News / Events
Natural progression–A dual show at Phaeton Gallery interprets beauty in layers
With the exception of two large views of the forest, “Body Memory” and “Solvitur Ambulando” (it is solved by walking), Townsend’s works are up-close studies of sections of woods or meadow. In “When We Actually Look” and “Dense Vegetation,” the shapes and lines that describe physical objects like leaves and branches, or the visual effects of shadows and light, dissolve into a composition of ebullient abstract forms.
Townsend’s work is filled with interesting visual touches. Whether it’s the purply red clusters of the Eupatorium stalks in “Fox Haven,” the spiraling clumps of grass in “Microcosm,” or the shimmering explosion of pigment and gesture that is “When We Actually Look,” what catches Townsend’s eye and how she decides to represent it is enchanting.
Read the review in the March 26, 2025 edition of C’ville Weekly
Roanoke College 2025 Juried Biennial
Olin and Smoyer Gallery
January 31 - March 16, 2025
Krista’s painting, Evening Glow and Sticks, was selected for the 2025 Juried Biennial at Olin Hall Galleries of Roanoke College.
Interview with Canvas Rebel
May 20, 2024
“The thing I cherish most about the creative process is getting so lost in it. I’ll go to my studio at 9 am. It may take me a hour or so to rev up and get started, but once I start painting, its suddenly 5pm. I’m exhausted but also so fulfilled by the end of the day. Throughout the day, I am often utterly amazed when I step back from a canvas and look at it from a distance and what I’d been working on close up comes together and makes a sort of sense that I am not even sure I knew I was creating. It’s surreal, meditative, almost out-of-body, and at the same time grounding.”
Broken Tree, 36 x 36 inches, oil on canvas
Creating Space: Seven Contemporary Women Artists
Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Hollins University
July 14 - September 18, 2022
This exhibit examines the recent work of a cohort of women artists living in the Shenandoah Valley: they are united by location, a lifelong pursuit of seeking through art, and an artist/teacher/mentor to learn beside. Ron Boehmer, Lynchburg-based artist, teacher, and co-founder of the Beverley Street Studio School (Staunton, VA) is the catalyst who brings these disparate artists together.
Each of these artists have juggled life as professionals, daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, grandmothers, teachers, and caregivers. Despite their many roles and responsibilities, they always created space in their lives to make art. Lindsay Freedman, Janly Jaggard, June Jordan, Joan Ranzini, Krista Townsend, and Christine Watts still convene regularly for a critique session to discuss their latest work and get feedback. Deliece Blanchard studied independently with Boehmer and recently moved from the Shenandoah Valley to Winston-Salem, NC.
Best known for their paintings, a few of these artists also create collages, vitreous enamels, or ceramics. They all experiment in the liminal space between realism and abstraction. Many of them also teach art in the region. All participate in solo and group exhibits regionally and across the country; their work can be found in public, corporate, and private collections in the United States and abroad.
Broken Tree was accepted in to the Eleanor D. Wilson permanent collection.
News City Arts & The Haven Auction.
September 1, 2022
Krista’s painting “Dandelions” will be in the 12th annual New City Arts & The Haven Art Auction on Saturday, October 1 from 6:30-10:00PM. All proceeds will benefit Housing2Home, a collaborative program between New City Arts and The Haven.
Sense memory | Krista Townsend’s ‘Second Nature’ bursts with visual excitement.
June 22, 2022
By Sarah Sargent
“Townsend’s paintings are the work of a supremely confident artist who is at the top of her game. In nature, she has found an endlessly inspiring muse that challenges her every day to use talent and intuition to interpret and convey the essence of what is there.”
Read the review in the June 22, 2022 edition of C’ville Weekly
2022 Academy Center of the Arts Annual National Juried Art Exhibition
March 10, 2022
Juror Janly Jaggard
“Ragged Meadow” was selected by juror Janly Jaggard for inclusion in the 2022 Academy Center of the Arts Annual National Juried Art Exhibition in Lynchburg, VA.
The show will open Friday, April 1, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and run through the month of April.
Taubman Museum of Art
December 06, 2021
Krista’s painting, The Kitchen of My Childhood, was selected by Nandini Makrandi, chief curator of the Hunter Museum of American Art, to be part of the show Homeward Bound at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VA.
Homeward Bound will be on view from Friday, December 17, 2021 - Sunday, March 06, 2022.
In Living Black and White—with Shades of Gray: Colorless Expression Proves Lively in Second Street Gallery’s “She’s in Monochrome”
October 23, 2019
by CM Gorey
“Krista Townsend’s views of the land in “Glacier” and “Vermont Woods” offer a more clear-cut sense of form and shadow in nature. By taking what comes across as a nearly two-dimensional approach while working within the confinement of greys, her work reveals a chilliness that is either a believable presentation of a steely-skied day or an icy night.”
Read the review in the October 17, 2019 edition of C’ville Weekly
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
August 30, 2019
Krista will spend two weeks on fellowship at the VCCA working on her “The Art of BEING a HERo” project that she will show through the month of October at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, VA. The VCCA offers artists a residency program to fully focus on the work of creating art. She will be surrounded by other painters, writers, and composers.
Voyage Dallas
October 23, 2019
by Charles Wright
Krista was interviewed by Voyage Dallas for their online publication because of her representation by Bee Street Gallery in Texas.
Immersion Catalog Release
April 3, 2018
The 20 page print catalog accompanying the show "IMMERSION" will be delivered from the printer on April 3 and available at the show opening on April 6 from 6pm-8pm. A PDF of the catalog is also available online. The catalog features 25 images from the show and an essay by Sarah Sargent.
Sarah Sargent writes about contemporary art for Artillery (“Killer Text on Art”) magazine based in Los Angeles, Virginia Living magazine and C-Ville Weekly. Raised in New York City, Sargent received her BA from Wellesley College in Art History and her MA in Art History from Columbia University. After working for several art galleries in New York, Sargent headed up Second Street Gallery, a nonprofit contemporary art space in Charlottesville known to feature outstanding emerging artists from around the country. While there, she curated over 50 exhibitions including several large scale site-specific installations. An avid collector of contemporary art, Sargent lives in the Charlottesville area; her blog is artnosh.blogspot.com
Riverviews’ 9th Annual Juried Art Show
November, 2017
Juror, Marta Staudinger
Two of Krista Townsend's paintings were selected by juror, Marta Stuadinger for inclusion in the 9th annual juried art show at Riverviews Artspace in Lynchburg, VA. The work will show from November 3rd through December 15th with an opening reception, 5:30 - 8:00 pm, on Nov. 3. and an awards ceremony and reception 5:30 - 8:00 pm, on Dec. 1
Les Yeux du Monde Features Six artists in a Radiant Summer Show
November, 2017
"...Nature’s hot-weather celebration is the subject of two exhibitions currently on display at Les Yeux de Monde. “Summer Perspectives” and “More Light” each showcase three artists whose complementary works reveal radiance in the abstract."
[Cville, p. 33]
Les Yeux du Monde press release
Read the review in the July 26, 2017 edition of C’ville Weekly
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
February 1, 2017
Krista was a fellow at the VCCA in February 2017. She spent over a week painting in a private studio surrounded by many talented artists, musicians, and writers. At the end of her residency, she participated in an open studio evening and presented the body of work completed to other fellows and the public.
Two Painters Who Are on Fire Close the Year Out at Glavé Kocen!
November 26, 2016
"Krista Townsend has done an about face ... and we are so proud to be hosting her first solo exhibit with us! Krista’s ... expressive and impressionistic gesturing is all the more vivid with her bold colors. Krista,”...seeks to create wonder and connection in each moment. There is humor and curiosity in the everyday that is worth pausing for and absorbing.”