Axe ’Em, Jacks!
"Offering #5," a porcelain work by Barbara Frey, will be included in "Fired Up: Three Regional Artists Take a Contemporary Look at Clay," which opens for viewing in SFA's Griffith Gallery on Friday, Sept. 24, and runs through Friday, Nov. 12.NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The works of three ceramicists from nearby universities will be available for viewing beginning Friday, Sept. 24, in Stephen F. Austin State University's Griffith Gallery.
"Fired Up: Three Regional Artists Take a Contemporary Look at Clay" brings together new works by some of the best clay sculptors in Texas and Louisiana, explained Christian Cutler, SFA director of galleries. "Viewers will marvel at the creations by Ken Baskin of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., Barbara Frey of Texas A&M Commerce, and Janet Kastner of the University of Texas at Austin."
There will be no opening reception for this show; instead, the three artists will be present for a closing reception in Griffith Gallery on Friday, Nov. 12.
Baskin joined the McNeese faculty in 2005 after receiving his Master of Fine Arts from the University of South Carolina and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, Mich.
His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Taiwan and throughout the United States and has been published in Ceramics Monthly, "500 Ceramic Sculptures," "The Spirit of Ceramic Design" and "The Spirit of Clay."
Frey, who received her Master of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University, has over 200 exhibitions to her credit. Her work has been widely published in books on ceramics and is included in both private and public collections.
She has conducted numerous artist residencies, including one in Yixing, China, and a 2006 Arts/Industry residency at Kohler Co.
Kastner studied at the University of Colorado in Boulder and the Banff Fine Arts Center in Canada before receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and her Master of Fine Arts from the State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in New York.
The recipient of a Mid-America Arts Alliance/National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Kastner has had solo and group shows in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Texas.
The exhibition is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art.
Griffith Gallery is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Dr. Hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.