The Burtch Family Art Show opens at Alexander/Heath Gallery with Friday celebration during Art by Night | Arts & Theatre
“Andy Warhol Number 2,” a monoprint by Mary Jane Burtch, will be part of The Burtch Family Art Show, opening on Friday at Alexander/Heath Gallery.
Roanoke will celebrate a local art dynasty when the Alexander/Heath Contemporary Gallery opens The Burtch Family Art Show — a showcase of works by several family members whose artistic contributions span generations.
It opens at 6 p.m. Friday, in conjunction with the monthly Art by Night downtown gallery crawl.
Included in the show will be selections by Mary Jane Burtch, Bill Burtch, Jim Burtch, Joe Burtch, and a premiere of works by Madelyn Burtch.
“The pieces in this exhibit are from my own personal hanging collection, and most have never been seen before now,” wrote Jim Burtch, of Burtch Art and Photography, on a Facebook page for the show. “I feel very proud to be a part of this artistic family and I think you will be very surprised at the styles which this exhibit holds in store.”
Alexander/Heath Contemporary Gallery opened in 2015 and specialized in solo shows as the space was getting established, according to its website. In fact, Jim Burtch was one of those early solo exhibitors.
In his Facebook post, Jim describes how his parents met in the 1960s as students at Ringling College of Art and Design. His mother, Mary Jane, who died in 2016, was a fine arts major who became an acclaimed and widely exhibited artist. His father, Bill, had majored in advertising and worked in that field, later opening Marizels Flowers in Salem. Jim calls his brother, Joe, the “art prodigy,” while he says he himself inherited his father’s knack for illustration. Jim’s daughter Madelyn, he writes, demonstrated early on that she shared the family’s gift.
