Speaker Series (Hybrid): Art as Work with AAME

Date: Tuesday, January 11, 7:00pm

Cost: Free and open to the public

Virtual: Click here to register

In-person: Click here to RSVP

On Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM, we are kicking off another year of the museum’s Speaker Series by partnering with the Arts Alliance Mountain Empire (AAME) for our first hybrid virtual and in-person event! A panel of local artists will discuss what it is like to work in the arts field and how their work is represented in art. Artists on the panel are active in the Tri-Cities region and include Leigh Ann Agee (author and visual artist), Cherylonda Fitzgerald (cellist and music teacher), Richard Graves (visual artist), Val Lyle (sculptor and public artist), and Eugene Wolf (actor and singer). All of our panelists have made art their work in multiple ways, and their versatility and business acumen has augmented their ability to bring their creative vision to the world. This program will give local artists the opportunity to help us understand how they work at the intersection of imaginative freedom and pragmatic demand – how they create art that will provide an income.

This program ties into the Smithsonian exhibit The Way We Worked, currently on display at the museum through January 23, 2022. Interested in-person attendees can participate in a curator-guided tour of the exhibit after the program.

The virtual program will stream live via Zoom, and the in-person program will be held in the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s Performance Theater.

**COVID-19 Policy
In-person audience members, staff, and artists will be required to wear face coverings and show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours for entry to the program in the museum’s Performance Theater.

About the Panel

Richard Graves (richardgravesart.com) is a visual artist who works in portraiture, figure drawing, and the surreal. Richard is an AAME board member and will be moderating the Virtual Speaker Series panel discussion. His work can be found in The Museum Store.

Artist Leigh Ann Agee (leighannagee.com) began painting as a hobby, but in time found that this was her calling and made art her work. She paints custom murals and is the creator of Moon Bound Girl, “a brand that inspires girls and women everywhere to dream big and pursue their passions.” Leigh Ann’s work can be found in The Museum Store.

Cellist Cherylonda Fitzgerald (cherylonda.com) both performs and teaches her instrument. She is principal cellist with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra and performs with the Symphony of the Mountains and the Paramount Players, among others. Cherylonda teaches privately in the “Cello Underground” in her home, as well as at Milligan College.

Sculptor Val Lyle (artnowllc.com) creates public art, and her local pieces include the interactive “Take the Stage” outside the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, “Caterpillar Crawl” in downtown Bristol, “The Sentinel” and “The Spirit of Generosity” in Kingsport, and the “ASPIRE” mobile and “Forward Rhythms” at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.

Actor and musician Eugene Wolf has appeared on the Barter Theatre stage many times, played with the Brother Boys along with Ed Snodderly, and most recently brought his own childhood to the stage in his one-man show “The Book of Mamaw,” which has been staged at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Among his recordings is a collaboration with Russian folk musician Mitya Kuznetsov.