Newspapers / Penland Line (Penland, N.C.) / Oct. 1, 1999, edition 1 / Page 7
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J Penland Line HI fiAfPY PfVUND t i 1 f W y i > i \ Instructors Richard Ritter and Doug Sigler along with Floss Perisho and Jessie McKinncj' blowing out the candles. Floss taught at Penland for manvyears: Jessie was the school’s registrar. The cake ua.v made by Chris Schwab. Pcnland hosted a magical weekend in mid-May. It was a reunion in celebration of the school’s 70th anniversary. Tru.stees Linda Darty and Laurel Radley, who led the vol unteer committee that organized the event, felt it was important to have a gathering of close Penland friends while some of the elde.st members of the community arc still with us. The gathering was also an opportunity to dedicate the new archive, to invite community members to donate archive material, and to record oral histories. About I go people attended the event including rela tives of directors Lucy Morgan and Bill Brown. A number of former resident artists and instructors were here including twelve members of the Nifty Fifty, a group of fifty arti.sts who gathered for a short-term residency at Penland in 1971? The weekend included tours of the campus, a won derful poetry reading by Jonathan Williams, meals at the Pines, craft work.shops, films from Penland’s past, a stun ning multi-media slide show by Dan Bailey, and many hours of video and audio taping of interviews. Debra Frasier hosted a Dye Shed storytelling session, iind jane Brown gave a talk about the years that she and her husband Bill led the school. Kat Conley had spent countless hours assembling photo collages which were posted all over the school, and Suzanne Ford curated a memorable exhibition of crafts made duriny Penland’s O first fifty years. An evening square dance featured Red Wil.son who fiddled for many Penland dances as a mcm- her of the Toe Valley Boys. The archive was dedicated in memorv of former trustee jane Kessler. A highlight of the dedication was l^aulus Berensohn’s reading of a poem titled ,1 Craftsman’s Creed. The poem was written for Penland’s tenth anniver sary, and Paulus had elegantly updated it for this occasion. .•\t a Sundav morning memorial service, lessie McKinney invited everyone to light candles and speak in memory of old friends who have passed on. The service was moving and fascinating and generated more laughter than tears. The grand finale was a group photograph taken by O.scar Bailey with his panoramic camera (which is older than Penland). .After the weekend, jane Browti presented Director jean .McLaughlin with the handmade hell that Bill Brown had used for making announcements in the Pines. It was time, she said, for the hell to come home. An upcoming issue will feature excerpts from some of the oral histories, including stories from the Morgan family and others. .Metalsmith Robert Ebendorj and glass sculptor .Mark Reiser talking bifore the memorial service. ■■■■■■■I Photographer and neighbor Oscar Bailey preparing to take a group photo with his antique Cirkut camera. The camera travels in an arc while the Jdm moves in the opposite direction. Oscar s son Dan Bailey and potter Cynthia Bringle led a charge of kids Jrom one side of the arc to the other so they could appear twice in the photograph. Rachel Sikorsky-Todd, daughter ofYaffa Sikorsky-Todd and Jeff Todd, making hubbies at the reunion. Alliance of Artists' Communities o n October 15 and 16 the Alliance of ArtLsts’ Communities held part of their annual meeting at Penland. The alliance is a national ser vice organization that supports the work of artists’ communities and residency programs. The alliance was formed in 1992 hy eighteen organizations with seed money from the MacArthur Foundation and the NEA. The alliance has created a communication network for artists’ communities that provides an exchange of information, ideas, and re.sources; it has compiled information and .stati.stics on the field; e.stahlished ties with international arti.sts’ communities; established field -wide standards; and launched a campaign to broaden the diver.si- ty of arti.sts .served by the communities. I he alliance has grown to include .seventy in.stitutional members and fifty individual members. Among the.se members are Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Archie Bray Foundation, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Hambidge Center, Meadlands Center for the Arts, Millay Colony for the Arts, P.S. i Contemporary Art Center, Vermont Studio Center, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The first two days of the meeting took place at the newly-opened Tryon Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC. Attendees were treated to an opening reception at the Tryon Center’s gallery and studios. The Thursday session focused on corporate support for artists’ communi ties. 1 hat evening everyone attended dinner and a reception at the newly opened Mint Mu.seum of Craft + Design. After lunch on Friday, alliance members boarded a bus and headed up to Penland for dinner at the Pines and an open house at the resident arti.st studios. On .Saturday, the group met in Northlight for a strategic planning session which was followed by brainstorming discussions on standards and practices in the field. The rest of the tlay was spent touring the Penland campus and local artists’ studios to demon.strate the impact of the Penland program on the community at large. Since the conference Penland has received many thank-you letters from attendees who expre.ssed leep interest in the .school’s extraordinary commitment to artists. —Erika Sanger
Penland Line (Penland, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1999, edition 1
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