Deadline Extended: Monday December 12, 2022 (Midnight)
The Berkeley Arts Council announces My Home Town, a national juried photographic art exhibit.The exhibit will be on display from Wednesday January 11 to Saturday February 18, 2023.
Description:Capturing the essence of a town and its inhabitants, its neighborhoods, architecture, local businesses, the downtown district, etc., brings us a sense of history, memory and nostalgia. Do you live in a town or community that retains the look and feel of a bygone era? There is beauty in the small moments of everyday life. We are looking for your photos that portray the activity in a town of today against a backdrop of earlier times.
Eligibility: The exhibit is open to all artists throughout the continental United States, over the age of 18, working in any photographic medium or technique (digital, film, alternative, or antique photographic processes).
Holiday hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays 11:00am to 5:00pm; Fridays 11:00am to 8:00pm; Saturdays 11:00am to 4:00pm and Sundays 12pm – 3pm.
The Berkeley Arts Council’s St. Nick’s Market is open for business!The gallery at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 N. Queen Street, Martinsburg, is transformed into a festive holiday market displaying the work of local and regional artists and artisans as well as their year ‘round co-op artists.
There’s a variety of items for great selection and fun shopping: a mix of fine art and craft items for the home, including ceramics, glass, wood, photography, painting and mixed media; holiday cards, and clocks – all thoughtfully made! Check your lists and be sure to visit St. Nick’s Market at the Berkeley Art Works this year!
Check in to our Facebook page and watch for new posts of product pictures.
We held our first "Evening with The Arts" on Saturday, November 12 and it was a wonderful gathering of supporters of The Arts and the Berkeley Arts Council. There was good food and music to create the atmosphere, and the awarding of more than 40 works of art for those who participated in the "Tombola" raffle/auction.
Many thanks to the artists, who donated their work, the sponsors, who supported the event, and the Board and members of the Berkeley Arts Council, who put a great effort into making the event successful.
Why your participation in "An Evening With the Arts" is important:
The Berkeley Arts Council has been working in Berkeley County and the Eastern Panhandle area to bring arts-related programming since 2009. During our 13 years, we've held 2 successful Arts Expos. We helped the Berkeley Community Chorus get its start. We created a student dance competition. We've built a local artists' cooperative. We've published a Bulletin of arts happenings every month without missing a month - even during the worst of Covid. We create exhibition opportunities for visual artists and changing exhibits for the public to enjoy 9 times per year. We've built up an instruction program of foundational art classes and workshops for all ages. We work in the community with other creative and arts establishments to bring people downtown for First Friday Art Walks. These are just a few examples of what we've accomplished.
We want to continue this important work and do more for the community! Whether you purchase tickets for the event, or you want to be a business sponsor, proceeds will benefit our future programming. We are recognized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit by the IRS. We appreciate your support!
The Berkeley Arts Council announces the award winners for their 10th Annual Eastern West Virginia Juried Exhibit. Congratulations to the following artists:
Best of Show: “Montani Semper Liberi” cottonwood carving by John Carper, Martinsburg WV
Merit Award: “Repose” oil on canvas by BJ Grandel, Martinsburg WV
Merit Award: “Flying Jellyfish” fiber and mixed media by Carol Williams, Shepherdstown, WV
Honorable Mention: “Death of a Salesman with Sitka Spruce and Iron” assemblage by John Walsh, Shepherdstown, WV
Honorable Mention: “Untitled” photograph by Leslie Williams, Shepherdstown, WV
The awards for this year’s 10th Annual Eastern West Virginia Juried Exhibit were sponsored by a generous donation from City National Bank. The exhibit is on display until October 8 at the Berkeley Art Works.
The Berkeley Arts Council announces the opening of the 10th Annual Eastern West Virginia Juried Exhibit, on display at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street, Martinsburg, WV until October 8, 2022.
The exhibit highlights the work of artists living in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and includes paintings, drawings, photography, and sculpture. A wide range of media are represented in the exhibit including watercolor and gouache, oil, and acrylic painting, pastel drawing, wood carving, basketry, fiber arts, collage, mixed media, and assemblage.
This year’s juror was Jenna Gianni (MFA), a ceramic artist and educator based in Maryland. She currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in ceramics at Hood College in Frederick, MD. Ms. Gianni selected 33 works by 21 artists from Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan and Mineral counties.
About her selections, she states: “There’s a quote by John Dewey that states, “ [art] is the authentic expression of any and all individuality…individuality in whatever form it appears.” As a juror, editing an array of talented individual expressions is a difficult task! Works in a mix of mediums and communicating a host of subject matters fueled by imagination and a clear commitment to individuality of expression were finally chosen among this year’s submissions.
Selected pieces balance an understanding of technique with the freedom to move beyond it, creating a fresh work that communicates a new perspective, generating content for the viewer to interact with, think with, and question. These works, whether depicting domestic moments and unique natural scenes, or capturing abstract concepts through a mix of medias, ultimately best exemplified the individuality, breadth, and diversity of the artists of the region. It was a pleasure to take part in this selection process, and hopefully, in the selected works viewers will find pieces to relate to, to enjoy, and to learn from!”
The Berkeley Art Works is open every Wednesday through Friday from 11:00am – 5:00pm and every Saturday from 11:00am to 4:00pm.
The Berkeley Arts Council presents an exhibit of their Creative Arts Studio group from August 10 through August 27, 2022 at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street, Martinsburg.
Creative Arts Studio, which is sponsored by the Berkeley Arts Council and supported by the Martinsburg Public Library, is a group of artists who enjoy painting and creating in a relaxed and congenial group setting. The participants meet weekly on Thursday afternoons at the library or at any of the county’s outdoor venues, weather permitting. Their exhibit represents the varied approaches they take and media they use to create their work.
The group has been meeting for the past year and a half. They are all members of the Berkeley Arts Council: Jeanne Marie McClure, Lannie Mullenax, Susan Cranford, Martha Rowley, Martha Hanley, Louise Janelle, Laura Word, Mary Jo Sims, John Turner, and Judith Becker.
The exhibit is open during regular business hours at the Berkeley Art Works every Wednesday through Friday 11am – 5pm and Saturday 11am – 4pm.
Juror Jenna Gianni selected 33 works by 22 artists for the 10th annual Eastern West Virginia Juried Art Exhibit, to be held at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street in Martinsburg. The exhibit opens August 31 and runs through October 8, 2022.
The Berkeley Arts Council (BAC) announces the award winners for the Contemporary Printmaking juried exhibit, an exhibit of works in various printmaking techniques. The purpose of the exhibit is to introduce the community to the versatile medium of printmaking.
The exhibit is on display from June 29 to August 6, 2022 at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street, Martinsburg, WV. The gallery is open every Wednesday – Friday, 11-5 and Saturday 11-4.
The juror, Matthew McLaughlin, selected five award winners.
The Best of Show went to Brandon Williams from Nashville, Tennessee for his copper plate etching entitled, “From the Ground Up”.
Merit Awards were given to Mitch Eckert from Louisville, Kentucky for his copper plate etching “Still Life with Inedibles”, and Ginny Fielding from Midlothian, Virginia for her lithograph “Upper Crust”.
Honorable Mentions went to “Downstream” a lithograph by Elizabeth Fontenot from Beaumont, Texas and “They’re Near You When You Sleep”, a zinc plate monotype by Mark Goodmanson from Crystal Lake, Illinois.
The juror, Matthew McLaughlin, is a mixed media artist and curator who explores the human relationship with their environments, specifically urban and suburban spaces. He is a Senior Lecturer and teaches printmaking at the University of Maryland. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fine Arts from Ringling College of Art and Design and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from Arizona State University.
There are 26 works by 19 artists from 15 states in the exhibit. “In making my selections, the versatility and breadth of printmaking and its processes continued to surprise me. For an art form to have such a wide range of capabilities and be able to produce such a variety of imagery astonishes me again and again. The submissions for the exhibition did not disappoint either. With pieces created through so many processes, it was difficult to decide upon the selections for the exhibition. The prints spoke to me in many ways. For some it was through their craft and cleanliness, while for others it was their gestural quality. Whether it be the crisp quality of a relief print or the tonal subtlety of photogravure, the scope of what an artist can accomplish with print continues to expand with each generation. In the exhibition, I choose to emphasize the range of printmaking’s abilities through the pieces. From photographic work to abstract, from small scale to large, the works bring forward the full gamut of the medium in both process and concept.”
Extended Deadline for Entries Midnight Wednesday August 3, 2022
The Berkeley Arts Council announces the 10th Annual Eastern West Virginia Juried Exhibit, to be displayed in the Berkeley Art Works gallery, 116 North Queen Street in Martinsburg, WV from August 31 to October 8, 2022.
Eligibility – The exhibit is open to artists over the age of 18 who reside in one of the eight counties that comprise the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia: Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Grant, Mineral, and Pendleton.
Theme – The theme for the exhibit is open. Works in any medium or technique, in 2- or 3-dimensions, abstract, representational or non-representational subject matter are welcome. Entries must be original works of art that have been completed within the last 3 years and have not been exhibited previously at the Berkeley Art Works.
Juror – Jenna Gianni (MFA) is a ceramic artist and educator based in Maryland. She currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Ceramics at Hood College in Frederick, MD where she has previously worked as the Director of Galleries. In addition to her work at Hood, Jenna is also part owner at Washington Street Studios, a community pottery studio in Harpers Ferry, WV providing ceramics classes and studio space to artists in the MD, VA, and WV area.
Entry Fee – The entry fee for one or two works is $25. Additional works may be submitted for a fee of $10 for each additional work, up to a total of four works.
Awards – Best in Show, Merit Award and Honorable Mention.
Entries – Two-dimensional work must be suitably framed and must not exceed 48 inches in width, including frame. Framing must be equipped with wire, ready for hanging (no sawtooth or single loop hangers, please). Please use plexiglass instead of glass. Three-dimensional work must not exceed 72 inches in height and 36 inches in width or depth, and must be free-standing.
Image Submission – Entries for the exhibit must be submitted as digital images for jurying. You may submit up to four works to be juried for this exhibit; one image per work. One additional image to show detail for 3-dimensional work is allowed.
The image file format should be normal (baseline) JPEG. Do not save as ‘progressive’ JPEG. The images should be 1200 pixels on the long dimension with the other dimension proportional. Save at 72 PPI/DPI at high quality setting (8 out of 10 or 80% is good). Set the filename to lastname_title_WxHxD_entrynumber.jpg (example: jones_pretty girl_11x14x1_no1.jpg).
Notification of Accepted Work – Notification of the juror’s selections will be announced by e-mail and posted on our Web site on or about Monday August 8, 2022. Make sure your e-mail address is current in Entrythingy and check your e-mail (including SPAM folder) and our Web site around this date!
On display from June 29 to August 6, 2022
Deadline for Entries: May 22, 2022 at midnight
Open to all visual artists throughout the continental United States, over the age of 18, working in any printmaking technique, representational, abstract, or non-representational subject matter. Works in any of the following printmaking techniques: engraving, etching, lithography, linoleum or woodcut, screen printing. Photomechanical, digital or mixed media processes may be incorporated as long as the primary technique is one of printmaking. Entries must be original works completed within the last three (3) years, and have not been exhibited previously at the Berkeley Art Works.
Juror: Matthew McLaughlin is a mixed media artist and curator who explores the human relationship with their environments, specifically urban and suburban spaces. He is a Senior Lecturer and teaches printmaking at the University of Maryland.
Entry Fee: $35 for the first two works. Artists may submit one or two additional works for $10 each, for a maximum of four works.
Awards: Best in Show, Merit Award and Honorable Mention. Total prize fund up to $1,000.
The Berkeley Arts Council is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Berkeley County, WV with a visual art exhibit entitled, Berkeley County, WV: Future, Present, Past. Congratulations to the following: Best of Show: Sterling “Rip” Smith for his photo “B & O Roundhouse”; Merit Award: Claudia Giannini for her painting “Dalmanites”; Merit Award: Gary Bergel for his photo “Green Hill Historical African American Cemetery, Feb. 2021”; Honorable Mention: Kelli Myers for her series of 3 wire sculptures of apple trees; and Honorable Mention: Tom Nebel for his painting “Harlan Springs”.
Awards were selected by Dr. Doug Kinnett, local artist and former member of the art faculty at Shepherd University, where he coordinated the Art Education program. Doug has been an exhibiting artist/painter and printmaker since the 1970s, with a long list of local, regional and national shows to his credit.
(Click on the images to see larger versions.)
Thirty-five original 2-D and 3-D works by regional artists address “future”, “present” and “past” themes in a variety of media. The exhibit is on display from May 18 to June 25, 2022 at the Berkeley Art Works. The gallery is open every Wednesday – Friday from 11-5 and Saturday from 11-4. The Berkeley Arts Council thanks the Berkeley County 250th Commemoration Steering Committee for their generous support of this exhibit.
Merit Award: “Flying Jellyfish” fiber and mixed media by Carol Williams, Shepherdstown, WV
