Fredonia gallery exhibition looks at 50 years of work by artist and educator
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Marvin Bjurlin
Explore the ceramics of Department of Visual Arts and New Media’s SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Marvin Bjurlin in a 50-year survey exhibition titled “A Potter’s Path,” on display in the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery from Oct. 16 through Nov. 16.
In addition, the “SUNY Fredonia Ceramics Alumni Wood-Fired Ceramics Exhibition,” a show curated by Mr. Bjurlin, will be on display in Emmitt Christian Gallery from Oct. 19 through Nov. 11.
A reception for both exhibitions is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 19, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the Marion Art Gallery lobby. The exhibitions and reception are free and open to the public.
With a series from each decade between 1968 and 2018, “A Potter’s Path” celebrates Bjurlin’s 50-year anniversary as an artist and educator. Bjurlin taught at Fredonia from 1968 to 2007.
The exhibition includes both functional and sculptural ceramics, from dinnerware to large sculptural vessels and fish heads.
“What pleases me most about a retrospective look at my ceramics over the last 50 years is to see samples of very different works together in one space,” Bjurlin said. “I loved my teaching job and the freedom it gave me to explore many ways of working with clay. Now, well after concluding an academic career, I am grateful for the opportunity to have this exhibition, including work I have done since retirement, in the beautiful Marion Art Gallery.”
A free exhibition publication, designed by White Bicycle design studio in Buffalo, is available at the gallery or by contacting gallery director Barbara Rӓcker at barbara.racker@fredonia.edu or 716-673-4897.
For the “SUNY Fredonia Ceramics Alumni Wood-Fired Ceramics Exhibition,” Bjurlin invited 21 former ceramics students to send him bisqueware to put into the kilns at his site in Sheridan. They were fired in late September.
Participants are: Raul Acero, Redlands, Calif.; Loretta Cheney, Jamestown; Randy Crawford, Colden; Amanda Dinse, Springville; Lisa Eppolito, Fredonia; Magda Gluszek, Lakeside, Ariz.; Dan Gurney, Seattle, Wash.; Steven Kaye, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cate King, Fairport; Keith Johnson, Portland, Ore.; James Marshall, Santa Fe, N.M.; Shannon McArdle, Baltimore, Md.; Julie Millazo, Petaluma, Calif.; Ron Miller, Utica; Anne Mormile, Ellicottville; Ron Nasca, Dunkirk; Scott Place, Rockport, Mass.; Kevin Raymond, Pike; Chris Schwartz, Portland, Ore.; Don Seymour, Syracuse; and Janine Sullivan, Albany.
Many of the participants have gone on to teach ceramics in academia, or privately. Some have left clay for other careers but retain the skills and the interest in what they learned at Fredonia. One participant started studying clay at Fredonia in 1970.
Contact Ms. Räcker for more information about the exhibitions or to schedule a group tour.
