LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – Carnegie Hall invites the community to attend the upcoming Carnegie Hall Artwalk on Friday, September 11, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. This free event offers visitors a chance to explore original works by local and regional artists in a world-class historical venue. Guests will enjoy live music, complimentary light refreshments, and a cash bar while immersing themselves in the arts. Each Artwalk features four gallery spaces filled with creative collaborations and diverse mediums, ranging from contemporary oil portraits to heirloom-level craft arts.
The Old Stone Room will feature the work of Carly Thaw, a Fayetteville, West Virginia–based visual artist and illustrator whose work is shaped by the science and mathematics of ecology and Earth’s living systems. Through intricate, nature‑inspired mark making and a vibrant layering of color and pattern, she creates dynamic illustrations that evoke optical vibration and immersive sensory experience. Her practice explores the structures that govern patterns in nature as well as human relationships to ecological time amid the climate crisis. Thaw’s work has been exhibited in West Virginia, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia, and she maintains an active illustration practice focused on science communication and narrative imagery. She holds an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2025) and a BA in Graphic Design from American University (2018).
Melanie Myhre’s work will be exhibited in the Museum Gallery. Melanie is a multidisciplinary artist working in photography and painting, creating intuitive, emotion‑driven work rooted in dreams, memories, and the quiet magic of the natural world. Her photography captures dreamlike, immersive scenes in camera, often featuring women in nature to explore the interplay of femininity, strength, and the landscapes of her childhood. Melanie’s paintings, made without reference photos, emerge through a flow‑state process and draw on archetypal stories, recurring dreams, and inner emotional terrain. Together, these mediums reveal a symbolic, layered world that feels both intimate and alive. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including Sony Alpha Universe and Sigma Corporation, and they are a recipient of the Sony Alpha Female Micro Grant.
The Lobby Gallery will showcase the art of Lee Ann Billups Blevins. Lee Ann is a Kenova, West Virginia native and retired Cabell County art educator whose oil portraits and landscapes reflect her skill in capturing the spirit and presence of her subjects. A Marshall University graduate, she has exhibited at the Huntington Museum of Art, Gallery Eleven, Grayson Gallery, Parkersburg Art Center, the Mathena Center, and Tamarack. Her wildlife paintings have appeared in West Virginia Department of Natural Resources calendars, and her piece Blue Ribbon Winner served as the official 2023 West Virginia State Fair poster. Recent honors include Best of Show for Bella in the 2024 Allied Artists of WV Juried Exhibition, along with acceptances into multiple statewide juried shows. Blevins also carved the giant pumpkin for the Kenova Pumpkin House in 2022 and 2023. Inspired by nature and adventure, she strives to create artwork that is both inviting and thought-provoking.
Norma Jean Heim, a multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges painting, mixed media, and a long career in visual communication, will be featured in the Board Room. Norma holds a BA in Studio Art from the University of Maryland and an MA in Media from California State University Long Beach, and her professional roles have included Art Director at Northrop Aircraft, Advertising Art Director for The Washington Post, and VP of Communications & Marketing at West Point. Throughout her commercial career she continued to create and exhibit artwork across the country, later returning to East Coast galleries once her children were grown. Heim’s practice has evolved from acrylic painting into a distinctive mixed-media approach developed through years of experimentation, combining color, texture, and vintage materials to transform conceptual ideas into layered, expressive works.
The exhibits run through the end of October and are free and open to the public, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. For more information, please visit carnegiehallwv.org, call (304) 645-7917, or stop by the Hall at 611 Church Street, Lewisburg, WV.
Carnegie Hall programs are presented with financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Department of Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
