T r o n ja Local Artist Ascending By Tom Conway comes from slowing down and living a simpler, quieter life," she wrote in her blog. "I relocated my art studio back home. A big benefit of that has been that we spend a lot of time together. It is where I am happiest. "
In many ways, it feels to Fredericksburg artist Tronja Anglero like her time has come. On 16th Street, a few blocks from the White House, hangs a three-story banner featuring a portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris. She wears a white suit with an American Flag pin on the lapel. Behind her, symbols of her Indian and Jamaican heritage bring to mind the importance of her accomplishment in becoming the first female woman of color to ever serve in that position.
It also gave her more time to devote to painting, and she soon discovered some additional bonuses as well. Suddenly, it was very easy to convince people to meet virtually rather than in person, and it also became easier to display and transmit her work on-line. In August, she mounted her first ever solo exhibition at the Fredericksburg
It hangs from the top of the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women's Leadership, and was created by Anglero. "It was really big for me," she says. "It was such a great opportunity to be able to do something on such a huge scale. We went up to see it, and of course I knew where it would be, but it still surprised me when we rounded the corner. There it was. My work. It's really impressive." The banner was the culmination of what turned out to be a great year for the artist. As for many of us, it didn't start off terribly well. In March, when the pandemic hit, she was furloughed from her full-time job and also shut down her shared gallery space in downtown Fredericksburg. As it turned out, though, it wasn't so bad. "There is serenity that
"Daughters of the Dust," exhibited in Tronja Anglero's solo exhibition at the FCCA
Center for the Creative Arts (FCCA). "Nothing I'd done or even imagined had prepared me for the thrill of encountering a gallery filled entirely with my work," she wrote. "The work felt elevated. It felt good." A few months later, in February, she juried another exhibition at the FCCA, this time in honor of Black History Month. In the meantime, other things were happening. One of her works was chosen for exhibition at the McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville. Another, entitled "What Year Is Tronja’s three-sstory banner featuring a portrait of It?" was selected by the National Caucus of Vice President Kamala Harris on the The Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women's Leadership at Women's Art for their Social Justice Art 1509 16th Street, Washington, DC Exposition. Image by Kaz Sasahara of Lancer photography, courtesy of Vital Voices Global Partnership And it was that last selection that led to her being noticed "My mom accomplished a lot in by Vital Voices, who subsequently asked her lifetime, but there's no body of work her to create a portrait of the Vice that's hers for us to look at. I want to President. document, to leave something behind." It has been quite a step forward for a woman who has spent a lifetime in the arts. Her mother was a New York fashion designer, and Anglero has childhood memories of sketching her own designs as her mother worked nearby. As she grew older, that love of painting and fine art never faded. She hopes to create a body of work for her family and future generations to see.
With the success of the past year, it appears that moment has arrived.
Tom Conway is an English teacher and writer who recently moved back to Fredericksburg after years of exile a few miles up I-95.
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