|
|
|
| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: March 7, 2002 |
Photo opportunity: Caswell Building, Thursday, March 14, 4:00 PM
. Art created by community college students, faculty, and staff is displayed throughout the building. Many of the artists will attend a reception in their honor and will be available for interviews.Community Colleges to recognize creativity in the System
RALEIGH: For the fifth year, the North Carolina Community College System Office, located in the Caswell Building, is filled with magnificent art of every kind, created by community college students, faculty and staff.
System President H. Martin Lancaster is the reason the entire building has become an art gallery. There are 121 pieces in the exhibit, which Lancaster personally selected from the more than 700 submissions from across the state, the most ever submitted. The number of colleges participating in the exhibit has also increased from 47 last year to 52 this time around. Not only have the numbers increased, so has the caliber of the art submitted.
"I’m very pleased with this year’s collection," said Lancaster. "I do wish we had more three-dimensional pieces, but there are some exceptional selections on display."
The art exhibit began in 1998 with the first collection submitted and organized at the request of President Lancaster. His goal was to "enhance the work environment and reflect the excellent artwork created at community colleges," he said. Lancaster is a former chairman of the North Carolina Arts Council and has a true passion for art and its impact on daily life. Lancaster decided where each piece is displayed throughout the building, and personally placed most of the work. His dedication to the project meant spending time on it over several weekends.
The exhibit starts with a welded steel, brass and copper sculpture entitled "Lunacy," submitted by David Reams of Catawba Valley Community College, which is located in the foyer of the building. Once inside the lobby, an impressive copper and brass fountain, created by Peter Matuszowicz and Donald Utbert-Hood, two faculty members at Alamance Community College, greets visitors.
The exhibit is quite eclectic. In addition to an abundance of quilts, baskets, paintings, photographs and pottery, there are some standout pieces.
A "Stained-Glass Mosaic Garden Bench" from Wayne Community College faculty member Melissa Worley and "Plains Possible Bags," hand-made leather/beaded pouches of Native American origin from Susan Leading Fox, faculty member at Southwestern Community College, illustrate the variety of media included.
There are also a couple of tributes in the exhibit. One piece entitled "September Morning," submitted by Peter Milne of Western Piedmont Community College, remembers the victims and heroes of September 11. Keith Smith of Fayetteville Technical Community College submitted a photograph of the late Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR legend.
Also, just in time for Women’s History Month, the System will display a quilt created by the Mitchell Community College Women’s Studies Class. The quilt, "Patches and Patterns: Stitching Together NC Women’s History," is a project depicting notable NC women. The NC Humanities Council funded the piece.
Most of the art will be available for purchase when the exhibit concludes at the end of the year. Several pieces from last year’s exhibit are now on display in other state government buildings or have been added to personal collections.
A reception will formally open the display and honor the artists at 4:00 PM on Thursday, March 14 in the Caswell Building. Participants will include the artists, members of the State Board of Community Colleges and a host other community college leaders and supporters.
Contact Chancy Kapp, 733-7051, extension 309 or Peggy Beach, extension 307, for a complete list of artists and their work.
-NCCCS-
RETURN TO TOP OF CURRENT PAGE
Last modified: Friday, May 20, 2011 02:19:12 PM
This page maintained by Public Affairs.