West Liberty University’s College of Arts and Communication is a sponsor of the sixth annual “Paint Oglebay Park Plein Air Paintout” event in Oglebay Park in Wheeling this weekend, Sept. 30 – Oct. 2.

The event was founded six years ago by Brian Fencl, an associate professor of art and chairman of the university’s department of journalism, communication studies and visual arts.

One of the participants will be Samuel Adoquei, a noted artist born in Ghana, West Africa, where he completed his fine arts studies at the Ghanatta College of Fine Arts. He is the first African artist to serve on the faculty of all the major academic art institutions of New York City: the National Academy School of Fine Art, the New York Academy of Figurative Arts, the Art Students League of New York and the Educational Alliance.

He will be meeting with WLU students throughout the day on Friday and will be the keynote speaker at the artist party from 5 -7 p.m. at Oglebay Park’s Schrader Center.

Fencl noted, “This is one of the many community engagement events for the College of Arts and Communication. We have over 60 artists registered for the plein air event so it is a great opportunity for WLU to work with the creative community.”