. Strohmeyer of Virginia Beach will be the first person to exhibit at the Artist's Palette on the street floor of the building. An opening reception for her is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.
The opening of Artist's Palette follows by one week the opening of Potrafka Gallery in a former bank building in the 600 block of Washington Street.
Artist's Palette is not only a gallery but a grill and an art supplies store. It is owned by Robert LeMasters, an artist who lives in Olde Towne and teaches at Paul D. Camp Community College in Franklin.
LeMasters said his partner for the Southwestern grill is Ralph Immello, who runs Salsa's at Virginia Beach.
``I didn't know anything about the food business, so I needed somebody who did,'' LeMasters says.
LeMasters says he is excited to be using the Romanesque Revival building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
``I'm trying to do it right,'' he says. He has taken the paint off a tin ceiling in the area that once housed a drugstore, and he generally is restoring the facade to its original look.
``I want it to be sort of a community art center, a destination for people. It's not a bar, but a place for people to enjoy. We plan to have some music and some poetry reading, too.''
LeMasters says he will serve mixed drinks, beer and wine. The business will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and will stay open later on weekends.
The Artist's Palette will feature local artists with a new show about every month.
The Strohmeyer exhibit, ``Earth Portraits,'' is a series of visual passages of the artist's thoughts about being a member of a global society as well as visual explanations. The series includes pastels on paper, oil paintings, photography and monotypes.
Strohmeyer, a student at Old Dominion University, served last year as artist-in-residence at Virginia Beach Friends School and has been scenic artist and set designer for the Virginia Beach Little Theater and Virginia Wesleyan College.
She has an associate degree in fine arts from Tidewater Community College and also attended Pembroke State University in North Carolina. by CNB