The Reception

When: Friday, August 21 at 5:00 PM

Where: Birke Art Gallery (Inside the Visual Arts Center)

Special Feature: Annette & the School of Art & Design's Artium Cura club will be doing a live needle-felting demonstration during the event. Come see how these incredible figures take shape!

Exhibition Details

On View: August 10 – September 18, 2026

Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Location: 927 Third Ave, Huntington, WV

All Visual Arts Center galleries and events are entirely free and open to everyone. Bring a friend!

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By navigating the tension between order and chaos, flatness and texture, these works create a shared space that invites viewers to connect with their own experiences of loss and accept the strangeness that often follows.

Exhibition Details

Dates: August 3 – September 11, 2026Location: Charles W. & Norma C. Carroll GalleryHours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Admission: Free and open to the communityPublic Reception & Gallery Talk

Friday, August 21, 2026 | 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

(Held during the Downtown Art Walk)

Join us for an opening reception featuring an artist talk in the gallery. This event is presented in collaboration with the Marshall University SRSP (Study and Research for Suicide Prevention) lab.

About the Artist: John Harlan Norris is an artist, educator, and musician from Lexington, KY. His work explores alternative approaches to portraiture, investigating topics ranging from identity and technology to public persona and grief.

Connect with us: Follow @marshalluartanddesign on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about upcoming events and artist features.

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Artist bio
Annette Eshelman has interwoven her work as an artist and art educator for the past 25 years. Her art-making approach is inspired by her Appalachian heritage and strong connection to the "home place." Her B.S. in Art and Home Economics from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, set her on a path exploring and experimenting with fabric and fiber arts. Since earning her MFA in fibers from Bowling Green State University, she has participated extensively in solo, group, and juried exhibitions, receiving numerous awards for her work. Annette's teaching experience has taken her inside juvenile detention facilities, inner-city community centers, park districts, daycare centers for individuals with disabilities, schools, colleges, and museums. She thrives on creating customized art exploration and art learning experiences that draw from the strong values and characteristics of her Appalachian heritage. As a teaching artist, she shares a sense of wonder in the creative process with her students.

Admission to the Visual Arts Center galleries and all events is free and open to the public.

For those unable to attend in person, the talk will be streamed online at https://www.marshall.edu/livestream/

**This exhibition is supported by the Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor of the Arts Endowment with additional support from the College of Arts and Media and the School of Art & Design.

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Artist bio
Annette Eshelman has interwoven her work as an artist and art educator for the past 25 years. Her art-making approach is inspired by her Appalachian heritage and strong connection to the "home place." Her B.S. in Art and Home Economics from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, set her on a path exploring and experimenting with fabric and fiber arts. Since earning her MFA in fibers from Bowling Green State University, she has participated extensively in solo, group, and juried exhibitions, receiving numerous awards for her work. Annette's teaching experience has taken her inside juvenile detention facilities, inner-city community centers, park districts, daycare centers for individuals with disabilities, schools, colleges, and museums. She thrives on creating customized art exploration and art learning experiences that draw from the strong values and characteristics of her Appalachian heritage. As a teaching artist, she shares a sense of wonder in the creative process with her students.

This exhibition is supported by the Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor of the Arts Endowment with additional support from the College of Arts and Media and the School of Art & Design.

View on site | Email this event