International Women’s Day Art Exhibit Curated by Rosemary Gallick at Manassas Campus

Northern Virginia Community College kicks off International Women’s Day with a celebration of the ‘Power of Women’ at the Manassas campus where an art exhibit will be on display from March 2nd to March 25th.  A closing reception is scheduled the 25th from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. on the first floor of Colgan (just outside of the library) where attendees can meet all the esteemed women artists and faculty members part of the project.

The ‘Power of Women’ exhibit represents women in the arts from all campuses, and from artists in the community who have always supported NOVA. The artwork ranges from traditional representations, to ceramics and multimedia wall hangings. Attendees can explore the diversity of styles and various themes embraced in the exhibit.

Rosemary Gallick, organizer of the ‘Power of Women’ exhibit, has been a full time Professor of Art and Art History at NOVA since 1996. She also taught many years at the Woodbridge campus and the past four years have been at the Manassas campus. Rosemary was recently selected as the VCCS Featured Artist for 2020 at the New Horizons Conference in Roanoke, VA in April and was the VCCS Featured Artist chosen in 2017. She has published numerous articles, given various art presentations and exhibited her artwork throughout the United States.

In addition to teaching, she is a practicing artist who exhibits regularly and is in contact with many area artists. Rosemary curates many of the art shows at the Manassas campus and for March, she was inspired to showcase many of the women artists in the community. Ms. Gallick has created a series of abstracts, musical themes and portraits that focus on popular icons, ranging from rock and roll musicians, political figures, and other celebrities that dominate popular culture.

Featured Faculty Artists Include:

Dr. Erin Devine, professor of Art History at the Woodbridge campus creates videos, multimedia exhibits and does performance art.

Jessica Gardner, art professor and Head of Ceramics at the Alexandria campus. Jessica curated and exhibits in the show “Crowns”. Her work is also featured in 500 Teapots Volume 2, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute Collection and the Arkansas Arts Center.

In her artist statement she writes, “The Modena (the archetypal perfect parent) is juxtaposed with contemporary mommy blogs and social pressures as I authentically address the exhausted in-the-trenches realties of parenting. Throughout the work small multiples and intimate moments are combined to create larger works. From porcelain Modena figurines to slip cast breast pumps, this gathering of maternal artifacts parallels the repetition of domestic tasks and evokes memories of the women who came before. The imperfect mothers, spread too thin, but still working to create a happy home. In tribute to them, I transform the gallery and connect my work with red threads, the blood line that connects mother to child. These threads become simplified quilt patterns and reference traditionally female artistry and domestic customs. They serve as a poignant backdrop to my contemporary explorations and are delicate, like faded wall paper or a whisper of the past. This simplification was inspired by my children’s use of guileless crayon lines to represent big ideas. Other examples include a steel frame representing a house and simplified floras that read as organic, but allow room for interpretation.

My work is hopeful but also painfully honest. Home is where the heart is, but our heads are filled with the expectations of motherhood in modernity.”

Jean Lauzon is a professor of Art who teaches Drawing and Design at the Manassas campus and creates many figurative studies. Jean hails from the Midwest, where she earned a BFA, summa cum laude, Fine Art, at Millikin University, Decatur IL, and both MA and MFA in Fine Art/Painting from the University of Iowa. Eventually, she came to Virginia and taught as an adjunct instructor at the Woodbridge Campus and Germanna Community College – Fredericksburg before becoming the Professor of Art /Department Chair at Germanna. After retirement and a year of travel, she moved to Reston, VA, and returned to teaching as an adjunct art professor at NOVA  Manassas. 

Dr. Elizabeth Lynch is a professor of Art History at the Woodbridge campus. The materials she uses in her art range from pastels, to acrylic painting to pen and ink drawings. She focuses primarily on still life depictions and landscapes. Frequently, Elizabeth uses many collage elements in her artwork.

Featured Community Artists Include:

Michele Frantz who offers classes at the Center for the Arts in Manassas will be presenting her local landscapes and other renderings in a representational style.

Maureen Guillot is a practicing artist in both Prince William and Fairfax art leagues. Her artwork reflects local landscapes and nature. 

Mary Hanna will display her work in the exploration of portraiture and collage methods.

Debra Keirce, “a realist painter and experienced chemical engineer, will display her art of ‘life’s adventures’. Using oil paints, she paints in a tightly rendered realistic style. She is an art renewal center master, and has signature status in The National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, American Women Artists, Miniature Artists of America, and the Miniature Painters Sculptors Gravers Society of Washington DC. She is a juried member off the International Guild of Realism, The Salmagundi Club of NYC, and Copley Society of Art.” 

Anna Kim, a painter with 30 years of experience, has worked on every type of medium available. She has painted on surfaces ranging from canvas to canyon walls.

Regina Petrecca, a contemporary realist style painter, whose artwork ranges from macro still life paintings to whimsical abstractions.  She delights in transforming a blank canvas into something that she enjoys and hopes others will as well. Regina asserts there is something “magical” in the process. Ms. Petrecca is affiliated with Artists in Middleburg Gallery, League of Reston Artists McLean Art Society and the Vienna Arts Society.

Doré Skidmoreworks, is an artist who works in a variety of media.  Her works include sculpture and painting. After graduating from Vassar College with a BA in Art History, she has continued taking courses in the fine arts. She is currently the featured artist at Street Scene Galleries.

Doré studied stone carving under Constantine Seferlis, master carver at the Washington National Cathedral. One of her sculptures, a cherub carved from a 350 pound block of Indiana Limestone, perches on a quartz rock in the prayer garden of St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, Virginia. Her awards include Honors at the Vienna Art Center as well as at Vienna’s annual juried Treasury of Art Shows. Her work has been featured in many publications, to include élan magazine.

Doré carved scenes reflect her great interest in the distinct architectural styles found throughout America. A numbered edition of woodgraphs© were created from her original carvings; and each piece was hand cast, stained and painted according to the artist’s proof. Her woodgraphs© are well collected worldwide.

Kathleen Stark, a painter who uses acrylic and collage to show the many challenges that women face today including race relations and is inspired by subjects in religion. 

Kathleen, a NOVA student who started taking art classes at the Manassas campus after her youngest child attended college, further went on to continue her training at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. Along with studio art, she took art history classes and became a docent at The Corcoran gallery. It was during this time that she joined the Fairfax Art League and began showing in their gallery. She has participated in shows with other groups including the Northern Virginia Pastel Society. Kathleen has been the featured artist several times at the Old Town Hall Gallery, and has had a one person show at her home campus of NOVA Manassas called, “The Many Faces of Women.”  In 2017 she received ‘The John Mason Arts Achievement Award’ for outstanding contributions to the arts.

Ramona Weaver, a award winning graphic designer has had an extensive career in both education and a professional background in art and design. She has received Awards of Excellence from the Art Directors’ Clubs of New York, Atlanta, Savannah, as well as, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and Art Direction magazine.

Debra Wright, a multidisciplinary artist residing in Northern Virginia has had her work exhibited internationally in traditional venues, but has also appeared in renegade public art installations throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Debra’s current body of work reflects her deep commitment to social justice, human rights and the pursuit of personal identity.

We urge each of you to join us as we celebrate this historic exhibit at the Manassas campus featuring a plethora of gifted artists all month long.