COMING OF AGE: EMERGING AND ESTABLISHED WOOD ARTISTS

February 16 – May 19, 2007

(Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, PA) 2007 marks the Center’s 21^st year promoting and serving the wood art community. As part of the celebration honoring the Center’s ‘coming of age’ the Center is highlighting the coming of age of a diverse group of established and emerging artists. The opening reception takes place on February 16th from 5pm to 7:30pm.

Coming of Age: Emerging and Established Wood Artists showcases artists who have practiced as part of the wood art field for at least 21 years as well as individuals representing the upcoming generation of artists. Established artists involved in this exhibit include Michael Brolly (US), Richard Hooper (UK), Richard Raffan (Australia), Betty Scarpino (US), and Mark Sfirri (US). Some up and coming artists involved in the exhibit include Ben Blanc (US), Peter Exton (US), Louise Hibbert (US formerly Wales), Thierry Martenon (France) and Holly Tornheim (US).

The Wood Turning Center has been a leader in promoting and serving the wood art community through exhibitions in Philadelphia as well as touring, a quarterly publication, color catalogues, and education programs. The Center’s resource center is an active collection of artist files including biographical information, images of their artwork and past exhibition information. The Center’s website has an archival record of past exhibits organized by the Center. One of the main programs for encouraging the growth of wood artists is the International Turning Exchange (ITE) residency program. Established in 1995, the Wood Turning Center’s ITE program is an eight week, internationally competitive, residency dedicated to emerging and established artists, photojournalists and scholars. Four wood artists, one furniture maker, one scholar and one photojournalist representing several different countries are selected each year.