By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
Artwork by members of the Riverwalk Gallery is in the spotlight this month at the historic Turnage Theater in downtown Washington.
The exhibition went on display earlier this month, but a reception celebrating the show is planned from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. today at the theater. Refreshments will be served, and the public is welcome.
The exhibition is the third in an ongoing series that allows local artists’ groups to utilize the lobby space/gallery of the Turnage for shows.
“I think we all need to support each other in town,” said Valda Belyeu, publicity chairman for Riverwalk Gallery. “I think this adds to what is becoming a very artistic section of Washington, and it gives more people a chance to see what the people of Beaufort County can do. There is some pretty fabulous work coming out of Beaufort County now, of all different mediums.”
Belyeu said she hopes patrons visiting the theater for stage shows will take note of the art exhibition and then return to the downtown area to take in the various galleries there.
The theater plans to continue offering different month-long exhibitions in its lobby, according to Scotty Henley, executive director of the Turnage Theaters Foundation.
“I think it’s nice that as one of the arts outlets here — ours being live performances — that we support other artists, whether it be sculptors, painters, woodworkers or photographers,” he said. “At the same time, they may be supporting the Turnage in their own way, whether by buying a ticket to come to a show or letting others know about the performances that we have here.”
The Turnage also benefits financially from the shows. For every piece that sells during the exhibition, a percentage of the purchase price is donated by the artist to the theater. And although they don’t have pieces currently on display at the Turnage, both Belyeu and fellow jewelry designer Sue Beck are donating 10 percent of their sales at Riverwalk to the theater.
Riverwalk artists participating in the exhibition are Libby Behr, Milton Bland, Rick Bland, Linda Boyer, David Clark, Nancy Collis, Dodi Groesser, John Groesser, Brenda Haislet, Jeffrey Jakub, Hans Johnson, Carolyn Sleeper, Alice Stallings, Jayne Davis Wall, Sam Wall and Dee Standish.
Artist mediums represented include stained glass, pottery, photography, watercolors, oil, acrylics, woodworking and mixed media.
Next up on the Turnage exhibition calender are the artists from the Inner Banks Artisans Center in August, Henley said. The remainder of the schedule includes the eastern region of the North Carolina Watercolor Society in September, Long Leaf Gallery in October and Greenville Brushstrokes in November.
Henley hopes to host an exhibition featuring works by East Carolina University senior art students in December.