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Aug. 22, 2011 — The art galleries of Allegheny College will present “8-Hour Projects,” an annual event with a dozen artists working in the Bowman, Penelec and Megahan Galleries. Admission is free and the public is invited to observe and participate. Work-in-Progress Day will be Saturday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s theme is Sustaining Practice, Community and Self.

“Work-in-Progress Day is always crowded, with people dropping in throughout the day to see how ideas evolve—over the course of eight hours—to become completed artworks,” said gallery director Darren Lee Miller. “The event is appropriate for people of all ages and is especially fun for young, aspiring artists.”

Each of the invited artists, who work with a variety of materials, has been assigned a wall or floor space of approximately 12 x 12 feet. This year’s artists are Shaila Christofferson (Chicago, Ill.), Pedar Dalthorp (Juneau, Alaska), Matt Forrest (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Amara Geffen (Meadville, Pa.), N. Sean Glover (Boston, Mass., and Pittsburgh, Pa.), Heather Hertel (Slippery Rock, Pa.), Michelle Illuminato (Alfred, N.Y.), Jeremy LeClair (Portsmouth, N.H.), Joe Meiser (Lewisburg, Pa.), Anna Mikolay (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Elizabeth Mooney (Boston, Mass., and Pittsburgh, Pa.), and Allegheny College alumnus Alex Mead (Portsmouth, N.H.).

The exhibition is curated by Darren Lee Miller and Allegheny alumna and 8-Hour Project veteran Colleen Toledano.

Several of the artists will present informal talks about the processes, materials and content of their works for “8-Hour Projects” on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Art Galleries. An opening reception with light refreshments will follow. Works will remain on display through Sunday, Sept. 25.

Presentation of these exhibitions and lectures is supported in part by Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA), the regional arts funding partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency. State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Arts Council of Erie.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 12:30-5 p.m.; Saturday, 1:30-5 p.m.; and Sunday, 2-4 p.m. Please call ahead to verify, since programs are subject to change. All events are free and open to the public.

The Art Galleries, which are wheelchair accessible, are located in Doane Hall of Art, east of North Main Street between College and John Streets in Meadville.

For more information, phone (814) 332-4365 or visit www.allegheny.edu/artgalleries.

Photo: From the installation “This Space and the Space Within,” by Anna Mikolay