Amherst County Museum and Historical Society

Exhibited in the Major Thomas Whitehead Gallery, Fall 2005-Winter 2006

The Amherst autumn is typically abundant in color. A wealth of water and its transitional topography where Virginia’s piedmont meets the Appalachians creates a foliage of hues that brings seasonal leaf lookers from far and wide. Being such a delight to a visually trained eye, Amherst cannot help but attract artists! And what glorious landscapes to capture to canvass.

Amherst County inspires art at a young age, as seen by a displayed painting of a snowman on a paper bag. Also on display are several books that children have colorfully decorated. Given a set of crayons and the opportunity, children’s creativity is endless.

Also on display is a series of paintings by Margaret Cash Gregory that were completed while she was taking a painting class with John Mogel. Mr. Mogel’s teaching style was to take his students to a site, have everyone set up their easels in different directions, and have them paint what they saw. This series was painted approximately twenty years ago, but the exact date is uncertain. Margaret Cash Gregory’s nephew has kept the paintings since she passed away.

Many of the paintings in this exhibit depict recognizable scenes in Amherst County such as the Perkin’s Mill, Peaks of Otter, Big Island, Brightwell’s Mill, the Six Mile Bridge, and Galt’s Mill.

The two focal points of the gallery are paintings by William J. England and Shelby H. Roberts which depict the importance of the bateau in Amherst County. The painting by William J. England is a portrayal of a modern day bateau. On the opposite wall, over the mantle, is a painting by Shelby H. Roberts of the area around Galt’s Mill, the foreground being Amherst County and the background Appomattox. This site is known as being a stop for the bateaux and the Friday night stop for the bateau festival.

The painting by Julia Tucker Meeks is a copy of a popular photograph depicting downtown Amherst at the turn of the century. The old Central Hotel can be seen where Main Street intersects with modern day Second Street. The future site of Hill Hardware is seen at the front left.

A painting in the series by Margaret Cash Gregory. The rock foundation of the mill is similar to Perkins Mill, but this cannot be determined decisively. There is also a winter scene and two autumn, painted by the same artist. The last painting in the series by Margaret Cash Gregory depicts the Peaks of Otter in an Amherst autumn.

Shelby Roberts shows several landscapes -- an early fall scene, a springtime lakeside scene of Big Island, a springtime work of Brightwell’s Mill and an additional springtime mill scene, the last being near Woodson's Mill.

A painting by William J. England depicts one of the several Campbell farms in the county.

A watercolor by Terry Linton depicts the Six Mile Bridge that runs between Amherst and Appomattox counties. The site in on the National Register and several Civil War earthworks can be found here.

The Amherst County High School, painted by Douglas McBride in the 1960s. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the AMherst County High School building.

The Amherst Women’s Club presented the museum with a painted glove with floral decorations. These gloves were the centerpiece of their 2005 fashion show and a number of them were given out as door prizes at the show.

Images are not available on the website due to copyright reasons. If interested in viewing a specific painting, please contact the Museum for arrangements to contact the appropriate artist. Thank you!