Busy season for the Artisans Center of Virginia
The Artisans Center of Virginia is having a busy August, announcing this week several initiatives and programs aimed at promoting the work of Virginia artisans.
The Waynesboro-based Artisans Center will be collaborating with the Lynne Goldman Studio located in Barracks Road Shopping Center in Charlottesville. Lynne Goldman Studio is celebrating 18 years of being at the forefront of artisan jewelry and unique shopping. In addition to Goldman ’s custom designs, the studio is known for showcasing emerging designers. Lynne Goldman Studio continues this tradition by adding the handmade jewelry, sculpture, pottery and textiles of the Artisans Center of Virginia.
“Lynne Goldman Studio offers Virginia artisans a unique opportunity to feature their one-of-a-kind artist works in an inviting retail environment that represents the highest quality products to it’s patrons and we are proud to facilitate this relationship between our ACV artisans and such a well-respected artist-entrepreneur,” ACV executive director Sherri Smith said.
Recognized for its stringent artisan jury process, ACV will facilitate from its eligible professional artisan membership, the consignment of exquisite and unique craft items to expand the Lynne Goldman Studio’s repertoire with retail products that represent the highest quality craft that Virginia has to offer.
Virginia artisans interested in being considered for representation by the Lynne Goldman Studio must first be practicing ACV Juried Professional Artisans and members of ACV. All Virginia artisans are welcome to apply to the ACV’s Jury.
The application deadline for the next jury session is Sept. 1, 2010. Visit ACV’s website at www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org to download the application materials.
Another collaboration will have the Artisans Center partnering with Piedmont Virginia Community College to offer classes and workshops in PVCC’s Stultz Center for Business and Career Development in Charlottesville.
“ACV is proud to establish our Studio School program in this strategically state-centralized location and looks forward to working with PVCC to establish accessible entrepreneur-based arts educational programming for students and artists from all over the state.” Smith said. “The artisan industry in Virginia is one of the state’s greatest untapped economic assets. Skilled craftsmen and women, with expertise in design and manufacturing techniques, form the backbone of the creative economy in many communities across the Commonwealth and thus we look to them to help us create a sustainable education program that strengthens and perpetuates Virginia’s greater arts industry.”
The ACV Studio School at its core is a workforce development initiative that focuses on the vocational and trade skills of Virginia artisans while providing them with the business training needed to advance their marketable talents and sell their products and services. In addition to entrepreneur development courses, incorporated in the practical applications that give an artist a broader functionality or transferability of skills, they will be encouraged in an attempt to offer cross-training in skill based trades utilizing similar equipment and procedures.
The ACV Studio School will include educational outreach to the next generation of Virginia artisans, facilitation of programs in a wide variety of artist-entrepreneurial, contemporary and traditional craft courses, establishment of The Artisans Center of Virginia Instructor’s Bureau, for the purpose of offering rural communities satellite education opportunities and the development of an official craft vocational syllabus in support of the Virginia Department of Education’s “Career Pathways” for the arts.
“The ACV Studio School recognizes that artists and craft-persons are a vibrant part of our economy,” said Valerie Palamountain, Dean of Workforce Services. “PVCC is very excited about this new venture, and our involvement in developing this sector. We look forward to offering classes designed specifically for the arts and crafts industry in entrepreneurship, business, and skilled crafts, and are honored to be associated with the ACV.”
Craft courses will be taught by practicing, ACV juried Virginia artisan members, many of whom are nationally renowned. ACV welcomes any Virginia craft artisan not yet an ACV juried artisan to apply to the Sept. 1, 2010 Jury, should they be interested in teaching a craft course at the Studio School.
A third collaboration announced this week will have the Artisans Center of Virginia teaming with Artisphere to open a new ACV Gallery in Arlington featuring professional juried Virginia artisans from all corners of the state.
“This unique gallery will be solely dedicated to ACV professional juried artisans and their work with every piece of artwork hand-crafted by Virginia artisans,” Smith said.
Combining the newly-renovated former Newseum space with the existing Spectrum Theatre next door, Artisphere’s multi-disciplinary cultural offerings will permeate this 62,000 square foot cultural campus seven days a week, 12 hours a day, offering more than 100 events per month.
Recognized for its stringent artisan jury process, ACV, serving as Artisphere’s fine craft purveyor, will select from its eligible professional artisan membership, exquisite and unique craft items to create an inviting retail venue representing the highest quality craft that Virginia has to offer.
ACV’s mission of bringing economic opportunity to Virginia artisans while strengthening local economies is realized in this sustainable alliance that combines ACV’s networking and artisan jury strengths with the retail and marketing reach of the Artisphere’s locality and support systems.
“Artisphere is ‘Arlington’s art space for everyone,” says Mary Briggs, cultural development director for Arlington Cultural Affairs. “To be able to provide a prominent showcase in the DC metropolitan area for artisans from throughout the state of Virginia helps us to fulfill that mission.”
Virginia artisans interested in being featured at ARTISPHERE must be practicing ACV juried professional artisans and members of ACV. All Virginia artisans are welcome to apply to the ACV’s Jury. The application deadline for the next jury session is Sept. 1, 2010. Visit ACV’s website at www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org to download the application materials.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
ACV honors outstanding artisans
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Artisans Center of Virginia recently honored three Virginians for outstanding achievement by Virginia artisans, organizations or individuals who support and encourage the craft industry in the Commonwealth.
The 2010 ACV honorees were:
- Woody Crenshaw, Floyd, president of ‘Round the Mountain and Owner of Crenshaw Lighting. Crenshaw is a vital conduit for positive change, advancing Virginia’s craft industry. Crenshaw continues to be instrumental in developing the Artisan Trails of Southwest Virginia and is a voice for artisan entrepreneurs as important assets to the economic development of Virginia communities. Read more
Artisans Center to host craft leadership event
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Artisans Center of Virginia has announced plans to form a Statewide Leadership Council for Craft, dedicated to coordinating artisan efforts from all areas of the state.
The ACV plans to convene the first meeting of the leadership council at its biannual Virginia Craft Conference and Business Institute on Saturday, Jan. 23, in Roanoke.
“ACV is proud to facilitate a synchronized effort to bring together champions of craft from every corner of the Commonwealth and in doing so create a coordinated awareness with the potential for collaborative opportunities that strengthen the sustainable framework of Virginia’s artisan industry and help artisan entrepreneurs meet the challenges of the current economic climate,” said Sherri Smith, director of the Artisans Center of Virginia, which is headquartered in Waynesboro. Read more
Artisans Center hosting state conference
Staff Report
News Tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Artisans Center of Virginia is hosting a conference and business institute for artisans Friday, Jan. 22-Sunday, Jan. 24, at the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center in Roanoke.
The event will explore old and new ways of supporting the culture of craft and insure its place as an economic mainstay and its importance to the vitality of Virginia communities.
The theme for the conference is “Virginia Artisans: Responsive & Ready!” The ACV has facilitated a proactive program that highlights creative initiatives, fresh ideas and visions that represent positive change and lasting strength for Virginia’s artisans. Read more
The ACV is back
If I want to know what’s going on with the Artisans Center of Virginia, the easiest way for me to find out is to get up from my computer, walk down the hall toward my old office on the other side of the Augusta Free Press Publishing building and ask Sherri Smith, the ACV’s new executive director. Read more
A night of jazz to support the work of artisans
Hod O’Brien – a great name for a jazz pianist, isn’t it? You can smell the smoke in the air at the lounge at the drop of the words. Chances are you hadn’t heard the name before, unless you’re in the jazz cognoscenti, in which case you got out of your chair and bowed in the direction of Albemarle County to pay homage to the underground jazz legend. Read more
Shepherd Bliss | Oklahoma City, Columbine, Virginia Tech and now Fort Hood
Posted by afp on November 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment
They are each sites where Americans killed Americans in a culture whose violence extends from here to places like Iraq and Afghanistan. They are symptoms of a deep problem not likely to disappear without serious intervention.
Connections exist among the violence here at home and American violence in wars abroad, which indicate a pattern. These incidents are among growing signs that we should analyze carefully, now, before additional warnings happen and perhaps even worsen. The root causes of such eruptions should be studied. Read more
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