"In the Beginning, all America was Virginia."
Peaches Are In by Queena Stovall
William Byrd II
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Inside Looking Out: The Art of Queena Stovall
On display through October 14, 2018!
Lynchburg folk artist and Amherst County native Emma Serena “Queena” Stovall (1887 – 1980) began painting at the age of 62. Her meticulously detailed paintings document life in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and record the endless, life-sustaining chores of a country farm; joys of family at home, work, and prayer; and customs and events of her community. Stovall’s work depicts the daily activities of rural Virginians including imagery of her African American neighbors and earned her the titles of “Grandma Moses of Virginia” and a “southern memory painter.” She is one of the American folk painters whose work is an invaluable visual history of a way of life that, because of social and economic changes, no longer exists.
Admission:
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Members: Free (Become a member.)
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General Admission: Included in admission to the museum. Purchase admission tickets.
Inside Looking Out is curated by the Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College, with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
WHAT YOU WILL SEE:
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44 of the 49 pieces of artwork Queena Stovall produced over the course of an 18-year career, as well as several items familiar to her studio, such as her easel and paint stand.
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The first exhibition of its kind in that it displays nearly all of Stovall’s work in one exhibit.
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Lively and intricate paintings that use bright colors and careful strokes to depict vignettes featuring crop harvests, canning for the winter, cooking, livestock auctions, baptisms, and funerals. Each painting opens a window into Stovall’s world and magnifies a way of life that over time has vanished.
WHY YOU WANT TO COME:
“Stovall’s paintings are remarkably evocative and unique,” observes VMHC/VHS President and CEO, Jamie O. Bosket. “Her work speaks to a distinctive cultural experience found in rural Virginia and illustrates her deep love for family and neighbors and her sense of place.”
ASSOCIATED PROGRAMMING:
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"Remembering Queena" Exhibition Opening Special Program - Saturday, May 12, 2018. View Program.
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Instagram Contest: May 12 – October 14, 2018. Learn More.
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Banner Lecture with the exhibition’s curator Ellen Agnew: Thursday, June 14, 2018. View Lecture.
ARTIST TRAINING AND COLLECTIONS:
Queena Stovall studied at Randolph Macon Woman’s College under artist Pierre Daura. However, Daura was so impressed with her natural style of painting that he advised her to stop taking his classes so she could develop her own style without influence. In 1956, Stovall displayed her first solo exhibition at the Lynchburg Art Center. Her artwork can now be found in the collections of Lynchburg College, the Fenimore Art Museum in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the New York State Historical Association. She was honored by the Library of Virginia in 2010 in the Virginia Women in History presentation for her contributions to folk art.
FURTHER READING:
Exhibition Information
FromSat May 12 2018, 10:00am – Sun Oct 14 2018, 5:00pm
10:00 am - 5:00 pm daily
Highlighted objects from Inside Looking Out: The Art of Queena Stovall
In the museum shop
Written in conjunction with the "Inside Looking Out: The Art of Queena Stovall" exhibition, this 90-page book includes color images of all 49 oil paintings by Stovall and includes essays written by Dr. Barbara Rothermel and Ellen Agnew.
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