Habre de Venture: Dwelling Place of the Arts

Administrator 10/02/12

The Charles County Arts Alliance and Thomas Stone National Historic Site have launched a unique five-month statewide juried art show partnership in Port Tobacco. The show, which opened February 4 at the Thomas Stone Site’s new Visitor Center Gallery will be on display until June 2012.

Entitled, “Habre de Venture: Dwelling Place of the Arts,” the show features 33 juried artworks from 23 talented Maryland artists, displaying a wide variety of subject matter and media. Opening weekend receptions took place on Saturday and Sunday, February 4-5, and included a brief ceremony, an opportunity to “meet the artists” in person, period colonial music performed on violin and viola, and complimentary refreshments. On both days, students from the National Honor Society of Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf served as volunteers to assist with the receptions. Guided tours of the beautiful and unusual curved five-section Tidewater manor home of Thomas Stone were offered as well.

The show kicked off a year of special events planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Arts Alliance, whose mission is to promote all the arts in Charles County: music, visual art, drama, dance and music. It is the first statewide juried art show in the Arts Alliance’s history.

It was also the inaugural exhibit of the new Visitor Center Gallery at the Thomas Stone National Historic Site, complete with museum-quality track lighting and other amenities which will showcase the artworks to maximum advantage. The Visitor Center is part of the 322-acre “Habre de Venture” plantation once owned by Thomas Stone, one of Maryland’s four signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. “Habre de Venture” means “dwelling place in the winds.” The property is located at 6655 Rose Hill Road in Port Tobacco, approximately 5 miles west of La Plata.

The unique “arts-history” partnership in the show has benefited both organizations, complementing their missions of promoting the arts and promoting history, respectively.

The exhibition also launched the first partnership between the Charles County Arts Alliance and the Federal Government in the Alliance’s history. The Thomas Stone National Historic Site is owned and operated by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

The 23 Maryland artists whose artwork was selected for the five-month display are:

Theresa Alo, Cindi Barnhart, Patricia Valdes Biles, Jane Bush, Jack L. Dennis, Cecilia Mary Dunay, Jan Garland, Ruth Greenlee, Mark T. Hayes, Shanese V. Hirmas, Charles FM Hughes, Gary Jameson, Mary Kercher, Vicki L. Marckle, Gene McCandless, Raymon Noble, Jason Powell, Brandon Romero, Barbara Stepura, Milton Tierney, Vickie Tierney Gerry Wood, and Andie Younkin

For further information on the upcoming opening weekend receptions or the five-month art show, contact the Charles County Arts Alliance at 301-392-5900 or info@charlescountyarts.org. The Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Port Tobacco may be reached at 301-392-1776. The historic site is open Wednesdays – Sundays from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm until Memorial Day. Summer hours are daily, from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.