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Spring 2017 Lecture Series at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

In addition to its varied exhibition program, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts (TCVA) at Appalachian State University also hosts a Lecture Series. The talks are led by visiting or exhibiting artists, scholars and practitioners and provide deeper insight into creative practice, context for current exhibitions, or contemporary issues shaping the world in which art is created, experienced and interpreted. The Spring 2017 lectures correlate to three of the current exhibitions: “Collective Vigilance: Speaking for the New River,” “Useful Work: Photographs of Hickory Nut Gap Farm” and “Studio Practices: Penland 9”. Talks are held in the Lecture Hall of the TCVA on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Lecture Series Schedule

The Mill in Meat Camp: A Story of Family, Food and Place

Wednesday February 22 at 6 p.m.

Blue Ridge Conservancy

Wednesday March 8 at 6 p.m.

New River Conservancy

Wednesday March 22 at 6 p.m.

Ken Abbott & Jody Servon: Hickory Nut Gap Farm

Wednesday March 29 at 6 p.m.

Dr. Lee Ball: Sustainability at Appalachian State University

Wednesday April 5 at 6 p.m.

Penland School of Crafts: Coordinators I

Wednesday April 12 at 6 p.m.

Penland School of Crafts: Coordinators II

Wednesday April 19 at 6 p.m.

New River Photographer, Carl Galie

Wednesday April 26 at 6 p.m.

Five lectures are inspired by the “Collective Vigilance: Speaking for the New River,” a collaborative exhibition that showcases the headwaters of the 320-mile New River. It is a partnership of Appalachian State University’s Center for Appalachian Studies graduate seminar, “Sustainability and the Arts in Appalachia,the New River Conservancy, regional artists and other non-profit conservation groups.

The Mill in Meat Camp: A Story of Family, Food, and Place

Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 6 p.m.

Cody Miller will explore the history of the Winebarger Mill, a hydro-powered grist mill in Meat Camp, North Carolina. The mill is no longer in operation, but family food-ways help to preserve the mill’s history and tell an important story about the intersections between production, consumption and place. Cody Miller is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian.

Blue Ridge Conservancy

Wednesday March 8 at 6 p.m.

Since their founding, the Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC) has protected over 19,150 acres in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey Counties. Its efforts have resulted in the creation of numerous state natural areas including Beech Creek Bog, Bear Paw and Bullhead Mountain and continue to help Elk Knob State Park expand its borders. In 2008 the conservancy led the way in establishing a 2,000-acre State Game Land preserve on Pond Mountain in Ashe County. Participants will learn about the BRC and how it is making difference through the preservation of land in the High Country.

New River Conservancy

Wednesday March 22 at 6 p.m.

The New River Conservancy (NRC) envisions a completely healthy New River watershed where people want to live, work and play. The group believes that the complete health and full protection of this ancient river will only come from a collective vigilance that speaks for the river. Participants will be treated to stories about the New River and will learn about opportunities and challenges of the river and the New River Conservancy.

New River Photographer, Carl Galie

Wednesday April 26 at 6 p.m.

Carl Galie is a North Carolina photographer who left his home in the West Virginia coalfields in 1986 to follow a dream. For the last 22, years Carl has devoted his work to conservation issues. Working with organizations such as Roanoke River Partners, The Roanoke River Basin Association, and The North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Carl’s photographs of the Roanoke River basin have helped protect and preserve that region since 1995. Carl is the photographer for the New River Conservancy.

Sustainability at Appalachian State University with Dr. Lee Ball

Wednesday April 5 at 6 p.m.

Director of University Sustainability, Dr. Lee Ball will introduce sustainability efforts at Appalachian State University and introduce Earth Month to the campus and community. Dr. Ball has a doctorate in sustainability education, a master’s degree in environmental education, and a bachelor of science degree in natural science. He has spent the past fourteen years teaching sustainability-related content in Appalachian State University’s Department of Sustainable Technologies and the Built Environment. His primary research is focused on sustainability literacy, the valuation of green building, biophilic/ecophilic design, and change agency related to community engagement.

The March 29 lecture corresponds to the current exhibition in Gallery B: “Useful Work: Photographs of Hickory Nut Gap Farm,” an exhibition of Ken Abbott’s quiet photographs that document day-to-day life on the beloved Hickory Nut Gap Farm outside of Asheville. Abbott fell in love with easy beauty of Hickory Nut Gap Farm when he first saw it back in 2004 while on a field trip with his daughter’s pre-school class.

Ken Abbott & Jody Servon: Hickory Nut Gap Farm

Wednesday March 29 at 6 p.m.

Asheville photographer Ken Abbott and guest curator Jody Servon will discuss Ken’s years photographing the farm nestled into 90 acres in Fairview, NC. According to Servon, “Enamored by the family and the farm, Abbott returned frequently to make pictures that blend vibrant contemporary farm life with the timelessness of the place.”

Ken studied photography and political science at Colorado College and his first teachers there were Mark Johnstone, Ben Benschneider, and Frank Gohlke. He received his MFA in photography at Yale University School of Art and was the chief university photographer for 15 years at University of Colorado at Boulder. Since moving to Asheville in 2002, Ken has continued documenting the landscape and the people of his home range, and began, in 2004, photographing at Hickory Nut Gap Farm.

The “Studio Practices: Penland 9” exhibition showcases the art of the nine Penland Studio coordinators at Penland School of Crafts and each coordinator will discuss their artwork during one of two lectures. Located in nearby Spruce Pine, NC, Penland is an international center for craft education dedicated to helping people live creative lives. The school offers intensive workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking and letterpress, textiles and wood. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the collective talents and fine craftsmanship of nine amazing artists who are more often guiding the creation of art through their students than being in the spotlight themselves.

Penland School of Crafts: Coordinators I

Wednesday April 12 at 6 p.m.

The following artists will discuss their work:

Melanie Finlayson: Studio Manager

Melanie Finlayson was born and raised in Albany, New York and has been working for Penland School of Crafts since 2010. She was first hired as the Print/Letterpress/Books and Paper Studio Coordinator, and is now the Studio Manager for all Penland studios. Melanie founded and ran Green Plum Press & Gallery in Spruce Pine, NC and the press is now in Melanie’s home studio, where she works primarily in printmaking, drawing and painting. Melanie has exhibited nationally and internationally. She holds an MFA in print media from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in printmaking and sculpture from SUNY Plattsburgh. She has been artist in residence at Bluseed Studios in Saranac Lake, NY, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME, Penland School of Crafts and Venice Printmaking Studio in Italy.

Daniel T. Beck: Studio Coordinator for Iron

Daniel T. Beck earned a B.A. in studio art/art history from the University of Georgia, where he focused on metalsmithing and medieval Christian architecture. Daniel has a diverse background/interest in materials, mostly working with steel as a base. He has exhibited mainly in North Carolina including the Cameron Art Museum (Wilmington, NC) and has several public works in Asheville and Spruce Pine.

Nickolus Fruin: Studio Coordinator for Glass

Nick began working with glass at Hastings College in Nebraska. He worked for Wet Dog Glass LLC., in Star, NC, one of the country’s leading glass equipment manufacturers. While there, they built the STARworks Glass Lab, which is part of STARworks Center for Creative Enterprises. Shortly after the completion of the studio, Nick took over as the Glass Studio Coordinator. He was invited to New Zealand to work for Lukeke Design and Gaffer Glass, and had the unique opportunity to work with one of the few glass color factories in the world. He has been a demonstrating artist at the Glass Art Society Conference 2011 in Seattle, The Australian National University, Hastings College, Tulsa Glassblowing School, and Pilchuck Glass School. He has been an Instructor/ Teaching Assistant at The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Corning Museum of Glass and Pilchuck Glass School.

Amanda Thatch: Studio Coordinator for Textiles & Drawing/Painting

Amanda Thatch is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, lived in Detroit, Michigan and now resides in Western North Carolina. She received her BFA in sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis, and has spent time as a resident artist at Art Farm in Nebraska, an intern at Women’s Studio Workshop in Upstate New York, an Allesee Fellow aboard the mobile museum Artrain USA, and a two-year Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts. Amanda has assisted textile classes at Penland, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and John C. Campbell Folk School, and has been a visiting artist at several colleges and universities in fields such as papermaking, book-binding, weaving and natural dye.

Susan Feagin: Studio Coordinator for Clay

Susan was born in Burbank, California before her family moved to the south where she attended UNC Greensboro and graduated with a BFA in design. Her great aunt, Sue Rice, attended Penland in the late 1950s, and when Susan was learning to throw pots, her aunt insisted she take clay classes at Penland. She took her first wood-fire workshop at Penland and continued to take clay workshops. She also took printmaking and papermaking classes. After moving to Athens, Georgia, she worked in the newspaper business and also shared a rented studio where she studio assisted and taught beginning clay classes at Good Dirt Ceramic Center. She left Athens to attend graduate school in ceramics at the University of Florida. After graduating, she returned to Penland as the clay studio coordinator. Nine years later, she is still on the job at Penland’s “amazing clay studio” and making work on her screened-in “porchio” studio.

Penland School of Crafts: Coordinators II

Wednesday April 19 at 6 p.m.

The following artists will discuss their work:

Ian Henderson: Studio Coordinator for Metals

Ian Henderson grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania. His father is an engineer, inventor and amateur potter and Ian spent his childhood in a house full of tools and projects. He received a BA in contemporary US history from Brown University and spent a decade working in the building trades and traveling. Ian was awarded the two-year Core Fellowship at Penland School of Crafts where he undertook a deep study of metalworking and ceramics. His work merges industrial materials, including steel and concrete, with his abiding interest in pattern, architecture, machines and traditional metalwork.

Ellie Richards: Studio Coordinator for Wood

Ellie Richards received an MFA from Arizona State University with a focus on wood sculpture. Prior to coming to Penland, she participated in artist residency programs at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Peters Valley School of Craft and the Appalachian Center for Craft. Ellie continues to widely exhibit her furniture and sculpture. She was recently awarded a fellowship residency from the Vermont Studio Center and this year her work will be included in the Collectors of Wood Art exhibition “WHY WOOD? Contemporary Practice in a Timeless Material” at SOFA, Chicago.

Jay Fox: Studio Coordinator for Books, Paper, Letterpress and Print

Jay Fox is from Morganton, North Carolina, and received his BFA in printmaking from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He received his MFA at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Print and Narrative Forms. Jay is beginning his third year at Penland School of Crafts.

Betsy DeWitt Studio Coordinator for Photography

Betsy received her BA in art history from the University of Georgia. Her work has been shown in the Vermont Center for Photography (Brattleboro, VT), Rebus Works (Raleigh, NC), Leeds Gallery at Earlham College (Richmond, IN), St. Andrews Art Gallery (Sewanee, TN), Plates-to-Pixels Gallery, and Green Plum Gallery (Spruce Pine, NC).

Visit https://tcva.appstate.edu/calendar/super/id/lectureseries for detailed information on all the lectures.

About the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, named for university benefactors Robert and Lillian Turchin, fulfills Appalachian State University’s long-held mission of providing a home for world-class visual arts programming. The largest facility of its kind in the region, the center presents exhibition, education and collection programs that support the university’s role as a key educational, cultural and service resource. The center presents multi-dimensional exhibits and programs and is a dynamic presence in the community, creating opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the power and excitement of the visual arts. Its six galleries host changing exhibitions featuring local, regional, national and international artists.

The Turchin Center is located at 423 West King St., in Boone. Hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Tues. – Thurs. and Saturday, and Noon – 8 p.m., Friday. The center is closed Sunday and Monday, and observes all university holidays. Admission is always free, although donations are gratefully accepted. For more information, call 828-262-3017 or visit tcva.org.

For additional details about the Turchin Center, becoming a donor, the upcoming exhibitions, to be added to the mailing list or to schedule a tour, please call (828) 262-3017 or visit www.tcva.org. You can also follow the Turchin Center on Facebook and Twitter @TurchinCenter.

Sponsors

The Turchin Center receives critical support from a group of outstanding media sponsors that are dedicated to promoting the arts in our region, including: High Country 365, High Country Radio, WFDD 88.5, WDAV 89.9 and WASU 90.5FM.