The City of Portsmouth is seeking a qualified candidate to fill the position of assistant curator in the history division of the Department of Museums. The individual will work as part of a collections management team for the history division that includes the Lightship Portsmouth and the Naval Shipyard Museum. Work includes collection management, exhibition planning, program development, research, grant writing, training, public lectures and interaction with collectors, donors, scholars and the community. 

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Retablos are sophisticated folk art in the form of portable boxes filled with brightly colored figurines arranged into intricate narrative scenes.  From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Retablos were carried through the mountains by Spanish priests as portable religious shrines for Catholic saints.  Later, they were adapted by indigenous people to include their own deities and mythologies.  

Nicario’s compositions depict religious, historical and everyday events.  His hands move quickly and with confidence to fashion people, animals, and mythical figurines as he creates poignant scenes from a doughy mixture of boiled potato and gypsum powder. For his sculpting process, Nicario’s only tool is a small piece of wood resembling an enlarged toothpick.

Read more about Nicario at his website

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 7:00 P.M. 

Grand Old Opry veterans and international recording stars, Raymond McLain and Mike Stevens will bring virtuoso performances of an exciting, original combination of music on harmonica, fiddle, banjo, and vocals. 

McLain, a founding member of the world-renowned McLain Family Band from Kentucky, played for ten years on the Grand Old Opry as a member of the Virginia Boys band of Jim and Jesse McReynolds.  He now directs the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music at Morehead State University. 

Stevens has played his groundbreaking harmonica styles all over the world and over 300 times on the Grand Old Opry.  He has been five times Entertainer of the Year in Canada and is an innovator of bluegrass harmonica.  Founder of ArtsCanCircle, a charity helping at-risk youth through music, his life is the subject of the recently released film, “A Walk in My Dream.” 

Between them, the duo has performed in all 50 states, most provinces in Canada, and in 70 countries around the world from Afghanistan to Zaire.  They have appeared on many national television programs. 

Tickets are $12.00 general admission, $8.00 for children ages 8-13.  Dining service will be available from 5:30-6:45 p.m.  Table reservations and tickets available in the box office starting February 15.  

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 11:00 am

From the autor’s website:

For more than a hundred years, a worldwide audience has associated the phrase Irish linen with the island of Ireland as closely as it has the Great Famine, leprechauns, Irish whiskey, limericks, green hills, and stonewalls. How and why the small island of Ireland became so identified with this plain white cloth, criticized for its wrinkles and revered for its durability, is a story of emigration, politics, industry, and marketing initiatives. Ireland’s first wave of migration to the American colonies and Ireland’s prominence as a center for shipbuilding and machine production can be traced directly to the demands of the linen industry.

Lavishly illustrated with 185 color photographs and engagingly written, each chapter tells of art, social and economic history, design, fashion, architecture, technology, and cultural traditions that celebrate the linen industry.

Read more here

Available from: Ohio University Press for 20% discount

Lee Gerry Wertheimer is an Award-winning artist of oriental paintings. She is an excellent trainer of Sumi-e, has had her work displayed at many prestigious institutions, and has studied with both Chinese and Japanese master painters for the past 26 years.

Lee’s work will be featured in the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center exhibit “The Child: TAA Artists Celebrate Children and the Arts which opens January 28.

The show’s concept, offered in conjunction with the Virginia Commission for the Art’s MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts, is to produce a portfolio of four works that relate to the theme of “The Child”. This theme offers the artist a unique opportunity to explore the subject not just for a literal interpretation, but in an objective or playful approach to the subject.   

The show will be on display January 28 - April 8
Opening Reception: Friday, February 3, 5 to 8 PM

Learn more about the Tidewater Art Alliance