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Exhibit slated at The Arts Center

Don Hall

Don Hall

ELKINS — From 5 to 7 p.m. on June 2, The Arts Center will present the artwork of Don Hall, T. M. Nicholas, and David Curtis at an opening reception in The Arts Center’s Great Hall.

Linda Walker Roberts’ solo exhibit also opens in the Maxwell Gallery. These openings are free and open to the public.

Hall grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia in the 1940s and 1950s. Although he had an early interest in painting and drawing, few opportunities existed for him to explore art. After graduation from high school and a tour in the army, he and his wife moved to Rockville, Maryland where he was first able to study art. In 1973, when he was 33-years-old he began to take formal art classes. Painting quickly became a consuming passion.

Hall’s work has been greatly influenced by French Impressionism and the Hudson River school of painting. He paints a variety of subjects, concentrating primarily on landscapes. His early work was mostly in the studio. In the early 1990s he began to explore painting on location, en plein air. In 2000, after a long and successful career as a film producer, director and editor in private industry and with the U.S. Department of the Navy, he retired and moved to Elkins, where he began to pursue his love of painting full time.

From 2002 to 2006 he sponsored plein air art workshops in the Elkins area, bringing premier plein air artists here to teach. Nicholas and Curtis were two of those teachers. In 2014, Hall was one of the featured artists in the book “100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic.” He is a member of Oil Painters of America, the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters’ Association and an artist member of the Sonoran Plein Air Painters’ Society in Arizona. He continues to travel extensively to paint in the eastern United States and the desert southwest. His artwork may be seen at Tamarack in Beckley and at Artists at Work Gallery in Elkins.

Nicholas was born in Rockport, Massachusets in 1963, the son of noted artist Tom Nicholas, N.A., AWS. He studied privately with his father as well as at John Terelak’s Gloucester Academy of Art and the Montserrat School of Art. Today, as a representative of the Cape Ann School, Nicholas is considered the finest painter of his generation and is proud to carry on its 150 year tradition. Though deeply influenced by his artistic forbearers, he ultimately developed a unique style that solidified his professional reputation among critics and collectors alike.

Nicholas is a member of and current president for the Rockport Art Association. He is a member of the North Shore Arts Association and the Guild of Boston Artists. His work has been featured in “American Art Review” magazine and “Plein Air” magazine. He is one of the featured artists in the book Art of the National Parks. He has received numerous awards for his work. Today, Nicholas travels extensively painting en plein air. He teaches workshops in Massachusets and Vermont and has taught workshops in West Virginia. He served as a juror for Arts Center exhibits in 2004 and 2014.

Born in Brookline, Massachusets in 1950, Curtis was introduced to painting at an early age by his father, marine artist Roger W. Curtis. Curtis grew up surrounded by the painters — and paintings — of Cape Ann, an area noted for its artistic antecedents. He took classes at the Massachusetts College of Art and, after high school, studied at the Boston Museum School and the Vesper George School of Art, Boston. He began working under Boston artist R.H. Ives Gammell and remained in the atelier for two years.

Curtis is an artist member and past member of the Board of Managers of the Guild of Boston Artists, an artist member and past Chairman of the Arts and Exhibition Committee of the North Shore Arts Association and an artist member and past President of the Rockport Art Association. He has been featured in “American Art Review” magazine. He has won numerous awards for his work and is listed in Who’s Who in the East. He teaches outdoor oil painting classes and workshops on Cape Ann, throughout New England, Virginia and West Virginia. He served as a juror for Arts Center exhibits in 2012 and 2015.

A short history of Plein Air Painting will be displayed on panels as part of the exhibit. This was written by Judith Curtis, David Curtis’ wife, who is a regular contributor to “American Art Review” magazine.

The Maxwell Gallery will feature watercolor paintings by Roberts. Since 1983, Roberts, a native of Summersville, has been a watercolorist and an active member of the Seneca Trail Artists Guild in Elkins. In the spring of 2000, she was juried into Artists-at-Work, a fine arts co-op in Elkins. Her originals, reproductions, and cards are available for purchase at Artists-at-Work and other gift shops in West Virginia. Roberts was juried into MountainMade in 2001, and into The Gallery at Tamarack in 2002. A signature member of the West Virginia Watercolor Society, Linda is also a member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, Morgantown Art Association, and The Arts Center in Elkins. Exhibiting her paintings in state, national, and international shows is exciting and rewarding to Roberts. Primarily a self-taught artist, she attributes her success to husband, Don, and friend and artist, Tonie Peterson, for their encouragement and support. Expressing herself in watercolor has added an exciting and satisfying dimension to Linda’s life.

“I love to see the bright, clear colors and designs come to life on the paper. With watercolor, there is always the element of surprise,” she said.

In addition to being an artist, Roberts is an ordained American Baptist minister, retiring in 2016.

For additional information contact The Arts Center office at 304-637-2355, or visit our website: www.randolpharts.org.

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