ACMF: A Celebration of Patty Willis - August 9, 2025

“Although she found some of her best subjects in Northeastern fishing villages, it was the scenery and activities of her native smiling countryside that delighted her most.” -Walter Washington, nephew of Patty Willis.

Join us for this all-day event:
-10 am-2 pm- Exhibit of Willis’ Artwork (open to the public, no ticket required)
-5 pm- Exhibit and discussion, poetry reading: Dr. Jordan Burke, Walter Washington and Dr. Karen Walwyn in conversation with Artistic Director, Katie Tertell
-6 pm- Concert
-7 pm- Reception

The highlight event of our opening weekend will celebrate all aspects of ACMF’s tagline: history, nature and culture in a special evening that remembers the extraordinary life of artist and poet, Patty Willis (1879-1953), who grew up and lived in Jefferson County, WV. The concert will culminate in a world-premiere String Quartet by Karen Walwyn, commissioned specifically for this event and taking direct inspiration from Patty Willis’s life in Charles Town.

Willis was an accomplished artist and poet who drew much inspiration from her locale of Charles Town and her family life. This is a special opportunity to discover Willis’ art and poetry, hear music that might have inspired Willis during her lifetime, as well as works that we feel remind us of her, and experience an enlightening conversation with leading historians and specialists about the intersection of Willis’ work with Jefferson County, music, poetry and art.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the public to see her artwork in person. It is currently held in a private collection and is being generously loaned for the event.

A collection of works by Willis will be on display on Aug. 9 at Charles Washington Hall. The afternoon and evening event will begin with a discussion lecture with preeminent scholars on WV Art. Additionally, Dr. Jordan Burke will lead a discussion on Willis’s poetry and art, and composer Karen Walwyn will discuss her newly commissioned musical work and its relation to Willis’s life. After the debate, there will be a short break before a one-hour concert program where musicians will contextualize the relationship of musical works to Willis’ life, including the world premiere by Karen Walwyn. After the event, a reception and “Meet & Greet” with ACMF artists will be held, where attendees can mingle and relax with performers.

Willis was widely recognized in her lifetime through several awards and honors, a few of which are highlighted below:

-Association with the artist colony at Provincetown, Massachusetts.
-Paintings accepted in many prestigious exhibitions, including the New York World’s Fair, Richmond, Norfolk Society of Arts, the Biennial Exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Carnegie Institute, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
-Prizes including: first prize at the Hagerstown Exhibition in 1935 for her lithograph “Weather Cock.” She again won first prize in 1939 for her oil painting “Under Breezy Nets.”
Prestigious reviews: Art News noted “Fishermen’s Homes” for its novelty of handling and color, making it “one of the outstanding pictures at the Corcoran show.”

We also want to recognize Willis’s commitment and contribution to her local community. For example, in the 1930s, Willis completed several works for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including two murals in the entrance hall of Charles Town High School.

A full biography on Patty Willis can be found at https://www.pattywillisartist.com/.