Comment on this story What: Work by Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence When: Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg Where: Through May 22, with an opening reception April 30, 7-9 p.m. Call 436-5860 or see their website for info.

Arrowmont’s artists-in-residence showcase their efforts

by Heather Joyner Spica

On the table of contents page of the Summer 2004 Arrowmont School catalog is the following statement: “Tucked away on a wooded hillside in the heart of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just minutes away from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Arrowmont offers a unique environment—a creative oasis amidst the bustle of a popular tourist attraction.”

And as cliché as the oasis notion is, it’s certainly true for the school’s artists-in-residence. Many centers for learning sponsor programs that provide artists with a monthly stipend and intensive studio hours, but individuals selected by Arrowmont live within an isolated yet close-knit community. There, they share time with one another as well as students. For that and other reasons, an almost year-long Arrowmont residency is an enviable opportunity for artists needing a change of pace.

Arrowmont’s annual crop of visiting artists (originally from Pennsylvania, Iowa, North Carolina, and New York) are exhibiting their work in an upstairs gallery space at the school throughout the next three weeks or so, and it’s impressive; woodturner Jake Antonelli, ceramic artist Cherine Bishara, metalsmith Erin Gray, and sculptor Virginia McKinney all present something of interest. Perhaps even more interesting is how the artists describe their creative processes and/or summarize Arrowmont’s influence. Says Antonelli of his art, “[It] morphs in form, content, and meaning, while it grows alongside of me as a counterpoint to my life experiences. There is no clearer way for me to work.” In other words, the places in which he spends time often find their way into his efforts. McKinney is more specific, saying, “Since I’ve been here [at Arrowmont], my work is more peaceful and settled.”

Everything is presumably less “settled” now than it was when the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School was established in 1912 (eventually becoming Arrowmont, with summer craft workshops first guided by UT faculty members in 1945). But no matter what the changes, Arrowmont is still dedicated to serving the public, offering community classes to both adults and children. While in Gatlinburg, visiting talents like the four exhibitors go to different county schools and demonstrate their skills on a rotating basis.

As for those skills, they’re reflected in works like Gray’s “In The Field” and “Believer,” and in McKinney’s “Containment Of Place.” Many of Gray’s recent pieces include the delicate line work of cloisonné enamel and are inspired by patterns occurring in nature. “In the past few years I have been intrigued with ‘cereology’ or the study of crop circle formations found in cereal crops around the world,” she says. “I find myself fascinated by the juxtaposition of the very geometric, mechanical patterns found in organic matter.” The artist’s “In The Field,” a patch of living grass cradling an enamel and metalwork vessel, is what Gray calls “a literal manifestation” of the above ideas. “Believer,” her five clustered gourds topped with green enamel and sterling silver “lids,” is intricately wrought but immediately recognizable as part of nature, complete with seeds. Gray’s unlikely combinations are by no means obvious, yet their logic and form come together entirely—an accomplishment.

McKinney also transforms things natural via artistic process. Heat-treated and distressed steel (usually forming some sort of framework or support) interacts with her earthy clay vessels. “Containment of Place” features triangular clay vessels suspended like plumb bobs from a mobile-like structure, each bearing soil from a specific locale—be it Buffalo, Gatlinburg, Asheville, or the New Jersey shoreline. Frequently smoke-fired or rubbed with oxides and waxes, McKinney’s ceramics “allow the intrinsic quality of the material used to emerge through process and manipulation,” says the artist. “It is important to me to let the materials speak for themselves and let the work be honest,” she adds. “I loosely reference organic forms [like pods] as well as architectonic forms [like] ladders, homes, shelters.” Either category can include containers symbolizing change, movement or passage.

As does McKinney, Bishara challenges clay with meanings present in other materials with what she refers to as “the social and historical significance of...utile items found in the domestic setting: hangers, tablecloths, wallpapers, mattresses and textile patterns...all artifacts of the interior/domestic experience.” Her ceramic versions of ordinary objects appear less sophisticated than pieces by her colleagues, but her direction is certainly clear. It seems that Bishara’s further development is mostly a matter of refinement of approach.

Finally, viewers can see Antonelli’s lacquered wood eggs with shiny black bases, black and red “voodoo sticks,” and untitled series of nine vessels presented grid-style on the gallery wall. “My fascination with Japanese lacquer craft has [provided] an insightful connection with that culture,” the artist says of that particular grouping. “It clues me in to what they celebrate and how.”

Likewise, seeing the work of Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence clues the community in as to what’s new in the arts and crafts school world, and it reminds us of how outside influences can impact art created locally. It, too, is cause for celebration.

April 29, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 18 © 2004 Metro Pulse