Striking bowls and vessels, paintings of Americana coming to Gay Street Gallery
Gay Street Gallery’s newest exhibition opens Saturday, March 11, with a reception with artists from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Beverages and refreshments will be served. Featured at the Washington gallery, Frederick Williamson returns with a new collection of his striking wooden bowls and vessels. They are crafted from sections of fallen trees, most from within a 30mile radius of his home in Crozet, Va. He has been a woodworker since 1971 and his creations have been displayed in galleries throughout the region.
Mike Howat, a New Hampshirebased painter, also returns to the gallery, with a new collection of paintings exploring collective memory, urbanization, and Americana. Since earning his B.F.A. from New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2014, he has been actively engaged in the East Coast art scene, showing regularly at galleries throughout the area and also at the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts.
Kevin H. Adams, the gallery’s resident artist, unveils new paintings from Virginia, Cape Cod, and his travels. Kevin is a member of New York City's Salmagundi Club, the oldest association of artists in the U.S., and also of The Provincetown Art Association and Museum. His work is regularly on display in both venues. His focus when capturing the landscapes he witnesses is on the light and its impact on color as we see it.
If you can’t join them for the reception, please note that this exhibition continues through May 23.
And if you’re going to be in the DC area, Kevin has a solo exhibition opening this weekend at Waverly Street Gallery, 4600 East West Hwy., Suite 102, Bethesda, Maryland. The exhibit run March 5-April 1 with an opening reception 6 p.m.-8 p.m. on March 10
The show, “Where I Call Home,” features his paintings of Virginia’s countryside and rural architecture. If you aren't able to see his work in person, the paintings can be seen at Waverly Street Gallery’s website (rappnews.link/0tg ).
ROLLER COASTER RIDE
Here lately the weather has been like a roller coaster ride, up and down. Some days spring weather, people wearing shorts and flip flops and some days cold temperatures. I am ready for Spring.
Hold on tight for the ride and we have to wait and see what the month of March has in store for us. Let’s hope that by the month’s end, it will go out like a lamb.
ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION
Editor’s note: This information was excerpted from Maureen I. Harris’ book, “Washington, Virginia, a History, 17352018.”
Automobiles began to appear on Rappahannock County roads shortly before World War I. With the advent of the automobile many roads were tarred and graveled during the 1920s. U.S. Highway 21 (today’s Route 211) was improved and rebuilt as a macadam road through the town of Washington during this time. In the 1920s, Trinity Episcopal Church purchased an automobile for the rector’s use; in 1925 the church purchased a new Ford coupe for the rector. Multiple vestry minutes mention dollar outlays for repairs.
For those who did not have automobile transportation, John W. Clark began a jitney service named the Front Royal & Washington Motor transportation Company that was chartered in 1916. Busses ran between Washington and Front Royal, and the route connected the town of Washington with the Southern Railway trains at Front Royal which permitted people to travel by railroad to Washington D.C., Harrisonburg, Hagerstown, or Roanoke, Clark sold the company to Walker B. Jenkins in 1920, and Jenkins renamed the company the Walker B. Jenkins Bus Line. It provided daily roundtrip bus service from Winchester and Front Royal, through Washington, and then south to Culpeper and Fredericksburg, until the mid-1950s. The bus routes also connected with railroad-trips a day, giving Rappahannock residents without transportation a chance to spend a day shopping or meeting appointments. The bus service also aided those who were unable to do errands in person; the drivers would have a list of notes and pick up medicine, groceries, and supplies for those on their list. In the mid-1950s Jenkins sold the line to the Virginia Trailways Bus Company and the service was discontinued shortly thereafter.
The Commonwealth of Virginia took over maintenance of all primary and secondary roads in the 1930s. The State Highway Commission was constructing Lee Highway and the Town Council requested that the highway be run through the town. The request was probably also in anticipation of the benefits to the town of increased tourism from the planned new Shenandoah National Park.
During construction of the highway through the town, Main Street was macadamized and widened. Unfortunately, some of the town’s residences were severely weakened by this construction. One of these was the two-story brick home built in the mid-1800s by J. Y. Menefee, a distinguished lawyer. The building, located on the west side of Main Street between Jett and Porter streets on town lot 13, had porches on the first and second floor and was often described as one of the most beautiful homes in the town of Washington.It was valued at $1000 in 1900.