- He is leaving his artistic mark on Hampton Roads.

Next on our place, our time we'll profile sculptor Vic Pickett.

We'll meet a clergyman who paints what he preaches and recall the history of a great American naval family.

Hello, I'm Vian Webb.

We welcome you to our place, our time.

In a recent article in a magazine called The Sciences, a Rice University professor of chemistry wrote about a theory that he and others have of a new kind of carbon molecule that's shaped like the geodesic dome.

What interested us most about the article was the fact that the subject of our first story once studied with a man who envisioned the appearance of that carbon molecule many years ago.

And from that invented the geodesic dome, Buckminster Fuller in his thinking and in his architecture, bridge science and the arts.

And so his student, Vic Pickett, the subject of our first story in the plastic shapes and delicate balances of his sculpture, bridges science, and the arts.

Tim Morton prepared this profile.

- Sculptor Vic Pickett is leaving his mark on his adopted city for public places for Old Dominion University, where he teaches for downtown office buildings.

Pickett has created a body of work.

No other sculptor in the history of Norfolk can match.

Pickett is making now and copper and stainless steel for the Jewish Community Center in Norfolk, a memorial to the Jewish Holocaust of World War ii.

Although not Jewish himself, he has been moved by conversations he's had with Holocaust survivors to study the dreadful history and the history and art of Judaism.

- The first model I made for the Holocaust memorial sculpture, I was had in mind using 6 million river rocks.

It seemed to me to be a very powerful visual statement to show what 6 million looks like for the 6 million people that were murdered during the Second World War.

And I, I just, I, I believe that's a very strong educational statement and that's an example of how, you know, form and space occurs to me in the development of my work.

So I suppose that's about as close as I get to a philosophy, - Pickett Studio ees, the mind of a pack rat for whom things are sources of inspiration.

- Everything that I see and touch has an idea that came to me when I first acquired it.

And it's hard to let that go because it's like letting an idea go.

It also may reflect the inside of my brain.

I, it's, I I still don't know whether it's a mess and I can't find things all the time, but it's an amazing resource.

So when I come into the studio, that's the way I come into it is to, is as a resource center to find things.

Right.

- Your father was an inventor that must have influenced you some way or other?

- Oh yes, very definitely.

He was mechanically very, very adept and he was an inventor type person, and we ended up working together a lot, making different kinds of things.

He got involved with inventing a scale that we made together about 800 together.

And as a consequence, I became interested in balance and kinetics.

And so I've done a lot of balance forms and things that involve actual motion.

- Another influence on Pickett's art and ideas was the great architect and inventor r Buckminster Fuller, the creator of synergetics, a theory fuller, best expressed in his geodesic domes.

Pickett worked at North Carolina State University with a fuller engineering and architectural group.

- He had ways of, of understanding what he called a, a synergetic, things that had a synergetic quality where you might put two things together and get more than two, where you get a third thing out of by virtue of how it's combined.

And for instance, the geodesic dome is an example of that.

All the other domes that we, that we have made will only go so large before they can't even, before they cannot hold themselves up.

The geodesic dome.

The geodesic dome is a structure that is an integral form that holds itself together and can be increased infinitely.

And the larger it becomes, the stronger it becomes.

So it doesn't have a limit like other domes - Still.

Another influence was the sculptor Jose de Rivera, with whom Pickett worked on a sculpture, Deri vera mounted on the mall in Washington.

- Jose de Rivera was a sculptor.

That, that is was, to my knowledge, one of the first that began to take the concept of pure plastic art of Mondrian into three dimensions.

And you just add that other axes and begin to use that as an ex, that full three dimensional expression as, as a basis for developing art.

- You work with steel and other metals.

Tell me about what the metals ask of you.

- I've worked in a lot of different ways with metals.

There's, there's some distinctions you can make between, for instance, casting and working direct constructing the forms.

And although I enjoy the casting process and still every now and then do some of that, I'm mainly addicted to working directly in steel.

I like the direct method of working primarily because I can get control over the surface very quickly as compared with something like bronze casting.

I'm not really that interested in, in, in shiny things, but I am interested in reflection and how the reflection works with the form.

If the form is concave or convex.

All of that is ref is, is reflected as it were in the surface.

And so you can read the form according to the reflection.

And also there are other qualities there, which are very intriguing to me.

And that is how you, you, you balance a space with reflected surfaces and the environment around the form, how it, it's condensed right into the form and then comes out in a very different way than we usually see it.

I'm interested in reflection and the combination of space, reflection and form and, and the harmony between those, those two visual components - For his holocaust.

Memorial Pickett began with the idea of laying out on 6 million river rocks, a map of Eastern Europe stainless steel Stella marking the sights of the death camps, the concentration camps and villages destroyed by the Nazis.

- And these surfaces were to be mirror surfaces.

And when I spoke to the survivors and, and opened it up as a project and, and they were the first ones that began to define this, and they talked about it in terms of the having the reflection there for the future so that everyone could see that they are the reflection of their forefathers.

And so they began to define it.

Initially when we started working with this concept, - Because of its commitment to liberate Russian Jews, to bring them to Israel and America, and away from the possibility of another holocaust, the Jewish Federation asked picket to design a smaller memorial.

It condenses the idea into a single sculptural form.

- I've divided it into two parts.

That's this top part represented by this white wire and then all these curls at the bottom.

And I, these curls, by the way I understand there's six of them that represent the 6 million people that were killed in the Holocaust, Jews that were killed in the Holocaust.

And, and there they are.

They, they're arranged in a way that I consider to be chaos or a representation of chaos.

And then they'll come together in these two elements, which are triangular cross sections coming up, almost coming together at the top - Area.

School children will have a chance to traverse the deck of the Mimi, A 72 foot catch docked at waterside through this weekend.

The Mimi is familiar to many students in fourth through eighth grades who watch the voyage of the Mimi, an educational series shown here on WHRO.

The show is designed to turn the subject matter of math and science into a more relevant state to students.

It is the unique teaching method of the series which goes beyond routine academics.

- I always emphasize the interdisciplinary connections and emphasize the fact that technological competitiveness is, is a lot more than just and science.

So that, that these other interdisciplinary connections are so valuable.

And that's one of the strengths of this program in particular.

- Peter Marston alias, captain Granville owns the Mimi.

He says his mission is to educate younger generations to become more competitive in today's global economy, - Shave his belly with a rusty razor sha belly.

- It is how the voyage of the Mimi engages students' attention, which is what many educators strive for.

An intermingling of topics from tracking whales to the cast social development, the Mimi and Area Museum demonstrations will be at Town Point Park this Saturday.

I'm Holly O'Neal.

Reporting - Will be turning this way right - In the family.

Were Patriots and villains, a poet laureate and an inventor.

The Barron family of Hampton Roads has contributed richly to American history and especially to American naval history.

Mike Sinclair tells us about an exhibit at the War Memorial Museum in Newport News, which traces the 200 year history of the family, which included four Commodore and at least eight captains.

- The Barrons family is considered one of the greatest families in military history called the Web footed Barrons.

They have served in the Navy for over 200 years.

This military family includes among its ranks a poet laureate, a national villain, and the youngest man ever commissioned in the United States Navy.

The War Memorial Museum in Newport News has put together an exhibit which tells the story of 160 years in the life of this military family.

Art Labonte curator of collections at the museum traced and organized the story.

- It is one of the greatest families, but it is also one of the families that that has probably been given the least honor recognition.

They have been instrumental in the formation of the early Virginia Navy of the early US Navy.

They took a vital part in the role in the Confederate states Navy and had yet had been mentioned in, in, in most hi annals of history, but, but in very, very small terms far below the quality of the effort that they put into their particular jobs.

- The idea for creating the exhibit began with Sam Seger, a local realtor.

Seger is a Baron's descendant located at the top of the family tree.

He loaned nearly 30 artifacts to the museum for the exhibit.

Many of the personal effects of the early barons had been handed down from one generation to another within the family.

- I've been aware of the Baron history all of my life living in my father's house.

We had the seat chest and the writing desk and his gold glasses.

And we've all heard stories.

It's always been hard for the family to put together who's who among the barons.

There's so many of 'em.

- The Baron's history is rich with real life stories of heroes and villains.

Although some stories border on the unbelievable Samuel Baron iii, born in 1808, holds the distinction of achieving commodore in both the United States and the Confederate nas.

He also earned a page in Ripley's, believe it or not, as the youngest commissioned officer in the United States Navy.

- Samuel Baron II was an interesting character in that he started his naval career very early in life.

He started at the age of two.

And the reason that was because the United States Navy wanted to award the family on the death of his father some sort of recognition.

And so they decided the best way they could show that appreciation was to give the son a commission in the Navy.

- The Baron family's distinction is not entirely as a result of their military exploits.

James Baron hope born in 1829 was the family poet.

His most famous poem was called the Lee Memorial Ode, written for the dedication of the Lee Memorial in Richmond.

It was the last poem hope ever wrote.

He died before the statue was finished and never attended.

The dedication service, - James Baron hope, the poet laureate of Virginia, of which he was quoted as by many sources as being, was also in the military, served in in the Army quite different than than his ancestors.

However, his greatest claim to fame was not his military career but his, his, his career in, in the literary field.

He was a poet, he was a writer.

He was a, an excellent speaker, always in demand for his speaking abilities.

He was a newspaper editor.

He was superintendent of schools at one time.

He was very much involved in the community and his poet, his his poems were ranked by a number of critics at the time on a level of quality with Tenon.

- The Baron's exhibit offers more than just artifacts.

Each piece is a window into the lives of the men who used it.

The personal effects from these men of the sea offer an idea of who they were and how they felt as they fought some of the country's most important battles.

- The Barron's were pretty well at the hotspots in every major period of early American military history.

Whether it's fighting in the Mediterranean or the terrible Chesapeake leopard affair.

They were there, they were witnesses and they were conscious enough of their involvement in that history to save the items relating to their service or to write a diary about their reflections about that.

So instead of having just a, a pistol that says, this is the gun that shot Steven Decatur, we instead have the diary that tells about that unfortunate affair that should have never happened.

- The man who held the gun that shot Steven Decatur was probably the most renowned baron.

James Baron ii, born in 1768.

James was the commander of the USS Chesapeake during the Chesapeake leopard affair, which took place off the Virginia Capes.

In 1807.

Baron unprepared for battle surrendered his ship to the British.

The stigma of surrender followed him much of his life.

Stephen Decatur considered a national hero for his bravery in fighting the Barbary Pirates publicly criticized Baron for the affair.

Baron angered by Decatur's remarks challenged him to a dual - And they had their, their dual on the 22nd of March, 1820 up in Bladensburg, Maryland.

They were using pistols that were borrowed from John Myers.

John Myers was a very close friend of James Marron.

They both aimed at the same general area of each other's body at the hip area.

Both shots hit exactly where they were aimed.

Decs unfortunately ricocheted and turned inward on his body and tore up his lower intestinal tract and which later resulted in his death.

In fact, that same day at later in the evening, the bullet that hit Baron also hit in the hip.

But instead of deflecting inward, it deflected outward.

And he, even though he was very seriously wounded, he did survive - The shame of killing a national hero.

Stayed with James the rest of his life and secured him his place in history.

He has buried a Trinity Episcopal Church in Portsmouth.

This exhibit has sparked the interest of other museums and will travel to the Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis and the Washington Naval Yard Museum.

After it closes in Newport News.

It is hoped that this exhibit will bring the family recognition for its contribution to American naval history.

- The Barons have have given a tremendous amount of, of, of effort and accomplished a great many things in the formation of the Virginia Navy, US Navy, and the Confederate states Navy.

And to this day, they have never had a ship named after them.

It is the hope that with the knowledge of what the barons have done and that, that this might be something that will happen in the, in the near future.

- Anderson Johnson paints what he preaches, 75 years old Johnson ministers to the faith mission in Newport News.

And he paints, he paints on plywood, on cardboard, egg cartons, on whatever surface he can find.

And he paints on the walls of faith mission.

He paints characters from the Bible and scenes and pictures from his life.

And his painting has been called Folk Art at its best.

Holly O'Neill profiles the painting preacher - To see this, this obviously very authentic and realistic house just sort of sitting there.

And it had a, it obviously was a church in the middle of a totally different type of area.

And when we walked in, it was just an amazing experience to see the wall to wall paintings.

- But then you can step back from an individual work and you can take it all in.

And the power of that room is really quite extraordinary for anybody who who has been in it.

- This is Anderson Johnson's sanctuary, the faith mission as he calls it.

It is a place where the 75-year-old preacher can fully embrace his life's passions, spreading the word of God and bringing those ideals to life through art upstairs from the mission's.

Church pews, which turn this home into a chapel is where Anderson or Bishop Johnson, as he is called, lives and paints after a lifetime of traveling through the country, preaching in any church or on any corner he could.

Anderson Johnson has settled down in his family's home and set up a studio with his easel, an old chair by his bed.

- I never take no lesson or nothing for no, you know, no drawing, no, never been, no schooling, nothing for the drawings.

So folks out I think is just, some people pick it up like myself.

I started the drawing on the back of wallpaper and I would, didn't have nothing to do.

I was around 16 years old and I'd buy a roll of wallpaper.

I think it get a row for a dime, about five rows for a dollar.

I think it was what it was.

And I took the back of it and choke and drone it.

- Johnson has gained increased attention lately.

While there is disagreement on an exact definition of what folk art or self-taught art is the Folk Art Society of America members are spreading the word about Johnson.

In January, the Richmond based society sponsored a gallery show of his work at the University of Richmond.

And since the show, Richard Miller of the Abbey Aldridge Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg has been working on a documentary of Johnson and his work for the museum's archives.

- Johnson is really part of a different tradition.

Johnson is part of a tradition that began in the 18th century of individuals who may or may not have had some artistic training, but yet who are inspired and motivated to express themselves.

Many, many people, such as amateurs fall into that definition.

But then there are people who are beyond the amateur level, people beyond the Sunday painter level of art activity.

And I think Johnson and there are many other people like him that fall into that category.

People who feel and, and sometimes obsessive need to express themselves.

They have something serious that they have to say and they find that an art medium is one medium that they can use to express that.

- Most important thing in my life is to preach.

So I don't turn that way for anything.

So all of this stuff out, I didn't even put nothing up to sell.

I just put it up to decorate my po.

So the Lord told me to put some pictures out on the porch and I put 'em out on the porch.

And a boy by the name of Tony Shaver come along and saw him.

And he was from the college, had finished school and he said he was artist.

I said, I don't know, I just draw - Williamsburg folk art collectors.

Ellen and Baron Gordon say they are bitten by the bug of contemporary folk art and devote much of their time to collecting such work in their collection.

They own over three dozen pieces by Anderson Johnson.

And they say that meeting the artist himself led them to be more drawn to his art.

- What appeals to us is, is the strength really of it.

The it has a certain purity.

There are all kinds of, of words that are used to describe it, but we have a, I think you have an emotional reaction to it.

- Anderson Johnson is a prolific painter.

He paints with a mission all over his mission.

As soon as one piece may be sold, he can paint three more to fill the space.

And his work varies from portraits to landscapes to pictures of everyday people to biblical representations.

Johnson uses all types of material for his work.

He paints on plywood, a cartons, cracker boxes, plastic bottles or cardboard.

He even used to give away the boards from his porch.

He had painted on - Really what I was drawing on the walls because I didn't have much paper to practice on.

And I tried to learn something about drawing.

Every time I draw, I learn something.

The Bible says, A wise man will increase learning.

So I don't feel like that I'm whatever, whatever draw, picture, don't care how good it is.

It's not good enough for me.

- Throughout his many years of drawing and painting, Johnson says he is continually learning and that keeps him going.

Perhaps it is that learning process, which art critics call honest and tense and straightforward.

In Johnson's work, - I try to make something of everything.

Anything that I see that somebody would throw away, I look at it and I can take it and make something out of it.

So it's that all that's, that's what makes me feel, be able to create.

- It's inescapable, it's confrontational.

It might be unsettling for some people, but yet I think it's a very accurate reflection of Mr.

Johnson, his personality, his need, and his creativity.

- It's just the strength, I mean the directness that has a lot of appeal for us.

And it's obviously very sincere.

- My story is, and my message is, is if I can get, I try to draw a lot of pictures of Christ because if I can somebody even think about Christ.

So look at his picture that that's a great word to me.

I, I feel I've accomplished something.

God is writing to heaven on his throne, waiting to hear a, but seeing that blocked out so your prayer can't get through - On Sunday, Johnson's mission is accomplished.

He's preaching from the Bible.

Sometimes scriptures about the very pictures that fill the walls and playing his self-taught music from an electric piano or steel guitar.

You - Hear what the spirit has to say to the church Heaven, father, oh yes Lord, pray God.

But we didn't come out today for a form of fashion.

- And they came with shared prayers and appreciation for the colorful forms of the mission, which relate basic common bonds among people, - Whether they be black, white, rich, poor, wherever they're from.

It seems as though everyone shares an equal amount of space and importance in his eyes and also in his art.

- Sometime I have paint, I paint the black ones or white ones.

It don't make any difference 'cause I just paint a human being and I can change it.

You know when I want to.

And I can take any of these pictures down here and make 'em all black.

So what would I be tied up in on Colors.

Amen.

Praise God.

Ain't nobody can do you like Jesus.

Chairman, we coming right back to the scripture.

Gimme a lot of praise.

Asking someone to why come I don't let nothing exhaust exalt because I don't feel at all that good.

But I thanks the Lord for anything.

You know, somebody likes something I do.

I enjoy doing, continue doing it.

- All season long, we've been following the Virginia Symphony search for a new music director and next week on our program, we want to profile for you the last of the six candidates.

He's Leaf Beyond.

Currently the artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami.

In two weeks, the symphony will announce its selection for music director and we'll have a live presentation of that announcement right here on our place, our time.

Also next week we want to preview for you the upcoming Norfolk Savoy Yard production of the Mecado by Gilbert and Sullivan, and show you a collection of Belgian lace handmade by four generations of the same family.

Please join us next week for our place our time.

I'm Vian Webb, partial funding for our Place, our Times Made Possible by grants from the Arts Commissions of the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

From the Virginia Commission for the Arts and from the Arts Commissions of the cities of Newport News, Norfolk Hampton, and Williamsburg.