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Students Visit Mother-Daughter Staiger Show at Nepenthe Gallery at Hollin Hall

Two wemen standing beside each other facing camera with paintings on the wall behind them.
Mother and daughter artists, Marhsa and Melissa Staigel at the Nepenthe Gallery. (Photo: Anne Fafara)

ALEXANDRIA, VA – More than 25 art students from West Potomac High School recently visited Nepenthe Gallery where they heard from local artist Marsha Staiger and her daughter, Melissa Staiger, from Brooklyn, New York.

Marsha is an acrylic painter who has been working from her studio at The Torpedo Factory for over 21 years and is a long-standing teacher at The Art League School. After painting for many years, Marsha says, “I love to paint.  I love color. My process is a meditation and a struggle.”

A group of students standing near artwork in the Nepenthe Gallery.
West Potomac students at Nepenthe Gallery. (Courtesy photo)

Melissa teaches at Pratt Institute and Adelphi University in New York. She says of her Rainbow Roll series on display at Nepenthe, “I am trying to find something similar to a chord in music, different colors, textures, surfaces coming together in a harmony.”

Through conversation and questions, the students learned from the mother-daughter duo about what inspires their art, their processes and journeys through art.

Nepenthe Gallery is located in the Hollin Hall Shopping Center at 7918 Fort Hunt Road Alexandria VA 22308 — www.nepenthegallery.com. The Staiger works will be on display through the end of March.

Mary Wadland

Mary Wadland is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Zebra Press, founded by her in 2010. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Mary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, VA and has lived and worked in the Alexandria publishing community since 1987.

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