Hands-On Campus Workshop Supplements Gallery Exhibition

A recent talk and "meet the artist" reception showcased the work of Amanda McCavour, a Toronto-based textile artist whose wall pieces and installations are on exhibit in The Gallery at Penn College through March 5. McCavour also led an extensive workshop in the Thompson Professional Development Center on the day following her Jan. 29 appearance, allowing her students to expressively experiment with machine and hand embroidery. Located on the third floor of Madigan Library, the gallery is open from 1-4 p.m. Sundays, 2-7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays.

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor, and Dalaney T. Vartenisian, student photographer

Creative accoutrements fill the PDC Mountain Laurel Room for the daylong embroidery workshop with artist Amanda McCavour.

Amanda McCavour (seated) provides artistic assistance to workshop participant Sally Ickes, of Danville.

At the workshop, McCavour's artistic inspiration dances across a table.

The artist (center) shares a laugh with Camille Seeling (left), of Cogan Station, and Brittany McLaughlin, of Trout Run.

Spools bring a dash of color to the indoor wintertime activity.

McCavour consults with Mary Steele, of Montgomery, on materials.

With a yellow sewing box her grandmother gave her when she was 6, McLaughlin concentrates …

... on her colorful creation.

The motif extends to the sign for the exhibit.

"Living Room," among the pieces on exhibit through March 5, recalls McCavour's apartments in Toronto.

Students inhabit "Stand-In for Home," which recreates the artist's former living space.

Gallery patrons walk among a "Floating Garden."

A number of pieces provide a literal reminder of the handiwork on display.

David A. Stabley, instructor of ceramics/wood sculpture, studies "Untitled Figure" in The Gallery at Penn College.

Gallery manager Penny G. Lutz introduces the artist's talk ...

... in which McCavour engaged an audience unfazed by winter conditions.

Attendees at the gallery reception suspend reality while mingling amid the artist's thread-borne reimaginings.

Shadows add another dimension to the artist's domestic connections.