Spring Art Show



Spring Flowers
S. Tschantz




The Renaissance Art Gallery is planning an open entry art show for May 2011. Open entry means this show is open to non-gallery members, ea. all artists 18 and older. The chosen theme this year is “Parks and Recreation”.



Just what does that mean? I don’t know, you tell us. All fine art media are welcome. Awards will be given to those artists who, in our judge’s opinion, best express this theme. So think about it. How would you paint, sculpt, mold, fold or mutilate or otherwise produce a piece of find art to this theme? Would you do a painting representing Ritter Park? Kids playing ball, your dad watching TV? Or bulling on the playground? What does “Parks and Recreation” mean to you? Think like an artist and let us see just how creative you can be.



Confusion In The Prospectus

It has come to my attention, by a couple of gallery members, that our prospectus for the spring show might be a tad confusing. Our Show Schedule is tight this year. Because of extensive remodeling of the gallery, we just will not be able to hold a separate fine art photography show as we usually do. So we decided to roll that back into the spring show, as it was for the first couple of years. Now, when I put that back into the prospectus, I was not as careful as I should have been. This is the confusing part:

Work: Original works in any traditional media, prints from original plates, or sculptures will be accepted, provided they have not been exhibited at any previous Renaissance Art Gallery show. Photography must be marked photography and will be judged separately. Reproductions not accepted. Artwork must be the original and cannot contain or be based on any work copyrighted by another artist. No derivative works!



Crafts and artworks produced by photographic, giclee, laser or digital techniques will not be accepted.

The sentence allowing photography should have been its own paragraph and after the text.



We strive to show the best in ORIGINAL art in the Renaissance Art Gallery. So all paintings, sculptures, pottery, etc must be the original. We will not accept a print of the original artwork, nor do we accept work based on someone else’s work.



But how does that affect fine art photography, which by its vary nature is a print?



Well, that should have read like this:

Work: Original works in any traditional media, prints from original plates, or sculptures will be accepted, provided they have not been exhibited at any previous Renaissance Art Gallery show. Reproductions not accepted. Artwork must be the original and cannot contain or be based on any work copyrighted by another artist. No derivative works!


Crafts and artworks produced by photographic, giclee, laser or digital techniques will not be accepted.

Fine Art Photography will be accepted in this show, but must be clearly marked photography and will be judged separately.

If you have any questions, please write or call us. We really want to display your work in our gallery. E-mail is gallerywv@yahoo.com, phone number is 304-525-3235. Or simply ad a comment to the end of this post, and we will answer all your questions.


We still will not accept copies of your work instead of the original. Artwork that incorporated your original photography will be accepted, but must be marked photography and must be all your own work. Digital work can be used, and yes, you can fold spindle and mutilate in the computer. You can output as creatively as you desire, but the work must be presentable and ready to hang. Do not use frames with saw tooth hangers. Ever. No. No. No!

Empty Gallery

Gallery Changes



The Renaissance Art Gallery does not look much like itself right now. In a word, it is a mess! Things pulled out, desks in a jumble, and things put anywhere. The main gallery is just about empty of artwork, or anything else right now.



While we love our gallery, and enjoy being in a historic building, there are drawbacks. When you are in a historic building you inherit historic wiring! This has been the bane of our existence for the past 10 years. Finally, we have gotten the powers that be to approve and install some much-needed upgrades to the wiring in the two rooms we occupy. It has always been the intent of the artists of the Renaissance Art Gallery to display fine artwork to its best advantage. While we have struggled with putting the art on display and lighting the gallery, even our best friends would not disagree that the lighting at times leaves something to be desired. And we did. Desire better that is. Now, with new circuits available we can upgrade the lighting in the main gallery. And this will be done.



But in addition to upgrading the lighting, we are also upgrading the general look of the Renaissance Art Gallery. The floor is being repainted in a more reflective color, which will also help to brighten the gallery. The wall display areas are being covered in a newer, light carpet that will help to display the artwork with fewer reflections.



A new center display wall will be built to allow not only more display space but will allow larger pieces to be hung and viewed more easily.



All of this hopefully will make local artwork more accessible to everyone