Home Face to Face: Portraits of our Vibrant City opens Friday
Local

Face to Face: Portraits of our Vibrant City opens Friday

Contributors

Bridge Progressive Arts InitiativeFace To Face: Portraits of Our Vibrant City opens Friday at The Bridge Progressive Arts Institute in Charlottesville.

The new exhibit uuses the intimate process of portraiture to connect artists and community members who have different life experiences. Part portraiture and part biography, Face to Face uses the strengths, experiences, and passions of vibrant individuals in the local community to inform masterfully created portraits.

The project introduces Charlottesville artists from different backgrounds who work in a wide range of mediums to diverse community members for an opportunity to form meaningful connections through portraiture. Artist participants range from career artists to UVa students. Each artist has been commissioned to create a portrait for the person they have been introduced to. October through January, participants connected to learn each other’s stories. Artists used these experiences to inform their process as they create a portrait for the individual.

“​Face to Face was designed to very directly and deliberately exercise The Bridge’s mission of bridging diverse communities through the arts.” explains Alan Goffinski, executive director of The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative. “We’ve seen such a positive response to this project. Artists working in all kinds of mediums are eager to expand their social practice by stepping up to meet the challenge of doing something meaningful for someone they might not have a chance to otherwise get to meet.”

The process, portraits, and exhibition promote connection and unity in our community, facilitate connection between artists and community members, and increase representation of the vibrant diversity that exists in Charlottesville.

Featured artists include: Samantha Pagni, Eileen French, Eric Bolsmann, James C. Johnson, Jum Jirapan, Kori Price, Krista Townsend, Leslie Tanner, Paige C. Lyons, Sarah Miller and Raneem Tarfa.

Visit ​http://thebridgepai.org/face-to-face/​ for more details.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.