Clay Center

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- "Art, Nature and the American City, 1840-1955: Selections from the Spanierman Gallery" runs through Oct. 10 at the Clay Center. Visitors can see paintings from major American representational art movements.

"Urban and Rural Landscapes from the Permanent Collection" can be seen through Nov. 14, featuring pieces from the Clay Center's permanent collection, which includes more than 200 landscapes and cityscapes dating from 1835 to 2006. This exhibition includes visitors' favorites as well as works that have rarely been displayed.

There will be a figure drawing class led by Susan Petryszak from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 23. Participants will learn to draw from a live (clothed) model. All skill levels are invited, from the beginner to the more advanced hoping to brush up on their skills. All materials provided; space limited. Fees: $25 for Clay Center members; $35 for nonmembers.

Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, One Clay Square, Charleston; www.theclaycenter.org, 304-561-3570. "Smart Pass" (includes galleries, film and planetarium) $13.50 adults and $11 children, teachers and senior citizens; Galleries only $7 adults and $5.50 children, teachers and seniors. Members get free unlimited access to galleries and planetarium shows, as well as discounts on films.

16 Hands exhibition

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Work by a group called 16 Hands, a group of eight artists from southwest Virginia, will be on exhibit at the Birke Art Gallery on Marshall University's Huntington campus until Sept. 9.

Ellen Shankin, one of the founding members of the group, will present a workshop at the Marshall ceramics lab on Sept. 8 and 9. She will demonstrate throwing and glazing techniques and host a discussion on form. The workshop is free and open to the public. Contact Jaye Ike at 304-696-3296 or jaye....@marshall.edu.

A closing reception for the exhibition in the gallery will take place 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 7.

Huntington Museum

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Two new exhibits are open at the Huntington Museum of Art. "Recent Acquisitions: Gifts, Bequests, and Purchases 2005-2009" and "The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States" will remain on view through Nov. 28.

"Recent Acquisitions" features a selection of works either donated to or purchased by the museum during the past five years. It includes two small ancient Egyptian bronze figures; old master prints; works by 20th-century masters of Haitian art; Asian ceramics; American and European decorative arts, paintings, works on paper; folk art; glass; video; works by visiting Gropius workshop artists; and works by artists of this region.

For the first time at Huntington Museum, the 50 works gifted from New York collectors the Vogels will be on display.

The best-known aspects of the Vogel Collection are minimal and conceptual art.

"Herb and Dorothy," the documentary film about the Vogels, will be shown at 2 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Grace Rardin Doherty Auditorium. Admission to the film is free.

Huntington Museum of Art, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, 2033 McCoy Road, Huntington; 304-529-2701 or www.hmoa.org. Admission $5 per person or $18 for a family of four or more. Admission is free on Tuesdays and to museum members.

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