Pat Callahan's Success at Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon

Vista Studio artist Pat Callahan ran her first full marathon on Saturday, December 8 in Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon. She finished with a time of 3:42.55 which put her in the 178th spot...that's the 29th female to cross the finish time...that's also SECOND in her age category! Hurrah for Pat!

She said of this accomplishment: "The marathon went great...Ran great till mile 21 when the legs stopped cooperating and all began to hurt. But I finished, and I was thrilled (to stop running! actually trudging at that point) Few aches the first of the week, but only tired now--bone tired....I'm sticking to half marathons--half the distance, half the training, and twice the fun."

Everyone at Vista Studios is amazingly proud.

Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon - Results
Charlotte, NC USA
December 8, 2007
Finishers: 840, Males - 582, Females - 258
Male Winner: 2:39:58 | Female Winner: 2:45:10
Average Finish Time: 4:14:44 | STD: 0:39:40

From the Charlotte Observer on Friday, December 7:

Thunder Road Marathon, a marathon/half-marathon/5K race, hits the pavement at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The marathon has a six-hour time limit for completion and the half-marathon has a three-hour time limit. The City of Charlotte expects traffic congestion on and around the racecourse until 2 p.m.

The marathon begins on College Street between Stonewall Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and heads away from uptown on Third Street. It continues through Myers Park on Providence and Sharon Roads but turns back toward uptown before reaching SouthPark mall.

It winds through Dilworth, Third Ward, Wilmore, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, and First and Second Ward neighborhoods.

The half-marathon runs concurrently.

if ART Gallery presents Construction Crew III

(To enlarge, please click on the image!)

if ART presents at
Gallery 80808/Vista Studios
808 Lady St., Columbia, S.C.

C o n s t r u c t i o n C r e w III:

STEVEN CHAPP – JEFF DONOVAN
JANET ORSELLI – EDWARD RICE
Dec. 7 – 18, 2007
Artists’ Reception: Friday, Dec. 7, 5 – 10 p.m.
Opening Hours:
Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.
Weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. and by appointment

For its holiday exhibition at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios in Columbia, S.C., if ART presents Construction Crew III, a group exhibition with work by South Carolina artists Steven Chapp, Jeff Donovan, Janet Orselli and Edward Rice. Like the first two if ART Construction Crew exhibitions in December 2005 and 2006, the show consists of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art that has strong constructional or architectural characteristics. The exhibition opens Friday, Dec. 7, with a reception from 5 –10 p.m. and runs through Dec. 18. Opening hours are weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sundays 1 ­ – 5 p.m. Chapp, Donovan, Orselli and Rice are represented by if ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln St., (803) 238-2351, where additional works of art by all four artists will be on view.

Chapp will be showing monotypes, intaglio prints, drawings and paintings from the 1980s through last week. Donovan will present several major new ceramic sculptures. Orselli will show reconstructed and reconfigured old baby-carriages-turned-art-objects. Among the paintings Rice will be showing is a new series of barn paintings, in which the same barn structure is painted a dozen times in different colors.

Easley, S.C., native Steven Chapp (b. 1952) is a native of Kansas City, MO. He holds an MFA in printmaking and drawing from Clemson University and a BFA from Appalachian State University. He has shown in galleries and museums throughout the region, including the Greenville County (S.C.) Museum of Art, the Burroughs and Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and the Pickens County (S.C.) Museum of Art and History. He worked on two projects with artists Christo and Jean Claude, in Kansas City in 1978 and Key Biscayne, Fla., in 1983.

Jeff Donovan (b. 1957) has been a fixture on the Columbia, S.C., art scene for many years. The painter and ceramic sculptor was born in Millford, Del., and studied at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Fla., and the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C. Donovan has exhibited widely throughout South and North Carolina. He is represented in the Mark B. Coplan Collection of South Carolina Art, the prominent ceramic sculpture collection of Ron Porter and Joe Price in Columbia and in the collection of Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Donovan also works as an art conservator with ReNewell Fine Art Conservation in Columbia.

Janet Orselli (b. 1954) was born in Columbia, S.C., where she lived until November 2007, when she moved to Mill Spring, N.C. In 1976, she graduated from Clemson Unversity with a degree in psychology. In the 1990s she gradually switched careers from the field of mental health to art. While establishing herself as an artist, she earned an M.F.A. from Clemson in 2001. She was selected for the 2001 and 2004 South Carolina Triennial exhibitions as well as the 2004 traveling exhibition “South Carolina Birds: A Fine Arts Exhibition.” Earlier this year, Orselli has a solo show at O.K. Harris Gallery in New York City. Orselli has done large installations at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, S.C., the Burroughs & Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. Orselli has received several residencies and fellowships, including at Anderson Ranch in Colorado and in Kaiserslautern, Germany. She is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship.

North Augusta, S.C., native Edward Rice (b. 1953) lives in Augusta, Ga. He is one of the Southeast’s most prominent contemporary painters. Rice’s solo exhibitions include those at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., the Greenville County (S.C.) Museum of Art, the Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum in La Grange, Ga., and the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Rice also was represented in The Story of the South: Art and Culture, 1890 – 2003, the inaugural exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. “Edward Rice: Architectural Works, 1978-1998” was published by the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Augusta, Ga., and “Edward Rice: Recent Monotypes,” by the Morris Museum of Art in 2003.
From Friday, December 7 through Tuesday, December 18, if ART Gallery will present Contruction Crew III at Gallery 80808, 808 Lady Street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. The show will feature Steven Chapp, Janet Orselli, Edward Rice, and Vista Studio's own Jeff Donovan. The artists' reception will be held on Friday, December 7 from 5 until 10 PM. Additional hours are: Weekdays from 11 Am until 7 Pm: Saturdays from 11 AM until 5 PM; and on Sundays from 1 - 5 PM.

For additional information, please contact if ART Gallery owner, Wim Roefs at (803) 238-2351 or call Gallery 80808/Vista Studios directly at (803) 252-6134. Also, visit the gallery's website at www.gallery80808vistastudios.com.

Vista Studio Artist Susan Lenz accepted into Craftforms 2007

Vista Studio artist Susan Lenz recently had The Collector accepted into Craftforms 2007, an international juried contemporary fine craft exhibition featuring 82 works by 80 artists from 25 States, Canada, and South Korea. The show is held at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia. The juror was Mark Richard Leach, founding director and chief curator of the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, North Carolina.



Susan and her husband Steve went to the opening reception and took these photos. An on-line catalog of the exhibit is available here.

Heidi Darr-Hope's Retreat to Mallorca, Spain

Sharon Bray and Heidi Darr-Hope present the Fourth Annual Serrania Retreat Sanctuary: Exploring the Self in Writing and Art
May 24 - 31, 2008
Mallorca, Spain

Early bird special of $1,500 until December 31 after $1,725
fee includes workshop costs, beautiful accommodations; delicious Mediterranean meals…
register early as enrollment is limited to 14.

Imagine yourself in the beauty of the Mallorcan countryside, amid the tranquil setting of La Serrania, part of a small group of people gathered together to wander and explore. You will be inspired by the serenity of nature and the quiet time, allowing you to express your creativity in word and art, gleaned from your wellspring of imagination and memory.

To create a sanctuary for authentic self-expression is to engage ourselves creatively in a search for meaning. Whether we express ourselves through words, music, dance or images, our mind, body, and soul merge. We then experience a unique way to connect with the unseen spiritual forces that guide and support our lives.

Yearning to deepen and enrich your life?
Longing to reconnect with your creative spirit?
Misplaced your life’s passion? Join us and give yourself the gift of Sanctuary

For more information and photos: http://www.darr-hope.com/Scheduled%20Workshops.htm#laserrania