Bill White, 'Downtown Rooftops I,' 2011. Oil on canvas. Photo by Richard Boyd.

The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University will open new exhibitions Thursday by two regional artists who share a lot in common.

Troutville painter Bill White and Radford artist Jan Knipe have both spent years exploring the depiction of landscapes and what they show about how people perceive the world they live in. In fact, an observation Knipe once made about White’s approach to still life painting caused him to change direction and focus on landscape instead.

Both are retired Hollins University faculty members. White taught art at the school for 39 years, retiring last year as head of the art department. Knipe joined the faculty in 1987 and retired in 2009.

Both have earned national recognition for their works, and both have been involved over the decades in helping to shape the regional art scene. Many of their students have gone on to become recognized artists in their own right, said Wilson Museum Executive Director Amy Moorefield.

White mixes his own paints, and Knipe makes her own pastels.

The pair of shows honors White’s and Knipe’s accomplishments with Hollins and gives students a chance to look at two distinct approaches to painting from life, Moorefield said. Both exhibits heavily feature recent works with a sampling of earlier works included for context.

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