The Shenandoah Valley Art Center in Waynesboro, during the month of September, is exhibiting the sculptures of Bridgewater College’s Professor of Art, Michael Hough. His works show an interest in assemblage, sculpting with found iron and steel elements such as farm implements, industrial cut-off, and interesting scrap yard finds.
Hough welds each piece to the next in search of both formalist relations and narrative connections, searching for lines, shapes, and negative spaces that the parts create. He relishes the process of discovery and the surprise of how the individual elements relate. As with all found objects, each of these pieces of metal had a previous life and use. Hough finds ways of connecting those stories visually. Hough likes to explore scale and how a viewer interacts with a piece of sculpture that is larger than they are. He also likes to make the viewer smile and many of the pieces play with found elements to create humor.
For the past 31 years, Hough has been an artist creating ceramic pottery and steel sculptures. His love of all things clay and meatal began during his second year as an art student at California State University, Sacramento where he earned a BA and MA in Ceramics. After teaching high school art in Sacramento, he studied and earned an MFA in Ceramics at Rhode Island School of Design. He began his teaching career at Bridgewater College in 1997 and lives with his family next to his large ceramic and sculpture studio in New Hope.
An opening reception will be held Saturday, September 5, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and the public is encouraged to come and meet the artist.
The figure will be the theme interpreted by SVAC members through works of art that will be displayed in the Members Gallery this month. Join the fun and discussion as we view these creative works
Shenandoah Valley Art Center Open Studio Tour featuring local artists, artisans, and creative businesses will be open to the public September 19 and 20, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. This is a rare opportunity to glimpse inside the creative mind, watch demonstrations, purchase original artworks and spend time driving around the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Join us and visit some studios, eat some food, and meet the artists in their own creative workspace.
Come enjoy the gathering of folks seeking creative inspiration, camaraderie, and sharing of techniques through art activities and classes. Please join us for a free open studio opportunity on third Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. with the Art Trading Card Group. SVAC offers, the ever popular Saturday Art for Kids, presenting a creative art experience for young artists from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Contact the art center for specific information and pre-registration for each class. Open studio opportunities in the Virginia Ross Education Studio are available to printmakers and ceramic artists. Apply on line at www.SVACart.com.
The Fall Foliage Festival Art Show application for the show to be held on October 10 and 11 is online and available to professional artists. Recently the show was voted one of the top three art events in Virginia by “Virginia Living” magazine.
The art center is a retail alliance partner with the Artisan Center of Virginia. In the SVAC Gift Shop you can find the perfect creative gift in fiber, jewelry, wood, glass, pottery, and more by juried artisans from Virginia and SVAC member artists.
The Shenandoah Valley Art Center is located in downtown Waynesboro at 122 S. Wayne Avenue. Galleries are open to the public 10:00a.m. – 4:00p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call (540) 949-7662 or visit www.svacart.com.
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