The Gallery at Penn College

Cheryl Tall & Ceil Sturdevant – Arrested Motion

July 9 - August 19, 2009

• Opening Reception: Thursday, July 9, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
• Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in The Gallery

Life and motion are captured in figurative images by clay artists Cheryl Tall and Ceil Sturdevant. After meeting in 1992, the two artists discovered a shared affinity for creating large figures in clay that expressed both a spiritual and a narrative aspect. Each begins a sculpture with an idea, but lets the clay dictate the exact expression of that idea. The concept and the clay go through many changes until the final moment when the idea is realized by the heat of the kiln.

Cheryl Tall

Cheryl Tall’s sculptures portray archetypal situations that can be used to explore modern life. Her work uses humor, texture, and color to comment on the human search for meaning and our connection to our homes, environment, and other people. Although primarily working with clay, coil-built into large sculptures, she also works with mixed media, oil and acrylic painting, and printmaking. Her work is inspired by personal experiences, travel to other countries, and the study of mythology and pop art. Tall holds an MFA from the University of Miami. Her studio is in Leucadia, California, where she creates large-scale sculptures and paintings, and teaches art classes. Her work has been published in seven books and has been featured in Studio Potter, Ceramic Monthly, Clay Times, Ceramics Art and Perception, Pottery Making Illustrated, Sculptural Pursuit, and American Craft magazines. She has participated in art residencies in Canada, Japan, Greece, France, Mexico, and England. Most recently, she was awarded an artist’s residency at the International Ceramic Studio in Hungary for her group proposal “From the Embers.” Her award-winning work is shown nationally and internationally, and is in various museum collections.

Ceil Sturdevant

Ceil Sturdevant uses a variety of techniques, methods, clay bodies, and surface treatments to create her sculptures, which focus on the human figure. Her figurative images explore the relationships among people and are inspired by the ancient belief in the spiritual power of icons. Sturdevant holds a Master’s in Art Education from the University of Pittsburgh. She has a studio in Pittsburgh and, since 1981, has taught ceramic art at The Ellis School. Sturdevant’s ceramic sculptures have been featured in Studio Potter, Ceramic Monthly, American Craft, and Clay Times, and have been published in two books. She has exhibited her work throughout the United States and internationally. She has travelled extensively, participating in shows in Japan, creating installation pieces in Italy and Greece, and serving as artist-in-residence in Canada, Japan, Greece, France, Mexico, Hungary, and England. She was recently awarded a Heinz Small Arts Initiative Grant for the exhibition From a Woman’s Hand, and awarded Grand Prize for a clay sculpture exhibited at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Evan Summer – Prints, Drawings and Collages

August 25 – September 27, 2009

• Opening Reception: Tuesday, August 25, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
• Artist's Lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the Student & Administrative Services Center, Presentation Room 1056.
• Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in The Gallery
• Special Hours: Closed Labor Day Weekend, September 5 – 6

Evan Summer’s images are imbued with a sense of mystery. Abandoned structures in the landscape are a sign of the human presence and vital activity that no longer exist. Summer also explores form and space using the visual equivalent of “magic realism” created by the intaglio technique and the physical act of mark making. Summer is Professor of Art at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 1984. Summer grew up in Buffalo, New York. Before receiving his MFA in printmaking from Yale University in 1975, he earned a BS degree in chemistry. His work is included in many prominent collections nationally and internationally including the National Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Were You There? – The Evolution of a College Campus

October 6 – November 8, 2009

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 9, 4 – 6 p.m.

Special Hours: Closing at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 for a special event.
Open 1 - 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 24,
Open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 25

This collection of photographs and artifacts from the Pennsylvania College of Technology Archives will take viewers on a historic journey through the decades.  Scenes captured from the first classes offered on-site through the development of the present campus remind us of the rich and varied history of the institution. Images depict the many aspects of campus life that have remained constant through time while also providing a glimpse of people, places, and events long relegated to the annals of history. Viewers are encouraged to “write on the wall” and leave comments about photos or scenes in which they were involved as participants or observers.

The Good, the True and the Beautiful – An Afternoon of Classical Guitar Music

Sunday, October 11, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Homecoming weekend concludes with a concert of inspiring classical music by Alphonse Ciaccio, a 1993 alumnus of Pennsylvania College of Technology. The public is invited to this free concert featuring pieces by classical Spanish guitarists and composers among others.

Indo-American Arts Council's
Erasing Borders 2009
Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora
Curated by Vijay Kumar

November 13 – December 13, 2009

• Opening Reception: Thursday, November 19, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
  • Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in The Gallery

   

  Special Hours: Closed November 26 – 29

The Indo-American Arts Council’s 6th Annual Erasing Borders Exhibition (sponsors) features work by 27 artists whose origins can be traced to the Indian subcontinent. Twenty million people of Indian origin shifted countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. Implicit in the term Diaspora are the concepts of change and adaptation. Cultural dislocation generally produces unexpected and powerful results. Subject matter is often drawn from the country of origin, while many of the aesthetic values and political concerns come from the artists’ newfound situations. Indian artists that went abroad after India’s independence from British rule grappled with dual aesthetic concerns (modernity versus tradition) and with the complex issue of identity. The Diaspora artists had to create an authentic artistic language possessing Indian aesthetic components in order to be taken seriously by critics, as well as to reconcile the issues associated with being minorities. Today’s Diaspora artists are scattered across the country and are more socio-economically and religiously diverse than their predecessors. These artists are working to make themselves heard in an art world that is at once more competitive and more receptive to non-Western art than ever before. The artists in this exhibition take on diverse subject matter and meld Indian and Western colors and forms in many media, including painting, drawing, and prints; photographs, C-prints, photomontage, and video; and sculpture and installation. IAAC Director of Exhibitions: Amina Begum Ahmed.

Participating artists:

The Indo-American Arts Council Inc. is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America. The IAAC supports all artistic disciplines in the classical, fusion, folk and innovative forms influenced by the arts of India. We work cooperatively with colleagues around the United States to broaden our collective audiences and to create a network for shared information, resources and funding. Our focus is to work with artists and arts organizations in North America as well as to facilitate artists and arts organizations from India to exhibit, perform, and produce their works here. www.iaac.us

Shalya Marsh – Cipher

January 9 – February 9, 2010

• Opening Reception: Tuesday, January 19, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Artist’s Lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the Student & Administrative Service Center (SASC), Presentation Room 1056
  • Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Gallery

Dana Fritz – Garden Views and Terraria Gigantica

February 16 - March 28, 2010

• Opening Reception: Thursday, February 18, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Artist’s Lecture begins at 4 p.m., in the Student & Administrative Service Center (SASC), Presentation Room 1056
  • Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Gallery

Special Hours: Closed for Spring Break, March 6 – 14

Garden Views examines formal gardening traditions in the eastern and western hemispheres. Black and white photographs reveal the structure of gardens and highlight the similarities and contrasts between the world’s cultivated and constructed landscapes. Terraria Gigantica developed out of the Garden Views series and examines the world’s largest indoor landscape complexes: Biosphere 2; the Desert Dome and Lied Jungle at the Omaha Zoo; and the Eden Project. Color photographs capture the aesthetics of architecture and landscape designs that often seamlessly blend reality and simulation. These images uncover our complex relationship with the natural world. Dana Fritz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she is also Coordinator of the Visual Literacy program. She earned a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Arizona State University.

Lauren Schiller & Tom Baker – Prints and Paintings

April 6 – May 2, 2010

• Opening Reception: Tuesday, April 13, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Artist’s Lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the Student & Administrative Service Center (SASC), Presentation Room 1056
  • Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Gallery

Tom Baker’s relief and silkscreen prints make use of recurring personal imagery. The final prints are less a narrative and more an impression of his thoughts. Drawn elements are printed over transparent layers of color and pattern, creating a relationship between representation and abstraction. Although his prints are simple, ordered, and direct, their meaning remains open to interpretation. The imagery in Lauren Schiller’s small oil-on-wood panel paintings is drawn from food-related memories, associations, and rituals. Working with dioramas, still life objects and landscapes, Schiller creates environments that touch on personal and cultural idiosyncrasies, especially as they are revealed by food customs. Themes include food and morality, food and identity, and food and religious practice. Schiller and Baker received their BFA degrees from East Carolina University and their MFA degrees from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After graduate school, they taught printmaking at Utah State University for four years. Baker is currently an Assistant Professor of Printmaking at Monmouth University. Schiller is an Associate Professor at Seton Hall University, where she teaches painting and printmaking.

Design: 2010 – Student Portfolio Exhibition

May 6 – May 14, 2010

• Opening Reception: Thursday, May 6, 4 - 6 p.m.
  • Gallery Talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in The Gallery

The Gallery at Penn College is proud to host its annual graphic design student exhibition showcasing the creative portfolio work of senior Graphic Design students. Posters, books, magazine spreads, and logos are some of the featured items in this culminating project of their college curriculum.

“While works by professional artists with international recognition bring culturally-enriched perspectives and learning opportunities to the entire campus, students in the Graphic Design program find The Gallery at Penn College to be an especially valuable resource. The Gallery’s exhibits offer students sources for their own creative growth and inspiration. But even more important, the opportunity to exhibit their work in The Gallery closes the educational loop. The Student Exhibition allows students to be seen and to see themselves as true graphic designers, a defining experience in their college careers.”

-Dr. Jeff Vetock, Assistant Dean, School of Integrated Studies

The Art of Education — North Central PA Regional Art Teacher Exhibition

May 20 – June 27, 2010

• Opening Reception: Thursday, May 20, 4 - 6 p.m.
  • Awards Presentation - 5:30 p.m.

   

• Special Hours: Closed Memorial Day Weekend, May 29 – 30

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

-Hans Hofmann, abstract artist (1880 - 1966)

The Gallery at Penn College pays tribute to the talented educators who inspire creativity and instill an appreciation for art in today’s young people. This juried exhibition features the work of K-12 art teachers from Bradford, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Sullivan, Tioga, and Union counties. Artwork in all media is included in this comprehensive exhibit, and prizes will be awarded to the top entries. Come vote for the Viewer’s Choice Award!

Click here for Exhibiting Teacher Guidelines and Entry Form.