Arts center celebrates 40th anniversary with new gallery name

The Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley is proud to announce, as part of the kickoff of our fortieth year’s celebration,  the naming of our Gallery for Edna B. Love, long-time Arts Educator and one of the Founding Members of the Center’s Board of Directors.

Mrs. Love taught numerous students over the years at bothPulaski High School and Pulaski County High School, and Virginia Tech, as well as children’s and adult classes, most especially stained glass.  A native of Chilhowie, she spent many of her “retired” years running her own Gallery, The Art Place, on Chilhowie’s Main Street, while maintaining an active presence in Pulaski at the Fine Arts Center.  Mrs. Love’s strengths were numerous:  a zeal for art, a passion for sharing all she knew with everyone she came in contact with, and a desire to promote southwest Virginia through tourism, especially in the arts.

The Edna B. Love Gallery currently houses highlights of the Center’s Permanent Collection.  Containing nearly 150 pieces dating from the late 1800s to present, the Collection includes historic works by artists such as Thomas Combiths and Dorothy Gillespie; a striking Asian collection; and more recent works by numerous southwest Virginia artists such as Mary Tarr Whitehurst, William Beamer, Ernie Ross, Pauline Allen, Lyndall Mason, and Joni Pienkowski.  The Collection began in 1988, and continues to grow:  one recent acquisition is by Radford artist RL Thomas, who was featured in the Gallery in 2017.  A portrait by Pienkowski, entitled “Three Loves:  Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter/Niece”, is the newest piece acquired by the Collection, a gift from Mrs. Love’s children to the Center.

The current exhibition of Permanent Collection works of art is on display through May 31.  The Fine Arts Center is located on Main Street in downtown Pulaski, 10-5 weekdays, and other times by appointment.  For more information call 540-980-7363.