The Cooper Gallery on Washington Street in Lewisburg reopened last September after being closed for two years, and is excited to feature the work of Lexington, VA, artist Bruce Macdonald, 82, who paints barns and farm landscapes. He will be working on paintings at the Cooper Gallery during the fair.

Macdonald grew up in the midwest and later attended The School of the Art Institute and the American Academy of Art, both in Chicago. When asked about why he chooses to focus on barns in his artwork, Macdonald replied, “Barns tell stories and they speak to me. They speak of history, of time past, of labor; they speak of directed purpose and association – with the cattle, chickens, horses, the hay, the tractors, rakes and pitchforks that sheltered in them – going back to America’s roots.  Their speech is plain but clear. Their stories vary but at their core they reflect honesty, history and labor. And it’s not just the boards and beams, barns are the projection screen of the land, the sky, sun, clouds, rain, storms and hills.”

Macdonald has won multiple awards for his work, including The Municipal Award at the Chicago Art Institute American Show, the S.J. Truman Award at the National Academy of Design, and the Gilroy Prize at the Royal Academy of Art. His paintings are in collections at the Union League Club of Chicago; the Museum of American Art in Youngstown, OH; Washington & Lee; Trinity College; The Naval Academy; and the Wachovia Bank in Stamford, CT.