Art Gallery
The Gallery at Glencoe Mansion exhibits the art and works of contemporary Appalachian artists from around the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia.
Currently On Display
On display now through October 29
Kindly Mirrors – The Photography of Richard Miles “Dick” Shank & Gertrue Vest Shank
A treasure trove of historic photographs nearly lost to time were found as a stack of forgotten photographic negatives in an attic in Floyd County. When developed they revealed an amazing artistic glimpse into early 20th-century life in Southwest Virginia.
The thirty-two photographs in this exhibit were taken between 1912 and 1917 by “Dick” and Gertrue Shank who were living in Floyd County at the time. Using a Brownie camera that Gertrue Vest owned before she married Dick Shank, the Shanks preserved their landscapes, joys, and day-to-day lives in images that appear almost contemporary. The photographs offer intimate moments: a lamb being bottle fed, a child playing hide and seek, a baptizing.
The exhibit’s title comes from a line in the short story “A Guide to Berlin” by Vladimir Nabokov: “I think that here lies the sense of literary creation--to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly mirrors of future times; to find in the objects around us the fragrant tenderness that only posterity will discern and appreciate in the far-off times when every trifle of our plain everyday life will become exquisite and festive in its own right…”
Curators Ricky Cox, Catherine Pauley, and Alice Slusher created this exhibit for the Old Church Gallery, a cultural arts museum located at 110 Wilson Street in Floyd, Virginia. After scanning the original negatives, they edited and produced each print digitally. Jonathan Mayer and the staff of Radford University Printing offered technical advice and handled the final printing.
Come explore this amazing piece of art and history. The museum will host a talk with the creators of the exhibit on Tuesday, September 23, at 5:30 PM.
Previous Gallery Exhibits
Featured
Information for Artists
We are always interested in finding artists to feature in our Gallery.
Museum Shop
Artists who are featured in our Gallery often have pieces available in our Museum Shop - everything from full-size original pieces to notecard prints. Take home your favorite art today.
There’s More TO Glencoe Mansion
Historic House Museum
Focusing on the history of the Glencoe Mansion and of the Wharton family
History Exhibits
Exhibits highlighting key individuals and events that have shaped Radford and the region
Grounds
Sites and artifacts of interest on and around the Glencoe Mansion grounds.