Courtesy of the Virginia Watercolor Society

Jan Ledbetter's "Emily" won the third place award in the 2007 Virginia Watercolor Society Exhibition.

Irvine Contemporary

Kerry Skarbakka's chromogenic print, "Trestle," is part of "Rethinking Landscape: Contemporary Photography from the Allen G. Thomas Jr. Collection," which will be at the Taubman Museum of Art starting Nov. 8.

Now that the Taubman Museum of Art has safely moved its art collection from Center in the Square into its new $66 million home, somebody has to figure out what to hang and where to hang it.

That somebody is David Brown, the museum's deputy director of art.

"I've likened the process to playing three-dimensional chess," Brown said of distributing the cream of the museum's 2,000-piece collection through the new museum's multiple galleries in the weeks ahead.

Some of the art will remain in storage -- museums typically show only a fraction of their collections at any given time.

The other pieces must be hung with consideration for the works of art around them and the galleries themselves.

"I very much view it as an art form in and of itself," Brown said of hanging the art. "Those who are good at it are really good at it."

The new museum has nine galleries, including an experimental space for new media and a gallery custom-designed to display the museum's collection of ornate Judith Leiber handbags.

Other galleries will spotlight the museum's collection of American art and temporary exhibits. Opening-day exhibits will include temporary shows on 17th-century Florentine art and landscape photography. While museum architect Randall Stout will design the Florentine art show and an exhibit on how the museum was built, Brown must hang all the rest over the next two months.

Brown said computer-aided design machines can help with initial decisions about how to display art. But "when the pieces are down in the gallery, it's a different kind of ballgame. That's when the magic starts to happen. In the end, you want it to look as though that particular piece ended up where it was supposed to be. That's the trick."

The Taubman museum opens Nov. 8. Admission the first day will be free.

'Starlight' in Roanoke

Artist Thea Lanzisero Monier-Williams will install her lighted sculpture "Starlight" in South Roanoke Village this morning.

Monier-Williams, of Huntington, N.Y., is the second of eight artists who will install their works at various locations around Roanoke over the next month. New Mexico's Mark Harris installed his bronze statue "Recoil" at Wells Avenue Plaza near Hotel Roanoke on Sept. 3.

A "Meet the Artist" event for Monier-Williams will be held at Fork in the Alley from 2 to 4 p.m. today.

Next up are artist Charlie Brouwer of Willis, installing "Happy Wanderers" at Brown Robinson Park -- Lick Run Greenway, and Roanoke's Polly Branch, who will install her sculpture "Rainbow Children" at Jackson Library, both beginning on Sept. 22.

Branch's installation work is expected to last two weeks, and nearby schools will be invited to bring art classes by to watch, Roanoke Public Art Coordinator Susan Jennings said.

The artworks will be exhibited for 18 months.

Watercolors galore

The 29th Annual Virginia Watercolor Society Exhibition takes place at Roanoke's Shenandoah Club from Sept. 22 through Nov. 1. The show will consist of 80 artworks selected from 450 entries by juror Donna Watson, a Washington state artist.

A banquet and awards ceremony is set for Sept. 20, also at the Shenandoah Club.

Exhibition-related events include a five-day artists workshop with Watson beginning Monday for preregistered Watercolor Society members, and a welcome reception on Sept. 19 at the O. Winston Link Museum.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays beginning Sept. 22.

The Watercolor Society was founded by Roanoke artists John Will Creasy and Ernest Johnson. Its inaugural convention was held in Roanoke in April 1980. For more information, visit www.virginiawatercolor society.org.

New gallery

Artist Fleda Ring will open a gallery and studio at 7A E. Church Ave., near the old Fire Station No. 1 next month.

She joins artist Chico Harkrader and Z Studio Framing on the block, and adds to the rapidly growing number of artists studios and galleries downtown.

An opening reception for Fleda A. Ring Artworks is scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 2.