麻花视频

Plans are now underway to present the finished project to the greater community at a Jefferson Center event May 14. That will be a fundraiser although there鈥檚 no cost for admission. Among the event themes will be art education and leadership in the 麻花视频 Valley.

Most of the portrait subjects are big names 鈥� such as David Wiley, conductor of the 麻花视频 Symphony Orchestra, and his wife Leah. And Nancy Agee, CEO emeritus of Carilion Clinic. Or Brenda Hale, president of 麻花视频鈥檚 NAACP branch.

One of the artist鈥檚 first subjects was 麻花视频 Mayor Joe Cobb 鈥� who wasn鈥檛 yet 鈥渉izzoner鈥� at the time he posed with a pair of ruby-red slippers.

Another was locally famous youth basketball coach Joe Gaither, who might be the nicest guy in all of 麻花视频. Brock also painted Ginger Poole, producing artistic director at Mill Mountain Theatre.

The artist, 57, must鈥檝e been scraping the bottom of the barrel when she asked yours truly to pose. (I avoided her entreaties for months but later caved after she sicced mutual friends on me.)

But I wasn鈥檛 the only member of the media. 鈥淎 Thread鈥� also includes a portrait of Dick Daniels and David Page, the 鈥淒ick and Dave鈥� morning radio duo on WSLQ-FM, Q99.

The final painting 鈥� the one Brock finished Tuesday 鈥� was of 麻花视频 philanthropist Heywood Fralin. That one was the most challenging, Brock said. (Cobb鈥檚 portrait was the easiest to paint, she added.)

Fralin himself is an art aficionado with a respectable collection of some 100 works. Among them are originals by Norman Rockwell (鈥淭he Little Model鈥�) and Walt Kuhn (鈥淕irl with Turban鈥�). He wanted his portrait to be surrounded by miniature depictions of those artworks and five others from his collection.

Bonus: After Fralin learned that Virginia Western Community College President Robert 鈥淏obby鈥� Sandel persuaded Brock to include Sandel鈥檚 beloved schnauzer, Pearl, in Sandel鈥檚 portrait, Fralin wanted his dog, Lily, included too.

鈥淗eywood鈥檚 been copying me his whole life,鈥� Sandel cracked.

Each portrait began at a downtown studio and gallery, 鈥淎rt On 1st.鈥� It鈥檚 owned and operated by a local couple, artist Annie Shultz and photographer Rick Sheridan. (During June, Brock will exhibit the entire series at Art on 1st.)

Sheridan shot photos of each subject while Schultz snapped photos of Sheridan taking the pictures. Of course, Brock was present. She asked each subject to bring one or two items that are important to the subject and add context to the painting.

Besides Pearl, Sandel brought a graduation cap and gown and a VWCC sweatshirt. The latter didn鈥檛 make Sandel鈥檚 portrait, which features Sandel wearing the graduation duds and clutching Pearl in his right arm. Ginger Poole brought a pile of drama scripts from Mill Mountain Theatre.

By the time Agee agreed to participate, she had also packed up her CEO鈥檚 office.

So, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any obvious props,鈥� Agee added.

With her to the studio she took a Carilion Clinic hard hat and a model of the hospital system鈥檚 Lifeguard 10 helicopter. (Agee loves to fly in that aircraft.)

But at one point during the shoot, Brock knocked the helicopter off Agee鈥檚 lap and busted one of the rotors. Oops! They needed something else.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e standing around drinking Diet Dr Pepper,鈥� Agee said. Turns out, that鈥檚 her drink. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楾hat would really help my nerves.鈥欌�� Which is how the soda can got in Agee鈥檚 portrait.

Behind Agee, Brock painted a rendition of Carilion鈥檚 Clinic鈥檚 new cancer center that鈥檚 now under construction, and added some of its architectural drawings to the background, too.

I wore a beloved fedora that I bought four decades ago, when I was a bike messenger in the nation鈥檚 capital, and a treasured T-shirt from the rock/blues artists, Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band with The Rootettes.

Surrounding Fralin in his portrait are seven different artworks from his collection, all shrunk to size by Brock so they could fit inside the portrait鈥檚 36-inch by 48-inch dimensions.

鈥淢y guess is, that was a challenge for her. She had to change the proportions of the paintings to fit the proportions of the portrait. That鈥檚 an extraordinarily hard thing to do. That in and of itself is a talent,鈥� Fralin said.

鈥淚 am glad I did it,鈥� Agee told me. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to be asked. (Whitney鈥檚) incredibly talented. She made it easy for me.鈥�

Fralin called Brock 鈥渞eally gifted鈥� and Sandel said, 鈥渟he鈥檚 just a delight to work with.鈥�

Before he agreed to pose, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know who Whitney Brock was,鈥� Sandel added. 鈥淣ow we鈥檝e got a friendship.鈥�

Brock leapt into 鈥淎 Thread Through 麻花视频鈥� not knowing whether the pieces would sell by the time it was over. And during the project, she was commissioned by a gallery in Florida to paint a portrait of a Florida politician.

The price of the Florida portrait is $10,000, which is about what Brock reckons her 鈥淭hread鈥� portraits would go for when/if they sell. (She鈥檚 also landed a commission from Carilion Clinic, painting a smaller portrait of the late Ed Murphy, former CEO.)

Brock still hopes to sell the paintings from the project. And more about 鈥淎 Thread Through 麻花视频鈥� is still up in the air.

Mary Miller, former president of the 麻花视频-Blacksburg Technology Council, is organizing the public event at the Jefferson Center on May 14. Though there will be no charge for tickets, attendees will have to register, Miller said.

Miller is hoping to raise thousands for the Jefferson Center event. While some of the money she鈥檚 looking for would cover event expenses, some could also fund art scholarships and/or to future community art projects.

And because many of the subjects Brock has depicted are community leaders, Miller sees the public event as an opportunity regarding future leadership development in the region.

That鈥檚 because the portraits in the series are very relatable, Miller added.

鈥淭hese portraits aren鈥檛 sterile,鈥� like many portraits you see in big museums, she said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e screaming 鈥榗ommunity,鈥� and 鈥榥eighbor,鈥欌�� Miller added. 鈥淪he made every one of these people human, not sterile.鈥�