The Gallery at Penn College, on the third floor of Pennsylvania College of Technology's Madigan Library, will host "Arrested Motion," an exhibit by clay artists Cheryl Tall and Ceil Sturdevant, July 9-Aug. 19.Life and motion are captured in the artists' figurative images. After meeting in 1992, Tall and Sturdevant discovered a shared affinity for creating large figures in clay that expressed both a spiritual and a narrative aspect. Each begins a sculpture with an idea, but lets the clay dictate the exact expression of that idea. The concept and the clay go through many changes until the final moment when the idea is realized by the heat of the kiln.
Tall earned a bachelor's degree in fine art at University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts at University of Miami. She has taught at colleges and gives national workshops. Her studio is in Leucadia, Calif., where she creates her large-scale sculpture and paintings and teaches art classes.
Tall's primary medium is clay, coil built into large, figurative sculptures and wall pieces. Her work focuses on the relationships between people and their environment, especially their homes or workplaces. Her subject matter often includes architectural and figurative elements.
Her work has been published in seven books and many magazines. She has won numerous awards, is in museum collections and shows her work internationally.
Sturdevant is a figurative sculptor who has exhibited her work throughout the eastern United States and internationally. She has a studio in Pittsburgh and has taught ceramic art since 1981 at The Ellis School. Sturdevant's ceramic sculptures have been featured in several magazines and published in two books."Through figurative imagery, my work explores the relationships among people," Sturdevant says. "It is a conversation, fueled by friendships and travels a visual diary narrated with an evolving personal vocabulary of images."
Sturdevant earned a bachelor's degree in art education and elementary education from Westminster College and a master's degree in art education from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed graduate study in visual arts in Cortona, Italy, through the University of Georgia.
An opening reception for the exhibit will take place in the gallery from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9. The artists will offer a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m.
Summer hours at the gallery in effect through July 31 are Tuesday to Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 1-4 p.m. Regular hours, which resume Aug. 1, are Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m.; and Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
For more about the exhibit and The Gallery at Penn College, visit online , e-mail or call 570-320-2445.
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