During the month of March, local artist Judy McLeod exhibits work from her oeuvre at three different galleries, each individual show representing a different phase in her 40-plus years of art-making.
“An artist works in series whereby an idea is pursued visually for months or years in terms of a medium,” says McLeod, and while selecting pieces for her retrospective, she sought to tell the story of her “art ideas and energies.”
On view in the Dickinson Galleries at Piedmont Virginia Community College is “Patterns of Life, 1980-2000,” which McLeod says takes a “me, my, mine” approach to looking at things. “Inspirations, 2000-2015,” at McGuffey Art Center’s Smith Gallery, offers a “we, our, others” perspective, while the show of her current work at Les Yeux du Monde Gallery includes ruminations on horizons as well as invented maps of history (her own and that of others), with an eye to a shared future.
Certain themes course through all of McLeod’s work, including life patterns and water, but the most notable is of womanhood. Many of the pieces look at what it means to be a woman, at feminism and the desire for independence while also embracing sisterhood with other women in the world.
First Fridays: March 2
Annie Gould Gallery 121B S. Main St., Gordonsville. An exhibition of works by Morganne Ashlie, Jennie Carr, Susan Graeber, Louise Greer and Valerie Sargent.
Art on the Trax 5784 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “Tracy’s Folly,” a painting and printmaking series by Tracy Knight. Opens March 10.
FF The Bridge PAI 2019 Monticello Rd. “Beasts!,” a show about imagining and creating wild creatures featuring the work of sculptor and costume designer Annie Temmink. 5-7:30pm.
Buck Mountain Episcopal Church 4133 Earlysville Rd., Earlysville. “Our Town,” featuring photography by Melody Robbins. Opens March 4.
Charlottesville Senior Center 491 Hillsdale Dr. “Local Scenes,” a multimedia group show featuring the work of the BozART Fine Art Collective.
FF Chroma Projects 103 W. Water St. “Sacred and Profane,” featuring Leigh Anne Chambers’ sculptural paintings about salvaging the materials beneath our feet. 5-7pm.
FF CitySpace Art Gallery 100 Fifth St. NE. Artwork by students of Albemarle County Public Schools. 5:30-7:30pm.
Crozet Artisan Depot 5791 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “Juxtapositions,” featuring pen and ink drawings by Laura Grice. Opens March 10.
FF C’Ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St. “The Wonders of Wood,” an exhibition of boxes, chef boards, cheese boards, pepper mills and more by woodworker Alex Pettigrew. 6-8pm.
FF C’ville Coffee 1301 Harris St. An exhibition of oil paintings by Caroline Planting. 4:30-6pm.
Darden Art Gallery Alumni Lounge UVA Darden School of Business Camp Library, 100 Darden Blvd. “Lexicon of Landscapes,” featuring work from Michelle Gagliano’s VMFA fellowship exhibition.
FF Dovetail Design + Cabinetry 309 E. Water St. “Exploratory Journey,” featuring mixed media art by Sri Kodakalla. 5-7pm.
FF Fellini’s 200 Market St. An exhibition of assemblage and collage work by Catherine V. Ratliff. 5:30-7pm.
The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rugby Rd. “Feminine Likeness: Portraits of Women by American Artists, 1809-1960,” featuring works from The Fralin Museum of Art collection; “A Painter’s Hand: The Monotypes of Adolph Gottlieb,” an exhibit of works from one of the original Abstract Expressionists; “From the Grounds Up: Thomas Jefferson’s Architecture and Design”; “Oriforme” by Jean Arp.
FF The Haven 112 W. Market St. “August in Perspective: Creative Responses to #Charlottesville,” featuring theater, dance, music and visual art from area high school students, community organizations, UVA students and faculty. 7-10pm.
Indoor Biotechnologies 700 Harris St. An exhibition of paintings of local scenes by Richard Crozier.
Jefferson School African American Heritage Center 233 Fourth St. NW. “Ankhrasmation Symbolic Language: Earth,” an exhibit of illustrated scores by Pulitzer Prize-winning musician and composer Wadada Leo Smith.
Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. “Three Voices,” featuring work by Pam Black, Sally Bowring and Lou Jordan; and an exhibition of recent work by Judy McLeod.
FF McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. “Inspirations 2000-2015,” one of three shows in a retrospective of Judy McLeod’s artistic and emotional paths and experiences, in the Sarah B. Smith Gallery; “Elements of a Landscape,” S.h. Wolf’s show reflecting an evolution elapsing several years, in the Lower Hall North Gallery; “For the Love of Science: Imaginary Views through the Microscope,” an exhibition of work by Jurgen Ziesmann, in the Lower Hall South Gallery; “Books As Art & Art For Books,” an exhibition of books and book illustrations by 15 artists in the Upper Hall North and South Gallery. 5:30-7:30pm.
Mudhouse Coffee Downtown Mall 213 E. Main St. “Fruitbodies,” a show of sculpture by Lily Erb that uses repeated organic forms to create a language of a new and alien plant colony.
FF Music Resource Center 105 Ridge St. “The Chinese Zodiac in Mixed Media Collage,” featuring the work of Sigrid Eilertson. 5:30-7pm.
FF Old Metropolitan Hall 101 E. Main St. “Wind Marks,” a series of Nina Ozbey’s large-scale vibrant paintings inspired by the continual flux, new growth and abundance of nature.
Piedmont Virginia Community College V. Earl Dickinson Building 501 College Dr. “Patterns of Life,” featuring works created by Judy McLeod between 1980 and 1998 as part of a multi-venue retrospective of McLeod’s work.
FF Roy Wheeler Realty 404 Eighth St. “Places You May Know,” featuring contemporary paintings and abstract landscapes by Judith Ely. 5-7pm.
FF Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the main gallery, “Language of the Heart,” a combination of installation, sculpture, video, photography, drawings and collaborative performance by Adejoke Tugbiyele; in the Dove Gallery, “Point of Origin,” featuring an interactive installation by Judith Pratt; and in the back room, an exhibition of encaustic works by Kristie Wood. 5:30-7:30pm.
Shenandoah Valley Art Center 122 S. Wayne Ave., Waynesboro. “40 Under 40,” featuring work from Virginia artists aged 40 and under. Opens March 3.
FF Spring Street Boutique 107 W. Main St. “Between the Lines,” a show of mixed media work by Jennifer Ansardi. 6-8pm.
FF Studio IX 969 Second St. SE. “Magic Flight,” featuring recent illustrations by Charlottesville author and illustrator Laura Lee Gulledge. 5-7pm.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church Unitarian-Universalist 717 Rugby Rd. An exhibition of landscape paintings by Billy Williams. Opens March 4.
FF VMDO Architects 200 E. Market St. An exhibition of oil paintings by former art educator Bettie Dexter. 5:30-7:30pm.
FF WriterHouse 508 Dale Ave. An exhibition of watercolor and charcoal abstractions by Emma Brodeur; and “Tendresse,” an exhibition of photography by Emmanuel Ndenguebi-Essimi. 5-7pm.
FF Welcome Gallery 114 Third St. NE. “The Practice of Process,” featuring large-scale abstract sketches and studies by Frank Phillips. 5-7:30pm.
FF WVTF and Radio IQ 216 W. Water St. A show of work created by the artists’ group Matter of Color, which promotes understanding through art and supports an annual visit by Richmond dancers who unite Israeli and Arab school kids through the Minds in Motion program. 5-7pm.
FF First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues. Several spaces offer receptions.