Four Ballets, One Year, One Painter: Works by Web Bryant

Four Ballets, One Year, One Painter: Works by Web Bryant

Exhibit dates: September 5-November 5

Manassas Ballet Theatre is a local treasure, the largest professional ballet company in Northern Virginia. Web Bryant spent an entire year observing, sketching and painting these extraordinary dancers. His works in oils and pastels encompass all four ballets in the troupe's 2017-2018 season, including rehearsals, performances, and candid backstage moments. Before turning to fine art, Bryant was a senior illustrator at USA Today for 30 years. He teaches at the Yellow Barn Studio at Glen Echo Park and is a member of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters.

Meet the artist at the reception September 22, 7-9 pm (9419 Battle St.), & enjoy a brief excerpt from the Manassas Ballet Theatre's production of Dracula. Performance starts at 7:30 pm. Receptions are free and open to the public.

*Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday (10 am-5 pm), Saturday (1-5 pm)

About the Artist
Web Bryant

"My paintings combine a journalistic eye for the narrative, and an intimate view of the passing moment. I paint real places and real people. Places you want to go and people you would like to meet."

Web Bryant turned to fine art after a long career designing and illustrating newspapers. As a senior illustrator for USA Today, he painted front-page portraits of world leaders and entertainment icons that were seen by millions of people.

The deadline-driven world of journalism required mediums that could be executed quickly. Web started out using watercolors and later mastered digital painting with pixels. Today, his favorite mediums are charcoals, pastels and oils. He uses glazing and other techniques of the Old Masters to create layers of translucent color in his oil paintings, with an eye toward creating areas that visually vibrate and give energy to the work.

A keen interest in storytelling continues to inspire his work today. For the Manassas Ballet Theatre project, Web strived to capture both the beauty of the dance and the backstory of making ballet. He spent an entire year observing, sketching and painting the extraordinary dancers through rehearsals and performances.

Click here to learn more about Web.

Manassas Ballet Theatre
The Company consists of 29 adult professional dancers supported by an Artistic Director, Ballet Masters and other technical and administrative personnel. Each season, MBT presents four productions, totaling 22 performances at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, while offering six Educational Outreach performances each season at the Hylton for over 6,000 area public school students. The Company dancers of MBT come from eleven different countries. Annually, over 100 dancers audition to join MBT's company, some travelling from as far away as China, Brazil, Japan and the Near East.

About the Center for the Arts
Greater Manassas/Prince William County sponsors theatrical productions for children and adults, teaches arts classes, promotes visual arts and provides community outreach programs for local youth. Founded in 1984 by a group of artists and art lovers, the Center aims to enrich the quality of life in the Northern Virginia suburbs through arts performance and education. A theater, an art gallery and classrooms are located in the historic Candy Factory building in Old Town Manassas, at 9419 Battle Street.