Five exhibits spotlight ECU Material Topics Symposium
From Jan. 5 through Jan. 25, the Wellington B. Gray Gallery at East Carolina University will present the Materials Topics Exhibitions, five shows to be held in collaboration with the ninth annual ECU Material Topics Symposium.
The exhibitions will feature artwork by Charity Hall, Sharon Massey, and Joanne Lang and Hailee Manipole. Lang is an ECU graduate student and the others are ECU alumni. (contributed photos)
The symposium will be held Jan. 12-14. ECU hosts the symposium each January for people interested in metal, material or adornment with experience ranging from beginners or hobbyists to professional jewelers and metal artists. This year’s theme is “Deconstruct/Reconstruct.”
A reception honoring the exhibitors will be held 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5. A special symposium reception will be held 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12. The exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.
“Vitreous Voices” will be one of three exhibits inside the main gallery. Organized by ECU alumna Barbara McFadyen and retired ECU professor emeritus Bob Ebendorf, it is a juried exhibition of enameled works honoring the tradition that professor Linda Darty started at ECU.
“Spoon” is organized by ECU metal design professor Tim Lazure and is an invitational show of spoons of all shapes and sizes.
“Ripple Effect 168” is organized by ECU graduate student Adam Atkinson and Everett Hoffman, a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. This collaborative show between the metalsmithing programs at ECU and VCU is meant to foster connections and explore new work directions.
“Smitten Forum” will be located in the African Art Room/Special Collections Gallery at the rear of the main gallery. The work is by a group of invited artists organized by ECU alumna Marissa Saneholtz and Winthrop University faculty member Sara Brown.
On display Jan. 12-14 in the gallery foyer, the “Snail Mail Project Snail Mail Project” is a pop-up enameled decal show based on postcards from Ebendorf. It is organized by ECU alumna Kat Cole and Andrew Kuebeck, assistant professor and area head of the jewelry, metals and enameling program at Kent State University.
The Material Topics Symposium is a student-run event founded in 2009 by ECU alumna Laura Wood. Students and faculty from seven universities participated in the first show, which has grown to attendees from more than 45 institutions from California to Florida.
ECU’s Wellington B. Gray Gallery is located off Fifth and Jarvis streets in the Jenkins Fine Arts Center. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The gallery is closed for all university holidays.
The center is handicapped accessible. Individuals requesting accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) should call 252-737-1016 (voice/TTY) at least 48 hours before the event. For more information, call 252-328-1312, visit www.ecu.edu/graygallery or go to https://ecusymposium.wordpress.com/.
Contact: Tom Braswell, interim Wellington B. Gray Gallery director, 252-328-1312 or BRASWELLG@ecu.edu