Non-Profits in Virginia Launch Public Art Challenge for VA, WV, KY, MD, DC, TN and NC to Showcase this Fall in Clarke County VA

CLARKE COUNTY, VA – Virginia nonprofits are now accepting applications from artists ages 12 -120 who are creating artworks that explore the facets of Three Sisters. In Native American culture, the Three Sisters represent agricultural treasures of maize (corn), pole beans and winter squash (or gourds).
    The Three Sisters Regional Art Challenge is a new program to support a temporary public fine-art project that engages communities, enhances creativity and enriches the vibrancy of Native American culture in the region. Successful entries will be exhibited in the gallery at Barns of Rose Hill Cultural Center in Berryville, Va. Tuesday, Oct. 27 – Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015.  
    “Significant events like this, can introduce many new people to our County and to our Town, that will like what they see and return,” said Len Capelli Clarke County’s new director of tourism.
    Art judges will select the artwork for the gallery-showing, based on artistic quality, uniqueness and on how imaginative the work captures the spirit of the Three Sisters legacy; it does not have to literally depict the plants. 

In Native American culture, the Three Sisters represent agricultural treasures of maize (corn), pole beans and winter squash (or gourds). © This image is copyrighted and reproduced here for education use courtesy of http://manyhoops.com

    The Three Sisters Art Challenge is an art show and sale opportunity for residents of Virginia and its surrounding region: West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Washington D.C., Tennessee and North Carolina.
    Entries must be original works of art in these media: painting, drawing, printmaking, photography/ digital art, dried gourds, sculpture, ceramics, pottery, fibers, woodworks, or mixed media (seed etc.) that meet the guidelines online.  All artwork must be original and created by the artist. Space is limited and applications must be complete in order to participate.
    “Barns of Rose Hill gallery provides the perfect community canvas for artists working in all disciplines of art and with art education,” said Kelli Hart Barns of Rose Hill. “The Three Sisters Art Challenge is part of a fantastic and diverse variety of programs we offer people of all ages including live music, educational workshops, film screenings and art classes.”
    Entries will be accepted between September 15 - October 1, 2015. A nonrefundable application fee/contribution of $20 per artist is requested as part of the application process. Each artist may submit up to three separate pieces of artwork. Entry fees help bring Native American dancers in regalia from across the continent to participate in The Gathering, a traditional Native American Harvest Dance scheduled this fall and held during the art exhibit.

Three Sisters logo design by Shquanebin Lone Preston of the Seneca Nation of New York. Her art is private property of Mohawk Printing; reproductions, prints, copies, photocopies are not authorized unless with written permission from Mohawk Printing. Contact: www.mohawkprinting.com

    After notification of acceptance into the Three Sisters Regional Art Challenge, artists have until Oct. 20 to submit their final artwork. The Three Sisters Art Challenge Art Show and Sale opens at Barns of Rose Hill on October 28 helping launch The Gathering October 30. The art show & sale continues to run during Native American Heritage Month and comes down just before Thanksgiving.

Palma il Vecchio Italian Artist 1480-1528 Three Sisters

   “The Three Sisters Art Challenge helps celebrate the spirit of interconnectedness, mutual helpfulness and celebration of life exemplified by the Three Sisters,” said René Locklear White (Lumbee Indian Tribe) and executive director for The Gathering an event hosted and supported by several non-profits.
    The Three Sisters Art Challenge is hosted by Barns of Rose Hill Cultural Center with the Native American Church of Virginia a Sanctuary on the Trail™ in partnership with the Virginia Lovers’ Gourd Society with support from the Red Road Foundation,™ Nowa Cuming Institute™ Clarke County Tourism and Clarke County Parks and Recreation.
    The Three Sisters Art Challenge art exhibit is part of “The Gathering” an educational celebration of agri-culture. More information about the Three Sisters Art Challenge is online at HarvestGathering.org and barnsofrosehill.org.

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