New Hayslette paintings

LEWISBURG, W.Va. -- Cooper Galleries will present an exhibit of new works by artist Max Hayslette through Sept. 30.

"This year his exhibit includes abstracts and landscapes," said Marilyn Cooper, gallery owner. "Also this year, Max donated a large abstract to the University of Charleston and one to the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at The Culture Center. He is 81 this year and still painting."

Hayslette was born in Rupert in 1930. Following a stint in administrative positions in the U.S. Army, Hayslette took a position as chief of typography at Olson Designers in Chicago, an industrial design firm specializing in exhibit design. In 1962, he relocated to Seattle where he joined Berg Craftsman Co., another industrial design firm, and began as design coordinator for the Alaska Pavilion at the 1962 World's Fair.

In 1972, he founded Olympus Graphics Inc., a small silkscreen company located on Bainbridge Island. Hayslette is represented in more than 300 private, corporate and public collections, most notably The Rockefeller Foundations, Stanford University and Wells Fargo Bank.

Cooper said she is expanding the gallery and discontinuing the framing part of the business.

Cooper Gallery, 122 E. Washington St., Lewisburg. Hours: July-December: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 302-645-6439 or 888-868-5129 or visit www.coopergallery.com.

Mound Festival

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The 32nd Annual Mound Arts and Crafts Festival will be held around the mound in downtown South Charleston 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 11, rain or shine. The event is presented by the Commission for Visual Arts and the South Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Call the Convention and Visitors Bureau at 304-746-5552.

'Charleston: Then & Now'

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Archives and History Library will present "Charleston: Then & Now," by Dr. Billy Joe Peyton, associate professor and chairman of the history department at West Virginia State University, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7. The program will be held in the library at the Culture Center. Sessions are free and open to the public. The library will close at 5 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. for lecture guests and participants only.

The lecture will focus on Charleston and how the city changed after it permanently became the state capital of West Virginia in the 1880s. Peyton will show views of past and present Charleston.

A resident of Charleston's historic East End, Peyton is active in history and preservation efforts. He is the author of "Charleston," published in 2010 as part of Arcadia's Then & Now series.

The next session, "Yiayia's Bundle: A Greek Experience in West Virginia," with Pam Makricosta, literacy director at the Mary H. Weir Public Library in Weirton, will be held Oct. 5.

In other news, the Archives and History Library will have its next meeting of the Genealogy Club from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 in the library at the Culture Center. Archives staff historian Greg Carroll will discuss Melungeon family research and history.

According to Carroll, there are two concepts of the word "Melungeon." One is a narrow view of Melungeons as people who come from the Appalachian areas around the borders of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The other concept is a more general view of mixed-race peoples of predominately American Indian makeup who can be found all over the Eastern United States.

The Genealogy Club meets on the second Thursday of each month. It is not necessary to be a club member to attend the sessions.

Contact Robert Taylor at 304-558-0230, ext. 163, or Bobby.L.Tay...@wv.gov.

To have your announcement included in Arts Notes, e-mail sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or send it to Arts Notes, The Charleston Gazette, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301. Deadline for inclusion in the Sunday Gazette-Mail is the Tuesday before Sunday publication.