Resident Fellows Selected for 2007 and 2008
International Turning Exchange Residency Program!
(Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, PA) The Wood Turning Center is proud to announce the selection of the 2007 and 2008 International Turning Exchange (ITE) Resident Fellows. 2007 marks the twelfth year the Center has sponsored this residency. Four wood artists, a furniture maker, a photojournalist, and a scholar were selected by the Center’s 2007 ITE Selection Committee: Gail M. Brown, Philadelphia; Doug Finkel, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Jack Larimore, Philadelphia; and Mark Sfirri, New Hope, Bucks County Community College.
Residents for 2007 include:
Elisabeth Agro, scholar 
Peter Oliver, artist
United States New Zealand
Jean-François Delorme, artist Siegfried Schreiber, artist
France Germany
Peter Harrison, furniture maker Lynn Yamaguchi, photojournalist
United States United States
Sean Ohrenich, artist
United States
Residents for the 2008 ITE Residency include: Hunt Clark – wood artist; US; Peter Exton – wood artist, US; Satoshi Fujinuma – wood artist, Japan; Stephan Goetschius – wood artist, US; and Martina Plag – puppeteer, set designer, US.
Applications for the 2009 and 2010 ITE summer residency program are due at the Wood Turning Center on October 1, 2007. For further information on the ITE program and the application process, visit www.woodturningcenter.org/itemenu.html.
Information about the 2007 ITE Resident Fellows:
Elisabeth R. Agro [Scholar] Elisabeth is currently the Nancy M. McNeil Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Elisabeth comes to the Museum from the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where since 1996 she served as a curatorial assistant, assistant curator and most recently as an associate curator in the decorative arts department, developing and coordinating special exhibitions and presenting lectures and gallery talks. She is eager to try her hand at wood turning in the interest of fully appreciating the work and value of creating art in wood. It also gives her an opportunity to further link the history of craft with the contemporary work that utilizes traditional techniques.
Jean-Francois Delorme [Artist] After studying management, Jean-François learned the trade of wood turning, and went on to work as a turner with a focus on production. From 1990, after training with diverse artists, he also began to exhibit individual items in ceramics and glass. The French Association of Wood-Turning Art (AFTAB) encouraged him to stop working on wood turning production to focus on the creation of individual items too. Since then, he has explored the possibilities created by repeating the same bowl in two or three materials to see the contrast in materials, textures and lighting.
Peter Harrison [Furniture Maker] Peter Harrison was born in 1973 and grew up in New York City. He graduated with a BFA from the woodworking and furniture design program at RIT in 1996. Since then he has maintained a full time studio in the small mountain-top town of Cragsmoor, NY from where he exhibits his work nationally. His work has developed from one-of-a-kind furniture, to sculpture, to his present line of handmade limited production furniture. Peter looks forward to the ITE as “an exciting opportunity for me to explore my creativity in a group environment.” His goal for the residency is to gain a better understanding of himself while discovering new directions and expanding his vocabulary as an artist.
Sean Ohrenich [Artist] Sean creates his wood art against the backdrop of the rugged Oregon coast. The current small-scale work is the result of ten years of refining his craft in the solitude of his shop. Many of the small scale intricate sculptures are designed to be displayed in a number of ways evoking different looks simply by the way they are displayed. The abstract quality of his work seeks to draw a different reaction from each viewer. Sean has long dreamed of participating in the ITE program. He looks forward to seeking new directions for his work and discussing ideas with fellow artists.
Peter Oliver [Artist] After years in farming, in 1998 Peter decided it was time to make woodworking his full-time priority. While Peter has worked with a wide variety of woods in a range of different styles; he has always had a preference for wild wood, knots, moth holes and natural edges. He has spent time investigating the effects of embellishing his wood turnings with relief and 3-dimensional carvings, working with the interior space and incorporating other natural materials in his work. He is inspired to break free from the mechanically perfect circles in pursuit of the wildness and irregularities found in nature.
Siegfried Schreiber [Artist] Siegfried Schreiber worked at a wood-working company before earning a degree in education. For decades, he taught elementary, junior high and vocational college. In 1990, he retired from teaching to pursue a full-time career in wood art. Siegfried spends about five years working on each object; he performs one step at a time, letting the piece rest in between steps to prevent it from cracking.
Lynn Yamaguchi [Photojournalist] A writer turned wood artist, Lynn brings the “sensibility of a professional photojournalist who engages in the creative act she loves.” Lynn brings many years of experience as a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to her residency. She is really looking forward to participating in the residency and seeing the other wood artists in action.
The 2007 ITE Program:
The ITE participants begin their residency in Philadelphia on June 9, 2007. They will live, travel, and work independently and collaboratively from the first week of June until the first week of August. Typical activities include visits to museums, nature areas, historic sites, and public and private collections of art. Sponsored by the Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, and hosted by the University of the Arts (UArts), the residency will focus on discussions, studio work, experiments, and collaborations.
On Saturday July 14th the ITE Resident Fellows invite the public into the shop for Open Community Day. Visitors can participate in discussions and watch demonstrations as the artists share their skills and talk about their evolving work. This event is an ‘open studio’ event that takes place from 10 am until 4 pm at the University of the Arts, Wood Working Department in Anderson Hall, 333 South Broad Street. Visitors are welcome to arrive when they want and stay for as long as they want! You can come early and stay for lunch or arrive in time for lunch and spend the afternoon with the artists. Donations of $10 are requested for the event (without lunch) & a $20 donation includes lunch. An RSVP is required for anyone wishing to join the Residents for lunch.
The grand finale to the 2007 ITE program is the exhibit, allTURNatives: Form + Spirit, at the Wood Turning Center from August 3rd through September 22nd. This multi-disciplinary exhibit reflects the residents’ experiences including objects produced before and during the residency. Three-dimensional work will be accompanied by photos and/or films depicting the summer experience and the artists’ statements sharing their experiences and work process. The opening reception and gallery talk takes place on First Friday, August 3, 2007. During the afternoon of Saturday, August 4, the artists will present a detailed gallery talk about their work and the ITE experience. The First Friday opening reception and Saturday afternoon artists’ discussions are free and open to the public.
Programming at the Center is supported in part by generous funding from the following Foundations and benefactors: Dr. Cleland Blake, Fleur Bresler, Harvey Fein, Henry Jordan, Bruce Kaiser, Albert and Tina LeCoff, Terry Moritz, Judson Randall, Greg and Regina Rhoa, the National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and Friends of the Wood Turning Center. Corporate Sponsors include Caviar Assouline, Chase, Penn State Industries, and Stubby Lathe USA, Inc.
The Wood Turning Center:
The Wood Turning Center is a Philadelphia-based, not-for-profit arts gallery and resource center which promotes the field of wood art. Through educational programs, exhibitions, preservation, promotion, and a permanent collection, the Center encourages artists and cultivates a public appreciation of wood art. Founded in 1986, the Center has become an internationally-recognized source of information and assistance to artists, scholars, curators, collectors and the general public.
