Arts of the Mid-Ohio Valley Collaborative – Who Are They and What They’ve Accomplished

If you haven’t met Mona yet, you are missing out. She is a very tall and colorful addition to the Downtown Parkersburg landscape.

Mona is the dream of WVU Parkersburg and the Arts of the Mid-Ohio Valley Collaborative. When the members of the region’s 12 arts and humanities organizations started meeting in 2019 one thing they all agreed they needed were ways to market all of their events.  

So, in the middle of 2020, the idea for Mona began to take shape. The Parkersburg Art Center agreed to provide the location for the sign on the edge of their planned park. A search for the best technology to highlight the arts led to the purchase of a state-of-the-art digital sign manufactured in Wales by DST, soon to be manufacturing in the United States as Blue Rock Manufacturing in Morgantown. Abby Hayhurst, artistic director of the Parkersburg Art Center, then created a design that represents the PAC, and WVUP welding students cut the design out of a piece of steel so that the base of the sign is itself is a great work of art.

Mona started flashing her messages in time to celebrate the Fourth of July. Now downtown Parkersburg’s Summer celebration of the arts and upcoming shows, concerts, and events are on display.

The sign was funded by a grant from the Ross Foundation and is for the benefit of the arts and historical organizations that enrich our community. It is part of the overall marketing campaigns for the Arts of the MOV that includes an online, searchable calendar of events (artsofthemov.wvup.edu), and a Facebook page (@ArtsoftheMOV), which links visitors to the websites and social media of each organization.

Other news from the Arts of the MOV
The Arts of the MOV and its members are sponsoring this summer’s Good Spaces Mural project with Greta McClain. In 2020 they hosted John Noltner’s visit and subsequent show “Voices of the MOV” as part of Noltner’s Peace of My Mind project, some of which may be published in his upcoming book.

The Arts Collaborative of the Mid-Ohio Valley was recently honored during the 2021 Community Colleges of Appalachia (CCA) Annual Awards virtual ceremony.

The Arts Collaborative received the Mark Ivester Innovation Award for designing and successfully implementing a program to improve the culture of the areas it serves. Dr. Ivester was the former North Georgia Technical College president and CCA Board of Directors Chair-Elect and is remembered for his legacy of leadership and putting student needs first.

Current members of the Arts Collaborative are the Actors Guild of Parkersburg, Artsbridge, Discovery World, Downtown PKB, Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, Henderson Hall, Historic Smoot Theatre, Oil and Gas Museum, Parkersburg Art Center, Schrader Youth Ballet, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra of Parkersburg and Wood County Society and Artbeat Studio.

To stay up-to-date with the latest shows, exhibits, music, and classes by visiting artsofthemov.wvup.edu or facebook.com/ArtsoftheMOV.