JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Nancy Norton works on a stained-glass piece at her home in Blacksburg.

BLACKSBURG -- What started out as a conversation between friends has become an initiative to bring together the vibrant local arts community and budding student artists.

Jeri Childers, director of Outreach Program Development at Virginia Tech, and Nancy Norton, a local stained-glass artist and member of the Blacksburg Regional Arts Association, have spent the past year and a half turning their idea into CommunityArtsWork, a partnership dedicated to bringing the two communities together.

Local groups, such as the Blacksburg Regional Art Association, have workshops, exhibits, studio tours and guest speakers, and the same are available to students through Virginia Tech -- but there is a lack of events where both work together, Childers said.

"We're trying to get these art initiatives going, so wouldn't it be great if we bridged these university and art areas and got some communication going?" Norton said.

One of the biggest concerns for both community artists and students is the lack of studio space, Norton said, which is something the partnership is trying to amend.

When the School of the Visual Arts moved last fall from Henderson Hall to the Armory Gallery, some of the student studio space was lost, said Truman Capone, director of the School of the Visual Arts at Virginia Tech.

"We're looking for space because we have 25 or 30 [students] that need an actual studio environment," Capone said.

By working together, there is more of a chance that the two groups can find a shared space and make it affordable for everyone involved, Capone said.

Other ideas beyond studio space include music and poetry performances, visits to regional art museums such as the Taubman Museum in Roanoke and possibly an annual festival focused on the arts, Childers said.

"It's a real learning process," Norton said.

Although many of the partnership's plans, such as the shared studios, are still in the idea stage, a gallery show is planned for September as CommunityArtsWork's first event.

Artists are invited to submit pieces for a show that will hang in the Holtzman Alumni Center on the Virginia Tech campus from September to December, called "Bridges."

Capone will be the featured artist in the show.

Ideally, a CommunityArtsWork exhibition will take place during the same time each year at the alumni center, Childers said.

Call for entries for the “Bridges” art exhibition sponsored by CommunityArtsWork
Entry deadline: May 17
Eligibility: Open to all Blacksburg Regional Art Association visual artists and students, faculty and staff of art departments at area universities and colleges.