THREADS REDEFINED

EXHIBITION OPENING: FRIDAY JANUARY 5TH, AT 5:30 P.M. WITH ARTIST TALKS AT 6:30 P.M.

EXHIBITION RUN: JANUARY 5TH – FEBRUARY 15TH

Fabric. The unconventional medium being by Elaine Fleck and Mary Beth Bellah. Elaine Fleck, a Roanoke artist, weaves a world of bold colors and could-be familiar faces and places in her two-dimensional work painted on fabric. Mary Beth Bellah, from Charlotesville, uses her skill in quilt making to make whimsical 3D pieces and 2D works with elements of mixed media. The natural world comes to life with each artist using her own experiences, and elements of nature and the people who live among it. Both have a knack for texture and textile that complement each other beautifully to redefine fabric as a unique way to see the world around us.

Both artists have shown in various solo and groups exhibitions around the state and country. Most recently Fleck’s work has been seen at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, MD, as well as the Offsite Gallery in Norfolk, VA. She has been featured on Tidewater Women’s website in September, 2017, as well as the Columbia Tribune and Roanoke Times. In 1999 and 2000, Fleck was awarded Best in Show at the Roanoke City Art Show.

Bellah is a part of Fiber Transformed, a group of contemporary fiber artists. In 2017, her work was shown twice in the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg VA, the Athenaeum Gallery in Arlington VA, the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown MD and Wayne theater in Waynesboro VA. Her work has won ten awards from 1998 through 2012 and has been featured in Interweave Press, Voyageur Press, the Washington post, and American Quilt Society Press to name a few. Bellah’s art can be found in several private collections as well as in the permanent collections of the City of Chandler Public Arts Collection in Chandler, AZ, the Virginia Executive Mansion in Richmond, VA, the Racine Arts Museum in Racine, WI, Longwood University in Farmville, VA, and Madeira Garne Corporate Collection in Freiburg, Germany.