Tappahannock Art Gallery has weathered fire and water and emerged from its challenges with renewed spirit and energy. The only missing ingredient is you!
The gallery and its 22 member artists invite you to lend your unique passion, and support their mission to create “art for our community and a community for artists.” TAG art offerings include photography, oils, watercolors, mixed media, textiles, ceramics, glass and many other specialties, and the gallery features many affordable, local gift options as well.
The TAG facility at 200 Prince Street in Tappahannock narrowly escaped disaster in July, 2022, when the tragic Prince Street fire destroyed an entire block of buildings and dwellings in the heart of town. Although there was some fire damage to the outside of the gallery, it was a ruptured water pipe in October, 2022, that closed the gallery for extensive renovations for nearly six months.
A refreshed TAG opened in April 2023 with a photography exhibit by Rob Rudick, followed by a May exhibit of art works by Essex County students. TAG artists featured “Our River Ways” through June and July. The show was a celebration of the culture, landscape, community, and flavor of life along the Rappahannock and her tributaries.
TAG has hosted a special exhibit featuring member artists Tate Billmyer and Frank Rixey: One World. Two Points of View. Rixey creates watercolors that examine people and their pets enjoying life in the Northern Neck. Billmyer is a mixed media artist — whatever goes onto the canvas is from the heart, and whatever materials are nearby. TAG has also hosted an exhibit by Carol Anne Taylor and Ron Taylor.
The gallery is open for visitors every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon until 4 p.m. On Wednesdays, the studio hosts group painting beginning at 10:30 a.m. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, you’re invited to come paint among friends.
Also, every third Saturday during the Tappahannock Farmers’ Market, from 10:30 a.m. until noon, TAG offers Kidz Art, a free art activity for youngsters. All supplies and materials are provided, and there is no cost to attend. Adults can shop the market in peace and leave the kids’ imaginations to TAG. In support of our young artists, there was even a TAG Summer Art Camp, providing inspiration for creative kiddos. Look for it next summer.
The gallery has offered engaging classes for adults, like Mosaic arts; Basic Drawing in Pencil and Landscape Painting With Oils, in cooperation with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Other appealing classes include painting lessons with oils and acrylics and Painting Outside the Box, a class which involves a technique mainly using tissue paper with acrylics to work toward an abstract composition — fun with paint and without boundaries.
In addition, keep an eye out for TAG art cards, available at dozens of local businesses throughout the area. The cards, updated regularly, feature frame-worthy original art on the front and an event schedule on the reverse. Collect them all and have a remarkable collage of local art.
Gliding into autumn in river country, October 18-21, TAG will host its fourth annual Tidelands Plein Air 2023 event throughout Essex County. Nearly 40 artists from Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and beyond will spend the days in the great outdoors painting our beautiful Tidewater farms, creeks, marshes and historic homes. “This is a chance to see what we see every day, through the eyes of an artist, in a new perspective,” said Elizebeth Harper, TAG executive board member. “Through their eyes, one can really appreciate the beauty of where we live,” she added.
Many of these artists are well-renowned in the plein air art world and their paintings are very desirable and valuable. “There’s always the possibility that there will be a new star to be discovered,” she said.
Harper relates a story of an artist who decided to set up her easel on a little hill in a cow pasture. Soon she was surrounded by an entire herd of curious cattle. The artist persevered, and eventually the cattle got bored and left her to her work.
“Some artists work very fast and produce several paintings each day, while others will work exactingly on just one piece,” Harper said. Participating artists will enjoy a welcome reception, a weekend picnic, plein air painting in lovely local venues, housing if needed, as well as an opportunity to show and sell their newly-rendered works. Fall will be resplendent in our region and ready for artistic interpretation. This is a non-competitive event to be enjoyed by both new and professional artists.
Tidelands Plein Air 2023 will conclude on October 21 with an Art on the Wall exhibit and sale featuring the works of our Tidelands Plein Air painters. The party and sale is also the guild’s premier fall fundraising event, all held at the dining pavilion at St. Margarets School from 5:30 to 9 p.m., adjacent to 444 South Water Lane, Tappahannock. Stroll among newly-painted works featuring local scenery, enjoy the music of Whiskey Bizness, and delight in good food and drinks. The beautiful riverfront ambiance is sure to enchant all. Advance tickets are $75 each or $140 per couple; at the door, tickets are $85 each. A ticket includes food and one drink.
Whether you’re an established artist, an aspiring artisan, or an art enthusiast, TAG invites you to join the community. TAG! We’re It! And so are you! For more information about the gallery, the guild, exhibits or programs, log on to tapparts.org, or look for Tappahannock Artists Guild on Facebook.