A handwritten meeting note listing the attendees of RAL’s first meeting in November 1949.
Of the 10 original members who formed the Rappahannock Art League in May 1949, nine were women. Seventy-five years later, the legacy of those artistic and far-sighted women—and man—is being celebrated with a commemorative book.
During that first meeting at the Irvington Community Center, the newly formed group discussed what they should be called. While the 10 hailed from Kilmarnock, White Stone, Weems, Irvington and Lancaster, their vision was broader, so they chose the name Rappahannock Art League to embrace artists and artistic interests beyond their own backyards.
The handwritten meeting notes from that first organizational get-together make clear that keeping the lights on was a priority. Besides an initiation fee of $1, members were asked to donate 10 cents per meeting to go toward the lights fee. By the January 1950 meeting, the League was financially on their way, with a balance of $24.65 in the bank and $3.35 in cash. Also noted was that there was an outstanding light bill of $8.00 to be paid.
Many of the early members were interested in ceramics, a problem since no member had a kiln. After funds were appropriated for the purchase of one, RAL members Lois Jacobsen, a pottery artist, and Ethel Butler headed to Newport News to buy a kiln for use by members. It was installed in Jacobsen’s empty chicken hatchery, and she agreed to fire the kiln for members and assist as necessary.
The League charged 50 cents for kiln firings, with 35 cents going toward, not the light bill per se, but the “upkeep of the equipment.” In the interest of fairness, since Jacobsen did the stacking and firing of everyone’s pottery, she wasn’t expected to pay anything.
Because the Rappahannock Art League had no fixed home, their meetings convened in places such as church halls, the Irvington Community Center, the Kilmarnock Firehouse, the Old Clerk’s Office in Lancaster, King Carter Inn and members’ homes. When membership increased, they used the Lancaster Womens Club and Indian Creek Country Club.
A photograph of Lois Jacobsen from around the time of RAL’s founding and one of Jacobsen's paintings. | Photos courtesy of the Jacobsen Family.
Whoever hosted was responsible for providing food for the socializing after the event. “The meeting notes always referred to whatever was served as delicious refreshments,” says the book’s author, Shelly Ford, with a laugh. “Providing delicious refreshments seemed to be somewhat competitive among the members.”
By 1951, the League was ready to host its first exhibition of watercolors, ceramics and other crafts, which took place at the Masonic Temple in Kilmarnock. With the good manners of the time, RAL sent the Temple a thank-you note along with a $5.00 check to cover the cost of, what else, lights.
With the Kennedys in the White House and a growing interest in the arts, the League convinced the community that the place for art was everywhere. The Bank of Lancaster hosted annual exhibitions from 1962 through 1974, and for years afterward the public library, Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury and other local organizations hosted the annual show. Before long, smaller exhibitions hung anywhere that community organizations had empty walls to fill. Store owners began to include paintings in their display windows, while seasonal outdoor exhibits featured artwork from League members.
Besides the monthly meetings, the League hosted a monthly art lecture open to members and non-members alike, which often included an art-making demonstration. Lectures were relevant and topical, covering such topics in the 1960s as OpArt/Pop Art, Expressionism and Colonial Architecture. In 1995, Torpedo Factory artist Matthew Harwood demonstrated his watercolor techniques and later George Chung fascinated the audience with the possibilities of computer art.
Since its inception, the League has maintained strong community ties. By 1993, the carousel horses that had long been a staple of the Kilmarnock Volunteer Fire Department’s annual summer carnival were in desperate need of a facelift.
Nearly 20 RAL members studied a variety of historical carousel horses to come up with the colors, flowers, fruit, braid and tassel motifs to ensure historical appropriateness. They then spent more than six months restoring the merry-go-round’s horses, which could be admired as recently as the 89th festival, held this past August.
In 1993, nearly 20 RAL members spent more than six months restoring the merry-go-round horses for the Kilmarnock Volunteer Fire Department’s summer carnival.
Having paid it forward, the League got its due in 1999 with a proposal from Chesapeake Bank, offering them the use of their former building on North Main Street in Kilmarnock. There were a few years left on the lease and the bank asked only for $1 in monthly rent. It was a golden opportunity to try their all-volunteer hands at establishing a permanent space.
The Studio Gallery opened in August 1999 featuring an exhibition of nearly 70 artists. A mere 15 months later, gallery sales had generated not just enough income to pay the monthly bills—including the light bill—but enough to contribute $20,000 to the building fund. “Having a permanent home meant they could hold regular exhibitions,” says co-op artist and book designer Barbara Brecher.
A subsequent fundraising campaign was boosted by an anonymous donor who asked only that matching funds be raised by the first of the year. Three hundred RAL members ensured that they were and in February 2002, the building officially became the property of the Rappahannock Art League.
Before long, workshops and classes were expanded, the holiday shop and Patrons’ Gala became annual events and renovations were made to enhance the exterior and refurbish the exhibition space. In 2017 the gallery was renamed RAL Art Center to broaden its appeal as a hub for the community to come together to create art, nurture talent and enjoy the visual arts.
Any way you look at it, RAL has long shown a knack for forging strong partnerships, primarily by identifying organizations with a vision compatible to their own. As early as 1950, the League applied for membership in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. As a community partner of VMFA, the League had access to a variety of benefits, such as traveling exhibits, slide shows and films, visiting lecturers and the Artmobile visits.
As the years passed, the League began to outgrow its current facility and since 2021 had been seeking more space in which to expand. “We needed more space to grow educational offerings for adults, to build and provide a dedicated youth/teen center and to have a space that could be used to offer workshops for residents, visitors and business partners,” says Doug Mock, currently president of the RAL board and the former executive director.
Because they wanted to maintain a strong Main Street presence, the board set out to find additional space in Kilmarnock, preferably in the Steptoe District. They were excited to find that the former audiology office at 45 N. Main Street was available.
RAL Art Center on Main Street in Kilmarnock. | Corey Miller Photo
In April 2024, the League finalized the purchase of the second building, which, in addition to adding much- needed classroom space, will house a clay studio, albeit in a vastly different setting than an abandoned chicken hatchery. The facility will have a new identity but will continue to support the overall mission and vision of RAL.
RAL is currently working with Randall Kipp Architecture to finalize designs for the facility. Once approved, the board will move forward on planning and conducting a capital campaign to raise the needed funds to renovate the space. “It’s our hope to have the facility open as soon as possible,” says Mock. “We want to take our time, do this right and make certain that when we are open for business we can meet and exceed all expectations from our board of directors, our staff, our members and, most importantly, our community.”
Plans for the new space are multifaceted. On one side will be a ceramics studio complete with pottery wheels, slab-building facilities, and kiln firing and glazing services. Pottery and clay classes will be offered to all ages and stages of life as well as be available for private parties. On the other side of the building will be a youth/teen center and two additional working studios that will provide flexibility and equipment for art education classes in a wide variety of media.
As for what’s in store for the future, Mock says RAL will remain focused on what they do best, which is provide beautiful art to the region and offer benchmark art classes. “As we continue to celebrate our 75th anniversary, RAL Art Center will remain steadfast in our commitment to our community,” he says. “As we look to the future, we intend to reach every person possible, to enrich their lives, to bring them exciting educational offerings and give them the tools they need to be the absolute best they can be. It’s a very exciting time at RAL.”
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The Rappahannock Art League celebrates its 75th anniversary with the publication of a book that recounts its colorful—and committed—history to artists and art in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.
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The retrospective takes the form of a sketchbook, with illustrations by RAL co-op artists to bring the stories to life.
Simply looking at the past six years reveals the tremendous growth and positive change that’s occurred at RAL since that first meeting in 1949. In 2020, the board of directors hired an executive director. A new membership program providing a variety of membership levels was redesigned and launched, offering membership to everyone: artists, collectors, supporters and community ambassadors.
Through the generosity of The Wiley Foundation, the League launched the smART Program for youth and teens and hired a smART program manager. The Cole Trust provided funds to hire a part-time adult program manager to assist in identifying local, regional and national instructors to come to RAL to teach adult classes geared to everyone from true beginners to professional artists.
The League’s partnership with Bay Transit yielded the popular Art in Transit competition. The proceeds from sponsorships, entry fees, art sales and donations support RAL’s Artful Aging Program, which works with Bay Aging communities to provide free art classes to adult residents.
It’s a remarkable list of accomplishments that grew out of the vision of those nine women and one man 75 years ago. As she researched the League’s history for the book, Ford was struck by how many smart decisions the members had made since that first meeting in 1949. “They were all about consistency and tenacity and when they wanted to be strategic, they were,” she says. “They were smart people making shrewd partnerships and from the get-go, they were very consistent and committed to certain things. What’s truly impressive is that they’ve maintained that for over 75 years.”
The public is invited to the book launch on November 30 at the RAL Art Center.
RAL Art Center | 19 North Main Street, Kilmarnock | ralartcenter.com