Galleries | terriloui

Terri and the Teeny Tinies

Opening Reception, TTT8, September 5, 2025

Happy to reflect upon participating in three of the annual fundraising Teeny Tiny Trifecta shows at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA.

What makes a Teeny Tiny Trifecta?
One part alliteration, one part one artist, one part (well, three parts) small art. And weeks of behind the scenes machinations and mystery by staff.

Smaller works, some quite diminutive in early years, and three in number, from each participating artist. Started eight years ago, w/ 70+ artists, all works 10″ or smaller, filling two walls in the smaller Dove gallery within Second Street.

2025, the 8th year, largest gathering yet, with all works uniformly 8″ square or round, filling three full walls in main gallery, w/ over 600 works. Amazing to behold, kudos to Executive Director and Curator Kristen Chiacchia and staff.

My first visit to the Second Street Gallery was decades ago. It held space within the McGuffey Art Center, main floor with tall, lofty old windows. Literally old school, as the McGuffey building transitioned from being an elementary school in 1975. Leah Stoddard was the first curator, director I remember meeting. She was key in celebrating Second Street’s 30 year anniversary and the transition to a new, larger space in a brand new building nearby on Water Street.

My first time with art on Second Street walls? I actually can’t remember all the specifics. Save for two photos, showing me, and my Cerulean Book Quilt on the walls of the Dove Gallery, some group show (silent auction?) in 2008. Grateful for the digital archive, when memory fails.

Grateful to these women, moments before the gallery filled up, they unknowingly gifted me a glimpse of their quiet moment, stooping to read, see, view my three TTT8 works. By the time the show concluded, there were a trio of red dots shadowing my works. Fundraiser funds were raised. Teeny tiny fun was had.

January 17, 2024

Coming in clear, good reception

January weather conceded a little for our 5 to 7pm Opening Reception for Cut Up and Put Together, Jan 12th at Staunton Augusta Art Center.

No snow or ice, temps well above freezing, but plenty of rain. And the Staunton & Valley folks were not deterred. They showed up strong, engaged, smiling and ready to see new art. Speaking for myself, but perhaps the 4 other artists too, I’m beholden to all for the community support. Gush. It was really great. Really.

After the reception, the umbrellas were back out, we enjoyed a great dinner with Charlottesville friends and DC family. Barry and I came back to gallery on Saturday to catch some images in the natural light.

Images of my collage, assemblage, sculptural works at SAAC gallery can be viewed here, Cut Up and Put Together.

August 26, 2015

Lost and Found at PVCC Sept. 18 – Nov. 4, 2015

Excited to be part of a two person show opening in Charlottesville on Friday, September 18th. Recent hand surgery has made for a challenging summer and for preparing works, but all is well and I’m psyched to deliver the work in just a few days.

Materials? Discarded library books and ephemera, old text book covers, marbled end papers, leather bindings, one feather, one tiger and quite a few butterflies.

More to come.

February 11, 2015

Salvaging Random Row Books

Mural and letters.

Letters at home.

Thief apprehended, kitchen implement returned.

I tend to set my sights on the ephemeral, worn out and all-things-about-to-disappear. Usually, I come up just shy of the actual disappearance, cutting it extremely close or missing it. In 2013, I didn’t miss, I scored with five vowels and nine hardy consonants, salvaging these letters for some future, who-knows-what usage.

A small, independent, used bookstore and community art space I loved in Charlottesville announced it was closing, heralding some changes to come on West Main Street. Ryan Deramus, the stalwart owner of Random Row Books* sold off his inventory, tipped his hat and cycled away. The building was slated for demolition and a hotel to be built on that footprint. Feeling a bit like the Lorax, I climbed on the tree stump out front. I wanted to claim some vestige of what soon wouldn’t be, something familiar, some token: the sans-serif letters. Ryan told me I was welcome to the signage, relating how he’d found scrap wood in the building, handmade the 14 letters, painted and mounted them. I struck a deal with the building’s owner and site project manager to get in-and-out on the Sunday before the No Trespassing signs appeared, and I bartered with a co-worker (another Ryan) who is good on ladders to get the job done.

Ryan E. helps with salvage.

Ryan E. with W. Better this guy wielding the power tools than me.

Ryan E. with W (or maybe upside down M?)

I’ve made several trips to the site as the former building became rubble and the new one ascends. The Cheyenne mural seems to cast it’s own eye and mute opinion on the goings on.

In 2014, I took the letters out on the town. We visited with artist Simon Draper and his Habitat for Artists residency at The Bridge. His habitat, made of recycled materials, was constructed on site, then deconstructed to spend a weekend at the Main Street Market and now lives at the Ix Art Park in Charlottesville.

The white paint on the letters is chipping in the expected wabi-sabi way after six years of weather. We continue to have wordsmith and anagram fun out back by our shed. My typographer’s eye tells me I need to fix the kerning, too tight propped on the ladder as is. But I can fix that. It’s OK man.

(*Do read the wonderful backstory on the bookstore and mural when you have a chance, I admit I barely did it justice. We bought books, saw live bands, theatre and picked up our veggie CSA there back in the day. Joni Mitchell knows… they paved paradise, put up a parking lot.)

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