An Evening of Art in Orange: Jim Power, Amanda Wagstaff and Kiernan Lofland
The Arts Center In Orange celebrated the opening of two new exhibits with a joint reception Thursday, Oct. 5.
In the community gallery, the Montpelier Steeplechase and Equestrian Foundation unveiled its annual poster painting, “The Paddock, Montpelier at Its Finest,” in anticipation of the Montpelier Hunt Races on Saturday, Nov. 4. The painter, Jim Power, has worked extensively as both a professional artist, winning Best Racing Picture for Horse & Hound magazine among other awards, and in the horse racing community, including caring for the legendary racehorse Frankel.
“He's an extraordinary horseman,” shared friend and fellow equestrian Tad Coffin. “If you're in the game or an appreciator of racing or anything having to do with equestrian sports, he captures the movement, he captures the scene, he captures the atmosphere in a way that you really have to be an insider to be able to capture.”
“He's an interesting cross section of both horseman and painter,” added Kelly Coffin, wife of Tad and another accomplished artist and equestrian. “He makes me think of the best advice I ever received as a painter, which is from my instructor who said, ‘Paint where your passions are.’ And Jim embodies that in so many ways.”
Meanwhile in the Morin Gallery, quilter Amanda Wagstaff and sculptor and photographer Kiernan Lofland debuted their dual exhibit, “Parlor of the Spirit.” The show is a tribute to memory, the intangible, and the unique character of rural Virginia.
Lofland, who grew up in Goochland County, uses both traditional film photography and wire-and-plaster abstract sculpture to capture the ambience of Virginia’s natural landscape. Having travelled extensively throughout the United States before moving back, Lofland said he still hasn’t found anywhere quite like his home state.
“The atmosphere is spooky and it's dense and it's thick, and the vegetation is very, very lush,” he stated.
For Wagstaff, a contemporary quilter who incorporates salvaged objects and organic elements into her textile work, Lofland is a kindred creative spirit.
“I feel like we both are really tactile with how we work with our hands and raw material, but then we're also connecting with this kind of deeper spiritual thing in the imagery of our work,” she shared. “We're also both really steeped in the places we live — in the landscape, our relationships with our families, and just how we want to move through the world. I think that our core values are definitely underneath the work and they speak to each other.”
A Mecklenburg County native, Wagstaff said that much of her inspiration and her outlook on art stems from her rural upbringing.
“A lot of my work is really labor intensive, and I think working with my hands is important,” she noted. “I come from a family of makers and none of them would say that they're artists, but they all make things and have these creative outlets. My father was a farmer for years and years, and then he built houses as a contractor. My mother was a textile designer. They're both just very creative people. They might not identify that way, but that's where I'm coming from for sure.”
Jim Power’s exhibit will be open until Oct. 28, and “Parlor of the Spirit” will be on display through Dec. 2 at The Arts Center In Orange, located at 129 E. Main St. in downtown Orange, Va. Bidding for Power’s original painting will take place at the hunt races on Nov. 4, and posters can be purchased for $10 at the races or the arts center. For more information, visit www.artscenterinorange.com or www.montpelierraces.org.