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MECC's Slemp Gallery to host 'Pangaea' exhibit through Dec. 12

Published November 7th, 2009 | 0 Comments

BIG STONE GAP — James Veenstra’s “Pangaea,” a display of paintings, prints and mixed media artworks, will be on exhibit at Mountain Empire Community College’s Slemp Gallery beginning Wednesday through Dec. 12.

Veenstra said the title of his art show “refers to the idea that at one time all the world’s continents were together. I sometimes felt that putting together a show with such differing themes and mediums was akin to putting the continents back together again.”

When the earth was young in geological terms, scientists believe one land mass, or supercontinent, existed. Continental drift — essentially referring to tectonic plates that “float” over the earth’s molten core — broke apart the supercontinent scientists refer to as Pangaea into the separate continents familiar today.

An adjunct faculty member at MECC and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Veenstra teaches computer graphics, 2D design and decorative painting.

A native of New Mexico, he learned of the area through Alice Harrington, MECC professor of art, and her husband, Jack, who were Veenstra’s instructors when he attended Illinois College as an art student.

Veenstra later attended the Hoffberger School of Art at the Maryland Art Institute under the tutelage of artist Grace Hartigan.

Veenstra worked commercially in decorative finishes, eventually creating a mural department for his company. Veenstra’s murals — some as large as 40 feet tall — are in private residences, institutions and commercial spaces across the United States and other countries, including the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and The Harborplace in Baltimore.

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