Artist-in-the-House Opening Reception: "Vanishings"

“Vanishings” will be on display from Wednesday, July 16, 2025, through Sunday, September 7,

2025, at Locals Farm Market, 19929 Fisher Avenue, Poolesville, Md. This show is the twentieth

Riverworks “Artist in the House” exhibition to be featured on the second floor of the historic

Veirs-Stevens House at Locals.

An artist’s reception will be held at Locals on Sunday, July 20, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The

reception is free and the public is invited to attend.

Moved by the rarely seen struggles of the animals around us, Mettam used graphite for the

drawings in “Vanishings” to foster an implicit connection between medium and message.

“The ability to create extremely light markings that fade into the white space of the page,

alongside deep, opaque layers that bring a more realistic weight, mirrors the state these animals

are in,” she explains. “While they are still here and still real, many are fading.”

Riverworks co-founder Sandy Wright finds that Mettam’s local roots offer a fresh opportunity to

consider the relationship between the Ag Reserve and the world beyond its forests and fields.

“This is the first time we’ve highlighted an artist who carried that formative Ag Reserve

experience with her into the wider world,” Wright notes. “We know this place is special, but

Lucienne reminds us that what we have out here is a living, breathing ecosystem with crucial

lessons to offer, lessons that are bigger than any of us.”

When Mettam is asked to reflect on her time here, her thoughtful observations make clear just

how personal “Vanishings” is to her.

“The wide, open sky above my childhood home, always shifting with clouds, influenced how I

draw movement and figures,” she says. “The animals—the foxes, deer, crows, coyotes—taught

me to observe carefully and to respect the unseen. Just because they don’t show themselves

every day doesn’t make them any less important. The Ag Reserve gave me a way of seeing that

is quiet, attentive, and reverent.

“With ‘Vanishings,’ I hope to create a moment of pause—a space where people can reconnect,

feel something, and maybe be moved to care. The animals in this series aren’t symbols. They’re

lives: delicate, resilient, and deeply intertwined with our own.”