VAS is participating again in the Christmas Wreath Auction at the Arts Council. Our very festive wreath is thanks to board member, Vicki Halsell.
Please make a bid – we get 100% of the highest bid. Bidding is open through November 24.
The Visual Art Society of B-CS has been involved with Brazos Valley Gives for the last 6 years. You can visit our page at www.brazosvalleygives.org/Visual_Art_Society On the page we have an additional fundraiser page for the Aggieland Art Trail. All proceeds go toward all our community projects, including scholarships for art students. All donors giving at least $20 will be listed on our Sponsor webpage and on our Aggieland Art Trail brochure. Early giving has begun. The actual 18 hour day of giving is Tuesday, October 21, 2025 5am – 11pm. It is a wonderful event for the community.
Brazos Valley Gives, an initiative of the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley, is a month-long community giving effort that culminates in 18 hours of online giving on the 3rd Tuesday of October. Giving together as one community to raise money and awareness for local nonprofits in 7 Brazos Valley counties can do a great deal.
Brazos Valley Gives is a community day of giving that strengthens nonprofits, empowers donors, and builds community. Since 2019, the Community Foundation’s Brazos Valley Gives Day has raised over $6M for participating nonprofits in the 7-county region of the Brazos Valley.
This annual day of “giving where you live” is powered by the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley, and all donations pass-thru directly to the donor’s charity or charities of choice.
Our VAS members are keeping busy this summer – here is a list! I hope I haven’t left anyone out…
All July – Sabra Wilhelm – Art Camps for Kids
All July & August – Dary Dega at Degallery – Art Camps for Kids, Adult classes, Workshops
July 18 or 19 – Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt – Lazy Watercolor Afternoon
July 19 – Robyn Glass – The Art of Paper Cut
August 23 – Joel Kitchens – Photographing with Intent
August 23-24 – Jaimie Ladysh – Painting with Color and Fire (an encaustic workshop)
August 26 – Mark Sadoski – You Don’t Take a Photograph, You Make a Photograph
Dary Dega, our show chair and owner of DEGALLERY, is having a FREE 9-day event for digital, photo, and AI artists and everyone else!
DEGART VisiON is an immersive art and photography experience bringing together visual storytellers from all backgrounds — from traditional film photographers to AI, AR, and digital artists. They will be sharing what they know with everyone for FREE. All presenters will showcase their work in the main gallery during the event.
Held in DEGALLERY Bryan, Texas, from August 22–30, 2025 this unique event includes hands-on workshops, artist demos, a community photo walk, exhibitions, and visionary meetups designed to inspire and unite the visual arts community. All events are FREE to the public, except the 2-day encaustic workshop with Jaimie Ladysh. She is an outstanding teacher and all participants will finish with completed art.
Everyone is welcome — from seasoned professionals to curious beginners. Please click on the event you wish to attend and “buy” a FREE ticket. This will help Dary and the workshop presenter prepare for each event.
Several VAS artists are showing their art at the Parker-Astin gallery in historic downtown Bryan, TX. You can find photography by Joel Kitchens, and original art and prints by artists Stacey Mayer, Theodora Krc, Vicki Richardson-Halsell, and Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday through June. Check the hours on the poster. We would love to see you.
Entry Deadline for Fall Member Show – August 25
Put August 25 on your calendar – it is the deadline for entering our member show that will run from September 5-26 at Degallery! The theme is “Ciaroscuro: The Interplay of Light and Shadow.” The call for art can be found HERE.
Visual artists have been using the interplay of light and shadow for hundreds of years. One only needs to look at paintings by masters such as Vermeer, da Vinci, Goya, Caravaggio, Reubens, Rembrandt, or Raphael, to see the power of this style to produce 3 dimensional forms and enhance the illusion of depth . Although chiaroscuro is usually interpreted as having very strong contrasts between light and shadow, for this show, artists are challenged to highlight the interplay more generally; examples could be the emphasis of rough textures, using strongly contrasting colors, or dark subjects against a light background (the reverse is equally valid). Show us how you use light and shadow to tell your story, or direct the viewers’ attention.
A part of VAS’s mission, is to help our members grow as artists. If you are still uneasy about chiaroscuro, here are three Youtube videos to help explain. There are many more.
The Community Paint Out and the the Downtown Bryan Street & Art Fair is Sunday 4/27/25. It will be so much fun!! Please register on the form below (volunteers and painters) so we know who is coming! We will have a drawing for a Masters Touch beechwood table easel with drawer (retails $74) for just the plein air artists who come and join us.
VAS/Degallery will have a tent, located at the corner of 26th St and Bryan Ave, so VAS members can sell their art, prints, etc. if they help at the tent for morning or afternoon shifts. Contact Wendy at president@visualartsociety.org to sign up for a time slot. Sales will be handled by VAS; artists get 80% and VAS retains 20%. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Visual Art Society of Bryan-College Station, we would love to have you. It is $45/yr for adults, $10 for students and $80 for families. Here is the LINK to sign up to be a member!
Here is info on parking and street closures: https://www.destinationbryan.com/art-fair/getting-here/ Here the original map before the event was postponed – some artists may be different, but our tent is C1 – a prime spot. The red lines are where you can drive and drop off stuff. All vehicles will need to be out of the street closure area no later than 9:30AM!
REGISTRATION FORM FOR COMMUNITY PAINT OUT DAY 4/27/25
Even though our Winter Show is ongoing, we are getting excited to present the prospectus for our next show, “All Things Bright & Beautiful.” This is our spring judged show – there will be ribbons and cash prizes! The Call For Art Deadline is April 7, 2025 and the show will run from April 18 – May 16, 2025 at Degallery.
To learn more about it, go HERE!
We are so excited for our upcoming show “Art Feeds the Soul” starting Tuesday January 7, 2025 at the Arts Center of Brazos Valley and will continue until March 6. The Opening Reception and Ribbon Cutting is Thursday, January 16, 2025 4:30 – 6pm.
The final numbers are in: we have 28 local artists and 99 art pieces: paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media), photography, digital art, ceramics and fused glass. Almost all are for sale, from $20 – $6000, so there is art to fit into anyone’s budget. Come by!
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The deadline for the VAS Winter Show “Art Feeds the Soul” has been extended to Monday December 30, 2024. To learn more, visit visualartsociety.org/2025-winter-show-art-feeds-the-soul/