Exhibition

Via Penland showcases artwork that we have found through the esteemed Penland School of Crafts. Penland School of Crafts is nationally renowned as a center for craft education offering courses in fibers, small metals, clay, wood, iron, glass, paper and books, printmaking, and photography. The school has influenced each artist in the exhibition-- some are current students, some have taught or resided at Penland, and all have taken classes at the school. While not directly connected to the school, this exhibition seeks to celebrate Penland’s contributions to the world of art, design and craft and to share the great spirit of community and creativity espoused by the school with the Raleigh arts community.  

 

The 2008 featured artist, Greg Fidler, presents Form Review, a collection of new glass works by the Bakersville, North Carolina artist.  Having exhibited during Via Penland since its inception in 2004, Fidler was a resident artist at the Penland School of Crafts.  Of his work, Fidler writes:

 

 

Fidler received a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois, has completed an artist residency at the Penland School of Crafts, and has attended classes at both the Pilchuck Glass School and the Haystack School of Crafts.  He exhibits throughout the country, including at Prism Contemporary Glass (Chicago), Morgan Contemporary Glass (Pittsburgh), and Gallery W.D.O (Charlotte) and maintains the production glass line, Ipso Facto.  

 

Presenting many different media, this artist below, and their collection of work aptly represents the quality and innovation present at Penland School of Crafts.  

 

William Bernstein is a Celo, NC glass artist who has been a resident artist and teacher at Penland, and currently sits on the board of the school.  

 

Meredith Brickell, a ceramic artist, currently teaches at Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.  She has been both a teacher and Core student at Penland, and hold a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, and a Bachelor of Art and Design from NCSU.  

 

Thor Bueno, a glass artist, has been a resident artist and teacher at Penland.  He holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Alfred University, and has attended and taught at the Pilchuck School of Glass.

 

Phoebe Briley is a Raleigh photographer, who received her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and has attended classes at Penland.

 

Margaret Couch Cogswell is a resident artist at Penland, where she makes books, and mixed- media sculpture.  She has studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and  the Arrowmont School of Arts.

 

Erin Considine is a Brooklyn-based metalsmith who has taken several classes at Penland.  She graduated from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington.  

 

Marianne Dages is a first year Core student at Penland.  She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the University of the Arts, and is contributing handmade journals and letterpress work to this exhibition.  

 

Shane Darwent is a photographer, printmaker, and Core student at Penland.  He is in his second year in the program, having previously resided and worked in Brooklyn, NY.  He holds a BFA from Maryland College Institute of Art.  

 

Ben Galata makes iron sculpture and architectural pieces in his studio in Raleigh.  He has taken and assisted classes at Penland, and holds a degree in Industrial Design from NCSU. 

 

Celia Gray is a Asheville studio artist working primarily in encaustic painting and sculpture.  She has been a Core student and assistant at Penland, and contributes a collection of encaustics to Via Penland.  

 

Abie Harris  is contributing pastel drawings.  He is an architect and artist in Raleigh, NC.  He currently sits on the Board at Penland, and is the North Carolina State University Architect Emeritus.   

 

Andrew Hayes is a second-year Core student at Penland. He is a 2005 bachelors of fine art candidate in sculpture at the Northern Arizona University.  Andrew is presenting landscape sculpture in the exhibition.  

 

Kreh Mellick, asecond-year Core student at Penland, contributes goache and ink drawings to Via Penland.  Kreh holds a BFA in Drawing and Illustration from the Maine College of Art.

 

Carrie Knowles, a Raleigh artist and writer, completed her first class at Penland this summer.  She is contributing mixed-media works on paper.

 

Alison Overton is exhibiting hand-tinted medium format photographs.  She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from North Carolina State University, and is an Artspace artist.

 

Sylvie Rosenthal  has taken and assisted classes at Penland.  She is studio furniture maker who lives in Asheville, NC who received her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology.

 

Staci Sawyer is a Raleigh metalsmith and arts educator.  She received her BFA from East Carolina University, and has attended Penland as a student.

 

Jon Shearin crafts sculptural and functional works from iron, and is a second-year Core student at Penland.  He holds a Bachelor of Art + Design from NCSU’s College of Design.  

 

Jerilyn Virden works in clay.  She was a resident artist at Penland and now makes her functional and sculptural pieces in her studio in Bakersville, NC. She holds an MFA from Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University.

 

Anthony Ulinski has taught several courses at Penland, and is a self-taught studio furniture maker.  He is also an oil painter, with recent exhibitions at the Horace Williams House and the Durham Arts Council.