Current Exhibits |
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Visionaries
Celebrating the Influential Artists who founded Valley Art Center
1971 - 1984
1971 - 1984
Valley Art Center was incorporated in 1971 and opened its doors for business at a rented vacant former factory at 155 Bell St., where it remains today.
VAC offered 14 classes that first year, and by 1975 it offered 41 classes with a membership of about 800.
Some folks say VAC was born from the flames of political unrest and conflicting values and ideology that seemingly divided the nation into two groups, each with strong opinions and strong wills, much like today’s political climate. They say that the center was a creative response to heal from the 1970 Kent State University tragedy when Ohio National Guardsmen shot into a crowd of students protesting the Vietnam War, killing four students and injuring others. Many of the early VAC members shared connections to both KSU and the Chagrin Valley.
After a few years, when the group was in danger of losing its lease on the building, several members, including Bob Takatch, took out a second mortgage on their homes to buy the 155 Bell street building and lease the one next door. Other members contributed what they could.
The leased building was eventually purchased and incorporated into the structure we know today.
Founding champions included Judy and Gerry Pinckard, Kathy and Don Smith, Howard and Cara Stirn, and Julie Weber. Early artists and master instructors included printmaker and painter Peg Bowen, watercolorists Mary Ann Boysen, Susie Graham, Dale Harsh, Darlene Jackson, Florian Lawton, Fred Leech, Jan Mettee, Clarence Perkins, and Lois Salmon Toole, ceramicists Tracy Ameen, George Roby and Joan Rusek, colored pencil artist Mary Hobbs, and mixed media artists Phyllis Lloyd, Beth Ann Raymond, Peg Strohmenger, and Bobbi Wheeler.
VAC offered 14 classes that first year, and by 1975 it offered 41 classes with a membership of about 800.
Some folks say VAC was born from the flames of political unrest and conflicting values and ideology that seemingly divided the nation into two groups, each with strong opinions and strong wills, much like today’s political climate. They say that the center was a creative response to heal from the 1970 Kent State University tragedy when Ohio National Guardsmen shot into a crowd of students protesting the Vietnam War, killing four students and injuring others. Many of the early VAC members shared connections to both KSU and the Chagrin Valley.
After a few years, when the group was in danger of losing its lease on the building, several members, including Bob Takatch, took out a second mortgage on their homes to buy the 155 Bell street building and lease the one next door. Other members contributed what they could.
The leased building was eventually purchased and incorporated into the structure we know today.
Founding champions included Judy and Gerry Pinckard, Kathy and Don Smith, Howard and Cara Stirn, and Julie Weber. Early artists and master instructors included printmaker and painter Peg Bowen, watercolorists Mary Ann Boysen, Susie Graham, Dale Harsh, Darlene Jackson, Florian Lawton, Fred Leech, Jan Mettee, Clarence Perkins, and Lois Salmon Toole, ceramicists Tracy Ameen, George Roby and Joan Rusek, colored pencil artist Mary Hobbs, and mixed media artists Phyllis Lloyd, Beth Ann Raymond, Peg Strohmenger, and Bobbi Wheeler.
Exhibit on view September 11, 2020 – October 14, 2020
This exhibit is open to the public during our normal business hours and from 6pm-8 pm Thursdays, by appointment.
The gallery is also available to reserve for small group (10 persons) experiences, for more information contact our office.
This exhibit is open to the public during our normal business hours and from 6pm-8 pm Thursdays, by appointment.
The gallery is also available to reserve for small group (10 persons) experiences, for more information contact our office.
Featuring the work of:
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Tracy Ameen - Ceramics
Mary Ann Boysen - Watercolor Ann Over DeMun – Collage, mixed media Susan Graham - Watercolor Dale Harsh - Watercolor Darlene Jackson - Watercolor Tricia Kaman - Oil and Pastel Florian K. Lawton - Watercolor Fred Leach - Watercolor Phyllis Lloyd - Collage |
Nancy Martt - Acrylic and Watercolor
Jan Mettee - Watercolor Clarence Perkins - Watercolor Beth Ann Raymond - Mixed Media George Roby - Ceramics Sue Roby - Various Media Joan Rusek - Ceramics Peggy Strohmenger - Watercolor Bob Takatch - Watercolor Lois Salmon Toole - Watercolor |
Gallery Shop
Please be advised that all items included in this exhibit will not be available for pickup until October 14, 2020.
All purchases must be picked up at Valley Art Center during our posted business hours, we do not ship.
All purchases must be picked up at Valley Art Center during our posted business hours, we do not ship.
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Hallway Gallery
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Lucy Bailey - Daylily
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Lucy Bailey
Artist Statement Within myself is a constant battle of emotions which art helps me to define and accept. I use a wide variety of media to create my work including painting, fabric dye, digital assemblage, and photography. My art is abstract and involves layering vibrant colors and expressionistic marks. I look to intertwine joyfulness with something darker, elements that exist alongside each other in an ordinary day for me. I am confronting undesirable feelings we all experience at one time or another as well as joy which takes me out of myself in unexpected ways. I chose the title Daylily because, like a daylily, I want my work to express a moment of beauty, this flash of bright color in the midst of settings which for me can induce anxiety: poking through guardrails on freeways, planted outside Big Box stores; growing abandoned in a world of asphalt. The goal of my work is to have the viewer experience this mix of emotions which can amplify each other. Like a daylily, I want to evoke the feeling of hopefulness blooming out of an overwhelming and troubled world. |
Sponsored by
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Thank you to our 2020-2021 programming sponsors
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with support from
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