Current/Upcoming Exhibits:

Anything Goes: Wild Things
All-Member Exhibition of the West Virginia Watercolor Society: Nov 15th - Dec 20, 2025

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 15th, 1-3pm

Since 1984, the West Virginia Watercolor Society has supported artists across the state, promoting high standards in watercolor, encouraging emerging painters, and helping the public appreciate this surprisingly versatile medium.

Their All-Member exhibition, held biennially at the Art Center, brings together works by artists of all levels and styles. Each member may submit up to three pieces, making for a wide-ranging and always high-quality show.

This year’s theme—Anything Goes: Wild Things—leaves the door wide open. Whether artists took their inspiration from wildlife, wild color, wild ideas, or just let their imaginations run wild, the result is a spirited, eclectic mix that surprises as often as it delights.

The exhibition is judged for awards by Joel Dugan, artist and professor at Fairmont State University.

Come see what happens when watercolor artists throw out the rules... just a little.

IMAGES Above: "The Black Cat" by Sandy Shaw and "The Endangered Darter" by Patricia Stein

Artist Trees 2025: November 29 - December 20, 2025

The Parkersburg Art Center’s Annual Artist Tree Display will kick off during our Holiday Open House & Artist Market on Shop Small Saturday.

The ARTIST TREE EXHIBIT is the challenge we give our staff, volunteers, and school groups: trim a tree that represents a famous artist, or work of art. The results are always…astounding.

This is a community celebration of art and creativity. Bring some change and vote for your favorites!

Rinse and Repeat: Another Exhibit by Art Beat Studio: January 16th - February 21st

Opening Reception: Friday, January 16th, 5-7 pm

Our hearts were broken when we had to close our first attempt at this exhibit just one day after a triumphant opening back in March of 2020. We are giving it another try! The creative artists from the Wood County Society’s ArtBeat Studio will again fill our space with color and joy.

Past Exhibits:

Funny and Fragile Animalia
Fiber works by Holly Cole: October 9th - November 8th, 2025

Holly Cole’s background in theater and costume design infuses her artwork with drama, character, and deep storytelling. After decades designing for Broadway, the Muppets, Ringling Bros., and regional theaters—as well as teaching in university costume programs—she turned her creative energy toward fiber art, sculpting creatures full of emotion, charm, and layered meaning.

Cole’s work draws from a lifetime of making: draping, sewing, sculpting, dyeing, printing—skills developed backstage that now support her front-and-center focus on animals. Her creatures are sometimes playful, sometimes solemn, but always built to invite empathy and connection.

The exhibition includes selections from three recent series: Dog Gestalt celebrates the spirit and emotional range of dogs through quilted portraits; Vanishing Creatures explores endangered species and the threats they face; and Veterans, sculpted from a battered military tarp, honors animal resilience and survival.

“Sometimes my work is a celebration of foolish and endearing creatures; sometimes it is a study in the strength and endurance these creatures need. At all times I hope my work conveys layered meanings.” — Holly Cole

In Funny and Fragile Animalia, fabric becomes a way to tell stories—of tenderness, tension, survival, and joy.

IMAGES Above: "African White Elephant" and "Monday Morning." 

Origins: A Collaborative Exhibit by TASO & ChileQuilting: Sept 5th - Oct 3rd, 2025

Since 2019, the Textile Artists of Southeastern Ohio (TASO) and ChileQuilting have worked together across continents, using quilting as a shared language to exchange ideas, techniques, and stories. Origins is their second joint project, featuring 15 textile works that explore the idea of beginnings—cultural, personal, and artistic.

Some pieces reflect family traditions or ancestral heritage; others draw from memory, nature, or the spark of artistic inspiration. Each quilt offers a unique point of view, yet together they form a conversation about creativity, identity, and connection.

This exhibition is the result of an ongoing partnership built on curiosity, friendship, and the belief that art can cross any border.

Illuminated: A Bestiary for Troubled Times: Sept 5th - Oct 3rd, 2025

Artwork by Erin Noel Hogan, Emily Beveridge, and Danette Pratt

This exhibit brings together three Athens County artists—friends through artmaking—who explore the fantastical, the medieval, and the monstrous as ways to reflect on the world we live in today. While each works in her own medium and style, Illuminated grew out of an ongoing creative exchange.

Erin Noel Hogan creates dragons from reclaimed fabric and wire, drawing on the idea that everyone carries inner strength and magic waiting to be named and brought to life.

Emily Beveridge looks to the stories of medieval female saints, whose endurance and power still resonate. Her paintings offer a contemporary reflection on their lives and legacy.

Danette Pratt blends science and myth, fascinated by the odd creatures that live in the margins—literally. Her drawings and textile pieces are inspired by the strange beasts found in medieval manuscripts, reimagined with her own sense of wonder and unease.

Together, their work forms a bestiary for our times—part warning, part celebration, and part spell for survival.

Ki No Kaze: The Art of Bonsai: September 5th - 19th, 2025

For a limited two-week engagement, the Ki No Kaze group brings the living art of bonsai to the gallery. These West Virginia artists shape and train miniature trees into striking natural sculptures—each one a meditation on balance, patience, and care.

The group’s name, Ki No Kaze, is drawn from the Japanese phrase meaning “Wind in the Trees”—a fitting expression of the quiet beauty and movement found in bonsai.

Because these living works require specific conditions to thrive, the exhibit is brief. Even so, the trees offer a powerful counterpoint to the other work on view, reminding us that art can grow slowly, quietly, and with deep intention.

mist drifts through branches
one breath shared by leaf and wind
stillness has its sound

PAC Regional 2025: July 18 - August 22, 2025

The Art Center and United Bank welcome WVU Medicine Camden Clark as the prize sponsor for this biennial exhibit, open to all artists who live within 100 miles of Parkersburg. This exhibit features over 200 works of art by 90 regional artists - both amateur and professional. Tour the exhibit, meet the artists and celebrate the cash prize winners at the reception on July 18!!

WVU Medicine Camden Clark’s mission and vision are led by the standards of behavior called the “4 Cs:” COMPASSION, COMMUNICATION, COMMITMENT and COMPETENCE. They seek to share these four “Cs” with our creative community. COMPASSION was the select theme for this year.

Retrospective - Rebecca Noble Exhibit and Sale: Friday, May 9th - June 13, 2025

Dr. John Cuthbert, former director of the West Virginia and Regional History Center and the man who literally wrote the book about "Art and Artists in West Virginia," once called Rebecca Noble the most "painterly" artist in our state. He meant that she had all the chops: style, technique and an extraordinary skill at capturing likenesses. 

Not limited to portraits, the late Rebecca Noble could use her brush to make the viewer understand what the cat or dog or tree was feeling at the moment she captured them on canvas. 

A Mid-Ohio Valley resident and registered nurse, Rebecca received her art training at the famed Ringling Art School in Florida.  She returned to this area to pursue a nursing career and to share her painting gifts.

It is thanks to Rebecca's daughter, Heather Noble McGinnis, that we are able to present this exhibit of her mother's last works for admiration and for sale.

Art Is Life/Life Is Art Exhibit: June 13 - July 15, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, June 13th, 5-7 p.m.

Join Ginny Killian and her band of merry art makers in a celebration of the creativity of older artists. This show features the work of participants in the two sessions of Art Is Life/Life Is Art class that brings individuals 55+ together to bond over their creative endeavors and to make some really cool stuff! This program was supported by an Individual Artist Grant through the West Virginia Department of Arts Culture and History and the reception is supported by the Ausenheimer Fund for Senior Arts through Artsbridge.

Refreshments, cash bar and lively conversation will be part of the fun on this evening!

FREE for PAC members, exhibiting artists and a guest. $10 for others.

Vessels & Vistas: Connie Moeller and Nanette Seligman Exhibit: May 9 - June 7, 2025

Join us for this joint exhibit of Connie Mae Moeller and Nanette Seligman on Friday, May 9th from 5-7 p.m. in our main floor galleries. Light refreshments will be served. Free for PAC Members and children 12 and under. Non-members are $10.

"I create oil paintings that celebrates my love of nature, transporting the viewer into the scene. I love to highlight the beauty found in ordinary moments.  Nature holds amazing beauty that deserves to be noticed, and when experienced, holds healing wonder for the soul."   

—Connie Mae Moeller

"I am a potter and a painter who blends these two disciplines together, sometimes serious, sometimes not. I make patterned and illustrated pottery. My pottery is a lifetime of expression waiting to get out."

—Nanette Seligman

Above images:  "On the Street Where I live" oil by Connie Mae Moeller and "Blue Plate: Grimm" ceramic by Nanette Seligman

Student Art Shows: March and April 2025

For two months all our gallery spaces (and we really mean ALL) will be turned over to young art students from West Virginia and Ohio.  Exhibits will include the WV Art Educators Annual Statewide Exhibition, the County-wide Art Cart Exhibit, and more! 

March 8th: WVAEA Exhibit awards and closing reception

March 26th: Wood County Schools Exhibit reception, on display until April 12th

April 15th: ArtCart Exhibit opens, reception on April 17th, on display until May 3rd

Toy and Doll Museum Exhibit: March 25-April 30, 2025

The Art Center is collaborating with the Childrens Toy and Doll Museum to showcase the artistic craftsmanship and history of vintage toys, highlighting their significance as both nostalgic playthings and as works of art. This Pop-Up exhibit will be an engaging, family-friendly show that bridges art, history, and storytelling.

All dolls and toys featured are part of the extensive collection housed at the Children's Toy and Doll Museum located at 206 Gilman Avenue, Marietta, Ohio. The museum provides a glimpse into the past of what entertained and educated children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and will reopen for the season in May.

Eight Miles High: Works by Dan Hilford: JAN 24 - Feb 22, 2025

Dan Hilford is a California-based artist, who works in large format canvasses. A life-long waterman who has surfed all over the world, he is particularly drawn to colors of the ocean and sky, with splashes of environmental drama, fluidity and structure.

He believes in exploring artistic expression in a way that doesn’t confine growth or limit genre.His exhibit will be packed with brush and palette knife work, along with acrylic “pours.” Expect a lot of color and excitement---on a giant scale!

The Clay Zombies: Members of the PAC’s Clay Studio Cooperative: Jan 24 - Feb 22, 2025

The 40+ members of the Art Center’s Cooperative Clay Studio have been busy getting ready to show off their skills. You can expect to see all manner of clay techniques in bowls, vessels and other structures, demonstrating creativity, innovation and experimentation.

Our potters are creating the artifacts that will be dug up in the next millennium…and you get to see them first!

Written Visual Art & More by Members of the Art & Calligraphy Society: Jan 24 - Feb 22, 2025

Wikipedia defines Calligraphy as a ‘visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument, giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner.’ That much is true, but this Pop-Up show will be so much more. Definitely ‘something to write home about’ from these talented artists and letter-smiths.