Noel W. Tenney Exhibit on Display in October

"Mystical and Ethereal," an exhibition of mixed media works by Noel W. Tenney, opens today, Oct. 3, in the Brooks Gallery, located on the fourth floor of Wallman Hall at Fairmont State University. Admission is free and open to the public; the exhibition runs through Friday, Oct. 26.

Tenney is a familiar face on the FSU campus as a faculty member of The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center and is well-known throughout the area as an educator, museum consultant and artist. He has taught at Fairmont State since 2006 and was an adjunct professor for cultural and regional topics at West Virginia University from 1990-2004. During that time, Tenney taught as an adjunct professor, 1990-2002, at West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon. From 1984-1989, he taught at Salem College, where he was General Director of the Fort New Salem Project (1988-89).

Tenney was educational consultant and storyteller consultant to the Hill Lorists. Among his publications are "In the Mountain State: A West Virginia Folklore and Cultural Studies Curriculum," with Judy P. Byers and John H. Randolph, 1999; "All About Upshur County: A Bibliography and Resource Guide to the Published and Unpublished Materials Concerning Upshur County, West Virginia," 1993; "For the Causes of Religion and the Promotion of Truth and Righteousness in These Lands: A History of the Mt. Union United Methodist Church," 1852-1993, 1993; "One Hundred Years of Service to God and Man: Tallsmansville Baptist Church," 1882-1992, 1992; "Green Hills of Magic: West Virginia Folktales from Europe," audio recording with Judy P. Byers and John H. Randolph, 1990; and "Lore of the Hills: A West Virginia Collection of Oral Literature Presented Through Language, Songs, and Tales," audio recordings with Judy P. Byers and John H. Randolph, 1989, among many others.

"My show will consist of recent oil and opaque watercolor paintings along with earlier brush dyed fabric pieces that explore the details of regional culture, environment and literary exploration 'the mystical to the ethereal,'" Tenney says. "Through the acknowledgment and interpretation of local content, my work will strive to develop a sense of the 'embrace of place.' It is within this communitas of culture' that my works have been developed and make their statement."

Tenney is a lifelong native of Upshur County and has taught and produced art for over 40 years. He holds degrees in studio arts/art education from Concord University and West Virginia Wesleyan College. He has done additional doctoral studies at The Pennsylvania State University and in England and the Netherlands. His Old Orchard Studio is located in Tallmansville, Upshur County, on ancestral land.

Regular gallery hours are Mondays - Fridays, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. For special viewing arrangements outside these times, call or e-mail Curator Marian J. Hollinger: (304) 367-4300; mhollinger@fairmontstate.edu.