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Keith Jones’ documentary, “Places You Should Know: City Park, Hagerstown, MD”.
March 22 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
HAGERSTOWN, MD (February 13, 2023) – In celebration of its 85th anniversary, the Valley Art Association (VAA) is inviting the public free of charge to a special “hybrid” (in-person and online) event that combines history and the arts at the downtown Hagerstown Washington County Library, Wednesday, March 22.
Refreshments will be available when the doors open at 5:30 p.m., after which there will be a brief VAA business meeting at 6 p.m., followed by the first public showing of local filmmaker Keith Jones’ documentary, “Places You Should Know: City Park, Hagerstown, MD”.
The Valley Art Association, a registered nonprofit that has been promoting tri-state Cumberland Valley arts and artists since 1938 and is funded in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, operates the Mansion House Gallery & Art Center in City Park. Jones, a transplant from Chicago, lives close to the park and looked at it with newfound interest a few years ago after making a documentary on Antietam Creek Vineyards.
“Being from the Midwest, I’d never seen something like it before, outside of a major city,” Jones said about the park. As his research into the park’s history expanded, so did his videography. Over the course of a year, he shot some 70 hours of video then spent more than two years editing and in post-production.
“There was such a story that there was always another story to be told,” Jones said. “I had to focus. The characters were huge, larger than life, but they weren’t the story, at least, not this story. This story is, how did this little piece of land stay virtually undeveloped? How is it it’s still there, part of the fabric of the community? And actually, the Mansion House is a large part of that story, because it’s the glue that kept that property together.”
For more information about the March 22 VAA event or to receive a Zoom link, contact VAA president Hal Mason by email at halmasonart@myactv.net, or call (301) 791-6719. Donations to the Valley Art Association will be gratefully accepted. For more information on the VAA, visit valleyartassoc.org.