The whimsical art of Staunton‘s Diana Hale will be on display at Art Hive and opens Saturday, October 4, 2025 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m.
“With Love From the Art Hive” reminds us of the profound, simple joy of personal correspondence arriving in the mailbox.
Hale’s work is a collision of the antique and the absurd. Her art, a masterful blend of printmaking, digital manipulation and collage, takes vintage postcards and postage and gives them a complete, humorous makeover.
Her pieces lean toward Dadaism, but are also packed with subtle, side-eye humor that makes the viewer lean in, chuckle and then look again. Where else in Staunton are you going to find a packaged slice of American cheese replacing a Rothko painting? Or a meticulously cut finger from a 1958 stamp making a surprising, tiny journey up Winston Churchill’s nose?
Not just a joke, Hale’s art is a reflection on how we communicate now versus then. Her use of 3D French knotted flowers blooming from desert postcards and Swedish Fish imitating traditional Japanese printmaking is a fun, vibrant call to embrace the brief moments of levity in life, and, crucially, to foster connection through the written word.
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Hale is a dedicated mail artist right here in the Valley and is the proud owner of the world’s largest collection of vintage photographs of individuals standing next to mailboxes. She is renovating 7 Lawyers Row in downtown Staunton to become a permanent mail art gallery, library and studio, which is where her impressive 1800s Rosback perforator stamps out thousands of “artistamps” every month.
Light refreshments will be served at Hale’s reception where everyone is encouraged to allow an art exhibit to inspire them to drop the email drafts, pick up a pen and reconsider everything you thought you knew about American cheese and fine art.
Art Hive is at 835 Spring Hill Rd., Staunton.
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Rebecca Barnabi
