PENLAND ^ LINE
The Penland Line
EDITOR;
DONNA JEAN DREYER
DESIGN + production:
ALICIA D. KESHISHIAN
photographs:
MAURY FAGGART, PEGGY GARDNER, TRUE KELLY
CONTRIBUTORS:
CAREN BROSI, PAULUS BERENSOHN, REBECCA
CALDWELL, KAT CONLEY, SUSAN LARSON,
CONNIE SEDBERRY
The penland LINE IS PUBLISHED THREE TIMES
A YEAR TO COMMUNICATE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE
PROGRAMS, PEOPLE AND PHILOSOPHY OF PENLAND
AND TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH SEVERAL GROUPS OF
PEOPLE AT ONCE: CRAFTSPEOPLE AND FRIENDS
LIVING NEARBY, INSTRUCTORS, DONORS AND FRIENDS
OF Penland. we invite you to share your news,
OPINIONS AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH US. WRITE:
Editor, penland line, penland, nc 28765
TIT
CELEBRATING THE WORK OF THE HAND
On October 23, President George Bush signed the proc
lamation designating 1993 asThe Year of American Craft.
At Penland we have been celebrating the work of the hand
since 1923 when Lucy Morgan recognized that the hands
of women and men in our western North Carolina moun
tains had been making beautiful things, using techniques
worth sharing.
By celebrating craft, Penland has evolved from cottage
weaving, to the development of the Penland Weavers, to
the addition of many other crafts, to a school nationally
recognized as a place where, according to metalsmith
Phillip Pike, "Anyone who is an American craftsman
simply has to come."
So we invite you to come celebrate with us the historical
traditions, the primary materials, the innovation, the creativ
ity, the community, the dedication, the spark of the divine
which lends inspiration - all the elements which join hand
and heart and head in the creation of beautifully crafted
things to use or to enjoy.
Penland will mark this Year of American Craft, not simply
with business as usual, but through several special classes
during the seventh session this summer. The Glass Gath
ering will bring together some of the most respected
artists in the contemporary glass movement: Mark Reiser,
Richard Ritter and Paul Stankard. This collaboration will
be dedicated to encouraging experimentation with
flameworking and hot glass techniques as well as explor
ing new technologies. They will be joined by visiting
artist Dick Marquis.
A survey of ceramics will celebrate the Year of American
Craft in the clay studios. It will feature demonstrations by
Paulus Berensohn, Wayne Ferguson, Mark Hewitt,
Vernon Owens, Ken Sedberry, Tom Suomalainen and
Patti Warashina along with tours and demonstrations in
area studios.
This celebratory year honors craft traditions throughout
the Americas; at Penland, Jesus Melchor Garcia, a car-ver
from the village of San Martin Tilcajete in Mexico, will
teach Oaxacan Woodcarving and painting techniques in
the wood studio. These carvings are noted for an irre
pressible exuberance of form, color and detail.
NORTH CAROLINA EXHIBIT
In addition to these classes, Penland is participating with
the Western North Carolina Committee in a traveling
exhibition which has been made possible through an
Incentive Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.
We have joined with The John C. Campbell Folk School,
Haywood Community College/Production Crafts Pro
gram, Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc., Sawtooth Center for
Visual Art and the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild
in the development of an exhibit which will increase
public awareness of the extraordinary quality of craft
artists in this region.
The exhibit will open March 7th in the Hickory museum
and can be seen in Charlotte in May and June, High Point
in July and August, Rocky Mount in August and Sept
ember, Durham in late September and October, and in
November and December in Wilmington. It will still be
touring in 1994 with a scheduled showing in Fayetteville
in January.
For any details about this touring show and all of the other
special events, many of which will include Penland
artists, please write Deborah Brody, Sawtooth Center for
Visual Art, 226 North Marshall Street, Winston-Salem,
NC 27107, and request the quarterly calendar.
The Joint Resolution of the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives of the United States of America recognizes
that "Craft is the handprint of all cultures and through
craft we commemorate the multi-cultural heritage of
our Nation and pay tribute to the artistic diversity that
exists among all people." Penland School is proud to be a
part of the handprint of craft in the Americas.
The Penland Line invited Paulus Berensohn to share his thoughts
on The Year of American Craft in a guest editorial. If you want to
know more about Aboriginal culture, religion, artistic behavior and
social forms, Paulus recommends "Voices of the First Day" by Robert
Lawlor, Inner Traditions Press, Rochester, VT.