Current Exhibitions

Emma Knight: Flourish

Opening Reception, Friday, December 4th 5-7pm at MOCA's Satellite Gallery at Towne Pavilion II in conjunction with First Friday ViBe in the new Virginia Beach Creative Arts District.   An encounter with one of artist Emma Knight’s paintings is a chance to reflect and explore. Her canvases reveal an atmospheric sensibility. The landscapes are real locales, most are in Virginia. But under Knight’s careful eye, they have dissolved down into slippery, undulating forms. Line, shape and color work in concert to evoke the mood of a place and time rather than clear and detached details.  The process to create one of the paintings is painstaking. In an effort to preserve the environments she…

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A Year in Review: MOCA Student Show

This exhibition celebrates the accomplishments of the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art’s talented Studio School students. Works on view include painting, drawing, pastel, ceramics, photography and mixed media. For more information about Studio School courses for adults, teens and children, please visit MOCA Studio School.   …

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VIBE Creative District Mural Panels

MOCA is proud to partner with local artists and creative businesses on the NEW VIBE Creative District. A short drive from MOCA, the VIBE Creative District is a unique and interesting local community in Virginia Beach that shares the talents of local artists, makers and creative entrepreneurs. For the outdoor mural project, Richmond artist Ed Trask and Virginia Beach artist Igor Acord organized volunteers to paint and create murals to be installed on 18th Street, between Mediterranean and Cypress Streets. This area has been identified as the common area for future First Friday collaborations and fundraising events for the VIBE Creative District.  Vision of ViBe Creative District A group of a…

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Matt Lively Mural in the NEON District

MOCA recently partnered with Richmond-based artist Matt Lively to create  "27 Beecycles" on the back of the Stark and Legum Menswear shop in Norfolk's NEON District. According to the artist, "The 27 Beecycles capture the single-mindedness of bees, flying in one direction, as one unit, and with one purpose.  The evolution of an attached bicycle wheel stems from my interest in man using science to change nature.  The “27” is for each year that the MOCA has been operating in it’s current form - plus one year.”  Matt Lively will have a solo exhibition at MOCA's Satellite Gallery in the VIBE Creative District at Towne Pavilion II opening in April 2016.   ABOUT THE ARTIST (in his …

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dale chihuly

Dale Chihuly, Mille Colori, 2003 Often called "the world's greatest living artist," Dale Chihuly has single-handedly changed the glass world with his elaborate and extraordinary works. His retrieval of ancient glass-blowing techniques and his founding of the Pilchuck Glass School, the most prominent glass-working school in the world, are both groundbreaking moments in contemporary glass art. In his Seattle "hot shop," he and his team of glassblowers push the limits of molten glass, darting across the room like dancers, their movements choreographed by the master. In 1996, Chihuly created 15 enormous chandeliers, placing them under bridges and across the Venetian canals as a tribute to the bi…

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