NORFOLK, VA.- There’s always something new to learn about your co-workers. That’s the obvious lesson of After Hours: Works by the Chrysler Staff—opening in the Museum’s Waitzer Community Gallery on Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

This first exhibition of works of art created by Museum employees features 24 artists whose day jobs alone apparently do not satiate their desire for art in their lives. Both on and off the job, they eat, sleep, breathe, and create art. And their choices of medium echo those on display in our workplace: paintings, sculptures, glass, porcelain, prints, pastels, drawings, and photographs.

“If we were to ask every member of the Chrysler staff to share their favorite work of art in the collection, the list would be incredibly diverse,” says Museum Educator Alexandra Hunter, who curates the exhibition, which includes her own blown-glass creation, Sandbox.

“Likewise, the artistic fascinations of the employees whose work is on display in After Hours: Works by the Chrysler Staff are many. This exhibition gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase a wide range of mediums by 24 dedicated staff artists in one intimate gallery.”

HIDDEN TALENTS, HIDDEN PASSIONS - It is not surprising that those who work at a museum would have an interest in the visual arts, or even be artistically inclined. What is surprising is the breadth of their often hidden talents and the depth of passion that many portray through their artwork.

For example, Dawn Penny has served as the Museum’s Assistant to the Director since 2000, but her administrative expertise hardly hints at her broad background in arts and crafts. Raised by what she calls “artsy hippie parents,” Dawn is accomplished in several pastimes that were, in some cases, her previous professions: potter, spinner, knitter, pastry chef, and glassblower. Having spent six years at Hinckley Pottery in Washington, D.C., she chose to exhibit a pair of celadon and temoku porcelain bowls that feature glazes that she is proud to have mixed herself and fired in a new reduction kiln.

Or consider Phoenix Ackiss. At work, the lighting technician is genial and Southern-mannered in his quest for the perfect exhibition display. His ponytail may offer some evidence of non-conformity beneath the surface, but his workday behavior belies the more outspoken message of his art. His strong feelings about war and indoctrination come through loud and clear in his artwork. His take on media manipulation is unmistakable in Weapons of Mass Deception. The surrealistic photocollage mixes images of a Shirley Temple lookalike, gas-masked exercisers, among others, with Iraq’s late dictator, Saddam Hussein, showcasing himself on television. The group poses at an Egyptian temple where TV sets air war footage while a parade-balloon fish flies overhead.

RECOGNIZABLE SUBJECTS, RECOGNIZED MERIT

Not all the works of art in After Hours may be considered especially thought-provoking. Many explore common themes of beauty, familiarity, and exploration. Gallery Hosts Jeff Tefft, Senior Visitor Services Representative Christine Gamache, Theatre Manager Donna Bradshaw, and Museum Photographer Ed Pollard each submitted photographs of the people and places they’ve encountered during vacations or their leisure time. Graphic technician Linda Cagney’s pastel is a bright homage to Sassy, a.k.a. The Roast Beef Bandit—her black lab with a penchant for stealing Sunday dinner right out of the pot. And Chief Preparator Sue Christian’s detailed pen-and-ink drawings Grace, Resting Breath, and Everyone Has a Soul quietly explore the theme of spirituality, which Exhibitions Preparator Cheena Nicole Raiford does more boldly with her woodcut Buddha, Leaves, and Swirls and oil multi-self-portrait, Reflection.

Although this is the first show exclusively to highlight the art of Chrysler employees, many have exhibited their works before and many have won awards. After Hours includes four pieces by Exhibitions Manager Willis Potter, who studied art at Norfolk State University during his 36-year tenure with the Museum. He has exhibited mixed media paintings, pen-and-ink drawings, and charcoals abroad. Preparator Richard Hovorka’s Young Republicans in Love, a mixed-media work from 1990, was featured in a two-person show at Norfolk’s Selden Arcade last year. And Kelly Conway’s Stop, Caution, Go, a trio of hand-blown red, yellow, and green glass vases, won the Provost’s Award at the annual Student Art Show at Tidewater Community College, where our Curator of Glass continues her advanced studies in glassblowing. Their examples are more the rule than the exception.

After Hours makes one thing clear: that on and off the job, the employees of the Chrysler share its mission to enrich and transform lives and play their part to do so—both in their own lives and in the lives of others.

After Hours: Works by the Chrysler Staff opens May 20 and will remain on view through October 11, 2009 in the Museum’s Waitzer Community Gallery.