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Printmaker Frances Metcalf, right, was able to impart her gel printmaking skills to attendees of her Stifel Fine Arts Center classes. (Photo Provided)
Three artists will demonstrate how they have grown their skills during the Stifel Fine Art Center’s newly formatted artist-in-residence program in their new exhibit “ONE-OFF.”
The gallery’s opening reception will be held tonight at Clientele Art Studio on 15th Street from 6 to 9 p.m. The show will feature work by sculptor and jewelry maker Diana Laura, printmaker Frances Metcalf and stained-glass artist Kellie White.
Stifel Fine Arts Center Director Rick Morgan explained that the exhibit’s title, “ONE-OFF,” describes how each of the artists’ work featured is “one of a kind,” whether that be each of Metcalf’s prints staining each piece of paper differently or the unique designs White paints on her glasswork.
Some of the techniques the artists have added to their repertoire to make their work “one of a kind” were gained while participating in the new format of Stifel’s three-month artist-in-residence program
What makes this rendition of the program unique is that the participating artists had access to the equipment at the Stifel Center’s studio space to experiment with new materials and art methods. The artists-in-residence also performed outreach at the Belmont County senior centers, teaching programs to residents there.
Over the past three months, all three artists participating in the new program found new ways to explore their artistic mediums.
During the residency, Metcalf taught herself gel plate printing, which involves painting designs onto a gelatin plate and pressing them onto fabric or paper. The printmaker introduced this technique to Belmont County seniors, noting this was her first time teaching an art class.
“This residency gave me the confidence to go and teach,” Metcalf said.
Laura was able to expand and refine her jewelry-making techniques to make her artistic process “a lot faster” during the residency.
Apart from refining her creative process, in the two new sculptures Laura will unveil at the exhibit, she experimented with painting copper paint onto copper sculptures and expanded her woodcarving skills
“The Stifel has a lot of materials that I hadn’t used before because I learned how to make jewelry on my own,” noted Laura.
White also took advantage of the additional materials and work time the residency provided her, which “fostered” her creativity. This creative boost allowed White to explore two artistic ideas she had not had time to experiment with before — block printing on glass and creating cross-stitched designs in glass.
“I’ve had the chance to try out any ideas I’ve had that I thought might work in theory that I hadn’t seen other stained glass artists do,” explained White. “I’ve been able to determine what does or doesn’t work and what the best ways I can use these new techniques are.”
The artists will combine what they’ve learned in their collaborative piece, “Moving Pieces,” which will be unveiled during the exhibit.
The final new feature of the program is that the exhibit will be shown at Clientele Art Studio instead of the former location of the Stifel Fine Arts Center.
“Rather than having the exhibit at the Stifel Fine Arts Center, we wanted to reach out to another exhibition space in the community that will expose them to another demographic and group that would not normally be here at the Stifel,” noted Morgan.
The exhibit will remain displayed at Clientele through June 30 from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
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