“Art is essential. It heals us and keeps what life is all about real. It gives us hope,” said Jeri Rogers at the launch of the new Artemis Journal, the regional literary and art journal that she founded.

Rogers – a Floyd resident, professional photographer and editor of Artemis – thanked the Roanoke Arts Commission and the Taubman Museum of Art for their collaboration in hosting the special event, which began with a wine and cheese reception and featured a talk by Virginia Poet Laureate Ron Smith.

Smith –a writer in residence at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond with several published poetry collections – has three poems in the current journal. From the Taubman theater podium, he read those and others and engaged the audience with questions and answers, giving insight into the writing process.

By Jeri Rogers

While most of us are distracted by the trendy and fashionable, what really sustains, enriches and heals us are the arts and their legacy. Artists and writers are our visual story tellers creating bridges of understanding and healing.

I know this from a personal level. I was raised in southwest Texas. The art of Georgia O’Keefe, Monet, Ansel Adams, and Picasso were my early artistic influences. “Earth laughs in flowers”, Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us with his unique vision into the natural world. “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead”.