Artist-in-Residence to Conduct Workshops for Students, Public

The Gallery at Penn College, on the third floor of Pennsylvania College of Technology's Madigan Library, will host artist-in-residence Miguel Tio on campus April 21-24.

While on campus, the painter will conduct workshops for children and staff of the college's Children's Learning Center and students in the early childhood education major, as well as free public sessions.

A workshop for parents of young children ages 2-6 will be held Friday, April 24. The workshop will introduce parents to art materials and demonstrate how the art-making process helps children develop basic learning skills. Tio will offer a hands-on activity and encourage parents to create artwork with their children in the home. (Pre-registration is required for this workshop, call the gallery; no children in attendance.)

Since 2005, Tio has worked as an art teacher for Studio in a School, New York, a program that hires professional artists to work directly with children in public schools, in addition to maintaining a studio and producing new work. As a member of the Society for the Art of Imagination, his work was included in the popular 2007 exhibit "Where Science Meets Art" in The Gallery at Penn College.

Tio's paintings are full of powerful energy and symbolism. They have been likened to Renaissance works with dramatic use of form and light, realism, perspective and humanist concerns. He often employs the Mische technique a method for creating the illusion of realism that is considered one of the secrets of the Renaissance.

A native of the Dominican Republic but now based in Manhattan, Tio has employed his painting skills for a wide variety of creative projects including the feature films "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2;" Broadway shows "Beauty and the Beast," "Rent" and "Miss Saigon;" Old Navy and Hershey's commercials; and window displays. He has been commissioned to paint portraits, including one of Diane Von Furstenberg.

A small collection of Tio's original portraits will be exhibited during regular gallery hours while he conducts workshops on campus. Children's artwork created during Tio's work with the Children's Learning Center will be displayed in the gallery during a private exhibit.

Gallery hours 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 this exhibit and The Gallery at Penn College, visit online , e-mail or call (570) 320-2445.

For general information about the college, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free (800) 367-9222.