Theatre 98 and the Eastern Shore Art Center have joined together on a project involving both the visual and the performing arts. On May 9, the play “Inventing van Gogh,” by Steven Dietz, opens at the Theatre.

Directed by Timothy Guy, it moves back and forth in time between van Gogh’s final few years and some years in the life of a young contemporary artist who has been blackmailed into forging a “lost” van Gogh self-portrait.

The play, part meditation on creativity and part love story (in both eras), requires more than a dozen van Gogh canvases used on stage as props, and that’s where the Eastern Shore Art Center comes in.

Academy Director Melinda Hicks organized a group of 12 artists who volunteered to make exact copies of such well-known works as “Sunflowers,” “Iris,” and “Starry Night,” as well as some that may be less familiar.

“It’s a big job,” said Hicks, who herself is painting “Wheatfield with Sheaves.” “The artists of the Eastern Shore Art Center are striving to create paintings that reflect Vincent van Gogh's original work.”

Members of the group have been getting together to paint in a studio at the Art Center, something van Gogh, who longed for communal art studios and collaboration with fellow artists, would have approved of.

Art Instructor Frances Fontaine is overseeing the artwork for this project.

Theatre 98 President Brenda Hedstrom said, “I’ve been eager for an opportunity for us to partner with the visual arts. Fairhope is such an artists’ town, after all. Theatre 98 has been a big part of Fairhope for more than 50 years, and this is a way for us to celebrate that artistic heritage.”

The artists working in the group include Betsy Adams, Loran Chavez, Barbara Corte, Frances Fontaine, Melinda Hicks, Jo Hogan, Kathy Jones, Ellen Lacy, Angela Morgan, Corinne Raming, Karen Roloson, Kathy Sheppard and Missy Wilson. Additional paintings are being done by Julie George, Daisy Gilbert, and Becky Thornton.

The collection will be displayed at the Eastern Shore Art Center on May 3 as part of Fairhope’s First Friday Art Walk. Audience members will have the opportunity to bid on individual paintings at a silent auction during the run of the show, May 9-19. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the non-profit community theatre.

Tickets for the performance go on sale May 6 and may be purchased by calling 251-928-4366 on or after that date. Cast members are Joe Fuselli as Patrick Stone, Rob Clark as Dr. Miller/Dr. Gachet, Sarah Davis as Hallie Miller/Marguerite Gachet, Michael Bankston as Bouchard/Gauguin and Heather Delker as Vincent van Gogh.