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WEIRTON -- The exhibition Nature in Focus will open at the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center during a reception set for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the Top of West Virginia Arts Council has announced.
The exhibition will bring together the nature-themed photographs of Weirton-based photographers Mark Heilman and Dennis Jones; Warren resident Charles Marsh; Steubenville native Andy Tindor; and Wheeling's Larry Travis. Complementing the nature-themed photographs will be sculptures by New Cumberland artist Mike Swartzmiller.
The exhibition has been organized by Jones, who is executive directror of the center.
Heilman and Marsh began their creative journeys as amateur and semi-professional sports photographers. Heilman enjoys taking photos of street work, portraits, nature and landscapes, while Marsh just recently started his passion for wildlife photography. Tindor, a member of the Upper Ohio Valley Camera Club for 45 years, has had his work published in magazines including Black Belt, Kung Fu, and Karate Illustrated and Natural Bodybuilding Magazine. He has also photographed promo shots for the musical group Wild Cherry.
Travis is an award-winning photographer and educator. He is a juried member of Beckley's Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia, and a regular exhibitor at Wheeling's Artworks Around Town. Travis enjoys shooting nature in him home state, in the Pacific Northwest, the deserts of Arizona and the salt marshes of South Carolina's Low Country.
Jones strives to capture the beauty of our local area and started the popular Facebook group "Meanwhile at the Backwaters," which features photographs of bald eagles, kestrels, blue jays, cranes, and other wildlife that inhabit our local wetlands. Swartzmiller, also a Top of WV Arts Council member, is known for his two-dimensional acrylic paintings with his embedded DNA signature. However, for this exhibit, Swartzmiller has begun to create three-dimensional wire sculptures that will be displayed at the gallery.
The free opening reception will be held at the center's 3149 Main St. location. The exhibit has been moved to the museum because of some repairs at the Summit Gallery. Light refreshments will be served, and the participating artists will be present to answer questions and to sell their works.
A prize drawing will be held for the family board game Trekking the National Parks.
The arts council, operates under the umbrella of the Top of WV Convention and Visitors Bureau. New exhibitions open at the Summit Art Gallery every two months. The bureau exists to enhance the economic vitality of West Virginia's Hancock and Brooke counties by advertising the local communities as a destination to the recreation, business meeting and convention markets.