Alta Vista celebrates 22 years

Alta Vista Gallery in Valle Crucis is hosting a reception this Saturday, Oct. 27, to celebrate its 22nd anniversary and a new show, “Autumn Colors.”

The reception, which is part of the monthly Avery Tour de Art, will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Twenty new paintings will be shown by local artists Joan Sporn, Bennette Rowan, Sheila Hancock, Bob Francisco, Dean White and Amos Westmoreland.

Celebrating the gallery’s 22 years, refreshments will include “anniversary cake” or pumpkin bread, various treats, hot cider and tastes from Shelton Vineyards. To enhance the autumn theme, the table will feature black cat décor, to honor the gallery’s resident black cat, Roma.

“As we celebrate 22 years as an art gallery, I give a huge ‘thank you’ to all of my artists and customers,” gallery owner Maria Santomasso-Hyde said. “I feel blessed to have been in business for 22 years.

“This Saturday’s reception will be fun, due to our celebration and also due to the colors in the new paintings. The vibrant colors of autumn bring joy, and that’s how these new paintings make you feel. We have all of the exciting colors of autumn in the gallery – the many shades of reds and golds, and even the purples, as seen in a large oil by Westmoreland, titled ‘Almost Home,’ which shows a mountain meadow in that evocative time of day, twilight.

“We’re also showing various stages of autumn. For example, a large oil by Rowan depicts the beginning of autumn, when the coneflowers start to form seeds and the birds sit on them to eat the seeds.
Conversely, Sporn’s oils show full-blown autumn, with its riot of reds and oranges in the sugar maples around the Banner Elk area. Francisco’s river scenes are colorful, yet tranquil, as are the oils of Sheila Hancock, who even did one with pumpkins in it.

“And speaking of pumpkins, we always have the ever-popular print, ‘Girls Night Out,’ by acclaimed folk artist Will Moses, which features pumpkins and witches – those girls really know how to party.”

The 20 new paintings in this show range in size from very small oils by Hancock and Francisco (5x7 inches and 8x10 inches) to large oils by Rowan, Westmoreland and Sporn (36x36 inches, 30x40 inches and more).

The show will hang through mid-November, when the gallery will show new paintings and items for Christmas gifts, in preparation for the annual Alta Vista Christmas open house, which will be on Nov. 24.

This Saturday’s reception is a part of the monthly Tour de Art, which showcases 14 galleries and studios. Maps of the tour are available at Alta Vista Gallery and at the other stops on the Tour. Receptions are held on the fourth Saturday of each month, June through November.

Alta Vista Gallery shows more than 100 artists in various mediums, including oil, pastel, watercolor, jewelry, fused glass, stained glass, clay art tiles and Mangum pottery The gallery is located in a National Register of Historic Places farmhouse at 2839 Broadstone Road in Valle Crucis, between Mast Farm Inn and Mast Store Annex.

For a map and directions, visit http://www.altavistagallery.com or call the gallery at (828) 963-5247. Also, to stay updated on new art and events, visit the gallery on Facebook.

Gallery Times

Gallery Times is a weekly news feature of The Mountain Times, featuring short news items submitted by local galleries.

For more information or to make a submission, contact editor Frank Ruggiero at (frank@mountaintimes.com) or (828) 264-6397.