MORGANTOWN — Monongalia Arts Center (MAC) will host the “10th Annual Women of Appalachia Project (WOAP) Fine Art Exhibition” featuring female artists living in or with strong ties to Appalachia from throughout West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. An opening reception with will be held from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 6. Many of the artists will be in attendance for meet-and-greet opportunities and to discuss their works.
According to the founder, Kari Gunter-Seymour, the mission of WOAP is to address discrimination of Appalachians, particularly women, by showcasing the way in which female artists respond to the Appalachian region as a source of inspiration; bringing together women from diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences to embrace the stereotype — to show the whole woman; beyond the superficial factors that people use to judge her. WOAP will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The exhibition will be on display in the Benedum Gallery at MAC until Oct. 27. Along with MAC, the fine art exhibition will be exhibited at two other venues, Ohio University Southern, Dingus Technology Center Art Gallery, Ironton, Ohio; and Ohio University Multicultural Center Art Gallery, Athens Ohio.
A sister event, WOAPs “Women Speak,” will be held earlier in the day at WVU’s Downtown Library, in the Appalachian Room, from 1-3 p.m., at which spoken word artists — poets, storytellers and musicians from West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota and Tennessee — will perform their work.
When asked how living in Appalachia has influenced her life and therefore her art, West Virginia painter Cheryl Ryan Harshman said, “In my twenties, after college and grad school, I chose to spend my life in Appalachia, along the Ohio River, on the West Virginia side. I have lived deep in the country. I’ve put up hay and butchered with the old farmers on our ridge. The tragic beauty of this place I call home haunts my personal vision and must necessarily come through the paint I use to speak.”
Info: womenofappalachia.com or facebook.com/WomenofAppalachiaProject.
