For 5 years now, Spitzer Art Center has hosted the annual 6x6x30 show: a thirty day challenge where each artist must create a piece of art for each day. For the last 4 years of this show, the VMRC has graciously allowed us to use the space of their Park Gables gallery to display the art; it is a treat for residents to look at during the month, and the space is ideal for showcasing the amount of art included in this show. Each year, the turnout for the opening is fantastic, artists sell great numbers of their work, and general excitement and support spreads throughout our community; this years opening was no exception. Artists of many different mediums and disciplines participated, 29 to be exact, resulting in 870 individual works of art! 
This year, we invited Rob Mertens, Assistant Professor at JMU, and Nan Covert, Associate Professor of Art at Bridgewater college, to jury our show and hand out our top 3 prizes. Our 1st place prize went to Barbara Gaucher, 2nd place to Nathan Horst, and 3rd place to Rachel Herr.

Although the jurors could only choose three for the top awards, there were amazing things to see in every individual artists' series throughout the show! Check out some more images below, and make sure you stop by the Park Gables building throughout the month of March to buy some art, vote for the audience choice award, or just to check out the show!

​Photos taken by Gayle Driver

For October, we hosted Nava Levenson's exhibit "Reassemble, Rehabilitate, Re-Establish." 

"Reassemble, Rehabilitate, Re-establish is an attempt to merge my art practice with aspects of daily life, specifically home making activities. This work is heavily influenced by the time I spent living and working at Elsewhere Museum, a thrift-store-turned-museum in Greensboro, NC. Operating in a domestic studio space, I have been investigating multi-purpose space making and homesteading resulting in these installations and sculptures. Many of the materials used in this work are salvaged domestic items, or from my job rehabilitating houses in Richmond. Quilted together, these objects that once had a home and a purpose now occupy a space between function and fringe."

Check out some Images from Nava's opening!
​Photos taken by Sarah Cowles

The galleries at Spitzer were alive with creative energy at our most recent First Friday event, Moving Sculptures, held September 7th. The Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative performed on a stage in the main gallery, accompanied by photography by Lara Ressler-Horst. This collaberative show was a beautiful merging of visual and performative arts; check out some images from the opening below, and be sure to check out what other events the Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative are up to here!

​Photos by Sarah Cowles

If you love beer and you love art, come to Brothers Craft Brewing this Friday the 19th to support Spitzer during January's Cask for a Cause, a monthly event where Brothers Craft Brewing invites a non-profit into its taproom. The brewmaster helps the organization make its own brew, which keeps the proceeds from the event. Take a look at the video below for more information on the "hoptimization" process.


Spitzer Art Center is grateful for the support of its members and the community. A big thanks to Brothers Craft Brewing, and we hope to see you this Friday. 

Brothers Craft Brewing is located on 800 N Main S. Cask for a Cause will run from 4:00-11:00 pm. 

By Adriana Hammond

 We've had our first snow, the coffee shops are pouring eggnog, and you know at least one person with the flu, which means the holidays are officially upon us.

When looking for things to impress your loved ones, consider visiting Spitzer's new-ish store. Our members stocked the shop with gifts that are sure to add some beauty to the home or office, make someone laugh, or simply let them know that you think they are super. For some gift-spriation we  selected some things to help get you started. 

Left to Right: 1. Rhett Miles, Hickory Cutting Board $50 2. Zach Gesford, "Covfefe", Mixed Media Drawing $60 3. Alison Funk, Clay Head Sculptures $30 per piece 4. Zach Gesford, Hand Stitched "3D" $50

Left to Right: Carla Walton, "North River Reflection" Photograph  8x10 $10 2. Jewel Hertzer, "Red and Green" Encaustic $75 3. Hannah Sions 6x6 Embellished Photographed $45 4. Cameron Ritcher 6x6 Mixed Media Painting $60

​​We hope to see you at Spitzer for some holiday shopping, and don't forget to take a look at our current exhibition, "Small Works" art by local high school students, if you missed us on First Friday. 

The Spitzer shop is open Mondays and Saturdays from 10-4pm. 

Spitzer Art Center has several studios where talented community members do and showcase their artwork. Here is a video on Spitzer renter Rhett Miles and his wooden pieces. Follow his Facebook page here. 

​Spitzer member Pam Tittle began her journey into the Harrisonburg art scene with a weekly drawing exercise she designated the Valley Art Project. These illustrations, débuted in a solo show at Clementine’s in 2010, depict various scenic treasures of the Shenandoah from Cave Mountain Lake tucked quietly off of the Blue Ridge Parkway to the peaceful views of Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia. Tittle’s color palette in the series, never too saturated, illustrates a subtle nod to the area’s cathartic gifts, which long-term residents of the Shenandoah know there are plenty.
 
Tittle’s background in art began in her childhood. Her father was a drafter and often brought home drawing books she would dedicate her time to. With a BFA from the Maryland Institute of Art, Tittle spent 25 years with a kitchen design firm as a drafter before quitting and pursuing art full-time in April 2016. 
 
Recently, she has been busy with her “Gems” series, which she named after the small stone hoping to “[capture] a glimpse into a quarter size world.” Considering the petit size of her gems, the detail of each image is impressive. Each gem is an image encapsulated in the size of about a quarter often of a fairylike quality. Her 96th gem, for example, “How Pigs Fly,” shows a pig, of course, being carried in the sky by a strawberry air balloon dripping with chocolate. This imaginative scene is only 1” by 1”.
 
With such a tiny area filled with color and detail one wonders about the particulars of her workspace. Tittle doesn’t use a magnifying glass when composing her gems, but she uses her father’s drafting table, which is over 60 years old. “The whole space is filled with things I love or inspire me,” she says. Over her desk hangs a street sign from a trip to California when she was 18 and clothespins hold old photographs and prints done by other artists she likes. “The space has a really nice window that lets in [the] northeastern light,” she beams. Her studio also has some of her daughter’s work, who is coincidentally an architect, giving drawing a generational representation in the space.
 
Currently, Tittle is illustrating a new character for a collaborative children’s book while participating in several shows. She is one of the 54 illustrators in Larkin Arts’ December Deck Show. You can also find some of her work in the new Spitzer gift shop, the Wooden Trout gallery in the Agora Market, and the Lady Jane. “When I left my job,” she says “I [made] a point to experiment with all kinds of mediums and subject matter.” Tittle’s dedication to experimentation shows in her vibrant range of designs colored with imaginative storytelling.
 
You can find Tittle’s work on Instagram and on her website pamelastittle.com.

By Adriana Hammond

First Friday attendee's enjoyed refreshments and live music by Jeff Gorman Music. Gallery hours are every Saturday in April from 10a-2p.

Friday, February 5 was cold and dark but there was so much warmth and light radiating from Spitzer Art Center that evening...