Appalachian Nature and Society Art on Display at BC

On display in the main hallway of the first floor of Lansdell Hall are art pieces created by the talented Kirsten Sadler, titled “The Thaddeus Dixon Preservation Project.”

Sadler’s works are paintings of a personal collection of objects saved by Thaddeus Dixon, a West Virginia native born in the Greenbrier Valley in 1871. Dixon sold his family’s land to a railroad company and moved to Hominy Falls, West Virginia, where he spent his time exploring nature and the social environment. Sadler said she was intrigued by Dixon’s collection of objects from nature and society because she shared similar interests in the social makeup of communities.

“The body of work on display reveals our shared inquiries,” she said. “Taken as a whole, I am approaching  this work as a conversation. This conversation provides critical commentary about Appalachia’s social and economic struggles.”

In one of her paintings, Sadler gives away a dull vintage feeling. One thing that stands out in the painting is that there is a piece of coal sitting next to two pieces of fruit and a mug. 

“With the role adjustment as a backdrop, I examine objects from…Dixon’s personal collection,” she said. Dixon has been described as “an Appalachian native, artist, explorer, novice scholar, and a sedulously curious individual.” Sadler said the selection of his objects in her paintings is a unique glimpse into his findings. In one of her pieces, she features mountains decorated with parallel and perpendicular lines.

“You should be challenged to what you are seeing because it’s not what you think it is,” said Walter Shroyer, professor and chair of BC’s Art Department. Shroyer also said that Sadler’s paintings play a trick on the viewer’s perception to what the art work is about because the entire display is deceptive.

Sadler’s “Thaddeus Dixon Preservation Project” exhibit in BC’s Lansdell Hall is open and free to the public from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Weekend hours may be obtained by calling the Bluefield College Art Department at 276.326.4458. For additional information about the show, contact Shroyer by email at wshroyer@bluefield.edu.