First Fridays at the Depot are full steam ahead and we are excited to feature artist Charlie Raisner at our next gallery opening on June 3rd, from 5:00-7:00pm. Charlie is a talented artist specializing in scenic watercolor paintings. He shares more about himself and his artwork below.
“There are a multitude of beautiful and interesting places around this marvelous world that God has created. I am thankful for the opportunity to represent a few of them in watercolor painting. There are many lovely sights in the Shenandoah Valley and in other locations that I have visited. I consider myself fortunate to be able to share with others my view of some of these places (and people). I do this with watercolor painting on site, or more often in studio, from my recollection and my personal photos. My paintings are representational, impressionistic and in some respects realistic. In addition to recognized extraordinary views, I look for the beautiful that often can be found in the ordinary and may be overlooked. My paintings are all original watercolors of scenes I have personally observed.
After retirement from the U. S, Government, I began watercolor painting in 1994 in a Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University. Since then, I have taken part in numerous painting classes and workshops. In 2009 I moved to the Bridgewater Retirement Community to be near one of my daughters. I am a Signature Member of The Shenandoah Valley Watercolor Society in Harrisonburg and have taken part and received awards in their annual juried show at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. I am also a member of The Beverley Street Studio School in Staunton. I have exhibited at numerous local venues (and galleries such as OASIS).”
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing many of you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
Many exciting projects are underway, and our team is tackling both our design work while deepening our community involvement. Being a Gaines Group team member is a dynamic role, we are challenged to do our very best to serve our clients through design while also growing connections within our communities. Balancing professional and community work can be a difficult task, but it is widely modeled and valued amongst our team.
Our team recently enjoyed supporting the annual Fore the Flames Golf Tournament benefiting Eastern Mennonite School at Heritage Oaks Golf Course. The fresh air and change of scenery allowed us a wonderful day of building connections with our community, team building, and most importantly, having fun! As an event sponsor, we had a great time gathering a team to golf as well as overseeing the refreshment cart and checking on participants. It was a wonderful day well-spent amongst many of our community partners and friends.
In addition to supporting the golf tournament, we recently volunteered to judge the annual Lego Expo Event at Explore More Discovery Museum. This year’s theme was creating Lego models of “transportation” and it was a rewarding experience judging their creations. The little minds sure did come up with big ideas and we loved supporting our budding innovators!
Gaines Group Architect Paul was spotlighted this month for his involvement in coaching soccer and supporting his daughter’s girl scout troop in Charlottesville. Below is a picture of Paul with his family and an article highlighting their community involvement.
Paul was recognized by the “Southside Neighbors” publication for his family’s community involvement.
Amongst the many projects coming down the pipeline, Charles also found time this month to partner with Carpenters Guild, Give Solar, and the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project to do an energy audit. The collaboration between these community partners helped move critical projects forward at this important community site. Charles continues to model community engagement and service to the rest of our team. Not pictured but worth mentioning, he also volunteered his time supporting both a Sustainability Summit at Mary Baldwin and a Career Fair at Harrisonburg High School.
This month also featured the launch of a project supported by Charles along with industry friends Julie Foley and Hana Nguyenky and Caitlin Morgan called Emerge AEC. This effort is designed to connect emerging professionals throughout the architecture, engineering, and construction industries through education, mentorship, and networking. The effort grew out of Charles’ pandemic zoom networking sessions for emerging professionals.
Lastly, we recently gathered (almost) all the Gaines Group team between the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg offices for the first time since the pandemic. In honor of Adrienne passing her Architecture Registration Exams, we celebrated over lunch and enjoyed seeing each other outside of our Zoom screens. As we reflect on this busy month filled with exciting new projects and opportunities to engage with our community, we are filled with gratitude and anticipation.
We love seeing diverse and fun events happen in the Valley and are always looking for ways to support them. The first Annual Shenandoah Comic and Toy show is exactly the kind of event we love to see happening in the Valley. Of course, Charles has an ever growing classic toy collection and he is eager to attend this event, but outside of that excitement, we know the valley is a perfect place for families and adding events like this solidifies that reputation. We hope you will consider attending and check out what this event is all about. We especially encourage you to check out Stronge Designs and their incredible graphic art work. Andrew Stronge is a former First Friday artist, and together with his wife (and fellow Gaines Group architect) Adrienne, they have been integral in planning this event.
The event will be held this Saturday at the Fair Grounds with VIP entrance beginning at 10am and ending at 4:30pm. Kids tickets are free with the purchase of an adult ticket and we encourage families to come enjoy the fun. There is an exciting line-up of vendors and the organizers are hopeful the Shenandoah Comic and Toy Show will become an area tradition. To learn more about the vendors and grab your ticket, visit the event website here.
Stronge Designs will be selling original graphic art work.
The Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project (SVBH) is a non-profit organization in Harrisonburg that exists to recover and share resources on African American history in the Shenandoah Valley. The impactful work put forth by these community members is coordinated and housed in the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Center located on Hill St. in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Gaines Group partnered with SVBH in their efforts to improve the environmental stability of their building by completing an energy audit. This complimentary service helped identify areas that can be modified to reduce energy usage and increase the overall efficiency of the building.
Charles with members of the Carpenters Guild talking through improvements to Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Center.
After identifying areas of improvement, the Carpenter’s Guild of Harrisonburg donated their time and efforts to making energy-efficiency improvements and preparing the roof to install solar panels. Give Solar is promoting fundraising efforts to support the entirety of this project which includes the installation of solar panels. If you are interested in supporting this project, please visit their website to learn more about these efforts.
Members of the Carpenters Guild of Harrisonburg worked to make energy-related improvements.
Energy audits are a free service and a great opportunity to support organizations such as SVBH who are doing important work in our community. We have experience providing these audits in numerous homes, non-profit organizations, and various churches in our surrounding areas. We want everyone to feel comfortable in their living or working spaces and cut down on the overpayment of energy bills. Reach out if you or your organization are interested in this free service!
Our last collaboration with Give Solar and the Carpenter’s Guild resulted in a more energy-efficient building at Our Community Place in Harrisonburg. This pro-bono work benefits the community by lowering the monthly utility bills of area non-profits making them more sustainable and our community more resilient.
We are thrilled for the return of First Fridays downtown and will feature artist Lori Mier on Friday, April 1st, 2022 from 5:00pm-8:00pm. Read along to learn a bit more about Lori’s story and the influences on her work.
Lori Mier is the creator and owner of her story. She loves chai tea and sunrise hikes. She owns Blue Mountain Path Coaching LLC where she offers healing experiences as an Ecotherapist Guide, Author, and Photographer. Merin and Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency is her first children’s book. Lori is on a mission to help normalize grief and healing and hard conversations. Lori has a degree in Social Work and created a not-for-profit hiking program–Through Hiking– along with her husband to offer guided hikes to agencies and youth in foster care. She serves on the Equity Committee for Rockingham County Public Schools and also sits on the Board of Directors for RISE Foundation in Waynesboro, VA where she is committed to education, political action, and racial justice work. Although she is not originally from Virginia, Lori feels the most at home where she lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband and son.
It took a couple of years for Lori to call herself an artist. She never set out to be a photographer and only began calling herself one after multiple people asked if she sold the images that she captured on her sunrise and sunset hikes in the Appalachian Mountains. Originally she grew up in Minnesota, a few years on a lake resort, where she began connecting to nature; the northern lights, the great blue heron named Willie that would sit at the end of the dock every morning. What she now believes connects her to the Appalachian mountains is her time living in Oregon when she was a toddler; the place where her parents lost their lives. When she returned in the summer of 2020 to those Oregon mountains she saw how much they resemble what she knows of the Valley. Lori loves to capture the morning and evening light and share her spiritual and therapeutic connection of her hikes with others. She created an Etsy shop, Butterfly and The Storm, to do so. Her work can be seen in a gallery in Staunton, VA, Basement on Byers, and has been featured on the cover of and inside AT Journey’s Magazine and local travel brochures.
Rotary is celebrating a birthday. This organization founded by Paul Harris on February 23, 1905, is 115 today!! With a core mission of #serviceaboveself, these business leaders in Chicago set out to build a better community. Using their influence and power they used service, the act of reaching out and helping others, and a way to bring business leaders together for the greater good.
Rotary is #serviceaboveself
Locally we have a variety of Rotary Clubs doing good in our community while Rotary international works on their core mission of eradicating Polio worldwide. The 7 pillars of Rotary include Peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and sustainability. Rotary is open to everyone to join. Most clubs have weekly meetings including a meal to build community within the club members and have a speaker usually telling us about local organizations or activities. These weekly meetings bring us together and allow us to better know each other and our community.
I encourage you to look at the local Rotary Clubs in your area, each has a different vibe, and find the right fit to magnify your service in your community. Want to visit our breakfast club next Tuesday at 7 a.m.? Just reach out to me and I am happy to have you as my guest.
Happy Birthday Rotary! Thanks to all Rotarians for putting #serviceaboveself.
