Information about the 2009 ITE Resident Fellows:

Working with wood for over 20 years, Bencomo’s work once focused on the bottom of pieces - where one would discover the details. Entering new directions, his recent work has neither a top nor bottom focus. The timing of the ITE is perfect for Derek as he opens his new work shop in Hawaii. The residency gives him an opportunity to share his years of experience while gaining insights from the others. He will also move his current ideas from paper to completion.

David M. Bender – Artist, US

Bender pushes boundaries by re working the traditional application of materials. Continually questioning the perception and utility of materials guides his experimentation and creation of the final work. Through the ITE residency, David will learn additional skills and influences from his fellow artists. He also plans to challenge them with his concepts and processes as they all work to enjoy and diversify their work.



Jerome Blanc – Artist, Switzerland

After training as a cabinet maker in Geneva, Blanc discovered wood turning in 2000 in Australia. His work is based on constant dialogue with materials yielding creations that ally aesthetics with technical difficulty, resulting in stripped and elegant designs. The ITE residency appeals to Jerome as a means of working in radically different ways, free of his daily routines. He hopes to open new horizons of human and professional experience, while experiencing great joy and motivation.



Robert F. Lyon – Wood Turner, US

Lyon expects his ITE residency to continue to blur the distinction between art and craft in his work. He will expand his conceptual ideas into larger turnings within installation formats. Environmental fragility, memory, beauty, and cultural identity are reoccurring themes in his work. He plans to utilize the collaborative ITE process as a way of generating new methods of thinking and working - for his personal work, as well as the evolution he can share when he returns to his students.



Howard Risatti- Scholar, US

Howard Risatti is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art and Critical Theory in the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. He served as Chair of the Department of Craft & Material Studies from 2001-05. Before receiving his PhD in art history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, he earned BM and MM Degrees in music and is ABD in music theory and composition. His latest book, A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in October 2007.

Leah Woods – Furniture Maker, US

Leah Woods will immerse herself in reexamining and challenging her process – the ITE will give her the chance to explore her concepts using different technique while the summer’s timeframe will challenge her to work in a different scale. She explores issues relating to fashion, function, and gender and is currently seeking to find a balance – using graphic and conceptual images of women’s clothing, physical elements of women’s clothing, with issues of how and for what purpose furniture functions.



The 2009 ITE Program:

The ITE participants begin their residency in Philadelphia in June 2009. They will live, travel, and work independently and collaboratively from 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 located at Moore College of Art & Design, the residency will focus on research, discussions, studio work, experiments, and collaborations.

Saturday July 18, is Open Studio Day when the public is invited into the ITE Residents’ shop for demonstrations and discussion. This event takes place from 10 am until 4 pm at Moore College of Art, Wood Shop, at 20th & The Parkway. The residents will share their skills and talk about their evolving work. Park nearby on the street or in parking garages and enter the college through Wilson Hall. Visitors can arrive any time after 10 am and stay until 4 pm or as long as they want. Dutch treat lunch with the group will be available. Please RSVP at info@woodturningcenter.org or visit www.woodturningcenter.org. The donation for Open Studio Day is $10, payable to the Wood Turning Center. Phone is 215-923-8000

The grand finale exhibition for the 2009 ITE program is the exhibit, allTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2009, at the Wood Turning Center from August 7 through September 19, 2009. This multi-disciplinary exhibit reflects the residents’ experiences including objects produced before and during the residency. Three-dimensional work will be accompanied by photos, essays and other documentation depicting the summer experience. Included will be artists’ statements about their personal and professional experiences. The opening reception and gallery talk takes place on First Friday, August 7, 2008 from 5pm to 7:30 pm. On Saturday, August 8 from 2pm to 4pm, the residents present a detailed gallery talk for the public about their work and the ITE experience. The First Friday opening, and Saturday afternoon discussions, are free and open to the public.

The 2009 ITE residency is supported by generous funding by the following:

Sponsors and Friends – Fleur Bresler; Philip and Monika Hauser; Alan LeCoff; Tina & Albert LeCoff, Arthur and Jane Mason; Greg and Regina Rhoa.

Cambium Circle Members - Joel Assouline, Lee Bender and Carol Schilling; Harvey Fein; Bruce and Eleanor Heister, Bruce Kaiser, Jerome and Deena Kaplan, Tim and Sheryl Kochman, Len and Norma Klorfine, Herb and Mae Kurtz; Alan LeCoff; Albert and Tina LeCoff; Judson Randall, Greg and Regina Rhoa, and Friends of the Wood Turning Center.

Foundations – anonymous foundation; National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Corporate Sponsors – Bucks Woodturners, Craft Supplies; Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop; MANNTOOL and Supply; Oneway Manufacturing, Packard Woodworks, Palmetto Woodturners (SC); Penn State Industries, Stubby Lathe USA, Inc.

2010 International Turning Exchange (ITE) Residents

The Wood Turning Center also announces the 2010 residents, selected by the Center’s ITE Selection Committee. Residents include: Luc De Roo, Belgium; Irene Grafert, Denmark; Julie Heryet ,United Kingdom; Won Joo Park, South Korea and Derek Weidman, US.

APPLICATIONS for 2011 and 2012 ITE

Applications for the 2011 and 2012 ITE residency positions are due by October 1, 2009. For further information on the ITE program and the application process, visit: www.woodturningcenter.org/itemenu.html

The Wood Turning Center

At its Old City, Philadelphia location, the Center features international contemporary wood art in changing exhibits, a permanent collection showing the breadth of the wood art field, a research library, and an eclectic mix of merchandise in the Museum Store. The Center is open Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5pm and Saturday 12pm – 5pm. Admission is free. Donations support the Center’s educational mission. For more information, please call 215-923-8000, email or visit www.woodturningcenter.org.

Programming at the Center is supported in part by generous funding from the following Foundations, Sponsors and Cambium Circle Members: Joel Assouline, Lee Bender, Fleur Bresler, Bruce and Eleanor Heister, Henry Jordan, Neil and Susan Kaye; Bruce Kaiser, Deena and Jerome Kaplan, Stephen C. Keeble and Karen Depew, Tim and Sheryl Kochman, Len and Norma Klorfine, Alan LeCoff, Albert and Tina LeCoff, Ed Levy, Judson Randall, Greg and Regina Rhoa, Norton Rockler, National Endowment for the Arts; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Philadelphia Cultural Fund; anonymous foundation, and Friends of the Wood Turning Center. Corporate Sponsors include Oneway Manufacturing, Packard Woodworks, Penn State Industries, rakovaBRECKERgallery, and Stubby Lathe USA, Inc.

The Wood Turning Center participates in First Friday Openings in conjunction with the Old City Arts Association

The Wood Turning Center is a nonprofit art and educational organization whose mission is the encouragement and enhancement of individuals creating art from wood and other materials with a primary focus on turned and carved wood objects, and promoting public appreciation of such art.


Contact: Ron Humbertson
Email:
Images available upon request

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