From artifacts to art

Haymarket Museum finds space for local artists

By James Ivancic, Times Staff Writer

Local artists have a new venue to display their works: The ARTS at the Haymarket Museum.

The space that once exclusively held artifacts from the town’s history now features a rotating series of works from various artists.

The museum at 15205 Jefferson St. is in a building built in 1883 that served as a schoolhouse and town government office.

Kerry Molina of Gainesville is happy to be the first artist to exhibit in the space.

“Manassas has a strong arts scene and Warrenton does, too, but this area didn’t until now,” said Molina.

Molina has 42 of her mixed-media works mounted on the museum’s walls in an exhibit titled “Color, Collage, Creativity.” She works with acrylic paint and ink and collects odds and ends she incorporates in collages.

“I don’t throw things away,” she said.

“There can be a lot going on or it can be a collage or in paint,” she said. “A lot of [my inspiration] comes from journaling. It’s not just prose but it’s stuck-on things like movie tickets and receipts. There’s also doodling.”

A work she calls “Legacy of Loyalty and Love” is a collage that includes a hair curler, glove, buttons and a coin that is dedicated to the memory of her grandmother, Mary Rose Santangelo Christiano.

“Stop, Smell the Roses” is a collage on a vintage tray augmented by paint and ink. “Dump the Doubt, Marry the Magic” is another collage with paint and ink. “Marie’s New Garden” is a watercolor, ink and pencil work.

“The more I make, the more I want to make. This got me going on a roll,” she said of getting ready for the exhibit. “I didn’t have much time for doubt or procrastination.”

Molina teaches art to children and adults at her Yellow Brick Road studio in the basement of her home.

“We have our tasks and our jobs. We think creativity is a separate skill and that we don’t have it. But jobs require creative, problem solvers,” she said. And like the characters going down the yellow brick road in “The Wizard of Oz,” what they are looking for is already within them.

Molina’s works will be exhibited at the Haymarket Museum through Nov. 29. Her hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, and 1 to 3 p.m. Friday and Sunday. She also takes appointments to show the works at other times. She can be contacted at 703-928-2291 or kerryc627@yahoo.com. She has a website at kerrymolina.com showing examples of her work and information about her classes.

Molina has also written and partially illustrated a children’s book titled “Kaci Keeps Going” about a dancer who loses her confidence before finding it again to keep going.

Reach James Ivancic at jivancic@ fauquier.com

Kerry Molina grew up in upstate New York and now lives in Gainesville where she teaches art and has her studio.

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JAMES IVANCIC

Kerry Molina exhibits 42 of her mixed-media artworks at the Haymarket Museum through Nov. 29.

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JAMES IVANCIC

Kerry Molina has also written a children’s book titled “Kaci Keeps Going.”

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JAMES IVANCIC