“This is our first book talk,” announced Donna Davy. She stood at the podium in the rear third of the recently established Main Street Gallery and Arts Center in Moorefield.
This adds to the proliferation of arts facilities gradually expanding across the Potomac Highlands, joining South Side Studio in Petersburg, River House in Capon Bridge, and the coffee shop Elevated Grounds in Franklin, all of which display and sell the creations of local artists in a variety of media.
All of which also endeavor to promote both new and old additions to the artistic community in these areas.
Linda Hill, “a poet and photographer who lives on her family’s property at High View,” opened the program. She noted that she often volunteers at the River House and does outreach to local schools.
“Nature is one of those things that inspires me the most,” shared Hill. She traverses places where nature predominates, but the affairs of mankind have also left her mark.
Two poems presented came paired with photographs of Civil War battlefields on brilliantly beautiful days. Hill noted in her poetry the artistic contrast of serene beauty serving as context to the history and historical memory of large groups of men fighting, bleeding, and dying for their countries.
“You can feel the presence of those who fought so hard,” stated Hill.
She also posted a photograph of a pastoral scene from outside a local post office looking toward a sunset through a farmer’s field.
Davy had shared that the Gallery “offers other various forms of art.” The facility, a former furniture emporium on the south end of Moorefield, has three large equal-sized rooms. The two closest to Main Street provide space for display and sale of all that the Gallery offers.
The Gallery also plans to use classes and other events to generate interest in appreciating and also creating art. On Nov. 7 and again on the 21st, those who have RSVPed can enjoy opportunities for fellowship and painting in a fun and welcoming environment for those experienced in art and also new to creating.
Next up came Dr. Stanley Galloway of Mathias who also teaches literature and writing at Bridgewater College. Interestingly, his work, like Hill’s, drew much from other media. He has enjoyed publication in a number of nationally noted poetry publications.
One set of poems took inspiration from classical painters such as Rembrandt. He also used his experiences in Ukraine to express anguish over the human suffering in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Most poignant, however, were selections read from “Just Married,” an artistic introspection into the unexpected attributes of a relationship newly established in the sacrament of marriage. Dr. Galloway explores how the love and joy he finds with his wife have touched and united both the man he is today and the inner child that still appreciates happiness and wonder.
His performance style evoked some of the readings from decades ago. Dr. Galloway put emotional flourishes into his reading almost in a jazz style placing precise emphasis on certain words and even pauses for the proper effect.
The final poem he read, “The World’s First Blues,” brought the most creative insights. He used a Langston Hughes style to examine the mindset of the world’s first murderer after the fact. In this work, Cain’s punishment for striking down his brother lay in his eternal regret for his actions. In other words, the blues.
The rear space, directors set off for meetings and artistic performances, such as the Book Talk performed on Saturday afternoon. Important to art is the idea of symbolism in the imagery. Main Street Gallery’s rear room contains that. Its plywood walls and rough moldings with local paintings hanging from the wall convey a sense of a work in progress optimistic for the future.
And that future looks bright in terms of the Gallery serving as a hub for local arts. Over two dozen came for the free event to hear some selections from local artists.
It also looks bright in terms of fostering and promoting new talent, such as young novelist Ashley Nicole. She started her writing at East Hardy High School and allowed her experiences there and at Potomac State College to help shape her writing.
“I write novels,” she shared, “fantasy, dystopian thrillers. I have a bajillion ideas, it’s about finding time.”
The first selection she read came from an early work, Sacrificial Lamb, that follows a young couple from the real world into increasingly supernatural settings.
Ashley Nicole then read from “Change of Breed,” that presents an Alfred Hitchcock type scenario of a group of people trapped in a small space, surrounded by a deadly danger. Like Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat,” the danger shapes and propels the characters as they try to reason a way to escape safely. Here, the danger comes from zombie dogs bent on savaging any human they find.
Her last selection, “Haven,” she shared is in Moorefield High School library, which she found “pretty cool.” The story focuses on the timeless story of an intelligent young woman, naive to the world, seeking a way to escape its bounds, learn about what lies beyond the walls of her experience, and thus grow as a person.
The society she paints is one at the same time familiar to Renaissance Italy and modern video game players. Plague and resulting violence have pushed civilized society into cities protected by walls. Danger from disease and others awaits those who exit the cities.
“Haven”‘s plot loosely resembles a “universe” of video games, one of which is set in West Virginia. The game, called Fallout, also has a television franchise starring Walton Goggins. The proliferation of plots such as this would suggest almost a generational perspective of longing for experience beyond a very sheltered and protected upbringing, which became common in the 21st century.
Art represents artists. Artists’ art represents their lives and perspectives, told in their own unique forms of expression. Ashley Nicole’s voice, tinged with nervousness but overflowing with emotion, shared her description of that world and how her female protagonist navigated its deepest questions.
What happens when you have to leave the comfort of the symbolic womb that has nurtured and protected you? A world for which the womb has not properly prepared you and you regard with fear and trepidation instead of excitement and wonder.
After an intermission during which the Gallery offered a bona fide plethora of tasty treats came two authors with works shaped by war.
Nicole Yurcaba has earned several awards for her works. The artist hails from the mountain regions of western Ukraine, an area with traditions of poverty and prejudice against it not unlike those endured in Appalachia. Yurcaba’s work comes from the perspective of a young woman. Much of her work comes through the lens of anguish as she sees an unwanted war ripping apart her homeland.
She also shares her perspective as a woman coming from there to America, contending with men who do not understand her or her country, contending with a culture that she sometimes finds unwelcoming.
Nick Korolev’s work is steeped in the history and traditions of the Civil War in the Potomac Highlands. One of his novels, Swamp Dragons, focuses on the notorious and feared Union partisan group from the North Fork region of Pendleton County. Korolev is part of a Civil War society that endeavors to teach about the experiences of those who served, fought, and died.
Although the event was the first of its kind held by the organizers, it brought an intimate and cozy environment perfect for engagement between artist and audience. Those who attended expressed appreciation generously after each performance.
One attendee had moved in from out of state and shared that she enjoyed the “pods” of artistic expression that one can find in Hardy County. Each has its own style and its own focus, but each also showcases the richness of artistic production and perspective in this mountain and farming community
