Two-day Studio Tour offers art experience in Central Virginia
Linda Staiger does more than create art in Fluvanna County. The former orthopedic surgeon has helped to create a thriving Fluvanna community around art.
Thanks in large part to Staiger’s determination, support, and inspiration, the third annual Arts of Fluvanna County Studio Tour will be held across Fluvanna on October 19 & 20, offering art lovers a unique experience. Dozens of local artists across every medium will open the doors to their studios for the public to experience, learn about, and engage with art.
After its successful first two years, Arts of Fluvanna County has expanded the Studio Tour to become a two-day art experience. The Studio Tour is juried, and artists must apply to participate and show themselves to be at a higher caliber of professionalism.
“The intent is to invite art lovers into the spaces where the art is made,” Staiger explained of the Studio Tour. “They can see the big piles of brushes, and paint everywhere, and paintings covering the walls. They can learn about the art and see how it’s made.”
The immersive, connective art experience can help develop more appreciation for artists and their works.
“It’s just a different kind of art experience than going to a gallery where you see the work, maybe you even see the artist if it’s a show, but you don’t see the making of the art or the environment where it happens.”
With a large number of active art studios in Fluvanna, there had been several attempts to form a Studio Tour over the years. One regulatory hurdle continued to thwart the efforts: Special Use Permits. The way Fluvanna’s ordinance was previously written, each studio would have had to pay a review fee and gain approval to host the public.
Staiger took it upon herself to attend planning commission meetings with the hope of encouraging a change. When the rule was finally amended, a new group – Arts of Fluvanna County, founded by artists Diane and Jim Wilkin and others – launched the Studio Tour, and brought Staiger onto their board.
After helping to get the Tour started, Staiger took on another community project. “Looking Back, Seeing Now” is a unique collaborative portrait project with the aim to memorialize life and community in Fluvanna County.
In partnership with the Fluvanna County Historical Society and many members of Fluvanna’s communities and churches of color, the project has local artists painting portraits of residents who are the descendants of people enslaved in Fluvanna County. Joe Creasey, president of the Fluvanna NAACP, was painted in the historic Slave Chapel of the Bremo Plantation, a building his ancestors most likely built and where they would have worshipped. The project, which features 16 subjects and approximately a dozen artists, will culminate with a reception on February 2, 2025 at the Fluvanna Library.
Before becoming a leader in the art community, Staiger was just beginning to lean into her passions. After retiring in 2010 from a career as an orthopedic surgeon, she took art classes. When she enjoyed them, she kept creating. She’s gone through different seasons with different focus areas of her art, but she continues to grow through it all.
“I’m an oil painter, because it’s forgiving,” she said of her medium of choice. “The material can be thick or washy and thin. It doesn’t require a lot of equipment. I like the color, I like the big shapes.”
She’s also committed to the full process, stretching her own canvases and making her own frames.
“I try to do every step of it,” Staiger said, “and do every step with intention and make it as beautiful as I can.”
The effort that goes into those details, in Staiger’s studio and dozens of others, will be on display the weekend of October 19 & 20 across the county. More details available at artsfluvannacounty.com.
Looking for more of Fluvanna’s arts-related events? Mark your calendars for December 14, when the quarterly Palmyra Arts Fest will return to Stone Jail Street.
