WPL to display Yoder works

During the month of October, Ray Yoder’s watercolor paintings will grace the walls of the Waynesboro Public Library for locals to view. A long-time Waynesboro resident, artist and art educator, Yoder was a founding member of the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center and Fall Foliage Festival.

“He was instrumental in the art center coming into being and a catalyst to people appreciating the arts here,” said Dr. Bill Wade, a collector of Yoder’s work who helped to organize the exhibit.
Yoder taught art in Waynesboro Public Schools for more than 30 years and was known nationally as an art educator. He was an instructor for the University of Virginia Division of Continuing Education and taught some courses at Bridgewater College.

He served as president of the Virginia Art Education Association and chairman of the National Art Education Association, SE Elementary Division before he died in 1997.

More than 30 original watercolors and four prints are being displayed in the library, but Yoder originals have permanent homes in Waynesboro. One hangs in the vestibule of the Main Street United Methodist Church, where Yoder attended and taught Sunday school. Another has a permanent spot on the back wall at the library. Some pieces in the exhibit are on loan from the Valley Program for Aging Services and local citizens.

Many of the pieces are landscapes in Virginia, with subjects like the South River and gardens in Waynesboro.

“Don’t they make you feel peaceful?” asked Wade. “I think he caught something of the Valley before the modern change came in.”

More than a third of the paintings belong to Dr. Wade, who first saw Yoder’s work years ago hanging in Mrs. Rowe’s restaurant.

With help from librarian Diane DeVoy, he has worked to put on this display of Yoder’s paintings in the centennial year of his birth. At 1 p.m. Saturday Dr. Wade and Ray Yoder’s son, Judge Ronnie Yoder, will speak at the library exhibit. All are welcome to listen or share additional stories they have of Ray Yoder as an artist and teacher.

“I didn’t want him to be lost,” said Dr. Wade. “The Waynesboro community needs to remember him for what he did.”