Miriam Young is a creative director living in color in Roanoke.

E-mail Miriam and promote your own art at the Culture Vulture message board.

More vulture

Archive

• See more of her columns here

With commercialism, form usually follows function. When department stores began appearing in the mid-1800s, large expanses of glass panes -- store windows -- soon followed. Glassmakers adapted to supply the demand for these cumbersome yet fragile sheets of glass, and the design of buildings had to change in order to support them. Thus, the architectural design of commercial buildings changed forever.

With store windows began the art of "window dressing" or visual display design. Lyman Frank Baum, writer of the Oz series of books, edited a magazine devoted to the art of department store window visual design, which took on epic proportions in size, scale and grandiosity in the late 19th century. They still do in New York during the holidays.

Two windows in our fair city have caught my eye. Let's take a look.

Holly go nightly

Ask any chic woman who Claire V is, and she'll tell you she's a very good friend. Claire V, the brainchild of Laura Bradford and Jennifer Jen, designs and manufactures beautiful fabric art in the form of purses, shoes and accessories, with one eye fixed on social butterflies and the other on social responsibility. Based in Roanoke, the company distributes the handwoven silk products across America and Europe. A previous store display at its Roanoke storefront/office featured large metal-looking circles, hanging from the ceiling, with purses suspended within. "Whaaa?" I said as I doubled back with my car to see if it was what I thought -- great design work. I don't like purses, but I love to see Claire V's creations, and one stylin' co-worker at my office adds the Claire V sale dates to her Outlook calendar.

Claire V's current window is an homage to Holly Golightly of "Breakfast at Tiffany's." "Hand me my purse, will you darling...?" drawls the window writing, as elegant silhouettes cavort, draped with pearls, amid the twinkling lights of an elegant night on the town. Check out Claire V's window and their marvelous creations by dropping by 309 Campbell Ave. Get a look at the window. Read more about the business at www.clairev.com.

'Real' art in the window

The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge has been installing "Art in the Window" in downtown Roanoke for years. Currently, a strange herd of teetering, lit paper columns occupy the window space at 20 W. Church Ave. They sway and glow, like a pack of drunken bachelors emerging from a gin joint at 4:30 a.m. (Don't ask me how I know what that looks like.) The window sign tells us this "kinetic illumination" is by Richmond artist Catherine May and is on loan courtesy of architect Mark McConnel. It's in the window through Feb. 28, so if you find yourself in front of Firehouse No. 1 on Church Avenue, just around the corner from Market Street, take a gander at it. Just don't become one with the flow, or you might get arrested for standing under the influence. Get a preview here. Visit www.theartscouncil.org for more.