Ohio River historian and Huntington Museum of Art Board of Trustees Member Gerald “Jerry” Sutphin will discuss an exhibit at HMA titled West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Presents La Belle Riviere with a PowerPoint presentation via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, at 7 p.m. The link and codes to join the discussion will be shared on HMA’s Facebook page.
This PowerPoint presentation takes place in conjunction with HMA hosting West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Presents La Belle Riviere, which focuses on the Ohio River and its tributaries, now through April 17, 2022. The Ohio River’s name is derived from a Senecan word – ohiːyoːh – meaning “good river.” When French colonists arrived in North America in earnest during the 1600s, they described the Ohio River as La Belle Riviere or “the beautiful river.”
The Feb. 8 presentation will include a variety of Ohio River topics.
“This will be a visual journey along the 981-mile long Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois,” Sutphin said. “From early paintings and drawings to the evolution of photography, the growth and changes on the Ohio River, often called ‘The River To The West’ tells its fascinating part of the Great American Story. Flatboats, keel boats, steamboats, towboats will all be addressed along with locks and dams and La Belle Riviere’s future.”
Artists included in the exhibit include American portrait painter Charles Bird King (1785-1862); German-born artist Augustus Kollner (1812-1906); Massachusetts native Sala Bosworth (1805-1890); American Joseph Rusling Meeker (1827-1887); and former Marshall University professor Stan Sporny (1946-2008), among others. “The Ohio River has inspired many artists, and this exhibition includes a great selection of both beautiful and historic works of art,” said HMA Executive Director Geoffrey K. Fleming.
This exhibit is presented by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
For more information on exhibitions at the Huntington Museum of Art, visit hmoa.org or call (304) 529-2701. HMA is fully accessible.
West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. Registration does not imply endorsement.