We have scheduled a meeting on Thursday, May 19 at 6:30pm to talk about the Holiday Art Market from last year and start planning for this coming Holiday season.

Even if you did not participate last year but would be interested for this year, please try to attend and let us know of your interest.

We hope to get our planning started earlier this year so we can expand number of artists, the length of time and increase the level of promotion.

The location is in the Byrd Health Sciences Center, 2500 Foundation Way in Martinsburg. The Center is located just behind the Dorothy McCormick building on the south end of the City Hospital campus.

Here is a map:http://mapq.st/fuXzZp

Hope to see you there.

Call for Artists:

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) is announcing a call for entries for a juried art exhibition with the theme “West Virginia Wildlife” at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The show will be the third of four in the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions presented by the Division. The exhibition will open Aug. 8, 2011, in the Commissioner’s Gallery of the West Virginia State Museum.

The Inspired series of exhibitions was conceived by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith of the WVDCH as a way to commemorate the Mountain State’s sesquicentennial, which culminates in 2013. The series harkens back to the museum’s early days, when artists were asked to focus on a specific theme to help increase the size of the state’s art collection.

The exhibition is open to all West Virginia artists whose wildlife submissions can be hung from a wall. Eligible entries include works created in the last two years in the areas of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts/wall hanging.

For more information go to:

http://www.wvculture.org/news.aspx?Agency=Division&Id=1692

The Winners of the Sixth Annual VIZZI Awards are on exhibit in the hallway of the Berkeley County Offices in the Dunn Building, 400 West Stephen Street. One display are the First, Second, and Third place winners in each of eleven categories in graphic design and communications and visual media. The competition, which is sponsored by James Rumsey Technical Institute,  is open to Sophmores, Juniors, and Seniors in all of the high schools in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County.

The students’ winning work shows high levels of creativity and technical skill. Beyond any academic considerations, these skills are 21st century job skills.

If you are near downtown Martinsburg and have a few minutes to spare, drop by the Dunn Building and check out this work by some of the most creative young people in our community.

The exhibit of the VIZZI Award winners was presented for the second year by the Berkeley Art Council in association with James Rumsey Institute.

The judges had a difficult assignment on Saturday night at Musselman High School as dancers from the Tri-state area competed in the Berkeley Arts Council’s first Show Us You Can Dance finals for cash awards. The competition was intense, but resulted in many memorable dance, choreography and artistic performances.

Cash prizes were awarded to the top winners in the Solo, Duet and Group categories, but the judges also recognized outstanding individual and group performers with special awards.

The Solo Division first place award went to Julianne Brown dancing to “Angels on the Moon”.

The Duet Division first place award went to Marina Addlesberger and Nolan Seda dancing to the Grand Pas de Deux from “The Little Mermaid”

The Group Division first place award went to Extreme Sports and Dance for the Hip Hop routine “Look at Me Now.”

For a complete list of awards and competitors, check out the Berkeley Arts Council web site.

Dancers are rehearsing, awards are being prepared, and we’re taking it up a notch for the Finals of our first youth dance competition. Nine soloists will compete in their category, eight groups are in line for prizes, and we’ve even created more opportunities by making Duets a separate category with two prizes possible.

The Finals begin at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 at Musselman High School in Inwood, WV.  Tickets are available for a few more days online on our “You Can Dance” page; and they will be available at the door beginning at 6:00 p.m. Adults $10; 18 and under $5.

For a complete evening of entertainment, guest artists will perform while the judges are making their decisions. Inwood Dance Company will perform “Wonderstruk” and the Shepherd University Dance Team offers a routine titled “Higher Remix”.  Tari Jo’s Dance Studio  will present “Werewolf” by CocoRosie.  Come and Enjoy!