For Immediate Release
Contact: Carly Griffith – [email protected] – (434) 971-2787
Crozet Artisan Depot Opens July 1st
What: Crozet Artisan Depot Opening
When: Wednesday, July 1
Where: Crozet Artisan Depot, 5791 Three Notch’d Road, Crozet, Virginia
June 29, 2015 (Charlottesville, VA) – On Wednesday, July 1st, there will be a significant new addition to the local art scene. The Crozet Artisan Depot will be opening its doors in the historic train depot located on Three Notch’d Road in Crozet. The Crozet Artisan Depot was founded by seven local artists with a broad range of artistic talents. Their proposal for the use of the train depot as a local gallery was approved earlier this month by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Later in July the Crozet Artisan Depot will be sharing its location with the new Albemarle Tourism and Adventure Center.
The seven artists are led by Kathleen Mistry, a local artist living in Crozet. She views the Crozet Artisan Depot as a community place where local artists and creative people will assemble. The proposal approved by the Board of Supervisors was based on the mission that the Crozet Artisan Depot would be “a venue to showcase and promote local artisans”, “provide a platform for” artists to sell their work and establish a “connected creative community”.
The Crozet Artisan Depot will be an anchor location and collaboration with the Artisan Center of Virginia and an area hub for the Artisan Trail Network of Virginia. It plans to participate in Second Saturday, a monthly series of gallery openings in Crozet. It also plans to stage special events featuring regional activities.
The seven founding members are (in alphabetical order):
Ben Greenberg is a local landscape photographer and lifelong resident of central Virginia who has captured award-winning photographs throughout Virginia and the nation for more than four decades. His dramatic images celebrating the natural world are well-known throughout the region. Ben recently published Natural Virginia, a popular coffee table book celebrating the state’s natural beauty through panoramic landscape photographs.
Fred Levering creates tables that frequently feature the “live edge” look by leaving the outside edges exactly the way they grew in the tree. They are often made of local species such as maple, cherry, and walnut. Fred’s bowls, platters, and cutting boards are made in a variety of species from all over the world applied with food-safe finishes. Many pieces combine two or more species and come in multiple thicknesses and shapes.
Kathleen Mistry is a Crozet resident who paints portraits of native birds common to Albemarle County. She also makes jewelry in sterling silver and mixed metals, highlighting semi-precious gemstones in the work. Kathleen’s paintings and jewelry reflect her love of nature.
Jennifer Paxton Spears has enjoyed creating and selling hand-crafted ceramic jewelry for more than thirty years at art fairs and galleries. Jennifer’s pieces are made of low-fired earthenware clay using many different textures and designs. They are then finished with a wide spectrum of colorful glazes.
Edward Pelton is an Artist Blacksmith from Ivy, Virginia who found his love for working with hot metal from a summer job helping in a blacksmith studio. Much of Edward’s work is large scale, site-specific architectural pieces made from both ferrous and non-ferrous metals such as steel, copper, and bronze. Texture and hand-forged technique and joinery play a large role in the appeal of his work. He also collaborates with woodworkers to design furniture and other pieces for the home.
Gillian Ruffa began sewing at the age of eleven and has loved it ever since. For more than 20 years her line of children’s wear has used colorful and whimsical fabrics in 100% cotton that features classic and simple styles. Her love of textiles, patterns and color combinations led her to develop a line of hand dyed silk scarves in 2009. Using her own method of folding and manipulating the fabric, Gillian is thrilled by the surprise of the resulting scarf each time one is opened up.
Karen Yonovitz creates Rae Design Jewelry in Crozet. Her beaded jewelry is an elegant blend of vintage style and modern chic. Karen often pairs antiqued brass filigree with sparkling Swarovski Crystal glass or freshwater pearls, creating pieces that look like they’ve been handed down through generations.
Questions regarding the Crozet Artisan Depot should be directed to Kathleen Mistry at 434-823-5116 and [email protected].
The gallery will be open from 10:00am–2:00pm on Sunday through Tuesday and 10:00am-5:00pm on Wednesday through Saturday each week.
Its website is www.crozetartisandepot.com and its Facebook page is found at https://www.facebook.com/CrozetArtisanDepot.
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Carly Griffith
Administrative Director
Piedmont Council for the Arts
434-971-2787
