WVPB Premieres 'Finding David Riffle, West Virginia Artist' Nov. 21

Updated on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022 at 5:30 p.m.

CHARLESTON, WV — WVPB Television proudly announces the premiere of Finding David Riffle, West Virginia Artist. The hour-long television program will air Monday, Nov. 21 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s TV and YouTube channels.

“David Riffle is an artist who is humble, fun-loving, non-verbal — but there is more to him than meets the eye,“ states the film’s director, John Nakashima. “With the help of his friends and family, WV State University Art Professor Molly Erlandson, artist Harold Edwards, daughter Nora Riffle, artist and former gallery director at The Art Store, Ellie Schaul and the former Clay Center curator Ric Ambrose, we’re able to learn more about his fascinating work.”

Riffle’s art is suffused with a strong sense of place. Most of his early inspiration came from the area around his home of 25 years, a sixty-foot trailer in Poca, Putnam County, where he moved in 1975 after graduating from West Virginia State College. As depicted in his art, this trailer represents a level of security and solitude in a busy, insecure world.

Riffle’s work contains other recurring images as well, including the Great Blue Heron, catfish, the growth of vines, mountains, and water. This imagery sometimes appears in what commentators have called “fantasy” settings. He has also created works depicting landmark architecture unique to West Virginia.

Throughout his work, Riffle reveals a strong connection to his home. Riffle’s artwork is housed in collections at the Clay Center’s Juliet Art Museum and Marshall University, among others.

Praise for “Finding David Riffle, West Virginia Artist”:

Paula Clendenin, Artist:
“A wonderful tribute to an amazing artist and human…so loved it.”

Colleen Anderson, Poet/Writer:
“Wonderful in every way.”

Russ Barbour, retired WVPB documentary-maker:
“Masterpiece.”