New Exhibition and VMFA Artmobile Visit June 5 at Smith House Galleries

HARRISONBURG, VA – Arts Council of the Valley (ACV) is delighted to announce the opening of a brand new exhibition at Smith House Galleries during First Fridays of the Valley June 5: Selected Works by David Douglas. Stop by between 5 and 7 pm to converse with the artist as you explore his featured works and enjoy light refreshments. The First Friday excitement also features a visit from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) Artmobile, VMFA on the Road, located in the parking lot just behind the Smith House. Admission is free and open to the public.

The June exhibition, sponsored by GreeneHurlocker, will remain installed through June 26, with in-person visits Monday-Friday, 11 am to 4 pm. The galleries will also be open for special weekend hours Saturday, June 6 (9 am -1 pm), when the VMFA Artmobile will also be open. On Second Saturday (June 13, 10 am-2 pm), visitors can enjoy additional time to chat with exhibiting artist David Douglas and watch live plein air painting by area artists around the Smith House. For more information, see valleyarts.org, or email acvofficecoordinator@gmail.com.

David A. Douglas is a Virginia-based contemporary artist who has shown his work across the United States and abroad for over 40 years. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from Virginia Intermont College and his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from James Madison University. His photo-encaustic works on panel blend photography with drawing and painting techniques, incorporating traditional drawing and painting materials that provide depth and texture to the images, including the use of wax. Douglas’s work is held in numerous public, private, and corporate collections, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Chrysler Museum, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, and the Academy Art Museum.

In his Artist Statement, Douglas shares, “My art is a series of actions and reactions. Do one thing, look at it, and decide what to do next. It is how I have always worked, in drawing and painting, through photography, and now with the addition of the computer.”

Nancy Sausser, Independent Curator and Exhibitions Director and Curator at McLean Project for the Arts, adds, “Working at the intersection of drawing, painting and photography, David A. Douglas creates large-scale works that explore the power of place. Depicting personally significant landscapes and interior spaces on a monumental scale, Douglas offers the viewer the opportunity to enter his visual world and experience the potency that underlies each moment. Amplifying the inner beauty within the ordinary, Douglas’ works resonate with the intensity of a poem, simply stated yet somehow glowing with life from the inside out.”

Thanks to support from the Rockingham County Circuit Court Clerk’s office, VMFA on the Road will be in Harrisonburg (between the Smith House and Turner Pavilion) and open to all visitors during First Fridays of the Valley June 5 (5-7 pm) and again Saturday, June 6 (9 am-1 pm). The Artmobile’s new exhibition, Virginia as America: Navigating Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, honors America’s 250th birthday with artworks from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts permanent collection. The VMFA shares, "The spirit of rebellion that sparked the American Revolution and transformed the North American colonies into a United States was decades in the making, and the ideas that catalyzed it continue to shape American debate and dissent today... Two hundred and fifty years on, the principles that inspired the Revolution in 1776 continue to bond a diverse and discordant population towards the realizing of a ‘more perfect union.’ The road to that achievement has been navigated by Virginians since the colony became a Commonwealth, its experience manifest in the material culture made by and for its people."

Arts Council of the Valley is located at 311 South Main Street in Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia. Programs are supported in part by 2026 ACV Strategic Partners Kathy Moran Wealth Group, Riner Rentals, and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.

A 501(c)3 nonprofit, ACV is dedicated to cultivating the arts, creating experiences, and connecting communities throughout the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Since it was established in 2000, ACV has grown into a multi-faceted community organization that fosters innovative partnerships among area businesses, civic organizations, schools, and artists. Today, ACV manages Smith House Galleries, funds local art projects through its Advancing the Arts grant program (awarding more than $532,300 since 2001), supports public art initiatives, and coordinates monthly First Fridays of the Valley community gatherings.

ACV is supported in part by the City of Harrisonburg and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly. To learn more, visit valleyarts.org.

This press release was provided by Martha Hemingway at Arts Council of the Valley.