When artist Karina A. Monroy moved from California to Charlottesville in February 2017, she started making pieces that comforted her.
She reinterpreted or slightly altered scenes from her mother’s and grandmother’s homes, places where she rooted and grew not just herself, but the bonds with the women in her family.
“It’s been really difficult being so far from them,” says Monroy, a Chicana mixed-media installation artist.
The project grew into one that involved talking with immigrant women, who know all too well the challenges of being far from the people and places they love.
The resulting exhibition, “Brotando,” combines paintings with embroidery, drawings, and sewn sculptures, and is on view at New City Arts’ Welcome Gallery through the month of February.
Throughout the process, Monroy thought of her grandmother’s home, a place always filled with plants and trees. “I’m using my connection to plants and the idea of transferring plants from different soils into new soils as a metaphor for the women in my life who have immigrated and thrived in new places,” says Monroy. “My goal for this was to create pieces that the women I am talking about can relate to.”
Openings
The Bridge PAI 209 Monticello Rd. “Face to Face: Portraits of Our Vibrant City,” an exhibition of portraiture that connects artists and community members. 5:30-9:30pm.
Central Library 201 E. Market St. A show of mixed-media artwork by Sara Gondwe, who shaves brightly colored crayons to create a 3D effect. 5-7pm.
Chroma Projects 103 W. Water St. Two shows, “Spirit of Place: Landscapes Real and Imagined” by Laura Wooten, and “When Time Abstracts Truth” by Jennifer Esser, both of whom approach color imaginatively. 5-7pm.
CitySpace 100 Fifth St. NE. Two exhibitions, “A Photographic Aggregation,” featuring work by Steve Ashby, and a series of paintings by Jane Goodman. 5:30-7:30pm.
Firefly 1304 E. Market St. An exhibition of work by Flame Bilyue full of hidden images. 4-7pm.
Dovetail Design + Cabinetry 309 E. Water St. “Beauty Abounding,” featuring acrylic works on canvas by Janet Pearlman. 5-7pm.
McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. A monthlong celebration of black creativity in Charlottesville, featuring Darrell Rose, Rose Hill, Michael E. Williams, Anthony Scott, Dena Jennings, Bolanle Adeboye, Liz Cherry Jones, and others. 5:30-7:30pm.
Milli Coffee Roasters 400 Preston Ave. “Sea and Sky,” an exhibition of acrylic and oil paintings by Brittany Fan. 7-10pm.
New Dominion Bookshop 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Metamorphosis: The Art of the Fiber and Stitch Collective,” featuring textiles by members of the Fiber and Stitch Collective. 5-7pm.
Roy Wheeler Realty Co. 404 Eighth St. NE. A show of photography by Laura Parker focusing on wildlife and horticulture. 5-7:30pm.
The Salad Maker 300 Market St. “Animal Medicine,” featuring works in watercolor, acrylic, pen, and ink by Dana Wheeles. 5:30-7pm.
Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the main gallery, “Inside the Artists’ Studio,” a group exhibition featuring the work of local artists; and in the Dové Gallery, Jessica Burnam’s artist-in-residence exhibition. 5:30-7:30pm.
Spring Street Boutique 107 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Fashion on Canvas,” featuring mixed-media paintings by Debbie Siegel. 6-8pm.
Studio IX 969 Second St. SE. “Emergent Sea and Internal Static Land Scrapes,” a show of paintings by Gregory Brannock, whose work is a portal to the unseen. 5:30-7:30pm.
VMDO Architects 200 E. Market St. An exhibition of work by the late Kenrick Johnson, whose work is influenced by Robert Rauschenberg, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and others. 5:30-7:30pm.
Welcome Gallery 114 Third St. NE. “Brotando,” featuring Karina A. Monroy. 5-7:30pm.
WriterHouse 508 Dale Ave. “Photos in Fiber,” an exhibition of work by Jill Kerttula. 5-7pm.
WVTF and RadioIQ 216 W. Water St. An exhibition of work by Jane Lillian Vance and Gil Harrington, two women who dedicate their lives to making the world safer for young women. 5-7pm.
First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring openings at many downtown exhibition spaces, with some offering receptions.
Other February shows
Annie Gould Gallery 121B S. Main St., Gordonsville. A show of acrylic and collage works by Judith Ely, and watercolors by Chee Ricketts. Through March 11.
Art on the Trax 5784 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. An exhibition of work by Hannah Chiarella, whose work seeks to reconcile the disorder of nature and the rigid order of graphic design. Opens February 9.
The Batten Institute at the Darden School of Business 100 Darden Boulevard. “Celebrating Creativity: Works by Local Women Artists,” featuring work from 27 women in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas. Opens February 20, 4:30-7pm.
Buck Mountain Episcopal Church 4133 Earlysville Rd., Earlysville. “Transformations,” featuring a variety of works by Blue Ridge School faculty and students.
The Barn Swallow Artisan Gallery 796 Gilliums Ridge Rd. “Owls!,” an exhibition of paintings on rock, wood, and canvas by Susan Sexton Shrum.
C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Peace and Love,” a group show featuring members of the cooperative.
The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rugby Rd. “Pompeii Archive: Recent Photographs by William Wylie”; “sometimes.we.cannot.be.with.our.bodies,” opening February 22; “The Print Series in Bruegel’s Netherlands: Dutch and Flemish Works from the Permanent Collection,” opening February 22; and “Oriforme” by Jean Arp.
The Front Porch 221 E. Water St. “Anthology,” featuring oil paintings by Gregor Meukow.
Green House Coffee 1260 Crozet Ave., Crozet. “On Our Way,” an exhibition of paintings by Judith Ely.
Jefferson School African American Heritage Center 233 Fourth St. NW “Deborah Willis: In Pursuit of Beauty” examines how beauty is posed, imagined, critiqued, and contested. Opens Saturday, February 9, 6:30-8:30pm.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection 400 Worrell Dr. “Kent Morris: Unvanished,” a series of digitally constructed photographs that explore the relationship between contemporary Indigenous Australian identity and the modern built environment; “Beyond Dreamings: The Rise of Indigenous Australian Art in the United States,” through February 21.
Leftover Luxuries 350 Pantops Center. An exhibition of paintings from life by Nancy Wallace, inspired by Virginia, landscape, and garden compositions. Opens February 7.
Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. “Surrealities: The Art of Ed Haddaway and Russ Warren,” a show of sculpture and paintings that coincides with Second Street Gallery’s “Inside the Artists’ Studio” exhibition.
Martha Jefferson Hospital 500 Martha Jefferson Dr. “Calm Reflections,” featuring the work of the BozART Fine Art Collective.
McIntire School of Commerce Connaughton Gallery UVA Central Grounds. “Seasons of Color and Light,” featuring work by Chuck Morse and Steve Deupree.
Northside Library 705 Rio Rd. W. “Bold,” featuring acrylic paintings on canvas by Novi Beerens, through February 9; and various works in oil by Kris Bowmaster.
Random Row Brewing Company 608 Preston Ave. Ste. A. “Still Life: Love of the Familiar,” featuring paintings by Randy Baskerville.
Shenandoah Valley Art Center 122 S. Wayne Ave., Waynesboro. An exhibition of work by the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities. Opens February 2.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church 717 Rugby Rd. “Someday Everything is Gonna Be Different,” an exhibition of works in chalk pastel by Bill Hunt, who was a carpenter for many years. Opens February 10.
UVA Medical Center Main Lobby 1215 Lee St. “Plant Life Up Close,” featuring 36 of Seth Silverstein’s close-up photographs of plant life, seeds, flowers, and more.
Vitae Spirits Distillery 715 Henry Ave. “Inspired Art,” a show of multimedia works in crayon and fabric paint by Sara Gondwe.