Each year since September 11, 2001 we have marked this date with small and large gatherings. From ceremonies at ground zero in New York City, to here in Danville, these allow us to experience shared memories of loss around specific events and give us a unity of purpose in remembrance. These gatherings serve the purpose to heal and restore us psychologically but this year’s September calendar reads 2020, and this year, as we all know, is different. According to data from INSIDENOVA, the pandemic added 1,115 COVID-19 cases in Virginia as of yesterday September 11.
The data effect this year's the September 11 memorial gatherings, but did not stop us from commemorating the lives lost on that fateful day. We remember the Danville Firefighters who responded after the attack, going to New York City to help. Captain Billy Scearce, recalls himself and several others working from 5am to midnight in New York right after the attack. They brought back with them a piece of the World Trade Center steel that you can see at the Danville Fire Department.
To find out more about how the 9/11Memorial & Museum conducted commemorations this year please see HERE
Collective memory around specific dates is something we all understand deeply. The Japanese conceptual artist, On Kawara (河原 温, December 24, 1932 – July 10, 2014) lived in New York City in the 1960’s and 70’s and belonged to an international generation of Conceptual artists that began to emerge in the mid-1960s, stripping art of personal emotion, reducing it to nearly pure information or idea and greatly playing down the art object. Along with Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth, Hanne Darboven and others, Kawara gave special prominence to language and more specifically the data and information shared by historical dates that occurred during his lifetime. From January 4, 1966, Kawara made his long series of "Date paintings" (the Today series), which consist entirely of the date on which the painting was executed in simple white lettering set against a solid background. The dates on the paintings, hand-painted with calculated precision, are always centered on the canvas and painted white. Each Date Painting is registered in a journal and marked on a One Hundred Years Calendar. To find out more about this fascinating artist please go HERE.
These are some dates from the Danville Museum that we want to highlight this week. Let us know at [email protected] which dates you feel are most important to the Dan River, and South Side Virginia Region.
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"SEE & DO Creative Corner" |
The “Carry Yarn” girls (Museum Interns Aiden Thomas and Adessa Breakley) host a yarn exploration workshop on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10am-11:30am. They are bringing the healing experience of simple but fulfilling knit and crochet art-making to people who are socially isolated behind the barriers of disability, isolation, or poverty, promoting well-being, joy, and community through innovative programming. The goal of this project is a yarn bombing through the fall and winter months at the museum.If you would like to find out more about YARN BOMBING press HERE.
With this new community engagement, A Stitch in Time will reach students in public and private schools, families, and community groups, with interactive, hands-on art experiences that inspire learning, creativity, and well-being in homes across the Dan River and South Side Virginia region. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stitch in Time Program will complement other distance learning initiatives and be an accessible and inclusive resource for students, families across Danville, as well as community groups. If you would like to participate in this programming you can join us in person or virtually.
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Welcome September Artists in Residents |
Local Danville artists Felice McWilliams and Anna Timm will be teaming up in September for a small Mural project at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. The mural is in commemoration of our new interactive hub at annex HOUSE 126 behind the Museum which is now the home of the Dan River Nonprofit, Smokestack Theater Company, Lucio Video and our DMFAH fellowship offices. We are excited about this project that will provide a great entryway to visitors and clients at the HOUSE 126 annex. We look forward to watching this mural unfold in September.
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The Danville Museum Derby Day Sweepstakes will be ongoing through the next few weeks! Support the Danville Museum of Fine Art by sending in your Derby Day Hat picture for our online Derby Day Hat gallery to [email protected]
Please also make a suggested donation of $10 for each entry to help us raise operating funds through difficult C-19 days. Remember the Museum takes care of all the Dan River Region’s histories. So wear your hat to show support. The Sweepstake winner will receive 10% of all funds raised. The second hat drawn will receive a Crema & Vine Derby Day picnic Basket and the third hat Drawn will receive either a Derby Day Cake or a Mint Julep Activity Kit. Sweepstake winners will be announced on SEPTEMBER 30.
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Lights are on at the Swanson Studio |
On Mondays, Jonathan Scollo switches on the studio lights for a small group of five potters who work from 6:30 -9:30 pm. If you would like to find out more about this industrious band of potters and would like to sign up for a class, please contact Jonathan HERE.
On the second last Thursday of every month Elsabé Dixon switches on the Swanson studio lights until Lynda Gourley can return to teaching in person, to conduct hands-on printing workshops that will enable you to go back to your own studio, kitchen or designated “creative space.” For a museum donation of $20 you can explore the joys of small production printing techniques. On this coming Thursday we will engage in the craft of the collograph print. To find out more about collograph printing please press here. SIGN UP AT [email protected] FOR THE COLLOGRAPH WORKSHOP COMING UP ON SEPTEMBER 17, DMFAH Swanson Studio from 6:30-9pm.
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On the Last Thursday of every month, the Swanson studio lights are switched on by a collective group of avid drawers. This is a Life Drawing session and community group drawing session with a life model/sitter. All five easels for this session are spaced six to eight feet apart and the model is placed in the center. We have been very lucky to contract with Firefly Yoga to help us out with the Life drawing models. If you would like to sign up for the session please contact [email protected]
But let us remind you, there are only five spaces available for each hands-on session.
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Ghosts and Gravestones Welcome New Ghosts!!!
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Auditions are done! Scripts are hot off the press! And Smokestack Theater Company is on their way to producing a smoking hot performance this year at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History on September 22, 23, and 24. This year there will be many surprises awaiting those who venture out to the much beloved Museum community Halloween Event - with a pinch of salt and lots of jaw dropping local history thrown in!!! Josh Lucia has spent most of the summer working with Museum University Fellows writing and tweaking scripts, creating new characters. The tours will be divided to make sure there is appropriate distancing and lots of outdoor-fresh-air experiences. So come on out!
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