WAYNESBORO ARTS ALLIANCE SPONSORS STUDIO TOUR
By The Daily Boro Staff
November 3, 2025
The Arts Alliance of Greater Waynesboro hosted a well-attended Studio Tour on Saturday, November 1. The self-guided event featured six local stops, offering patrons a behind-the-scenes look at artists’ creative spaces, an expanded gallery layout where they often exhibit, and a chance to view and purchase artwork. For a few lucky attendees, a winning raffle ticket provided the thrill of a take-home piece from their favorite artist.
The Studio Tour’s primary objective was to expand the reach of the local artist community by inspiring the art lovers who visited the six area locations. “We believe we accomplished that goal,” organizer Jody Nace said.
Tour stops included Seth Holmes Watercolors, Karen Manderson’s Waste Not, Want Not Quilts, and Mary Ashe-Mahr’s pottery studio.
Another unique stop was the Sugar Hollow Alpaca Farm. Owners Kathy and Jay Brown utilize alpaca’s coats to make yarn for ultra-soft, hand-knitted items such as socks and other apparel.
A studio in Mont Alto was a fifth tour stop hosted by Lexi Shockey. She creates wheel-thrown ceramics that focus on surface decoration for the completed pieces.
The final tour location brought art explorers to downtown Waynesboro’s Gallery 50. Multiple artists exhibited an impressive variety of creative works at the Arts Alliance’s home venue.
These artists include painters Marti Yeager and Sheila Druist, Carolyn Seibert-Drager’s photography, Annamarie Poole’s pottery, Andrea Finch’s textile art, Kimberly Cois’s watercolors, Don and Edie Druktenis’s pottery and woodworking artwork, and Leslie McEntire and Anne St. John, two talented painters who exhibited their creative works.
During the tour, art patrons participated in an interactive event and voted for the People’s Choice Awards. Kathy Brown of Sugar Hollow Alpaca Farm was the winner as art lovers cast over 1000 votes during the friendly competition.
Tour attendees also purchased raffle tickets to win a donated art piece from their favorite artist. Each vote helped artists climb the ranks, and all donations benefitted the Arts Alliance of Greater Waynesboro.
The winners of the art raffles were as follows:
- Artist Marti Yeager: Winner- Effie Monaco
- Artist Ann St. John: Winner- Valerie Barnes
- Artist Carolyn Seibert Drager: Winner- Monica Strong
- Artist Leslie McEntire: Winner- Nancy Frame
- Artist Sheila Druist: Winner- Paul Kasper
- Artist Andrea Finch: Winner- Susan Koehler
- Artist Kimberly Cois: Winner- Claire Hunter
- Artist Mary Ashe Mahr: Winner- Jill Lynn
- Artist Edie Druktenis: Winner- Christine Duke
- Artist Lexie Shockey: Winner- Kim Jacob
- Artist Kathy Brown: Winner- Martha Honeycutt
- Artist Seth Holmes: Winner- Jean McBride
- Artist Annamarie Poole: Winner- Jill Lynn
- Artist Karen Manderson: Winner- Mary Ellen Selvaggio
The Studio Tour was a first-time event, and the organizers were pleased with the results. “Many of the pop-up gallery artists loved the chance to talk with patrons about their art and enjoyed getting to know the other artists in the show, too,” Jody Nace said. “One exhibitor told me that being an artist can be a lonely job, so she appreciated the opportunity to mingle with other artists and art lovers.”
Nace said the event was well attended. “We saw new patrons visiting the show, and this helped them learn more about the Arts Alliance of Greater Waynesboro. We hope this will increase the likelihood of their future support for the arts in our area.”
As a bonus feature, several of the tour artists had not previously participated in the collaborative shows at Gallery 50. This gave art patrons, who appreciate the quality of works exhibited there, a first look at talented creators within their community. As the Studio Tour concluded for many attendees at the gallery location, they earned a greater appreciation for the exceptional skills of local artists and a new understanding of how they create their unique works.
