HRA to Feature Regional Artists and Support Unparalleled Educational Programs at Inaugural Art Show

Though she is not an artist herself, Hampton Roads Academy alumna and Navigator parent Lauren Jett ’06 attends local art shows whenever she can.

“I’m always looking for opportunities to view art, appreciate art, and talk with artists,” she said. “I love to hear their stories.”

In spring 2026, Jett will help artists from throughout the region bring their works and their stories to HRA’s campus as one of the organizers of the school’s inaugural Art Show.

The three-day event, beginning the evening of Friday, April 17, with an opening reception in the Joseph E. Carpenter Gymnasium and concluding that Sunday, will include both in-person and online sales of original works in any physical medium—paintings, sculptures, pottery, photographic prints, and more—supporting the creativity of participating artists while also raising funds to help HRA continue to offer an unmatched educational experience in the arts.

“After more than fifteen years as an art museum director in Virginia and Texas, I have seen how the arts shape confident, creative, and well-rounded students,” said Courtney Gardner ’85, who currently serves as the Academy’s Director of Advancement. “At HRA, we are committed to nurturing that same spirit. Our first annual Art Show this spring will celebrate artistic talent while supporting the future of our program, partnering with artists who will share a portion of their sales to help keep creativity thriving on our campus.”

Whether they are professionals or passionate creators, all artists are encouraged to submit two to three samples of their work to be considered for inclusion in this pre-juried show.

Connecting with a Wider Artistic Community

Co-chairing the 2026 HRA Art Show with her mother Chrissy Garner, herself an avid art collector, Jett believes this new event is a natural addition to the Academy’s calendar of programming, especially as the school celebrates the Year of Connections. Coinciding with HRA Day, the Academy’s annual day of giving, the show will allow HRA to expand its engagement with a creative community of artists in the surrounding area, attracting talent from across Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore, Richmond, and everywhere in between. Links to this tight-knit network will be an asset to the fine arts program, in which teachers from Jett’s own Middle and Upper School years, such as Christine Contakes and Jenn Clemons, remain members of the faculty.

Equally important to Jett is the opportunity to “showcase the extraordinary talent that has come out of HRA,” including alumni and both current and former teachers. Many of her own classmates have gone on to create art professionally or continue exploring artistic passions alongside other careers.

“I am most excited about the opportunity to connect with HRA alumni whom I have not seen in years,” she said, suggesting her fellow graduates would be eager to give back to their alma mater while sharing their works with an extensive community of art lovers.

The first event of its kind at a school on the Peninsula, the HRA Art Show will distinguish itself from other independent school art expositions with a festival-style format designed to help artists and attendees get the most out of the experience. Whereas other schools typically have artists drop off their works to be displayed in the halls of the school and sold without the creators present, HRA will invite participating artists to set up a 10-foot-by-10-foot space in the Carpenter Gym however they like, display as many works as they choose, and, if they are able, attend the show so that they can interact with attendees.

“I know a lot of artists love to have conversations about what inspires them and how they came upon the medium they’ve chosen,” Jett said. HRA’s approach will foster such enriching, creative dialogue.

According to Val Parnell, a Virginia Beach-based oil painter who will offer works at the show that capture the beauty of fleeting moments, the interactive dimension of the event will be an incredible opportunity for artists and appreciators alike. “We can walk around and look into the world of the imagination, color, and time, and for a moment the world can melt away,” she said.

The Art Show will be no less rewarding for those who cannot attend in person. The inclusion of online sales will extend the reach of the show to buyers beyond the immediate area, especially alumni, former faculty members, and previous Navigator families who are no longer local but remain dedicated supporters of the Academy.

A Boon to the Arts at HRA

Though the HRA Art Show is more than five months away, excitement is already building among artists throughout the region.

Margaret Benton-Jones, a Yorktown painter who creates warm and energetic acrylic interpretations of “everything from sailboats to sunflowers,” remarked that she is excited to gain exposure for herself and other local artists while bolstering HRA’s mission. Having pivoted to a career in art after 30 years as an operating room nurse, she seizes every opportunity to use her artwork to “give back to the community” and “encourage others to follow their dreams no matter what age” through public speaking engagements, live charity painting demonstrations, and school fundraisers such as HRA’s upcoming Art Show.

Holding the event on campus will invaluably enhance Navigator artists’ learning experience, according to HRA’s own Middle and Upper School visual arts teacher Emma Kamerer, a professional painter whose work is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art’s Where We Meet exhibit (with a special exhibition celebration scheduled for the evening of November 13). Kamerer commented that offering a selection of her works at the HRA Art Show, where they will be visible to students as well as potential buyers, will be “a wonderful way to share my professional experience as a practicing artist who is also emerging in the local area.”

Kamerer’s fellow HRA art teacher Jenn Clemons, who also plans to participate in the show after retiring from the faculty this semester, echoed her colleague’s enthusiasm. “Exposure to artists not only broadens students’ understanding of artistic expression, but also helps them see creative careers as attainable and relevant.”

Indeed, as an award-winning artist active on the regional art show circuit, Clemons provides an exemplary model for students seeking to pursue work in the arts. This fall, she displayed her dramatic graphite and oil paintings of “trees as visual representations of memory” in Virginia Beach at the Neptune Festival Art & Craft Show (September 26-28), where her work was honored with a third-place prize, and at the Virginia MOCA Boardwalk Art Show (October 10-12).

For her own part, Jett looks forward to seeing the resources and opportunities this fundraiser will unlock within HRA’s art classrooms. She is also confident that the Art Show will generate future support for the Academy’s arts program by increasing “awareness of the extraordinary community we have” within the local area, inviting our neighbors to come to campus and learn more about this unique school.

“I’m hoping that this becomes a tradition and is the start of something great for HRA,” Jett said—“something we can carry on for years to come.”