Visual Arts
The Hampshire County Arts Council has a rich history of supporting and encouraging local artists through community art shows, instructional classes, and public exhibitions.
Art in Public Places (AIPP)
Curated by Ken Caldwell, our AIPP initiative exhibits regional artwork directly within bustling community spaces, including The Bank of Romney, FNB Bank in Romney, and the Romney Federal Credit Union.
Interested in participating as an artist? Email Ken at 639klc@gmail.com.
Annual Spring Fine Arts Show
Every March, the Arts Council hosts a celebrated, judged fine art exhibition. Professional judges award cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places alongside multiple custom Honorable Mentions.
To review recent showcase winners or look for emerging call-for-artists details on our next exhibit, visit the gallery page.
Classes & Workshops
Check out our coming calendar or past courses. Let us know what you would like to take—or teach! We pay our instructors; make money sharing your passion!
Members Showcase
See what our local talents are up to! Creative members feature personal biographies, image portfolios, and active link websites to help you purchase their works directly.
Opportunities in the Area
Looking to explore further? Check out these fantastic creative outlets around our neighboring region:
- The River House (Capon Bridge, WV): Offers rolling art classes, visual exhibitions, community makerspaces, and more. Visit theriverhousewv.org
- Hampshire County Co-op & Heritage Marketplace (Romney, WV): Highlights regular seasonal classes and beautiful storefront shelf space for local makers to display and sell their items. Find them via the Co-op Facebook Group
- Main Street Gallery (Moorefield, WV): Dynamic fine arts instruction classes hosted within Donna Davy’s beautiful exhibition space. Explore at mainstreetgallery231.com
- South Side Studios (Petersburg, WV): Features comprehensive community craft classes, specialized kilns, and multi-medium studio space. Learn more at southsidestudioswv.org
Tell us about your favorite local spaces for art exhibits or creative classes! Drop a recommendation to classes@HampshireArts.org.
Resources & Global Inspiration
Inktober Prompt Challenges
An internet-wide initiative built to encourage fine line ink drawing every October through unique daily themes. Artists worldwide utilize these monthly prompts to stretch their imaginations across any medium or time of year! (For a fun look, search YouTube for “Nano Art” to watch a miniature watercolor artist create tiny daily pieces matching the daily prompts, woven with short fictional stories.)
Urban Sketchers Movement
A global collective of visual storytellers dedicated to the intentional practice of on-location drawing. Members share love for their home cities and travel destinations—one accurate, real-life drawing at a time.
Virtual Studios & Daily Galleries
- Georgia O’Keeffe Museum: Offers exceptional, interactive online fine art workshops. Head over to their main site, click the Classes tab, and filter by the online option. okeeffemuseum.org
- Duane Keiser’s “A Painting A Day”: A fantastic blog cataloging simple daily visual experiments to trigger studio inspiration. duanekeiser.blogspot.com
- Julian Merrow-Smith’s “Postcard from Provence”: Beautiful, postcard-sized tiny oil paintings captured and uploaded daily from the French countryside. shiftinglight.com